Who are politicians? These are persons engaged in political activities at a professional level. They hold tremendous power in their hands. Many of them fall into this field by accident or due to some circumstances. Over time, such figures begin to occupy a certain niche in the government of the country. However, there are also people who are politicians from God. They are endowed with a special set of personal characteristics, as well as charisma, so the masses themselves choose them as their leaders, entrust their destinies into their hands and are ready to follow them to the end. Further in the article, we will give several lists that will include Russian political figures who have gone down in history.
XVI-XVII centuries
Until the 16th century, Russia was divided between princes, and each of them can be safely calledpolitical and state leader of his time. In addition, the country has been under the yoke of foreign invaders for quite a long time. At the beginning of the 17th century, individuals emerged from the people who decided to raise the people to fight against the “occupiers”. And so, the leaders of these national liberation movements are the first political figures in Russia. Here are the names of some of them.
- Kuzma Minin. Unfortunately, there is no exact date of his birth in the chronicles, but it was in the second half of the 16th century. He is a national hero and organizer of the national liberation struggle.
- Prince Dmitry Pozharsky (1578–1642) - Minin's colleague in the organization of the zemstvo militia. A monument to these two figures flaunts on Red Square.
- But the leader of the Peasants' War of 1670-1671 Stepan Razin (1630-1671), the Cossack ataman raised the masses against the royal power. Here is an example of a medieval Russian opposition leader.
Politicians of the 19th century Russia
During the reign of Peter the Great, his daughter Elizabeth and niece Anna Ioannovna, as well as Catherine the Second and her son Paul the First, many prominent people appeared in the state. All these politicians of Russia have contributed to the development of their country.
The first in the list of the most significant persons, perhaps, should be the name of Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov. Being one of the largest generals in the country, he never lost a single battle.
Prince Dmitry Golitsyn (1734–1803), famous diplomat and scientist,defended the interests of Russia in France and Holland. He made friends with the French enlighteners, for example with Voltaire.
Favorites of Catherine II
It's no secret that Catherine the Great came to power as a result of a palace coup. One of its organizers was an associate of the future empress - Alexei Orlov (1737–1807). In addition to him, during the reign of this queen, there were other political figures of Russia, who became such, thanks to the benevolence of the sovereign of the state. Their names are: Grigory Potemkin, Sergei S altykov, Mikhail Miloradovich, Grigory Orlov, Alexander Yermolov, Alexander Lanskoy, Ivan Rimsky-Korsakov, Pyotr Zavodovsky and others. It is difficult to list all the favorites of Catherine II, but almost every one of them had some influence on politics countries in a certain period of time.
First revolutionaries
During the reign of the aforementioned queen, one of the most enlightened minds of that time was Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev (1749–1802). With progressive and revolutionary thinking, he was ahead of his time, advocating the abolition of serfdom in the country. The followers of his ideas were: Russian revolutionary Nikolai Ogarev (1813-1877), poet and publicist, as well as his closest friend Herzen and Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876) - an anarchist theorist who was a participant in the French, German and Czech revolutions of 1848-1849.
Their “opponent” can be called Alexei Arakcheev (1769–1834), the all-powerful temporary worker of Tsar Alexander I.
In the list of prominent political figures of the 19th century, one cannot fail to name Sergei Witte(1849–1915). His contribution to the development of the state cannot be compared with anything. It can be said that thanks to his innovative ideas, the country has made a great leap forward.
Beginning of the 20th century (pre-revolutionary period)
With the onset of the twentieth century in Russia, many parties entered the political arena: Mensheviks, Bolsheviks, Octobrists, Socialist-Revolutionaries, Social Democrats, Populists, etc. Naturally, the leaders of each of them can be safely added to the list of Politicians of Russia 20th century (beginning)”.
Among them, the most prominent personality was Georgy Plekhanov (1856–1918), one of the leaders of Menshevism. During the years of the revolution of 1905-1907. he waged an active struggle against the tactics and strategy of the Bolsheviks. Alexander Kerensky (1881-1970), who is famous for being elected head of the provisional government after the bourgeois revolution, was a Socialist-Revolutionary in his political views. Another prominent Russian politician was Pavel Milyukov (1859–1943). He was the chairman of the KDPR, which was one of the leading liberal-monarchist parties in the country. The big landowner and politician Pyotr Stolypin also belonged to the ardent monarchists. Admiral Kolchak (1873-1920) - commander of the Black Sea Fleet during the First World War in the post-revolutionary period, was distinguished by counter-revolutionary views. The same can be said about Baron Wrangel (1878–1928) and Anton Denikin. During the war years, they led the White Guard army. But in the south of Russia, Nestor Makhno (1889-1934) ruled the counter-revolutionary forces,or, as the people called him, Father Makhno. He has more than one terrorist act to his credit. He belonged to the anarchist party.
Leaders of the Soviet government
These well-known politicians of Russia have been considered heroes for 73 years. Legends were formed about their lives, novels were written, cities, factories and schools, Komsomol and pioneer detachments were named after them. These are the leaders of the Bolsheviks, and later the Communist Party of the USSR.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Ulyanov). Born in 1870, died in 1924 as a result of a terrorist act. Scientist, revolutionary, famous politician. After the October Revolution, he was recognized as the leader of the peoples that were part of the USSR, a country created on his recommendation.
An associate of Lenin and one of the outstanding Bolshevik revolutionaries was Mikhail Kalinin (1875–1946). In 1923 he was elected chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union.
Iron Felix - the famous Chekist Dzerzhinsky, about whose cruelty many have heard recently. He was one of the most ideological revolutionaries, although he came from a noble family. Almost from the very first days of the creation of the USSR, he began to lead the people's commissariat of internal affairs.
Leo Trotsky (real name Bronstein) is also an outstanding revolutionary figure in the Soviet Union. However, after Lenin's death, he began to criticize the Soviet leadership, especially Stalin, for which he was expelled from the country. After long wanderings in Europe, he settled inMexico, where he began to write a book about Joseph Dzhugashvili, the new leader of the Soviet people. It was Stalin who gave the order to liquidate Trotsky. He died in 1940 as a result of an assassination attempt.
General Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee
Who can be more famous in the Land of Soviets than politicians of the USSR and Russia (after the collapse of the Union). Among them, the leading position is occupied by the first secretaries of the pariah. Below is a complete list of them.
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politicians of the ussr and russia Joseph V. Stalin (Dzhugashvili). He took over as leader of the Communist Party after Lenin's death. Today, his name is associated with the brutal repressions of more than two million innocent Soviet citizens, and the pathological suspiciousness of the Soviet leader was to blame for all this.
- Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971). Since 1953, he was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. With the beginning of his reign, a period of “thaw” began. Many repressed citizens in the camps were released and rehabilitated. However, the world will remember him for his eccentric prank in the UN assembly hall, hitting the podium with his boot.
- Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982). His era was marked by the flourishing of corruption and bribery.
- Yuri Andropov (1914–1984). This seemingly quiet and unremarkable person, before becoming the first secretary of the Communist Party, led the KGB of the USSR, which testifies to his remarkable mind and special training. After Brezhnev's death, he was appointed to the post of first secretary of the country's Communist Party. However, he did not stay in this post for very long, only 2 years.
- The next secretary of the Central Committee, Konstantin Chernenko, also led the Communist Party of the USSR for only a year. Few can remember his activities today.
- And, finally, the last General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU - Mikhail Gorbachev. He also became the first president of the Soviet Union. The attitude towards him among the people was ambiguous. His name is associated with perestroika, glasnost, the collapse of the USSR, interregional conflicts, the collapse of the Commonwe alth of the Warsaw Pact countries, the fall of the Berlin Wall, etc.
Politicians of modern Russia
At the beginning of this list, of course, are the names of people who were at the origins of the creation of the new Russian state. And the first among them is Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin. He was a former communist figure, but also became the leader of an independent Russian state and the first popularly elected president of the Russian Federation. In 2000, he was forced to retire for he alth reasons.
After Yeltsin left the political arena, his duties were temporarily entrusted to an unknown young Petersburger V. Putin. However, today no politicians of Russia of the 21st century can compete with him in popularity among the people. He was twice elected president of a great power and, at the end of his second term, handed over the reins of government to his compatriot Dmitry Medvedev, while taking the post of prime minister. However, after the expiration of the first term, Medvedev returned the “presidential baton” to Putin, and he himself took the chair of the prime minister. In a word,Vladimir Vladimirovich for the third time took the post of president of the largest state in the world.
Leaders of political parties in Russia
As in the late 19th century, in the 90s of the 20th century, many political parties appeared in the Russian state, among which the largest are United Russia, Yabloko, LDPR, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, etc. Their leaders respectively are V. Putin and D. Medvedev, G. Yavlinsky, V. Zhirinovsky, G. Zyuganov.
Instead of a conclusion
The above lists of prominent political figures in Russia, of course, cannot be called complete. There have been many more of them over the centuries. However, the names of politicians that are included in them can be called the most significant.
