The Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in fact, was considered the head of the Soviet state, from 1936 to 1989. During this period, it was the highest state position in the USSR. The election of the chairman was held at a joint meeting, in which both chambers, which were part of the Supreme Council, took part.
Who was first?
Chairmen of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR appeared in the Soviet state in 1936. This position was introduced under the new Constitution. In fact, they became the successors of the leaders of the Central Executive Committee of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. That was the title of a similar post before. In fact, both at home and abroad, the person who held this position was considered the head of state. And in the West, he was often also called the president of the Soviet republic.
At the same time, the public head of state officially acted in the USSR. The decision was made collectively by all who were members of the presidium, without exception. It was this body that jointly adopted decrees that determined the development and structure of the entire country, appointed and dismissedstatesmen, awarded orders and medals.
At the same time, in fact, most of the powers were in the hands of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party, the head of the Council of People's Commissars had no less levers of control.
Throughout the history of the USSR, the posts of General Secretary of the Party and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR were repeatedly combined. In particular, this situation was observed from the 70s until the liquidation of the post with short breaks.
This position was finally abolished after the adoption of additions and amendments to the 1988 Constitution. All the powers of the presidium were transferred to the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. When the post of President of the USSR was established, the people who held this position had only representative functions. Basically, they consisted in holding joint meetings of the chambers.
The first was Mikhail Kalinin
The first in the history of the Soviet state, this position was occupied by Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin. After the adoption of the already mentioned Constitution, he was elected chairman at the opening session of the Supreme Council, which took place at the very beginning of 1938.
Kalinin was a prominent representative of the revolutionary movement. A prominent party and statesman. It was he who, shortly after the communists came to power, began to be called the "All-Russian headman".
Kalinin appointed council member Nikolai Mikhailovich Shvernik as his first deputy, who later took his place in this post.
When the war ended withNazi Germany, it turned out that Kalinin was seriously ill. He was relieved of his post, which was taken by Shvernik. Less than three months later, the first chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR died suddenly of intestinal cancer.
Party centenarian
After Kalinin and Shvernik, the turn to head the presidium came to the record holder for the length of stay in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, war hero Kliment Voroshilov.
Despite the fact that Voroshilov took part in the formation of the execution lists (his signatures are on 185 lists, according to which more than 18 thousand people were shot), in the year of Stalin's death, it was he who was elected the new chairman of the Supreme Council. On the other hand, this is understandable. At that time, the policy of debunking the cult of personality in the USSR had not yet begun, and proven and reliable people were required among the leaders of the regime.
During the war with the Germans, Voroshilov commanded the Leningrad Front. He served as head of the presidium for 7 years, subsequently remaining a member.
Dear Leonid Ilyich
In 1960 Voroshilov was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev. The chairmen of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, a list of which is given in this article, since then more than once subsequently held the position of Secretary General. The first in this field was Brezhnev, who became General Secretary in 1964. Brezhnev was elected Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR when he was 54 years old.
In 1964 he was replaced by one of the mostwell-known and influential at that time Soviet politicians, who began his career under Lenin, Anastas Mikoyan. He served in this position for a year and a half.
The Podgorny era
In December 1965, Nikolai Podgorny was elected to this position. The Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was a native of the Ukrainian Committee of the Communist Party, who specialized in leadership positions in light industry.
Colleagues treated him differently. For example, Mikoyan directly accused him of lying and despised him for it. He told a story about how, during the war years, Podgorny was instructed to evacuate a sugar factory in Voronezh. The dangerous task was completed, but Nikolai Viktorovich, fearing for his life, did not visit the plant himself, while reporting that he personally led the evacuation. Mikoyan couldn't stand such lies.
Podgorny ceased to be chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1977, having worked in this position for almost 12 years. He lost his post at the 25th Party Congress, when Brezhnev's associates feared that Podgorny, taking advantage of the general secretary's poor he alth, could claim his place. Therefore, during the congress, part of the party members advocated that Brezhnev combine both of these positions. As a result, Leonid Ilyich returned to the post to which this article is devoted. He became chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1977 - 1982). In 1982 he died. The politician at that time turned 75 years old.
During this period, he was assisted by Mohammed Gettuev,Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Combination traditions
After Brezhnev, it has become a party tradition to combine the post to which this article is devoted, and the post of General Secretary of the party.
With the exception of Vasily Vasilyevich Kuznetsov, who temporarily held this position from November 1982 to June 1983, from February to April 1984 and from March to July 1985, almost all subsequent leaders of the Soviet state.
The scouts are in power
In the summer of 1983, the ex-head of the Soviet state security agencies, Yuri Andropov, became the de facto head of state. True, Yuri Vladimirovich could not actively fulfill his duties. Shortly after his appointment, he developed a serious illness. He worked almost without leaving home. He soon died due to kidney failure, and he suffered from gout for many years.
The short era of Konstantin Chernenko
In April 1984 he was replaced by Konstantin Chernenko. He reigned for one year and 25 days, died of heart failure.
A born diplomat
In July 1985, Andrei Gromyko took over as head of the presidium. Andrei Andreevich was a diplomat who began his career in party commissions even before the war, under Malenkov and Molotov. Soon Gromyko began to represent the interests of the Soviet Union in several important international organizations at once - the Security Council and the UN.
Then, for almost 30 years, he led the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Just for the periodhis diplomatic career saw perhaps the most intense phases of the Cold War. Relations with the United States of America and the nascent North Atlantic Alliance were as tense as possible. One has only to remember that in the early 60s the world was practically on the verge of the start of an atomic war. However, the leaders of the USSR and the USA in the end did not allow the most fatal development of events. The diplomats who led these processes also played a significant role in this.
It is noteworthy that shortly before his appointment at a meeting of the plenum of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party, it was Gromyko who proposed the young, then little-known Mikhail Gorbachev, to the post of general secretary.
Gorbachev, having received the first post in the party, removed Gromyko from the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. By appointing a younger and more promising, as it seemed to him, Eduard Shevardnadze. Gromyko, in return, received the post of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, which by that time had almost completely lost its independence and significance. In fact, Gromyko performed the function of a wedding general.
Last Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council
Replaced Gromyko in this position by Mikhail Gorbachev. He became chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1985-1988). A prominent party figure Anatoly Lukyanov was appointed first deputy, who later proved himself in the State Emergency Committee, but was amnestied by the decision of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, like many other participants in the putsch.
By then the situationaggravated in many national republics. Youth protests against the current government in Kazakhstan have passed, the Karabakh and Georgian-South Ossetian conflicts have already arisen. The situation escalated in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia and Transnistria. The situation in most of the Soviet republics was restless.
At the same time, Gorbachev took important steps towards resolving the Cold War. In particular, termless treaties on actual disarmament were signed. They envisaged that countries would begin to get rid of intermediate and shorter-range missiles. US President Ronald Reagan also signed the agreement.
However, democratic reforms and the emerging perestroika did not allow Gorbachev to stay in power for too long. And the very post of chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Council was soon abolished. So Gorbachev became the last politician ever to hold it.
Here's who held this position over the years:
- Mikhail Kalinin;
- Nikolai Shvernik;
- Kliment Voroshilov;
- Leonid Brezhnev;
- Anastas Mikoyan;
- Nikolai Podgorny;
- Vasily Kuznetsov;
- Yuri Andropov;
- Konstantin Chernenko;
- Andrey Gromyko;
- Mikhail Gorbachev.
The president of the USSR replaced the chairman of the presidium. It was Gorbachev himself. And then Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, who turned several pages of Russian history at once.
Finally, the powers of the head of state Gorbachev withdrew from himself in 1991, after the official signing of the Belovezhskyagreements on the termination of the existence of the USSR.
