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Council of People's Commissars
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<h2 id="original-peoples-commissars">Original People's Commissars</h2> <p>The first council elected by the <a href="/facts/Second_All-Russian_Congress_of_Soviets_of_Workers%2527_and_Soldiers%2527_Deputies/8eyQbWQJ">Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets</a> in late 1917 was composed as follows. Many early <a href="/facts/Commissar/ElwXI6xz">commissars</a> later opposed the party majority organized by Stalin and allegedly conspired with the <a href="/facts/Trotskyist/vFTI0SKS">Trotskyist</a> opposition<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> or some other opposition group, which resulted in their expulsion from the party or being arrested. The party had banned factional opposition groups at the <a href="/facts/11th_Congress_of_the_Russian_Communist_Party_(Bolsheviks)/P31AQXaS">Eleventh Party Congress</a> during 1921.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> Still, the original council included Left-Communists, Trotskyists and other ex-oppositionists. Most alleged conspirators were executed for treason during the <a href="/facts/Great_Purge/KSu23l0v">Great Purge</a>, while some had sentences reduced to imprisonment.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> Composition of the first Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia<table><tbody><tr><th>Office</th><th>Name</th><th>Death</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Chairman_of_the_Council_of_People%2527s_Commissars/uMhIFtVf">Chairman</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Vladimir_Lenin/Mrwq2Xs4">Vladimir Lenin</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Stroke/DwpjdzY0">Stroke</a>, 1924</td></tr><tr><td>Head of the Administration of the council (Secretary)</td><td><a href="/facts/Vladimir_Bonch-Bruyevich/nngvXxQC">Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich</a></td><td>Natural causes, 1955</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/People%2527s_Commissariat_for_Foreign_Affairs_of_the_Russian_SFSR/5Rpozd0I">People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Leon_Trotsky/082m5WTN">Leon Trotsky</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Assassination/hgoazwWn">Assassinated</a> 1940</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/People%2527s_Commissariat_for_Agriculture/j9T3UaXN">People's Commissariat for Agriculture</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Vladimir_Milyutin/klpdG6AQ">Vladimir Milyutin</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Capital_punishment/4pbmeUIb">Executed</a> 1937</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Council_of_People%2527s_Commissars_on_War_and_Navy_Affairs_(Soviet_Russia)/Euj72rzT">Council of People's Commissars on War and Navy Affairs</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Nikolai_Krylenko/ndqatIBx">Nikolai Krylenko</a> (War College)</td><td>Executed 1938</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Pavel_Dybenko/C9uJBujp">Pavel Dybenko</a> (Navy College)</td><td>Executed 1938</td></tr><tr><td>People's Commissariat for Trade and Industry</td><td><a href="/facts/Viktor_Nogin/PfcdIyYm">Viktor Nogin</a></td><td>Natural causes 1924</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/People%2527s_Commissariat_for_Education/zaQ9Qe1W">People's Commissariat for Education</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Anatoly_Lunacharsky/y7GbkKtv">Anatoly Lunacharsky</a></td><td>Natural causes 1933</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/People%2527s_Commissariat_for_Food/HJhf3o78">People's Commissariat for Food</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Ivan_Teodorovich/4s4jV3eK">Ivan Teodorovich</a></td><td>Executed 1937</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/People%2527s_Commissariat_for_Internal_Affairs/IA8Nwh1T">People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Alexei_Rykov/hKU4Udhu">Alexei Rykov</a></td><td>Executed 1938</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/People%2527s_Commissariat_for_Justice/YaGIDaa7">People's Commissariat for Justice</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Georgy_Oppokov/xxf7jY1k">Georgy Oppokov</a></td><td>Executed 1938</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/People%2527s_Commissariat_for_Labour/qbnQHHj7">People's Commissariat for Labour</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Alexander_Shlyapnikov/c2BJbTms">Alexander Shlyapnikov</a></td><td>Executed 1937</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/People%2527s_Commissariat_for_Nationalities/zdVzvdB7">People's Commissariat for Nationalities</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Joseph_Stalin/SHtxGyQn">Joseph Stalin</a></td><td>Natural causes 1953</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/People%2527s_Commissariat_for_Posts_and_Telegraphs_of_the_RSFSR/EeNBxcDh">People's Commissariat for Posts and Telegraphs</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Nikolai_Glebov-Avilov/SxQJyhka">Nikolai Glebov-Avilov</a></td><td>Executed 1937</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/People%2527s_Commissariat_for_Railways/LwrbKqfd">People's Commissariat for Railways</a></td><td>vacant, later <a href="/facts/Mark_Yelizarov/40TTomk2">Mark Yelizarov</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Typhus/tlxCFaHf">Typhus</a>, 1919</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/People%2527s_Commissariat_for_Finance_of_the_RSFSR/1DM7dCNA">People's Commissariat for Finance</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Ivan_Skvortsov-Stepanov/l8DaYPgU">Ivan Skvortsov-Stepanov</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Typhoid_fever/bKPTIYLl">Typhoid fever</a>, 1928</td></tr><tr><td>People's Commissariat for Social Welfare</td><td><a href="/facts/Alexandra_Kollontai/XU49l5wS">Alexandra Kollontai</a></td><td>Natural causes, 1952</td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="all-union-sovnarkom">All-Union Sovnarkom</h2> <p>Upon the creation of the USSR in 1922, the <a href="/facts/Government_of_the_Soviet_Union/TUzn71Pa">Soviet Union's government</a> was modelled after the first Sovnarkom. The <a href="/facts/Republics_of_the_Soviet_Union/slVCXCrh">Soviet republics</a> retained their own governments which dealt with domestic matters. </p> <h2 id="sovmin">Sovmin</h2> <p>In 1946, the Sovnarkoms were transformed into the <a href="/facts/Council_of_Ministers_of_the_Soviet_Union/gE9Y6Ffz">Council of Ministers</a> (Sovmin) at both <a href="/facts/All-Union/m7wWsPto">all-Union</a> and <a href="/facts/Union_Republic/slVCXCrh">Union Republic</a> level.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="councils-by-administrative-division">Councils by administrative division</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Council_of_People%2527s_Commissars_of_the_Soviet_Union/3MJV5cDu">Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union</a></li></ul> <h3>Soviet republics</h3> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Council_of_People%2527s_Commissars_of_the_Russian_Soviet_Federative_Socialist_Republic/JrxqaASP">Council of People's Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Council_of_People%2527s_Commissars_(Ukraine)/78FT8GCP">Council of People's Commissars (Ukraine)</a> (Temporary government of Workers and Peasants of Ukraine)</li> <li><a href="/facts/Council_of_People%2527s_Commissars_of_Belarus/Aojm9G1q">Council of People's Commissars of Belarus</a>, including LitBel</li> <li><a href="/facts/Council_of_People%2527s_Commissars_of_Azerbaijan/M7GU4Tle">Council of People's Commissars of Azerbaijan</a></li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Armenia)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Bukhara)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Khorezm)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Georgia)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Turkestan)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Transcaucasia)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Kazakhstan), including as autonomous Kyrgyz (before 1925)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Turkmenistan)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Kyrgyzstan), including as autonomous Kyrgyz (after 1925)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Uzbekistan)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Tajikistan), including as autonomous</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Karelia-Finland), including as autonomous Karelia</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Moldova), including as autonomous</li> <li><a href="/facts/Council_of_People%2527s_Commissars_of_the_Lithuanian_SSR/1QR0Snu9">Council of People's Commissars of the Lithuanian SSR</a></li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Latvia)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Estonia)</li></ul> <h3>Autonomous republics</h3> <ul><li>Council of People's Commissars (Adjara)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (<a href="/facts/Volga_German_Autonomous_Soviet_Socialist_Republic/FAvmcglK">Volga German</a>)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Bashkorstan)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Buryat-Mongolia)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Mountainous)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Dagestan)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Kabardin-Balkaria), including Kabardin (1944–1957)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Cossack)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Kalmykia)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Karakalpakistan)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Komi)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Crimea)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Mari)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Mordva)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Nakhichevan)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (North Osetia)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Tatarstan)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Tuva)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Udmurtia)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Chechnia-Ingushetia)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Chuvashia)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Yakutia)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Abkhazia), including as autonomous</li></ul> <h3>Short-lived early soviet republics</h3> <ul><li>Council of People's Commissars (Donetsk-Krivoi Rog)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Odessa), initially as <a href="/facts/Rumcherod/DaaVY8Q0">Rumcherod</a></li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Poland)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (Galicia)</li> <li>Council of People's Commissars (<a href="/facts/Far_Eastern_Republic/woIuLrFM">Far East</a>)</li> <li><a href="/facts/People%2527s_Secretariat/KMlYzVLr">Council of People's Secretaries</a> (<a href="/facts/Ukrainian_People%2527s_Republic_of_Soviets/WhYkLPnD">Soviet Ukraine</a>)</li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/26_Baku_Commissars/7gefK8L8">26 Baku Commissars</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Government_of_the_Soviet_Union/TUzn71Pa">Government of the Soviet Union</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Deputy_Premier_of_the_Soviet_Union/z1QzryCG">Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/First_Deputy_Premier_of_the_Soviet_Union/hWUxgLDd">First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Executive_Officer_of_the_Soviet_Union/sxPAtock">Executive Officer of the Soviet Union</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Council_of_Ministers_(Soviet_Union)/gE9Y6Ffz">Council of Ministers</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Cabinet_of_Ministers_(Soviet_Union)/P1vz7WP2">Cabinet of Ministers</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110716153010/http://www.elisanet.fi/daglarsson/dokumentit/sov.htm">Governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 1917–1964</a> and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110716153356/http://www.elisanet.fi/daglarsson/dokumentit/sov1.htm">1964–1991</a></li> <li><i><a href="https://archive.org/details/leninasheadofgovernment">Lenin as Head of Government</a></i>, an English-language Soviet book on Lenin's activities as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"О преобразовании Совета Народных Комиссаров СССР в Совет Министров СССР и Советов Народных Комиссаров Союзных и Автономных республик в Советы Министров Союзных и Автономных республик" 15 марта 1946 года [On Reforming the Council of People's Commissars into the Council of Ministers, and the Councils of People's Commissars of Union and Autonomous Republics into the Councils of Ministers of Union and Autonomous Republics, 15 March 1946]. Legislation of the USSR 1946–1952 (in Russian). World and Market Economy – Collection of Articles on Economy, Igor Averin. Retrieved 3 October 2010. <a href=""О преобразовании Совета Народных Комиссаров СССР в Совет Министров СССР и Советов Народных Комиссаров Союзных и Автономных республик в Советы Министров Союзных и Автономных республик" 15 марта 1946 года" target="_blank">"О преобразовании Совета Народных Комиссаров СССР в Совет Министров СССР и Советов Народных Комиссаров Союзных и Автономных республик в Советы Министров Союзных и Автономных республик" 15 марта 1946 года</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Pierre Broué, The "Bloc" of the Oppositions against Stalin <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Lenin, Vladimir. "Eleventh Congress Of The R.C.P.(B.) March 27–April 2, 1922". www.marxists.org. <a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/mar/27.htm" target="_blank">https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1922/mar/27.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Getty, Origins of the great purges <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"О преобразовании Совета Народных Комиссаров СССР в Совет Министров СССР и Советов Народных Комиссаров Союзных и Автономных республик в Советы Министров Союзных и Автономных республик" 15 марта 1946 года [On Reforming the Council of People's Commissars into the Council of Ministers, and the Councils of People's Commissars of Union and Autonomous Republics into the Councils of Ministers of Union and Autonomous Republics, 15 March 1946]. Legislation of the USSR 1946–1952 (in Russian). World and Market Economy – Collection of Articles on Economy, Igor Averin. Retrieved 3 October 2010. <a href=""О преобразовании Совета Народных Комиссаров СССР в Совет Министров СССР и Советов Народных Комиссаров Союзных и Автономных республик в Советы Министров Союзных и Автономных республик" 15 марта 1946 года" target="_blank">"О преобразовании Совета Народных Комиссаров СССР в Совет Министров СССР и Советов Народных Комиссаров Союзных и Автономных республик в Советы Министров Союзных и Автономных республик" 15 марта 1946 года</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Huskey, Eugene (1992). Executive power and Soviet politics: the rise and decline of the Soviet state. M.E. Sharpe. p. 281. ISBN 978-1-56324-059-1. <a href="978-1-56324-059-1" target="_blank">978-1-56324-059-1</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Law, David A. (1975). Russian civilization. Ardent Media. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-8422-0529-0. <a href="978-0-8422-0529-0" target="_blank">978-0-8422-0529-0</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>