Collective leadership in the Soviet Union
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Collective leadership (
Collective leadership was introduced following Stalin's death in 1953 and subsequent party leaders ruled as part of a collective. First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev criticized Stalin's dictatorial rule at the 20th Party Congress, but his increasingly erratic decisions lead to his ouster in 1964. He was replaced in his posts by Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and by Alexei Kosygin as Premier. Though Brezhnev gained more and more prominence over his colleagues, he retained the Politburo's support by consulting its members on all policies. Collective leadership was maintained under Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko. Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms espoused open discussion, leading to members of the leadership openly disagreeing on how little or how much reform was needed to rejuvenate the Soviet system.
History
Early years
According to Stalin’s secretary,
After Stalin's death (5 March 1953), his successors, while vying for control over the
During the
Official order of precedence (according to 5 March 1953 amendment) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Portrait | Information | Party position(s) | State position(s) | ||
Rank | 1st | Informally the Party's first amongst equals, literally first secretary | Council of Ministers
| ||
Name | Georgy Malenkov | ||||
Birthdate | 8 January 1902 | ||||
Birthplace | Orenburg, Orenburg Oblast | ||||
Deathdate | 14 January 1988 | ||||
Rank | 2nd | Council of Ministers
Minister of Internal Affairs | |||
Name | Lavrentiy Beria | ||||
Birthdate | 29 March 1899 | ||||
Birthplace | Merkheuli, Sukhumi | ||||
Deathdate | 23 December 1953 | ||||
Rank | 3rd | Council of Ministers
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |||
Name | Vyacheslav Molotov | ||||
Birthdate | 9 March 1890 | ||||
Birthplace | Kukarka, Kirov Oblast | ||||
Deathdate | 8 November 1986 | ||||
Rank | 4th | Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet | |||
Name | Kliment Voroshilov | ||||
Birthdate | 4 February 1881 | ||||
Birthplace | Lysychansk, Luhansk Oblast | ||||
Deathdate | 2 December 1969 | ||||
Rank | 5th | Informally the Party's Second Secretary | |||
Name | Nikita Khrushchev | ||||
Birthdate | 15 April 1894 | ||||
Birthplace | Kalinovka, Kursk Oblast | ||||
Deathdate | 11 September 1971 | ||||
Rank | 6th | Minister of Defence | |||
Name | Nikolai Bulganin | ||||
Birthdate | 30 March 1895 | ||||
Birthplace | Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast | ||||
Deathdate | 24 February 1975 | ||||
Rank | 7th | Council of Ministers
| |||
Name | Lazar Kaganovich | ||||
Birthdate | 22 November 1893 | ||||
Birthplace | Kabany, near Kiev | ||||
Deathdate | 25 July 1991 | ||||
Rank | 8th | Minister of Foreign Trade | |||
Name | Anastas Mikoyan | ||||
Birthdate | 25 November 1895 | ||||
Birthplace | Sanahin | ||||
Deathdate | 21 October 1978 | ||||
Rank | 9th | Minister of Machine Building Chairman of the State Planning Committee |
|||
Name | Maksim Saburov | ||||
Birthdate | 2 February 1900 | ||||
Birthplace | Druzhkivka | ||||
Deathdate | 24 March 1977 | ||||
Rank | 10th | ||||
Name | Mikhail Pervukhin | ||||
Birthdate | 14 October 1904 | ||||
Birthplace | Yuryuzansky Zavod | ||||
Deathdate | 22 July 1978 |
Collectivity of leadership
Most Western observers believed that Khrushchev had become the supreme leader of the Soviet Union by the early 1960s, even if this was far from the truth. The Presidium, which had grown to resent Khrushchev's leadership style and feared
One of the reasons for Khrushchev's ousting, as Suslov told him, was his violation of collective leadership.
The leadership was usually referred to as the "Brezhnev–Kosygin" leadership, instead of the collective leadership, by
As the years passed, Brezhnev was given more and more prominence, and by the 1970s he had even created a "Secretariat of the General Secretary" to strengthen his position within the Party. At the 25th Party Congress, Brezhnev was, according to an anonymous historian, praised in a way that exceeded the praise accorded to Khrushchev before his removal.[13] Brezhnev was able to retain the Politburo's support by not introducing the same sweeping reform measures as seen during Khrushchev's rule. As noted by foreign officials, Brezhnev felt obliged to discuss unanticipated proposals with the Politburo before responding to them.[17]
Later years
As Brezhnev's health worsened during the late 1970s, the collective leadership became even more collective.
Analysis
Soviet assessments
According to
The regular convocations of Party congresses and plenary sessions of the Central Committee, regular meetings of all electoral organs of the party, general public discussion of the major issues of state, economic and party development, extensive consultation with persons employed in various branches of the economy and cultural life...."[19]
In contrast to
Outside observers
The historian T. H. Rigby claimed that the Soviet leadership was setting up
According to Thomas A. Baylis, the author of Governing by Committee: Collegial Leadership in Advanced Societies, the existence of collective leadership was due to the individual Politburo members enhancing their own positions by strengthening the collective. Ellen Jones, an educator, noted how each Politburo member specialised in his own field and acted as that field's spokesman in the Politburo. Therefore, collective leadership was divided into Party and Government institutional and organisational lines. The dominant faction, Jones believed, acted as a "coalition" government of several social forces.
Robert Osborn wrote in 1974 that collective leadership did not necessarily mean that the Central Committee, Politburo and the
Notes
- ^ a b Christian 1997, pp. 258–259.
- ISBN 978-0-8214-0948-0.
- ISBN 978-1-78023-471-7.
- ^ Cocks, Daniels & Heer 1976, pp. 26–27.
- ^ a b Christian 1997, p. 258.
- ^ Ra'anan 2006, p. 20.
- ^
Marlowe, Lynn Elizabeth (2005). GED Social Studies: The Best Study Series for GED. Research and Education Association. p. 140. ISBN 0-7386-0127-6.
- ISBN 0-393-32484-2.
- ^ a b Baylis 1989, pp. 96–97.
- ^ a b Baylis 1989, p. 97.
- ^ Cocks, Daniels & Heer 1976, pp. 56–57.
- ISBN 978-0-313-30393-7.
- ^ a b c Baylis 1989, p. 98.
- ]
- ISBN 978-0-224-07879-5.
- ^ "170. Memorandum From the President's Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Nixon". history.state.gov. April 10, 1971. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
- ^ Baylis 1989, pp. 98–99.
- ^ Baylis 1989, p. 99.
- ^ a b c d e f Baylis 1989, p. 102.
- ^ Taras 1989, p. 35.
- ^ Baylis 1989, p. 36.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-684-18903-1.
- ^ Baylis 1989, pp. 102–103.
- ^ a b c d e f g Baylis 1989, p. 103.
- ^ a b c d e Baylis 1989, p. 104.
- ^ a b Baylis 1989, pp. 104–105.
- ^ Baylis 1989, pp. 105–106.
Sources
- Baylis, Thomas A. (1989). Governing by Committee: Collegial Leadership in Advanced Societies. ISBN 978-0-88706-944-4.
- Cocks, Paul; ISBN 978-0-674-21881-9.
- ISBN 978-0-312-17352-4.
- Law, David A. (1975). Russian Civilization. Ardent Media. ISBN 978-0-8422-0529-0.
- Ra'anan, Uri, ed. (2006). Flawed Succession: Russia's Power Transfer Crises. Oxford: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-1403-2.
- Taras, Roy (1989). Leadership Change in Communist States. ISBN 978-0-04-445277-5.
- ISBN 0-393-32484-2.