List of leaders of the Soviet Union

An approximately chronological list of leaders of the Soviet Union (heads of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Soviet Union).

The formal structure of power in the Soviet Union consisted of three main branches that gave rise to three top positions.

The first position of importance was that of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, informally translated as President of the Soviet Union. Theoretically it was the highest position, since the Supreme Soviet was an interim organ of the Congress of Soviets, the latter being the supreme power of people, according to the Constitution of the Soviet Union.

The head of the government was the Premier of the Soviet Union. This was the most important position in Lenin's time.

In practice, the leader of the Communist Party used to occupy another position, which led to confusion in the West as to who the number one person in the USSR was: Lenin, Stalin and Malenkov preferred the post of the premier, while Khrushchev, Brezhnev and his successors preferred that of the president (called Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and transformed to President of the Soviet Union in 1990).

The post of General Secretary was created in April 1922 but did not come to signify the party leader or leader of the country until after Stalin won the struggle with Trotsky and Kamenev to succeed Lenin (1925). The title was informal between 1934 and 1953, since it was officially abolished by the XVII Party Congress, and was called First Secretary between September 1953 and April 1966. The "Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet" was the equivalent of President of the state while "Chairman of the Council of Ministers" and "Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars" were equivalent to Premier or Prime Minister.

On March 14 1990, the newly created (1989) Congress of People's Deputies voted to end the Communist party's control over the government and elected Gorbachev President of the Soviet Union.

Leaders of post-Soviet independent states

For details of the leaders of the 15 independent states that replaced the Soviet Union, see the following articles:
* Armenia - President of Armenia
* Azerbaijan - President of Azerbaijan
* Belarus - Leaders of Belarus
* Estonia - President of Estonia
* Georgia - President of Georgia
* Kazakhstan - President of Kazakhstan
* Kyrgyzstan - President of Kyrgyzstan
* Latvia - List of Presidents of Latvia
* Lithuania - List of Lithuanian rulers
* Moldova - President of Moldova
* Russia - List of Presidents of Russia
* Tajikistan - List of Presidents of Tajikistan
* Turkmenistan - President of Turkmenistan
* Ukraine - President of Ukraine
* Uzbekistan - President of Uzbekistan

ee also

*List of Leaders of Russia
*History of the Soviet Union
*USSR Heads of State

External links

* [http://www.archontology.org/nations/ussr Heads of State and Government of the Soviet Union (1922-1991)]