The first ruler of the young Land of Soviets, which arose as a result of the October Revolution of 1917, was the head of the RCP (b) - the Bolshevik Party - Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), who led the "revolution of workers and peasants." All subsequent rulers of the USSR served as Secretary General of the Central Committee of this organization, which, starting in 1922, became known as the CPSU - the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Note that the ideology of the system ruling in the country denied the possibility of holding any popular elections or voting. The change of the top leaders of the state was carried out by the ruling elite itself, either after the death of its predecessor, or as a result of coups accompanied by serious inner-party struggle. The article will list the rulers of the USSR in chronological order and mark the main stages in the life path of some of the most prominent historical figures.
Ulyanov (Lenin) Vladimir Ilyich (1870–1924)
One of the most famous figures in the history of Soviet Russia. Vladimir Ulyanov stood at the origins of itscreation, was the organizer and one of the leaders of the event that gave rise to the world's first communist state. Leading a coup in October 1917 to overthrow the provisional government, he assumed the position of chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, the head of a new country formed on the ruins of the Russian Empire.
His merit is the 1918 peace treaty with Germany, which marked the end of Russia's participation in the First World War, as well as the NEP - the new economic policy of the government, which was supposed to lead the country out of the abyss of general poverty and hunger. All the rulers of the USSR considered themselves "faithful Leninists" and praised Vladimir Ulyanov in every possible way as a great statesman.
It should be noted that immediately after "reconciliation with the Germans" the Bolsheviks under the leadership of Lenin unleashed an internal terror against dissent and the legacy of tsarism, which claimed millions of lives. The NEP policy also did not last long and was abolished shortly after his death on January 21, 1924.
Dzhugashvili (Stalin) Joseph Vissarionovich (1879–1953)
Joseph Stalin in 1922 became the first general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. However, until the death of V. I. Lenin, he remained on the sidelines of the leadership of the state, yielding in popularity to his other associates, who also aspired to be the rulers of the USSR. Nevertheless, after the death of the leader of the world proletariat, Stalin eliminated his main opponents in a short time, accusing them of betraying the ideals.revolution.
By the beginning of the 1930s, he became the sole leader of the peoples, capable of deciding the fate of millions of citizens with a stroke of the pen. The policy of forced collectivization and dispossession pursued by him, which came to replace the NEP, as well as mass repressions against persons dissatisfied with the current government, claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens of the USSR. However, the period of Stalin's rule is noticeable not only as a bloody trail, it is worth noting the positive aspects of his leadership. In a short time, the Soviet Union went from being a third-rate economy to a powerful industrial power that won the battle against fascism.
After the end of the Great Patriotic War, many cities in the western part of the USSR, destroyed almost to the ground, were quickly restored, and their industry began to work even more efficiently. The rulers of the USSR, who held the highest post after Joseph Stalin, denied his leading role in the development of the state and characterized the time of his reign as a period of the leader's personality cult.
Khrushchev Nikita Sergeevich (1894–1971)
Coming from a simple peasant family, N. S. Khrushchev became at the helm of the party shortly after Stalin's death, which occurred on March 5, 1953. During the first years of his reign, he waged an undercover struggle with G. M. Malenkov, who held the post of chairman Council of Ministers and who was the de facto leader of the state.
In 1956, Khrushchev read out a report on Stalinist repressions at the 20th Party Congress, condemningactions of his predecessor. The reign of Nikita Sergeevich was marked by the development of the space program - the launch of an artificial satellite and the first manned flight into space. His new housing policy allowed many of the country's citizens to move from cramped communal apartments to more comfortable individual housing. Houses that were massively built at that time are still popularly called "Khrushchevs".
Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich (1907–1982)
On October 14, 1964, N. S. Khrushchev was dismissed from his post by a group of members of the Central Committee led by L. I. Brezhnev. For the first time in the history of the state, the rulers of the USSR were replaced in order not after the death of the leader, but as a result of an internal party conspiracy. The Brezhnev era in Russian history is known as stagnation. The country stopped in development and began to lose to the leading world powers, lagging behind them in all sectors, excluding the military-industrial.
Brezhnev made some attempts to improve relations with the United States, spoiled by the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when N. S. Khrushchev ordered the deployment of missiles with a nuclear warhead in Cuba. Treaties were signed with the American leadership that limited the arms race. However, all the efforts of Leonid Brezhnev to defuse the situation were crossed out by the entry of troops into Afghanistan.
Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich (1914–1984)
After Brezhnev's death on November 10, 1982, Yury Andropov took his place, who previously headed the KGB - the USSR State Security Committee. He set a course for reforms and transformations in the social andeconomic areas. The time of his reign was marked by the initiation of criminal cases exposing corruption in power circles. However, Yuri Vladimirovich did not have time to make any changes in the life of the state, as he had serious he alth problems and died on February 9, 1984.
Chernenko Konstantin Ustinovich (1911–1985)
Since February 13, 1984, he served as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. He continued his predecessor's policy of exposing corruption in the echelons of power. He was very ill and died on March 10, 1985, having spent a little more than a year in the highest state post. All the past rulers of the USSR, according to the order established in the state, were buried near the Kremlin wall, and K. U. Chernenko was the last on this list.
Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich (1931)
M. S. Gorbachev is the most famous Russian politician of the late 20th century. He won love and popularity in the West, but his rule causes twofold feelings among the citizens of his country. If Europeans and Americans call him a great reformer, then many Russians consider him a destroyer of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev proclaimed internal economic and political reforms under the slogan "Perestroika, Glasnost, Acceleration!", which led to a massive shortage of food and manufactured goods, unemployment and a drop in the standard of living of the population.
It would be wrong to say that the era of MS Gorbachev's rule had only negative consequences for the life of our country. In Russia, the concepts of a multi-party system, freedomreligion and press. Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his foreign policy. The rulers of the USSR and Russia, neither before nor after Mikhail Sergeyevich, were awarded such an honor.
