Chairman of the Council of Ministers V. Molotov
During the December 1949 election, the Conservative, which led by Vyacheslav Molotov, won the election. They could only form a majority government with the support of the National Unity Party, which led by Lazar Kaganovich. So they decided to form another coalition government. The government here also included the first cabinet from 1950-1955, and from 1955-1960, when there is a change of the military leadership.
The Cabinet was the one that completely changed all ministers from the all cabinet (except for Vladimir Novikov, who was promoted to Deputy Chairman of Council of Ministers, and Independent Nikolai Voznesensky), breaking the compromise between the Nationals (now National Unity), the Liberals and the Socialist (Social Democrats and Libertarian Socialists). This also break the compromise between the political parties and the armed forces, in which somehow influenced all the old cabinets, from Witte to Khrushchev. At this cabinet, it also introduced the Ministry of Information, Communication and Mass Media, in which Dmitry Shepilov in charge of it. Iosif Dzugashvili was promoted to 1st Deputy Prime Minister, which led to some observers believed that Dzugashvili was the one actually controlled the cabinet, not Molotov.
Composition[]
| Position | Name | Term | Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister of the Government | Vyacheslav Molotov | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | Conservative |
| 1st Deputy Prime Minister of the Government | Iosif Dzugashvili | National | |
| Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff of the Government | Vladimir Novikov | 7/5/1950 - 6/4/1950 | National |
| Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mass Communications | Dmitry Shepilov | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | Conservative-Socialist (compromise) |
| Chairman of the National Security Council | FM Alexander Novikov | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | Independent |
| Minister of Economy and Investment | Nikolai Voznesensky | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | Independent (compromise) |
| Minister of Finance | Nikolai Baibakov | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | Conservative |
| Chairman of the Trade Balancing Committee (subordinated to Ministry of Economy) | Nikolai Patolichev | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | National |
| Chairman of the State Bank of Russia | Alexei Grichmanov | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | Independent (compromise) |
| Minister of National Security | FM Alexander Novikov | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1955 | Independent |
| GEN Sergei Biryuzov | 7/5/1955 - 7/5/1960 | Independent | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | Vyacheslav Molotov | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | Conservative |
| Minister of Culture | Balzhan Bultrikova | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | Conservative |
| Minister of Health | Sergei Kurashov | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | Conservative |
| Minister of Agriculture | Vladimir Matskevich | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | Conservative |
| Minister of Industry and Machinery | Anatoly Kostousov | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | National |
| Minister of Youth Affairs | Vladimir Semichatsny | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | National |
| Minister of Labour and Social Protection | Mikhail Smrtyukov | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | Independent |
| Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure | Fuad Yabubovsky | 7/5/1950 - 7/5/1960 | National |
The new cabinet abolished the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, and no new government body replaced it, therefore, gave Molotov some extraordinary power without any consultation of other high-ranking members of the cabinet[1]. This would let to the first constitution scandal in 1954, when Molotov signed the extraordinary decree on the Presidium of the Cabinet, in which abolished completely the body. This led to the dissatisfaction to the Nationals, who benefitted from it to make new policies, and both the Socialists and the Liberals, who seems to be dissatisfied with Molotov's increasingly authoritarian leadership. However, during the investigation of the parliament, Molotov was acquitted since he had no decision nor responsible for the decree.
References[]
- ↑ According to the Article 5 of 1956 Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Government would need to have a Presidium of the Council of Ministers of cabinet, in which the Prime Minister could choose anybody to join it. However, in order to abolish it, the Prime Minister should have the support of 2/3 of the Parliament.