The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was, beginning in 1936, the highest body of state authority of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and based on the principle of unified power was the only branch of government in the Soviet state. Prior to 1936, the Congress of Soviets was the supreme legislative body. During 1989–1991 a similar, but not identical structure was the supreme legislative body. The Supreme Soviet appointed the Council of Ministers, the Supreme Court, and the Procurator General of the USSR as well as elected the Presidium which served as the USSR's collective head of state by the both 1936 and 1977 Soviet Constitution.
Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko was a Soviet politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1957–1985) and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1985–1988). Gromyko was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he retired in 1988. In the 1940s Western pundits called him Mr Nyet or "Grim Grom", because of his frequent use of the Soviet veto in the United Nations Security Council.
Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1965, and as unofficial chief ideologue of the party until his death in 1982. Suslov was responsible for party democracy and power separation within the Communist Party. His hardline attitude resisting change made him one of the foremost orthodox communist Soviet leaders.
Gustáv Husák was a Czechoslovak politician who served as the long-time First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1969 to 1987 and the President of Czechoslovakia from 1975 to 1989.
Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny was a Soviet statesman who served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the head of state of the Soviet Union, from 1965 to 1977.
Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1980 and was one of the most influential Soviet policymakers in the mid-1960s along with General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was a body of state power in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The presidium was elected by joint session of both houses of the Supreme Soviet to act on its behalf while the Supreme Soviet was not in session. By the 1936 and 1977 Soviet Constitution, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet served as the collective head of state of the USSR. In all its activities, the Presidium was accountable to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR was the supreme soviet of the Lithuanian SSR, one of the republics constituting the Soviet Union. The Supreme Soviet was established in August 1940 when the People's Seimas declared itself the provisional Supreme Soviet. According to the constitution it was very similar to modern democratic parliaments: it was elected every four years and had the power to create, amend and ratify the constitution, laws, and treaties and appoint officials in the Council of Ministers. However, in reality the elections were staged, the Soviet had very little actual power and carried out orders given by the Communist Party of Lithuania (CPL). The situation changed in 1988, when the Lithuanians began seeking independence from the Soviet Union. The political power shifted from CPL to the Soviet, which adopted a number of important constitutional amendments and laws, paving the way for the independence. The first free elections were held in February 1990 and were won by pro-independence Sąjūdis. During its first session the Supreme Soviet adopted the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania and renamed itself the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania.
The Revolutionary Council of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) ruled the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1978 until its collapse in 1992. The council was the supreme state power under the communist regime and was a carbon copy of the Supreme Soviet in the Soviet Union. The point with the council was to convene on a semiannual basis to approve decisions made by the presidium.
The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was the executive and administrative organ of the highest body of state authority, the All-Union Supreme Soviet. It was formed on 30 December 1922 and abolished on 26 December 1991. The government was headed by a chairman, most commonly referred to as the premier of the Soviet Union, and several deputy chairmen throughout its existence. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), as "The leading and guiding force of Soviet society and the nucleus of its political system" per Article 6 of the state constitution, controlled the government by holding a two-thirds majority in the All-Union Supreme Soviet. The government underwent several name changes throughout its history, and was known as the Council of People's Commissars from 1922 to 1946, the Council of Ministers from 1946 to 1991, the Cabinet of Ministers from January to August 1991 and the Committee on the Operational Management of the National Economy from August to December 1991.
Motiejus or Matas Šumauskas was a Lithuanian communist activist and Soviet politician. He served as the chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1956 to 1963 and chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR from 1967 to 1975.
Meta Vannas was an Estonian Soviet politician. She was a member of the Communist Party of Estonia.
Vladimir Makarovich Velichko is a Soviet official and entrepreneur appointed as the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers in 1991.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, referred to between 1991 and 1996 as the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was the permanent body of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR then of the Verkhovna Rada, accountable to the Supreme Soviet in its activity, and, within the nominal limits prescribed by the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR, performed functions of the highest state power in the Ukrainian SSR. It was first established by the constitution in 1937 to replace the Central Executive Committee of Ukraine. Its membership was elected for the first time on December 27, 1938, at the first session of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR. The presidium later became the permanent body of the post-Soviet legislature of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, but was dissolved upon the adoption of the Constitution of Ukraine on June 28, 1996.
Peter Colotka was a Slovak academic, lawyer and politician. He was the Prime Minister of the Slovak Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1988.
The following lists events that happened during 1988 in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Yadgar Sodiqovna Nasriddinova was an Uzbek Soviet engineer, politician, and high ranking member of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. After serving in a variety of posts in the Komsomol, she rose through the ranks of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic and became a deputy in the Supreme Soviet from 1958 to 1974. Between 1959 and 1970, she was the Deputy Chair of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and subsequently the chair of the Council of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet until 1974. She was purged from the Communist Party in 1988 after the death of Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) and during the corruption investigations in the Uzbek cotton scandal. She was rehabilitated and restored to party membership in 1991, when the allegations of bribery against her could not be substantiated. Nasriddinova was awarded the Order of Lenin four times over the course of her career, as well as twice receiving the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.
Ariadna Chasovnikova was a Kazakh–Soviet politician who served as the Deputy Chair of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR. She was honored for her service with the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and twice was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honour.
Poʻlat Qirgʻizboyevich Habibullayev was an Uzbek physicist and politician who served as President of the Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR from 1984 to 1988. In addition to his academic positions, he held a variety of high government offices, including being the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Uzbek SSR from 1988 to 1989.
