Conclusion

Abstract

Molotov’s appointment to the chairmanship of Sovnarkom, in December 1930, represented the beginning of a third period of experimentation with the governmental machine, in response to revolutionary change in twentieth century Russia. Earlier examples were the attempts to establish the Duma and Council of Ministers following the 1905 revolution, and Lenin’s Sovnarkom after the 1917 revolutions.¹ If the first two examples were abortive attempts to begin evolution towards a cabinet style of government they failed because political power was located elsewhere, after 1905 in the autocracy and after 1917 in the Communist Party, as Lenin was to find, even before he was incapacitated by illness. The 1930 experiment, in response to the ‘revolution from above’ was of a different nature. There was no intention of developing cabinet government. It was an attempt by the party leadership to use the government machine as an instrument for implementing the industrialisation drive and collectivisation.