1. Structure 1 Autocracy – Alexander II to 1905 under Nicholas Tsar By far the most powerful section and at the top of the power structure was the tsar. All other aspects of government were accountable to the tsar, he held ultimate power Committee of Ministers – The Tsar couldn't possible manage everything himself so he appointed ministers. It’s important to note that the tsar did all the appointing, so only people who the tsar approved of would be a minister. You had ministers of finance, ministers of war and someone called the ‘Over Procurator of the Holy Synod’ which is basically minister of religion by another name. Also, any laws the Ministers suggested had to be approved by the tsar. The Senate – This was the Supreme Court in Russia, so it enforced the laws that had been approved by the tsar. The tsar approved the laws, the Senate enforced them. Imperial State Council – Historian Peter Waldron referred to it as ‘a retirement home for old government servants.’ It was basically a group of advisors to the tsar. The tsar appointed people to this position, many of them old and had worked for the tsars for many years. Just like with any advisors he could choose to listen to them or not to listen to them.

2. Structure 2 Autocracy – 1905 under Nicholas to Provisional Government Tsar By far the most powerful section and at the top of the power structure was the tsar. All other aspects of government were accountable to the tsar, he held ultimate power, he had to approve all laws. Council of Ministers – The Tsar couldn't possible manage everything himself so he appointed ministers. The Prime Minister was the most important and he managed the rest of the ministers. It’s important to note that the tsar did all the appointing, so only people who the tsar approved of would be a minister. You had ministers of finance, ministers of war and someone called the ‘Over Procurator of the Holy Synod’ which is basically minister of religion by another name. Laws suggested by the ministers would be sent to the State Council and the Duma to be debated. If the Council and Duma had approved a law, it was passed the the Tsar for final approval. State Council – Many of the men serving on the state council were directly appointed by the tsar. Others were elected representatives of the zemstva, towns, the church, universities and other institutions. They debated the laws before passing them to the duma. The Duma – This was supposed to be elected every five years. The voting system was created to favour the upper-classes. Like the state council it had no power to suggest laws, only to block them. However Article 87 of the Fundamental Laws (announced in 1906, one year after the Duma was formed) meant that if the Duma and State Council were in recess (fancy way of saying on their holidays) then the ministers could simply send laws straight to the tsar. So if ministers or the tsar were worried that a law wouldn’t be approved by the State Council or the Duma, they’d simply wait until the recess and bypass them.

3. Structure 3 – The Provisional Government The provisional government had official power. The Provisional Government was made up mostly of members of the fourth duma which had been suspended in the second year of the war after some members protested against the tsar for continuing the war. They said that elections could not take place until after the war. They said that the land issue couldn’t not be solved until after the war. The war continued to go badly. The Petrograd Soviet had unofficial power, in that they were not recognised as an official part of the government but they held the loyalty of the soldiers, sailors and workers of Petrograd and much of the rest of Russia too so they did have power. This means that this period of Russian history was a period of shared authority. The Bolsheviks managed to gain popularity and ultimate power due to the continuation of the war and land problems but also because in May six leading members of the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries (who had previously been leaders in the Petrograd Soviet) agreed to join the Provisional Government and this looked liked they’d ‘sold out’ their supporters for power. The Bolsheviks gained many more supporters as they totally opposed the Provisional Government.

4. Structure 4 – Lenin and Stalin until 1936 (Extra bit but not part of Soviet structure of government) The Constituent Assembly Lenin allowed elections to be held in November 1917 and when the Socialist Revolutionaries won he dismissed the elections as done using the old bourgeoisie methods of voting, then after one day of meeting he dismissed the Constituent Assembly altogether.) The Bolshevik Leader (Lenin or Stalin) – Held ultimate power. Although laws were not always formally approved by the leader, as under the tsars, if something was passed that the leader did not approve of then it would have been reversed and the people responsible would be held accountable. Politburo – This was a small, elite group of the most powerful and important Bolsheviks. They met to formulate policy and discuss the running of the country generally. Sovnarkom – This was essentially the same as the Council of Ministers or Committee of Ministers under the tsars, except they didn’t want to use the same ‘bourgeoisie’ terms and be associated with the old system, so they called the people that they put in charge of different aspects of society People’s Commissars. So you had a Commissar of Foreign Affairs and a Commissar of Education etc… Central Executive Committee – In theory the Commissars (above) were held responsible by the Central Executive Committee, but in practice the Commissars held the most power. To begin with the Central Executive Committee had Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries in it but only until the summer of 1918 when they were expelled. People were selected to be part of the Central Executive Committee at the annual party congress, individual towns or local committees elected people to send to the annual party congress.

5. Structure 5 – The 1936 Stalin Constitution to end of Khrushchev 1964 The Bolshevik Leader (Lenin or Stalin) – Held ultimate power. Although laws were not always formally approved by the leader, as under the tsars, if something was passed that the leader did not approve of then it would have been reversed and the people responsible would be held accountable. Politburo – This was a small, elite group of the most powerful and important Bolsheviks. They met to formulate policy and discuss the running of the country generally. Sovnarkom – This was essentially the same as the Council of Ministers or Committee of Ministers under the tsars, except they didn’t want to use the same ‘bourgeoisie’ terms and be associated with the old system, so they called the people that they put in charge of different aspects of society People’s Commissars. So you had a Commissar of Foreign Affairs and a Commissar of Education etc… Supreme Soviet of the USSR – Was split into two parts, the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities and this was ostensibly done because Stalin wanted to give greater representation to the different national groups in the USSR. The members of the Supreme Soviet elected the Commissars to the Sovnarkom.