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| Minister of Foreign Affairs (Soviet Union) | |
|---|---|
| Post | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Native name | Министр иностранных дел СССР |
| Department | Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR |
| Style | His/Her Excellency |
| Member of | Council of Ministers of the USSR |
| Reports to | Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR |
| Seat | Moscow |
| Appointer | Chairman of the Council of Ministers |
| Formation | 6 July 1923 |
| First | Georgy Chicherin |
| Last | Eduard Shevardnadze |
| Abolished | 26 December 1991 |
Minister of Foreign Affairs (Soviet Union) was the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the principal official responsible for conducting Soviet external relations from 1923 to 1991. The officeholder represented the USSR in intergovernmental forums such as the League of Nations, United Nations, Warsaw Pact diplomacy, and bilateral interactions with states including the United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Germany, and Japan. Holders often balanced roles vis‑à‑vis leaders such as Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Mikhail Gorbachev, and institutions like the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Politburo, and the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union.
The post emerged during the early Soviet period amid the aftermath of the Russian Civil War and the negotiation of treaties like the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR. Early ministers such as Georgy Chicherin and Maxim Litvinov engaged with the Soviet–Polish War, the League of Nations debates, and recognition by states including the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, France, and the Weimar Republic. Under Joseph Stalin, the ministry operated during the Grand Alliance, the Yalta Conference, the Potsdam Conference, and the founding sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, where ministers coordinated with envoys from the United States Department of State, Foreign Office (United Kingdom), and delegations from China (Republic of China). The Cold War era saw ministers such as Andrei Gromyko and Andrei Vyshinsky navigate crises like the Berlin Blockade, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and détente with United States presidencies from Harry S. Truman to Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. In the final years, Eduard Shevardnadze implemented policies during Perestroika and Glasnost that culminated in diplomacy over the German reunification and the dissolution of the USSR.
The minister led directorates within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that managed relations with regions such as Eastern Bloc states, Western Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and specialized desks for multilateral institutions like the United Nations Security Council. The ministry coordinated with the KGB, the Ministry of Defence (Soviet Union), the Ministry of Foreign Trade (USSR), and the Soviet Embassies network in capitals including Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Beijing, Berlin, Tokyo, and Rome. Responsibilities included treaty negotiation on instruments like the Non-Proliferation Treaty, arms control accords including the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, representation at conferences such as the Helsinki Accords process, and oversight of diplomatic protocol, consular affairs, and cultural diplomacy with bodies like the Intourist and exchanges with institutions such as the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
Major officeholders included Georgy Chicherin (early 1920s), Lev Karakhan (acting roles), Maxim Litvinov (1930s), Vyacheslav Molotov (1939 onward), Andrei Vyshinsky (postwar), Andrei Gromyko (1957–1985), Eduard Shevardnadze (1985–1991), among others who served during transitions tied to leaders like Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Mikhail Gorbachev. These ministers engaged in negotiations with counterparts from the United States Department of State, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (PRC), and foreign ministers such as Dean Acheson, Ernest Bevin, John Foster Dulles, Hubert Humphrey, Henry Kissinger, André Malraux, and Willy Brandt in multilateral and bilateral fora.
Ministers shaped policies including the Soviet approach to Non-Aligned Movement states, support for anti-colonial movements in Algeria, Vietnam, and Angola, arms control initiatives like SALT I and SALT II, crisis diplomacy during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Sino-Soviet split, and détente culminating in accords such as the Helsinki Final Act. The ministry formulated stances on conflicts including the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Middle East negotiations involving Yasser Arafat and Anwar Sadat, and interventions in states like Afghanistan (1979–1989). Ministers negotiated economic and scientific cooperation agreements with entities such as the Comecon and signed treaties with states ranging from India and Pakistan to Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
The minister functioned within a framework dominated by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and reported to bodies such as the Politburo and the Central Committee. Officeholders coordinated policy with premiers including Alexei Rykov, Vyacheslav Molotov (as Chairman), Nikolai Bulganin, Alexei Kosygin, and later Nikolai Ryzhkov. The role often required alignment with the foreign policy lines set by leaders like Joseph Stalin and Leonid Brezhnev, while at times ministers such as Andrei Gromyko exercised significant autonomy in negotiations with counterparts like Henry Kissinger and Helmut Schmidt. Relations with intelligence services—primarily the NKVD, the KGB (Committee for State Security), and diplomatic security organs—were integral to executing covert and overt foreign policy.
The office left a legacy through treaties, the institutional development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and diplomats who shaped Cold War diplomacy, such as Andrei Gromyko and Eduard Shevardnadze. Following the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, successor roles appeared in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russian Federation) and foreign ministries of successor states including Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and the Baltic states. The archives and records influenced post‑Soviet scholarship at institutions like the Harvard University and Moscow State Institute of International Relations, informing studies on the Cold War, détente, nuclear non-proliferation, and contemporary Eurasian diplomacy.
Category:Government of the Soviet Union Category:Foreign relations of the Soviet Union