Nikolai Tikhonov
Encyclopedia
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tikhonov ' onMouseout='HidePop("14944")' href="/topics/Kharkiv">Kharkiv
, – Moscow
, 1 June 1997) was a Soviet
Russian-Ukrainian
statesman during the Cold War
. He served as Chairman
of the Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1985, and as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, literally First Vice Premier, from 1976 to 1980. Tikhonov was responsible for the cultural and economic administration of the Soviet Union during the late era of stagnation. He was replaced as Chairman of the Council of Ministers in 1985 by Nikolai Ryzhkov
. In the same year, he lost his seat in the Politburo; however, he retained his seat in the Central Committee
until 1989.
He was born in the city of Kharkiv
in 1905 to a Russian-Ukrainian working class
family; he graduated in the 1920s and started working in the 1930s. Tikhonov began his political career in local industry, and worked his way up the hierarchy of Soviet industrial ministries. He was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Gosplan
in 1963. After Alexei Kosygin's resignation Tikhonov was voted into office as Chairman of the Council of Ministers. In this position, he refrained from taking effective measures to reform the Soviet economy, a need which was strongly evidenced during the early–mid 1980s. He retired from active politics in 1989 as a pensioner
. Tikhonov died on 1 June 1997.
on to a Russian-Ukrainian working class
family; he graduated from the St. Catherine Institute of Communications in 1924. Tikhonov worked as an assistant engineer from 1924 to 1926. Four years later, in 1930, Tikhonov graduated as an engineer
, earning a degree from the Dnepropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute. From 1930 to 1941, Tikhonov worked as an engineer at the Lenin Metallurgical Plant in Dnepropetrovsk; he was appointed as the plant's Chief Engineer in January 1941.
It was during his stay in Dnepropetrovsk that he met Leonid Brezhnev
, a future leader of the Soviet Union. Tikhonov joined the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) in 1940 and by the end of the decade, had secured a job as a plant director. As a director, Tikhonov was able to show off his organisational skills; under his leadership the plant became the first in the region to reopen a hospital, organising dining rooms and restoring social clubs for workers caught up in the aftermath of the Eastern Front
. Tikhonov was quickly promoted, and started working for the Ministry of Ferrous Metallurgy in the 1950s. Between 1955 and 1960 Tikhonov became a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Ferrous Metallurgy, a member (and later Chairman) of the Scientific Council of the Council of Ministers, and finally, a Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Committee
. At the 22nd Party Congress Tikhonov was elected to the Central Committee
as a non-voting member. At the 23rd party congress
in 1966, Tikhonov was elected a member of the Central Committee. Tikhonov was awarded the Hero of Socialist Labour award for his first time.
During his tenure as Deputy Premier Tikhonov was in charge of metallurgy and chemical industry; his responsibilities did not change with his ascension to the post of First Deputy Premier. However, he did provide a general coordination for heavy industry
industry. When Alexei Kosygin, the Premier, was on sick leave in 1976 Brezhnev took advantage of his illness by appointing Tikhonov to the office of First Deputy Premier. As First Deputy Premier, Tikhonov was able to reduce Kosygin to a standby figure. Tikhonov was however one of the few who got along with both Brezhnev and Kosygin, both of them liked his candor and honesty. In 1978 Tikhonov was elected a candidate member of the Politburo and was made a voting member of the Politburo in 1979. Tikhonov was not informed of the decision to intervene in Afghanistan
; the reason being his bad relationship with Dmitriy Ustinov
, the Minister of Defence at the time.
of the Council of Ministers. During his five-year term as premier Tikhonov refrained from reforming the Soviet economy, despite all statistics from that time showing the economy was stagnating. Tikhonov presented the Eleventh Five-Year Plan
(1981–85) at the 26th Party Congress, and told the delegates that the state would allocate nine million rubles for mothers who were seeking parental leave
. In his presentation to the congress, Tikhonov admitted that Soviet agriculture was not producing enough grain
. Tikhonov called for an improvement in Soviet–US relations, but dismissed all speculations that the Soviet economy was in any sort of crisis. Despite this, Tikhonov admitted to economic "shortcomings" and acknowledged the ongoing "food problem"; other topics for discussion were the need to save energy resources, boost labour productivity and to improve the quality of Soviet produced goods. Early in his term, in January 1981, Tikhonov admitted that the government's demographic policy
was one of the weakest areas of his cabinet
. In reality however, he along with many others, were beginning to worry that not enough Russians were being born. The Era of Stagnation reduced the birth rate
, and increased the death rate of the Russian population.
awarded Tikhonov the Hero of Socialist Labour, after being advised to do so by Konstantin Chernenko
. Upon Brezhnev's death
in 1982, Tikhonov supported Chernenko's candidacy for the General Secretaryship
. Chernenko lost the vote, and Yuri Andropov
became General Secretary. It has been suggested that Andropov had plans of replacing Tikhonov with Heydar Aliyev
. Historian William A. Clark noted how Aliyev, a former head of the Azerbaijani KGB
, was appointed to the First Deputy Premiership of the Council of Ministers without Tikhonov's consent; however, Andropov's death in 1984 left Tikhonov secure in his office. Some Western analysts speculated that the appointment of Andrei Gromyko
to the First Deputy Premiership, again without Tikhonov's consent, was a sign that his position within the Soviet hierarchy was weakened. Tikhonov was on a state visit to Yugoslavia
when Gromyko was appointment to the First Deputy Premiership.
With his health failing, Andropov used his spare times to write speeches to the Central Committee
. In one of these speeches Andropov told the Central Committee that Mikhail Gorbachev
, and not Chernenko, would succeed him upon his death. His speech was not read out to the Central Committee plenum because of an anti-Gorbachev troika
consisting of Chernenko, Dmitriy Ustinov
and Tikhonov. During Andropov's last days, Tikhonov presided over the Politburo sessions, headed the 1984 Soviet delegation to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance conference in East Berlin
, conducted bilateral relations with the Eastern Bloc
states, and hosted the Prime Minister of Finland
when he visited the Soviet Union. In short, in-between Andropov's last days and Chernenko's rise to power, Tikhonov was the dominant driving figure of the Soviet Union. However, Tikhonov peacefully stepped away, and supported Chernenko's candidacy for General Secretary. When Chernenko died in 1985, Tikhonov tried, but failed, to find a contender to Gorbachev's candidacy to the General Secretaryship.
head was its deputy chairman, Nikolai Ryzhkov
. On 23 May 1985 Tikhonov presented his development plan for 1985 to 1990, and up until 2000, the plan was criticised by co-workers, and Gorbachev told his colleagues that Tikhonov was "ill-equipped" for the Premiership. Tikhonov forecast estimated growth of 20–22 percent growth in Soviet national income, an increase of 21–24 percent in industrial growth and doubling Soviet agriculture output by 2000. As part of Gorbachev's plan of removing, and replacing, the most conservative members of the Politburo, Tikhonov was compelled to retire. Ryzhkov succeeded Tikhonov in office on 27 September 1985. His resignation was made official at a Central Committee plenum in September 1985. It is noteworthy that by the time of his resignation, Tikhonov was the oldest member of the Soviet leadership. Tikhonov was active in Soviet politics, albeit in a much less prominent role, until 1989 when he lost his seat in the Central Committee.
from active politics in 1989, Tikhonov wrote a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev
which stated that he regretted supporting his election to the General Secretaryship. This view was strengthened when the Communist Party
was banned in the Soviet Union
. After his retirement, he lived the rest of his life in seclusion at his dacha
. As one of his friends noted, he lived as "a hermit" and never showed himself in public and that his later life was very difficult as he had no children and because his wife had died. Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Tikhonov worked as a State Advisor to the Supreme Soviet. Tikhonov died on 1 June 1997 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery
.
According to Time
magazine, Tikhonov was a "tried and tested yes man" who had very little experience in foreign and defence policy when he took over the Premiership from Alexei Kosygin. A bust dedicated to Tikhonov can be found in Kharkiv
, his birth place. Tikhonov, when compared to other Soviet premiers, has made little impact on post-Soviet culture and his legacy is remembered by few today. During his lifetime Tikhonov was awarded several awards; he was awarded nine Order of Lenin
s, two Order of the Red Banner of Labour
, one Red Star, two Stalin Prizes and several medals and foreign awards.
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
, – Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, 1 June 1997) was a Soviet
Soviet people
Soviet people or Soviet nation was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Initially used as a nonspecific reference to the Soviet population, it was eventually declared to be a "new historical, social and international unity of people".-Nationality politics in early Soviet...
Russian-Ukrainian
Ukrainians in Russia
The Ukrainians in Russia make up the largest single Ukrainian diaspora of the Ukrainian people. Officially there are 2,942,961 Ukrainians living in Russia or just over 2% of the total population making them the third largest ethnic group after ethnic Russians and Tatars in the Russian...
statesman during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. He served as Chairman
Premier of the Soviet Union
The office of Premier of the Soviet Union was synonymous with head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . Twelve individuals have been premier...
of the Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1985, and as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, literally First Vice Premier, from 1976 to 1980. Tikhonov was responsible for the cultural and economic administration of the Soviet Union during the late era of stagnation. He was replaced as Chairman of the Council of Ministers in 1985 by Nikolai Ryzhkov
Nikolai Ryzhkov
Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov was a Soviet official who became a Russian politician following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He served as the last Chairman of the Council of Ministers or Premier of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991...
. In the same year, he lost his seat in the Politburo; however, he retained his seat in the Central Committee
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka", earlier was also called as the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party ...
until 1989.
He was born in the city of Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
in 1905 to a Russian-Ukrainian working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
family; he graduated in the 1920s and started working in the 1930s. Tikhonov began his political career in local industry, and worked his way up the hierarchy of Soviet industrial ministries. He was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Gosplan
Gosplan
Gosplan or State Planning Committee was the committee responsible for economic planning in the Soviet Union. The word "Gosplan" is an abbreviation for Gosudarstvenniy Komitet po Planirovaniyu...
in 1963. After Alexei Kosygin's resignation Tikhonov was voted into office as Chairman of the Council of Ministers. In this position, he refrained from taking effective measures to reform the Soviet economy, a need which was strongly evidenced during the early–mid 1980s. He retired from active politics in 1989 as a pensioner
Pensioner
In common parlance, a pensioner is a person who has retired, and now collects a pension. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom and Australia where someone of pensionable age may also be referred to as an 'old age pensioner', or OAP. In the United States, the term retiree is more...
. Tikhonov died on 1 June 1997.
Early life and career
Tikhonov was born in the Ukrainian city of KharkivKharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
on to a Russian-Ukrainian working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
family; he graduated from the St. Catherine Institute of Communications in 1924. Tikhonov worked as an assistant engineer from 1924 to 1926. Four years later, in 1930, Tikhonov graduated as an engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, earning a degree from the Dnepropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute. From 1930 to 1941, Tikhonov worked as an engineer at the Lenin Metallurgical Plant in Dnepropetrovsk; he was appointed as the plant's Chief Engineer in January 1941.
It was during his stay in Dnepropetrovsk that he met Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
, a future leader of the Soviet Union. Tikhonov joined the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) in 1940 and by the end of the decade, had secured a job as a plant director. As a director, Tikhonov was able to show off his organisational skills; under his leadership the plant became the first in the region to reopen a hospital, organising dining rooms and restoring social clubs for workers caught up in the aftermath of the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
. Tikhonov was quickly promoted, and started working for the Ministry of Ferrous Metallurgy in the 1950s. Between 1955 and 1960 Tikhonov became a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Ferrous Metallurgy, a member (and later Chairman) of the Scientific Council of the Council of Ministers, and finally, a Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Committee
Gosplan
Gosplan or State Planning Committee was the committee responsible for economic planning in the Soviet Union. The word "Gosplan" is an abbreviation for Gosudarstvenniy Komitet po Planirovaniyu...
. At the 22nd Party Congress Tikhonov was elected to the Central Committee
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka", earlier was also called as the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party ...
as a non-voting member. At the 23rd party congress
23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union took place in Moscow, RSFSR between 29 March and 8 April 1966. It was the first Congress during Leonid Brezhnev's leadership of the Party and state...
in 1966, Tikhonov was elected a member of the Central Committee. Tikhonov was awarded the Hero of Socialist Labour award for his first time.
During his tenure as Deputy Premier Tikhonov was in charge of metallurgy and chemical industry; his responsibilities did not change with his ascension to the post of First Deputy Premier. However, he did provide a general coordination for heavy industry
Heavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
industry. When Alexei Kosygin, the Premier, was on sick leave in 1976 Brezhnev took advantage of his illness by appointing Tikhonov to the office of First Deputy Premier. As First Deputy Premier, Tikhonov was able to reduce Kosygin to a standby figure. Tikhonov was however one of the few who got along with both Brezhnev and Kosygin, both of them liked his candor and honesty. In 1978 Tikhonov was elected a candidate member of the Politburo and was made a voting member of the Politburo in 1979. Tikhonov was not informed of the decision to intervene in Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
; the reason being his bad relationship with Dmitriy Ustinov
Dmitriy Ustinov
Dmitriy Feodorovich Ustinov was Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union from 1976 until his death.-Early life:Dimitry Feodorovich Ustinov was born in a working-class family in Samara. During the civil war, when hunger became intolerable, his sick father went to Samarkand, leaving Dimitry as head...
, the Minister of Defence at the time.
Premiership (1980–85)
Appointment and the 26th Congress
When Alexei Kosygin resigned in 1980 Tikhonov, at the age of 75, was elected the new ChairmanPremier of the Soviet Union
The office of Premier of the Soviet Union was synonymous with head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . Twelve individuals have been premier...
of the Council of Ministers. During his five-year term as premier Tikhonov refrained from reforming the Soviet economy, despite all statistics from that time showing the economy was stagnating. Tikhonov presented the Eleventh Five-Year Plan
Eleventh Five-Year Plan (Soviet Union)
The Eleventh Five-Year Plan, or the 11th Five-Year Plan, of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a set of goals designed to strengthen the country's economy between 1981 and 1985...
(1981–85) at the 26th Party Congress, and told the delegates that the state would allocate nine million rubles for mothers who were seeking parental leave
Parental leave
Parental leave is an employee benefit that provides paid or unpaid time off work to care for a child or make arrangements for the child's welfare. Often, the term parental leave includes maternity, paternity, and adoption leave...
. In his presentation to the congress, Tikhonov admitted that Soviet agriculture was not producing enough grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
. Tikhonov called for an improvement in Soviet–US relations, but dismissed all speculations that the Soviet economy was in any sort of crisis. Despite this, Tikhonov admitted to economic "shortcomings" and acknowledged the ongoing "food problem"; other topics for discussion were the need to save energy resources, boost labour productivity and to improve the quality of Soviet produced goods. Early in his term, in January 1981, Tikhonov admitted that the government's demographic policy
Demographics of the Soviet Union
According to data from the 1989 Soviet census, the population of the Soviet Union was 70% East Slavs, 12% Turkic peoples, and all other ethnic groups below 10%. Alongside the atheist majority of 60% there were sizable minorities of Russian Orthodox followers and Muslims According to data from the...
was one of the weakest areas of his cabinet
Tikhonov's First Government
The former government of Alexei Kosygin was dissolved following his resignation in October 1980. Nikolai Tikhonov took over the office of the Premier. The government was dissolved following the nationwide 1984 legislative election.-Ministries:-Committees:...
. In reality however, he along with many others, were beginning to worry that not enough Russians were being born. The Era of Stagnation reduced the birth rate
Birth rate
Crude birth rate is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year . Another word used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude birth rate is subtracted from the crude death rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase...
, and increased the death rate of the Russian population.
Andropov and Chernenko
Leonid BrezhnevLeonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
awarded Tikhonov the Hero of Socialist Labour, after being advised to do so by Konstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko was a Soviet politician and the fifth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He led the Soviet Union from 13 February 1984 until his death thirteen months later, on 10 March 1985...
. Upon Brezhnev's death
Death and funeral of Leonid Brezhnev
On 10 November 1982, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, the third General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the fifth leader of the Soviet Union, died a 75 year-old man after suffering a heart attack following years of serious ailments. His death was officially acknowledged on 11...
in 1982, Tikhonov supported Chernenko's candidacy for the General Secretaryship
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the title given to the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. With some exceptions, the office was synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union...
. Chernenko lost the vote, and Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:...
became General Secretary. It has been suggested that Andropov had plans of replacing Tikhonov with Heydar Aliyev
Heydar Aliyev
Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev , also spelled as Heidar Aliev, Geidar Aliev, Haydar Aliyev, Geydar Aliyev was the third President of Azerbaijan for the New Azerbaijan Party from June 1993 to October 2003, when his son Ilham Aliyev succeeded him.From 1969 till 1982, Aliyev was also the leader of Soviet...
. Historian William A. Clark noted how Aliyev, a former head of the Azerbaijani KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, was appointed to the First Deputy Premiership of the Council of Ministers without Tikhonov's consent; however, Andropov's death in 1984 left Tikhonov secure in his office. Some Western analysts speculated that the appointment of Andrei Gromyko
Andrei Gromyko
Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet . Gromyko was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he retired in 1987. In the West he was given the...
to the First Deputy Premiership, again without Tikhonov's consent, was a sign that his position within the Soviet hierarchy was weakened. Tikhonov was on a state visit to Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
when Gromyko was appointment to the First Deputy Premiership.
With his health failing, Andropov used his spare times to write speeches to the Central Committee
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka", earlier was also called as the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party ...
. In one of these speeches Andropov told the Central Committee that Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, and not Chernenko, would succeed him upon his death. His speech was not read out to the Central Committee plenum because of an anti-Gorbachev troika
Troika (triumvirate)
Troika is a committee consisting of three members. The origin of "troika" comes from the term in Russian used to describe three-horse harnessed carriage, or more often, horse-drawn sledge.- Communist states :...
consisting of Chernenko, Dmitriy Ustinov
Dmitriy Ustinov
Dmitriy Feodorovich Ustinov was Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union from 1976 until his death.-Early life:Dimitry Feodorovich Ustinov was born in a working-class family in Samara. During the civil war, when hunger became intolerable, his sick father went to Samarkand, leaving Dimitry as head...
and Tikhonov. During Andropov's last days, Tikhonov presided over the Politburo sessions, headed the 1984 Soviet delegation to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance conference in East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
, conducted bilateral relations with the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
states, and hosted the Prime Minister of Finland
Prime Minister of Finland
The Prime Minister is the Head of Government of Finland. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, who is the Head of State. The current Prime Minister is Jyrki Katainen of the National Coalition Party.-Overview:...
when he visited the Soviet Union. In short, in-between Andropov's last days and Chernenko's rise to power, Tikhonov was the dominant driving figure of the Soviet Union. However, Tikhonov peacefully stepped away, and supported Chernenko's candidacy for General Secretary. When Chernenko died in 1985, Tikhonov tried, but failed, to find a contender to Gorbachev's candidacy to the General Secretaryship.
Gorbachev and resignation
Upon Gorbachev's ascension to power, Tikhonov was elected Chairman of the newly established Commission on Improvements of the Management System. The title of chairman was largely honorary, and its de factoDe facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
head was its deputy chairman, Nikolai Ryzhkov
Nikolai Ryzhkov
Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov was a Soviet official who became a Russian politician following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He served as the last Chairman of the Council of Ministers or Premier of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991...
. On 23 May 1985 Tikhonov presented his development plan for 1985 to 1990, and up until 2000, the plan was criticised by co-workers, and Gorbachev told his colleagues that Tikhonov was "ill-equipped" for the Premiership. Tikhonov forecast estimated growth of 20–22 percent growth in Soviet national income, an increase of 21–24 percent in industrial growth and doubling Soviet agriculture output by 2000. As part of Gorbachev's plan of removing, and replacing, the most conservative members of the Politburo, Tikhonov was compelled to retire. Ryzhkov succeeded Tikhonov in office on 27 September 1985. His resignation was made official at a Central Committee plenum in September 1985. It is noteworthy that by the time of his resignation, Tikhonov was the oldest member of the Soviet leadership. Tikhonov was active in Soviet politics, albeit in a much less prominent role, until 1989 when he lost his seat in the Central Committee.
Later life and death
After his forced resignationResignation
A resignation is the formal act of giving up or quitting one's office or position. It can also refer to the act of admitting defeat in a game like chess, indicated by the resigning player declaring "I resign", turning his king on its side, extending his hand, or stopping the chess clock...
from active politics in 1989, Tikhonov wrote a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
which stated that he regretted supporting his election to the General Secretaryship. This view was strengthened when the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
was banned in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. After his retirement, he lived the rest of his life in seclusion at his dacha
Dacha
Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...
. As one of his friends noted, he lived as "a hermit" and never showed himself in public and that his later life was very difficult as he had no children and because his wife had died. Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
Tikhonov worked as a State Advisor to the Supreme Soviet. Tikhonov died on 1 June 1997 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery
Novodevichy Cemetery
Novodevichy Cemetery is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, Russia. It is next to the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. It should not be confused with the Novodevichy Cemetery in Saint Petersburg....
.
According to Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine, Tikhonov was a "tried and tested yes man" who had very little experience in foreign and defence policy when he took over the Premiership from Alexei Kosygin. A bust dedicated to Tikhonov can be found in Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
, his birth place. Tikhonov, when compared to other Soviet premiers, has made little impact on post-Soviet culture and his legacy is remembered by few today. During his lifetime Tikhonov was awarded several awards; he was awarded nine Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
s, two Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Order of the Red Banner of Labour
The Order of the Red Banner of Labour was an order of the Soviet Union for accomplishments in labour and civil service. It is the labour counterpart of the military Order of the Red Banner. A few institutions and factories, being the pride of Soviet Union, also received the order.-History:The Red...
, one Red Star, two Stalin Prizes and several medals and foreign awards.