ecumenical councils could have been drawn from at least three possible sources: (1) a Bulgarian collection, which served as the basis for the Izbornik of 1073; (2) the Chronicle of Hamartolus; and (3) the Letter of Patriarch Photius to Boris, Prince of Bulgaria. Copies of treaties between Byzantium and Rus appear under entries for 907, 912, 945, and 971. The Creed of Michael Syncellus was the source of the Cree d taught to Volodimir I in 988. Metropolitan Hilarion’s Sermon on Law and Grace is drawn upon for Biblical quotations regarding the conversion of Volodimir I. There are also excerpts from the Memoir and Eulogy of Volodimir that are attributed to the monk James. The Life of Boris and Gleb appears in the PVL but in a redaction different from the independent work written by Nestor. Quotations in the PVL attributed to John Chrysostom seem to be drawn from the Zlatoustruiu (anthology of his writings). Subsequently two references are made in the PVL to the Revelations of Pseudo-Methodius of Patara. Various parts of the PVL draw on the Paleia (a synopsis of Old Testament history with interpretations).
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In the entries for 1097 to 1100, there is a narrative of a certain Vasily who claims to have been an eyewitness and participant in the events being described. Volodimir Monomakh’s Testament and Letter to Oleg appear toward the end of the text of the chronicle. Finally, oral traditions and legends seem to be the basis for a number of other accounts, including the coming of the Rus’.
Although the text of the PVL has been published a number of times including as part of the publication of later chronicles, only recently has a critical edition based on a stemma codicum been completed. See also: BOOK OF DEGREES; CHRONICLES; KIEVAN RUS; RURIKID DYNASTY
Cross, Samuel H., and Sherbowitz-Wetzor, Olgerd P. (1953). The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text. Cambridge, MA: Mediaeval Academy of Sciences. released from their regular work if their cell included more than 150 Party members. Although the PPO may seem insignificant in comparison to the higher organs of the CPSU, it performed crucial political and economic functions, such as admitting new members; carrying out agitation and propaganda work (e.g., educating Party members in the principles of Marxism-Leninism), and ensuring that Party discipline was maintained. Finally, PPOs were vital to the fulfillment of Party objectives (e.g., meeting planned quotas and production targets). See also: COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hill, Ronald J., and Frank, Peter. (1981). The Soviet Communist Party. London: George Allen amp; Unwin.
Ostrowski, Donald. (2003). The Povest’ vremennykh let: An Interlinear Collation and Paradosis, 3 vols., assoc. ed. David J. Birnbaum (Harvard Library of Early Ukrainian Literature, vol. 10, parts 1-3). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Primary Party Organization (PPO) was the official name for the lowest-level organization in the structure of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. PPOs were set up wherever there were at least three Party members, and every member of the Party was required to belong to one. PPOs existed in urban and rural areas, usually at Party members’ places of work, such as factories, state and collective farms, army units, offices, schools, and universities. The highest organ of a PPO was the Party meeting, which was convened at least once per month and elected delegates to the Party conference at the raion or city level. In the larger PPOs, a bureau was elected for a term of up to one year to conduct day-to-day Party business. But if a PPO had fewer than fifteen members, they elected a secretary and deputy secretary rather than a bureau. Occupants of the post of PPO secretary or PPO bureau head had to have been Party members for at least a year. PPO secretaries were usually paid or
PRIME MINISTER
The prime minister (or premier) was the chief executive officer of the Soviet government. The position was formally known as the chairman of the Council of Ministers (also known as the Sov-narkom, 1917-1946, and the Cabinet of Ministers, 1990-1991). The prime minister led sessions of the Council of Ministers and the more exclusive and secretive Presidium of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister was charged with overall responsibility for managing the centrally planned command economy and overseeing the extensive public administration apparatus.
Representing one of the most powerful positions in the Soviet leadership hierarchy, the post of prime minister carried automatic full membership in the Politburo, the top executive body in the political system. The prime minister’s seat was frequently the object of intense intra-party factional conflicts to control the economic policy agenda.
The Soviet Union’s first prime minister was Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin, who chaired the Sovnarkom, the principal executive governing body at that time. Lenin, who was not fond of extended debates, began the practice of policy making through an inner circle of ministers. Following Lenin’s death in 1924, the positions of government head and Party leader were formally separated from one another.
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Alexei Rykov, an intellectual with economic expertise, was appointed prime minister, overseeing the administration of the mixed-market New Economic Policy (NEP). In the late 1920s, as party sentiment turned against the NEP, leadership contender Josef Stalin maneuvered to dislodge Rykov from this post. Next, Prime Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, a staunch ally of Stalin, presided over and spurred on the ambitious and tumultuous state-led industrialization and collectivization campaigns of the 1930s. In 1939, with war looming, Molotov was dispatched to the foreign ministry, and Stalin claimed the position, accumulating even greater personal power.
When Stalin died in 1953, it was deemed necessary once again to separate the posts of Party and government leadership. Georgy Malenkov, who had managed the wartime economy as de facto premier, was officially promoted to prime minister. Malenkov attempted the diversion of resources away from military industry to the consumer sector, but was forced to resign by political rivals. The prime minister’s post was occupied next by Nikolai Bulganin, whose expertise lay in military matters. In 1958 Communist Party leader Nikita Khrushchev appointed himself prime minister, in violation of Party rules.
Following Khrushchev’s removal in 1964, the prime minister’s position became more routinized within the leadership hierarchy, though the Politburo had the last say on economic policy. As industry developed and the economy grew more complex, the responsibilities of the prime minister became increasingly technocratic, requiring greater command of economic issues and firsthand managerial experience. Prime ministers in the late Soviet period struggled unsuccessfully with the challenge of devising economic strategies to regenerate growth from the declining command economy.
Individuals holding the post of prime minister included: Vladimir Lenin (1917-1924), Alexei Rykov (1924- 1929), Vyacheslav Molotov (1930-1939), Josef Stalin (1939-1953), Georgy Malenkov (1953-1955), Nikolai Bulganin (1955-1958), Nikita Khrushchev (1958-1964), Alexei Kosygin (1964-1980), Nikolai Tikhonov (1980-1985), Nikolai Ryzhkov (1985-1990), and Valentin Pavlov (1990-1991). See also: COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION; COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, SOVIET; POLITBURO; SOV-NARKOM
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hough, Jerry, and Fainsod, Merle. (1979). How the Soviet Union is Governed, rev. ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Rigby, T. H. Lenin’s Government: Sovnarkom, 1917-1922. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Primitive Socialist Accumulation was a concept developed by the Soviet economist Yevgeny Preo-brazhensky to analyze the New Economic Policy (NEP) of the 1920s.
Adam Smith and other classical economists referred to “previous” or “primitive” accumulation of capital to
