Rykov

Rykov refers to Ivan Pavlovich Rykov, a Russian politician, and Alexei Ivanovich Rykov, a Russian politician. For the purposes of this article, Alexei Rykov will be the primary focus.

Alexei Rykov was a key figure in the Russian communist government during the 1920s. Born on February 25, 1881, in Mikhailov in Vladimir Governorate (now Tver Oblast), Rykov held various prominent positions, including serving as Chairman of the Council of Peoples Commissars, from 1924 to 1930, succeeding Lenin's appointee, Lev Kamenev.

Rykov was a member of the newly formed ruling Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. As Chairman of the Council of Peoples Commissars, he oversaw the Soviet economic planning efforts during Stalin's economic policies, reported to be heavily centralized and was seen to oppose Stalin's policies, although Rykov's direct role and motivations for this are an area of ongoing scholarly research.

Rykov was brought under severe fire by Stalin in 1932 and fell from power in 1932, when he lost the position of Chairman of the Council of Peoples Commissars. Rykov held the position for six successive five-year plans set for the Soviet Union.

In 1936, Rykov was charged along with other Politburo members of being part of a group that were conspiring to overthrow the state and collaborate with Fascist Germany, during the period of aishing political repression that Stalin began. He was tried, and found guilty. Rykov died on December 12, 1938, at Lubyanka Prison, shot during the night of the shooting days in the Soviet regime cleanup that year.