We are now approaching the final stage in the history of Lenin's Sovnarkom – indeed we have already glimpsed one aspect of it in observing the partial revival of the Little Sovnarkom after the Chairman's return to his office in October 1922. To appreciate the dramatic significance of his last acts as Sovnarkom Chairman, however, we shall need to broaden our focus and again retrace our steps somewhat. It will already be plain that decisions about internal arrangements in Sovnarkom, and especially such matters as the role of different bodies and the personalities and powers of the deputy chairmen, were closely bound up with the great question of party–state relationships, and specifically the relationships between Sovnarkom and the Politburo.

Lenin's repeated absences from the middle of 1921 had accelerated a trend that was already well under way during the Civil War: the shift from Sovnarkom to the Politburo as the end-point of the decision-making process over an ever-widening range of government business and on ever more detailed matters. We have already glanced at the underlying factors making for this trend (see Chapter 12), and we have also seen how Lenin contributed to it himself by appealing matters to the Politburo where he was dissatisfied with the way Sovnarkom had dealt with them. Evidence has also been cited, however, of his concern for the executive prerogatives of Sovnarkom, and there can be little doubt that as long as he stood firmly at the helm the drift of business to the Politburo was at least moderated.