An early convert to the Bolshevik cause, Mikoyan participated in the Baku Commune under the leadership of Stepan Shahumyan during the Russian Civil War in the Caucasus. In the 1920s, he served as the First Secretary of the North Caucasus region. During Stalin's rule, Mikoyan held several high governmental posts, including that of Minister of Foreign Trade. By the end of Stalin's rule, Mikoyan began to lose favour with him, and in 1949, Mikoyan lost his long-standing post of minister of foreign trade. In October 1952 at the 19th Party Congress Stalin even attacked Mikoyan viciously. When Stalin died in 1953, Mikoyan again took a leading role in policy-making. Together, he and Khrushchev crafted the de-Stalinization policy and later he became First Deputy Premier under Khrushchev. Mikoyan's position during the Thaw made him the second most powerful figure in the Soviet Union at the time.