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Communist Party of the Soviet Union


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"CPSU" redirects here. For other uses, please see CPSU (disambiguation).

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Russian: Коммунисти́ческая Па́ртия


Сове́тского Сою́за, transliterated Kommunisticheskaya Partiya Sovetskogo Soyuza, acronym: Communist Party of the Soviet Union
КПСС (KPSS)) was the ruling political party in the Soviet Union. It emerged in 1912 as the
Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party created a separate party. The
party led the October Revolution, which led to the establishment of a socialist state in Russia.
The party was dissolved in 1991, at the time of the breakup of the Soviet Union.

For most of the history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union, the Communist Party was
virtually indistinguishable from the government, as it was generally the only political party
tolerated by the government. Consequently, the history of the USSR and the CPSU are deeply
intertwined and overlapping. Therefore, it is useful for those interested in the history of the
CPSU to also consult the History of Russia series of articles.

Contents
Leader Vladimir Ivashko (last)
n 1 Structure
n 1.1 CPSU Founded January 1912
n 1.2 Membership
Dissolved December 1991
n 2 History
n 2.1 End of Communist rule
Headquarters Kremlin, Moscow
n 3 In Estonia Official ideology/ Marxism-Leninism
n 4 In Lithuania political position
n 5 In Moldova
International affiliation Comintern (until 1943)
n 6 Branches
n 7 See also
n 8 References
n 9 External links

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Structure
CPSU Communism

The governing body of the CPSU was the Party Congress which initially met annually but whose meetings became
less frequent, particularly under Stalin. Party Congresses would elect a Central Committee which, in turn, would elect
a Politburo. Under Stalin the most powerful position in the party became the General Secretary who was elected by
the Politburo. In 1952 the title of General Secretary became First Secretary and the Politburo became the Presidium
before reverting to their former names under Leonid Brezhnev in 1966.
Basic concepts [show]
In theory, supreme power in the party was invested in the Party Congress. However, in practice the power structure
became reversed and, particularly after the death of Lenin, supreme power became the domain of the General Ideologies [show]
Secretary.
[show]
Communist internationals
At lower levels, the organizational hierarchy was managed by Party Committees, or partkoms (партком). A partkom
Prominent communists [show]
was headed by the elected partkom secretary (секретарь парткома). At enterprises, institutions, kolkhozes, etc.,
they were called as such, i.e., "partkoms". At higher levels the Committees were abbreviated accordingly: raikoms Related subjects [show]
(райком) at raion level, obkoms (обком) at oblast levels (known earlier as gubkoms (губком) for guberniyas),
gorkom (горком) it city level, etc.

The bottom level of the Party was the primary party organization (первичная партийная организация) or party cell (партийная ячейка). It was
created within any organizational entity of any kind where there were at least three communists. The management of a cell was called party bureau
(партийное бюро, партбюро). A partbureau was headed by the elected bureau secretary (секретарь партбюро).

At smaller party cells, secretaries were regular employees of the corresponding plant/hospital/school/etc. Sufficiently large party organizations were
usually headed by an exempt secretary (освобожденный секретарь), who drew his salary from the Party money.

Membership

Membership in the party ultimately became a privilege, with a small subset of the general population of Party becoming an elite class or nomenklatura
in Soviet society. Nomenklatura enjoyed many perquisites denied to the average Soviet citizen. Among those perks were shopping at well-stocked
stores, access to foreign merchandise, preference in obtaining housing, access to dachas and holiday resorts, being allowed to travel abroad, send their
children to the best universities, and obtain prestigious jobs (as well as party membership itself) for their children. It became virtually impossible to join

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the Soviet ruling and managing elite without being a member of the Communist Party.

Membership had its risks, however, especially in the 1930s when the party was subjected to purges under Stalin. Membership in the party was not open.
To become a party member one had to be approved by various committees and one's past was closely scrutinised. As generations grew up never having
known anything but the USSR, party membership became something one generally achieved after passing a series of stages. Children would join the
Young Pioneers and then, at the age of 14, may graduate to the Komsomol (Young Communist League) and ultimately, as an adult, if one had shown
the proper adherence to party discipline or had the right connections one would become a member of the Communist Party itself. However, membership
also had its obligations. Komsomol and CPSU members were expected not only to pay dues but also to carry out appropriate assignments and "social
tasks" (общественные поручения).

In 1918 it had a membership of approximately 200,000. In the late 1920s under Stalin, the party engaged in a heavy recruitment campaign (the "Lenin
Levy") of new members from both the working class and rural areas. This was both an attempt to "proletarianize" the party and an attempt by Stalin to
strengthen his base by outnumbering the Old Bolsheviks and reducing their influence in the party.

By 1933, the party had approximately 3.5 million members and candidate members but as a result of the Great Purge party membership fell to 1.9
million by 1939. In 1986, the CPSU had over 19 million members or approximately 10% of the USSR's adult population. Over 44% of party members
were classified as industrial workers, 12% were collective farmers. The CPSU had party organizations in fourteen of the USSR's 15 republics. In the
Russian federation itself there was no separate Communist Party until 1990 as affairs were run directly by the CPSU.

Communist Party
History of the Soviet Union

Main article: History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

n The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Russian: Росси́́йская Социал-демократи́ческая Рабо́чая
Па́ртия , РСДРП) was formed in Minsk in 1889.

n The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was finally divided in 1912, although the Bolshevik and
Menshevik factions had de facto functioned as separate political blocs. Henceforth, the Bolshevik party was
known as RSDLP (bolsheviks) (Russian: Росси́́йская Социал-демократи́ческая Рабо́чая Па́ртия
(большевико́в) , РСДРП(б)). Party History

n In 1918 the party took the name Russian Communist Party (bolsheviks) (Russian: Росси́йская Party Organization
Коммунисти́ческая Па́ртия (большевико́в) , РКП(б)). Congress
Central Committee
Politburo

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n In 1925 the party was renamed the All-Union Communist party (bolsheviks) (Russian: Всесою́зная Secretariat
Коммунисти́ческая Па́ртия (большевико́в) , ВКП(б)). Orgburo
Control Committee
n In 1952 the party was renamed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Auditing Commission

Leaders
End of Communist rule Lenin • Stalin
Khrushchev • Brezhnev
The growing likelihood of the dissolution of the USSR itself led conservative elements in the CPSU to launch the Andropov • Chernenko
August Coup in 1991 which temporarily removed Gorbachev from power. On August 19, 1991, a day before the New Gorbachev
Union Treaty was to be signed devolving power to the republics, a group calling itself the "State Emergency
Committee" seized power in Moscow declaring that Gorbachev was ill and therefore relieved of his position as Pravda
Komsomol
president. Soviet vice-president Gennadiy Yanayev was named acting president. The committee's eight members
Communism Portal
included KGB chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov, Internal Affairs Minister Boris Pugo, Defense Minister Dmitriy
Yazov, and Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov. The coup dissolved because of large public demonstrations and the efforts of Boris Yeltsin who became the
real power in Russia as a result. Gorbachev returned to Moscow as president but resigned as General Secretary and vowed to purge the party of
conservatives. Yeltsin had the CPSU formally banned within Russia. The KGB was disbanded as were other CPSU-related agencies and organisations.
Yeltsin's action was later declared unconstitutional but by this time the USSR had ceased to exist.

Archives of the Party are now preserved in a number of Russian state archives (Archive of the President of the Russian Federation, Russian State
Archive of Contemporary History, Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, State Archive of the Russian Federation), many of them remain
classified.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian adherents to the CPSU tradition, particularly as it existed before Gorbachev, reorganised themselves as
the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Today there is a widespread flora of parties in Russia, claiming to be the successors of CPSU. Several
of them used the name CPSU. However, CPRF is generally seen (because of its massive size) as the inheritor of the CPSU in Russia.

In other republics, communists established the Armenian Communist Party, Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Party of Communists of Kyrgyzstan,
Communist Party of Ukraine, Party of Communists of Belarus, Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, Communist Party of Kazakhstan and
the Communist Party of Tajikistan. Along with the CPRF, these parties formed the Union of Communist Parties - Communist Party of the Soviet Union
(SKP-KPSS).

n In Turkmenistan, the local party apparatus led by Saparmurat Niyazov was converted into the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan.
n In Uzbekistan, Islom Karimov converted the CPSU branch into the Democratic People's Party.
n In Georgia, the Socialist Labour Party was founded in 1992. This party would later evolve into the Communist Party of Georgia (SKP). Another
communist faction in Georgia, which is larger than SKP, is the United Communist Party of Georgia (SEKP).

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n In Estonia, the CPSU branch was in the hands of reformers, who converted it into the Estonian Democratic Labour Party (EDTP). A minority
regrouped into the Communist Party of Estonia.
n In Lithuania, the CPSU was officially banned in 1991. A branch of "progressive" communists led by Algirdas Brazauskas established the
Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania in 1992.
n In Latvia, communist organizations were officially banned and a major part of the party there had broken away in 1990 and formed the Latvian
Social Democratic Party. The remnants of CPSU became the Union of Communists of Latvia, which went underground. Later, communists
regrouped into the Socialist Party of Latvia.

In Estonia
Like in the rest of the Russian empire, the RSDLP branches in the Estland gubernia had been ravaged by division between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.
In 1912 the Bolsheviks started a publication, Kiir, in Narva. In June 1914 the party took a decision to create a special Central Committee of RSDLP(b)
of Estland, named the Northern-Baltic Committee of the RSDLP(b)" (Estonian: VSDT(b)P Põhja-Balti Komitee).

After the February Revolution, as in the rest of the empire, Bolsheviks started to gain popularity with their demands to end the war immediately, as well
as their support for fast land reform and originally even ethnic claims (to introduce Estonian as an official language parallel to Russian). During the
summer of 1917 Bolsheviks and their supporters took the control over the Tallinn Soviet.

By the end of 1917 Estonian Bolsheviks were stronger than ever - holding control over political power and having significant support - remarkably
more than in Russia. In the elections into the Russian Constituent Assembly their list got 40,2% of the votes in Estonia and 4 out of 8 seats allocated to
Estonia. The support for the party did however start to decline, and the Estonian Constituent Assembly election of January 1918 was never completed.
Moreover the party faced the situation in which it had difficultly building alliances. Their opponents, the Democratic Bloc, was able to initiate
cooperation with the Labour Party, Mensheviks and the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. Those parties supported different ideas but were united around
the demand for an independent or Finland-linked Estonia and wished to distribute land to the peasants. In the first question the Estonian Bolsheviks,
although having introduced Estonian as an official language after their takeover, promoted the idea of Estonia as a part of Soviet Russia. In the land
reform policy, Estonian Bolsheviks continued to support immediate collectivisation.

Bolshevik rule in Estonia was ended by the German invasion in the end of February 1918. The party branch continued to function in exile in Russia.

After the German revolution in November, when an Estonian government took office, the party together with support of Soviet troops attempted an
armed attack against the new state. However, by this time the support for the party had waned, and it failed to mobilize mass support for revolutionary
warfare. An Estonian Workers' Commune was set up, but with limited real influence. At this time the party branch had been reorganized into the
Central Committee of the Estonian Sections of the RCP(b) (Estonian: Venemaa Kommunistliku (bolshevike) Partei Eesti Sektsioonide Keskkomitee).
After the war a reorientation was found to be necessary (since Estonia was now an independent state) by the central leadership of the RCP(b) and thus

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on the November 5, 1920 the Communist Party of Estonia (EKP) was founded as a separate party.

In 1940 EKP was merged into the CPSU(b). The territorial organization of CPSU(b) in the Estonian SSR became known as Communist Party of Estonia
(bolshevik) (EK(b)P).

The EK(b)P was purged in 1950 of many of its original native leaders; they were replaced by several prominent Russian Estonians who had grown up in
Russia.

When the CPSU(b) changed its name in 1952, the EK(b)P removed the (b) from its name.

EKP was divided in 1990, as the pro-sovereignty majority faction of EKP separated itself from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and became
the Estonian Democratic Labour Party. The minority faction of pro-Soviet hardliners broke away forming a party called Communist Party of Estonia
(CPSU) (EKP (NLKP)).

In Lithuania
By the time of the formation of the Lithuanian SSR, the Communist Party of Lithuania (LKP) was headed by Antanas Sniečkus. In 1940 the LKP
merged into the CPSU(b). The territorial organization of the party in Lithuania was called Communist Party of Lithuania (bolshevik) (LK(b)P).

In the Lithuanian territorial organization, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the party (always a Lithuanian) was de facto governor of the
country. The second secretary was always a Moscow-appointed Russian.

In 1952 the name of the old Lithuanian party, LKP, was retaken.

In 1989, during mass protests against Soviet Union in Lithuania the party declared itself independent from Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

An alternative Communist Party of Lithuania ('on platform of Communist Party of the Soviet Union') existed in 1990-1991 under leadership of Mykolas
Burokevičius. It was established after the "traditional" party declared its independence from its Soviet Union counterpart, and was eventually banned in
1991.

In 1990 the Communist Party of Lithuania was renamed into Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, which in turn was later merged with Social
Democratic Party of Lithuania under the later's name, but with leadership dominated by ex-communists.

In Moldova

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The Communist Party of Moldova (Romanian: Partidul Comunist al Moldovei, PCM) was the republic-level chapter of the CPSU in the Moldavian SSR
from 1940 to 1991. During that time, except for the period of 1941-1944, it was the sole legal political party in the republic. It was outlawed by the pro-
Romanian Popular Front government in August 1991, just after Moldova declared independence.

After the Communist party was legalised again by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova on 7 September 1993, the PCM was reborn as the Party of
Communists of the Republic of Moldova, which has governed Moldova since 2001.

Branches
Republic Branch
Russian SFSR Коммунистическая партия РСФСР, Kommunisticheskaya partiya RSFSR (1990-1991)
Комуністична партія (більшовиків) України, Komunistychna partiya (bilshovykiv) Ukrayiny, KP(b)U (1918)
Ukrainian SSR
Комуністична партія України, Komunistychna partiya Ukrayiny
Belarusian SSR Communist Party of Belorussia
Uzbek SSR Communist Party of Uzbekistan
Kazakh SSR Communist Party of Kazakhstan
Georgian SSR Communist Party of Georgia
Azerbaijan SSR Azərbaycan Kommunist partiyası
Lithuanian SSR Lietuvos komunistų partija
Moldovan SSR Partidul Comunist al Moldovei
Latvian SSR Latvijas Komunistiskā Partija
Kyrgyz SSR Communist Party of Kirghizia
Tajik SSR Ҳизби Коммунистӣи Тоҷикистон
Armenian SSR Հայաստանի կոմունիստական կուսակցության
Turkmen SSR Communist Party of Turkmenistan
Estonian SSR Eestimaa Kommunistlik Partei
Turkestan ASSR Communist Party of Turkestan
Bukharan SSR Communist Party of Bukhara
Khorezm SSR Communist Party of Khorezm

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Karelo-Finnish SSR Communist Party of the Karelo-Finnish SSR


Transcaucasian SFSR Transcaucasian Regional Communist Party of the RKP(b)/VKP(b)

[1]

See also
n Communist Party
n Decommunization of Russia

References
1. ^ [1]

External links
n Executive Bodies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1917-1991)
n Program of the CPSU, 27th Party Congress (1986)

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n This page was last modified 00:43, 27 December 2007.


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