View source for General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

{{Short description|Highest political position in the Soviet Union}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Featured list}}
{{Infobox official post
| post = General Secretary
| body = the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
| native_name = {{lang|ru|Генеральный секретарь ЦК КПСС}}
| insignia = КПСС.svg
| insigniasize = 100px
| insigniacaption = Emblem of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
| insigniaalt = 
| flag = 
| flagsize = 
| flagalt = 
| flagborder = 
| flagcaption = 
| image = CroppedStalin1943.jpg
| imagesize = 
| alt = 
| imagecaption = '''Longest serving<br />[[Joseph Stalin]]'''<br />3 April 1922 – 16 October 1952,<br />''de facto'' 5 March 1953
| department = [[Central Committee of the Communist Party]]
| style = [[Comrade]] [[General Secretary of the Communist Party|General Secretary]] (informal)
| type = [[Party leader]]
| status = [[List of leaders of the Soviet Union|Country leader]]
| abbreviation = 
| member_of = {{ubl|[[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]]}} and
[[Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Secretariat]]
| reports_to = 
| residence = [[Kremlin Senate]]<ref>{{cite web|title=ГЛАВНЫЙ КОРПУС КРЕМЛЯ|url=http://velib.com/read_book/sergievskaja_irina/moskva_paradnaja_tajjny_i_predanija_zapretnogo_goroda/chast_i_dvorcovye_tajjny/rabochaja_rezidencija_prezidenta_rossii/kremlevskijj_senat/|website=The VVM Library|access-date=27 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128074759/http://velib.com/read_book/sergievskaja_irina/moskva_paradnaja_tajjny_i_predanija_zapretnogo_goroda/chast_i_dvorcovye_tajjny/rabochaja_rezidencija_prezidenta_rossii/kremlevskijj_senat/|archive-date=28 January 2018|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
| seat = [[Kremlin]], Moscow
| nominator = 
| appointer = [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]]
| appointer_qualified = 
| termlength = Life tenure
| termlength_qualified = 
| constituting_instrument = 
| precursor = 
| formation = {{Start date and age|df=y|1922|4|3}}
| first = [[Joseph Stalin]]
| last = [[Vladimir Ivashko]] (''acting'')
| abolished = {{Start date and age|df=y|1991|8|29}}
| superseded_by = [[Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Chairman of the Union of Communist Parties]]
| unofficial_names = 
| deputy = [[Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Second Secretary]]
| salary = 10,000&nbsp;[[Soviet rouble|Rbls]] annually {{dubious|date=May 2025}} {{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
| website = 
| footnotes = 
}} 
{{Politics of the Soviet Union}}
The '''General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union'''{{efn|{{lang-rus|links=no|Генеральный секретарь ЦК КПСС|r=Kommunisticheskaya partiya Sovetskovo Soyuza|p=kəmʊnʲɪsʲˈtʲitɕɪskəjə ˈpartʲɪjə sɐˈvʲetskəvə sɐˈjuzə}}.}} was the [[Party leader|leader]] of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU). From 1924 until the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union|country's dissolution]] in 1991, the officeholder was the recognized [[List of leaders of the Soviet Union|leader of the Soviet Union]].{{sfn|Armstrong|1986|p=93}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Soviet Union – General Secretary: Power and Authority |url=http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-12590.html |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=www.country-data.com |archive-date=28 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128051034/http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-12590.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Prior to [[Joseph Stalin]]'s accession, the position was not viewed as an important role in [[Lenin's First and Second Government|Vladimir Lenin's government]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=McCauley |first1=Martin |title=Who's Who in Russia since 1900 |date=11 September 2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-77214-8 |page=200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SmtzBDDlCfMC&dq=lenin+General+secretary+technical+position&pg=PA200 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McDermott |first1=Kevin |title=Stalin: Revolutionary in an Era of War |date=23 January 2006 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-230-20478-2 |page=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zpJKEAAAQBAJ&dq=stalin+general+secretary+administrative+position&pg=PA43 |language=en}}</ref> and previous occupants had been responsible for technical rather than political decisions.{{sfn|Zemtsov|2001|p=132}}

Officially, the General Secretary solely controlled the Communist Party directly.{{dubious|date=October 2024}} However, since the party had a [[One-party state|monopoly on political power]], the General Secretary ''de facto'' had executive control of the [[Government of the Soviet Union|Soviet government]]. Because of the office's ability to direct both the foreign and domestic policies of the state and preeminence over the Soviet Communist Party, it was the ''de facto'' highest office of the Soviet Union.

==History==
Before the [[October Revolution]], the job of the party secretary was largely that of a bureaucrat. Following the Bolshevik seizure of power, the Office of the Responsible Secretary was established in 1919 to perform administrative work.{{sfn|Fainsod|Hough|1979|p=126}} After the Bolshevik victory in the [[Russian Civil War]], the Office of General Secretary was created by [[Vladimir Lenin]] in 1922 with the intention that it serve a purely administrative and disciplinary purpose. Its primary task would be to determine the composition of party membership and to assign positions within the party. The General Secretary also oversaw the recording of party events, and was entrusted with keeping party leaders and members informed about party activities.

When assembling his cabinet, Lenin appointed [[Joseph Stalin]] to be General Secretary. Over the next few years, Stalin was able to use the principles of [[democratic centralism]] to transform his office into that of party leader, and eventually [[List of leaders of the Soviet Union|leader of the Soviet Union]].{{sfn|Fainsod|Hough|1979|pp=142–146}} Trotsky attributed his appointment to the initial recommendation of [[Grigory Zinoviev]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trotsky |first1=Leon |title=Writings of Leon Trotsky: 1936–37 |date=1970 |publisher=Pathfinder Press |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zofAQAAMAAJ&q=If+not+for+Zinoviev%E2%80%99s+initiative%2C+Stalin+would+have+hardly+become+the+General+Secretary+of+the+Party |language=en |access-date=30 October 2023 |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030085932/https://books.google.com/books?id=6zofAQAAMAAJ&q=If+not+for+Zinoviev%E2%80%99s+initiative,+Stalin+would+have+hardly+become+the+General+Secretary+of+the+Party |url-status=live }}</ref> This view has been supported by several historians.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brackman |first1=Roman |title=The Secret File of Joseph Stalin: A Hidden Life |date=23 November 2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-75840-0 |page=136 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PY2RAgAAQBAJ&dq=zinoviev+appointment+stalin+general+secretary&pg=PA136 |language=en |access-date=30 October 2023 |archive-date=14 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014150332/https://books.google.com/books?id=PY2RAgAAQBAJ&dq=zinoviev+appointment+stalin+general+secretary&pg=PA136 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Marples |first1=David R. |last2=Hurska |first2=Alla |title=Joseph Stalin: A Reference Guide to His Life and Works |date=23 August 2022 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-3361-3 |page=270 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yq97EAAAQBAJ&dq=zinoviev+stalin+general+secretary&pg=PA270 |language=en |access-date=30 October 2023 |archive-date=14 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014150330/https://books.google.com/books?id=yq97EAAAQBAJ&dq=zinoviev+stalin+general+secretary&pg=PA270 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Russian historian, [[Vadim Rogovin]], Stalin's election to the position occurred after the [[11th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|Eleventh Party Congress]] (March–April 1922), in which Lenin, due to his poor health, participated only sporadically, and only attended four of the twelve sessions of the Congress.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rogovin |first1=Vadim |title=Was There an Alternative? Trotskyism: a Look Back Through the Years |date=2021 |publisher=Mehring Books |isbn=978-1-893638-97-6 |page=61|language=en}}</ref>

Some historians have regarded the premature death of prominent Bolshevik [[Yakov Sverdlov]] to have been a key factor in facilitating the elevation of [[Joseph Stalin]] to the position of leadership in the Soviet Union. In part, because Sverdlov served as the original chairman of the party secretariat and was considered a natural candidate for the position of General Secretary.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mccauley |first1=Martin |title=Stalin and Stalinism: Revised 3rd Edition |date=13 September 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-86369-4 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ7dAAAAQBAJ&dq=Stalin+general+secretary+Lenin+Yakov+Sverdlov&pg=PA35 |language=en |access-date=9 July 2023 |archive-date=13 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713031818/https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ7dAAAAQBAJ&dq=Stalin+general+secretary+Lenin+Yakov+Sverdlov&pg=PA35 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ragsdale |first1=Hugh |title=The Russian Tragedy: The Burden of History |date=1996 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-1-56324-755-2 |page=198 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4R8cG837RegC&dq=yakov+sverdlov+general+secretary+stalin&pg=PA198 |language=en |access-date=9 July 2023 |archive-date=18 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818200623/https://books.google.com/books?id=4R8cG837RegC&dq=yakov+sverdlov+general+secretary+stalin&pg=PA198 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Prior to Lenin's death in 1924, Stalin's tenure as General Secretary was already being criticized.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What Lenin's Critics Got Right|url=https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/lenin-menshevik-critics-right-bolshevism-stalinism|access-date=2022-02-22|website=Dissent Magazine|archive-date=30 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430115702/https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/lenin-menshevik-critics-right-bolshevism-stalinism|url-status=live}}</ref> In Lenin's final months, he [[Lenin's Testament|authored a pamphlet]] that called for Stalin's removal on the grounds that Stalin was becoming authoritarian and abusing his power. The pamphlet triggered a political crisis which endangered Stalin's position as General Secretary, and a vote was held to remove him from office. With the help of [[Grigory Zinoviev]] and [[Lev Kamenev]], Stalin was able to survive the scandal and remained in his post. After Lenin's death, Stalin began to consolidate his power by using the office of General Secretary. By 1928, he had unquestionably become the ''de facto'' leader of the USSR, while the position of General Secretary became the highest office in the nation. In 1934, the [[17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|17th Party Congress]] refrained from formally re-electing Stalin as General Secretary. However, Stalin was re-elected to all the other positions he held, and remained leader of the party without diminution.<ref name="Izvestia_CC_CPSU">{{cite web|url=http://vivovoco.rsl.ru/VV/PAPERS/HISTORY/KPSS/HISTORY.HTM#1924 |title=Secretariat, Orgburo, Politburo and Presidium of the CC of the CPSU in 1919–1990 – Izvestia of the CC of the CPSU. |date=7 November 1990 |access-date=21 October 2011 |language=ru |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107022847/http://vivovoco.rsl.ru/VV/PAPERS/HISTORY/KPSS/HISTORY.HTM |archive-date=7 November 2011 }}</ref>

In the 1950s, Stalin increasingly withdrew from Secretariat business, leaving the supervision of the body to [[Georgy Malenkov]], possibly to test his abilities as a potential successor.{{sfn|Z. Medvedev|R. Medvedev|2006|p=40}} In October 1952, at the [[19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|19th Party Congress]], Stalin restructured the party's leadership. His request, voiced through Malenkov, to be relieved of his duties in the party secretariat due to his age, was rejected by the party congress, as delegates were unsure about Stalin's intentions.{{sfn|Z. Medvedev|R. Medvedev|2006|p=40-41}} In the end, the congress formally abolished Stalin's office of General Secretary, although Stalin remained the [[First among equals|highest-ranked]] party secretary and maintained ultimate control of the party.<ref>Geoffrey Roberts, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5GCFUqBRZ-QC&dq=General+Secretary+abolished+Stalin&pg=PA345 Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939 – 1953] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416034216/https://books.google.com/books?id=5GCFUqBRZ-QC&dq=General%20Secretary%20abolished%20Stalin&pg=PA345 |date=16 April 2023 }}'', p. 345.</ref>{{sfn|Brown|2009|pp=231–232}} When [[Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin|Stalin died]] on 5 March 1953, Malenkov was considered to be the most important member of the Secretariat, which also included [[Nikita Khrushchev]], among others. Under a short-lived [[List of leaders of the Soviet Union#List of troikas|troika consisting of Malenkov, Beria, and Molotov]], Malenkov became [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Chairman]] of the [[Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union|Council of Ministers]], but was forced to resign from the Secretariat nine days later on 14 March. This effectively left Khrushchev in control of the government,{{sfn|Ra'anan|2006|pp=29–31}} and he was elected to the new office of First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union at the Central Committee plenum on 14 September that same year. Khrushchev subsequently outmanoeuvred his rivals, who sought to challenge his [[de-Stalinization|political reforms]]. He was able to comprehensively remove Malenkov, Molotov and [[Lazar Kaganovich]] (one of Stalin's oldest and closest associates) from power in [[Anti-Party Group|1957]], an achievement which also helped to reinforce the supremacy of the position of First Secretary.{{sfn|Ra'anan|2006|p=58}}

In 1964, opposition within the Politburo and the Central Committee, which had been increasing since the aftermath of the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], led to Khrushchev's removal from office. [[Leonid Brezhnev]] succeeded Khrushchev as First Secretary, but was initially obliged to govern as part of a [[Collective leadership in the Soviet Union|collective leadership]], forming another troika with Premier [[Alexei Kosygin]] and Chairman [[Nikolai Podgorny]].{{sfn|Brown|2009|p=403}} The office was renamed to General Secretary in 1966.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=378}} The collective leadership was able to limit the powers of the General Secretary during the [[History of the Soviet Union (1964–82)|Brezhnev Era]].{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=48}} Brezhnev's influence grew throughout the 1970s as he was able to retain support by avoiding any radical reforms.{{sfn|Baylis|1989|pp=98–99 & 104}} After Brezhnev's death, [[Yuri Andropov]] and [[Konstantin Chernenko]] were able to rule the country in the same way as Brezhnev had.{{sfn|Baylis|1989|p=98}} [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] ruled the Soviet Union as General Secretary until 1990, when the Communist Party lost its monopoly of power over the political system. The office of [[President of the Soviet Union]] was established so that Gorbachev could still retain his role as leader of the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Kort|2010|p=394}} Following the failed [[1991 Soviet coup attempt|August coup of 1991]], Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary.{{sfn|Radetsky|2007|p=219}} He was succeeded by his deputy, [[Vladimir Ivashko]], who only served for five days as Acting General Secretary before [[Boris Yeltsin]], the newly elected [[President of Russia]], suspended all activity in the Communist Party.{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=105}} Following the party's ban, the [[Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (UCP–CPSU) was established by [[Oleg Shenin]] in 1993, and is dedicated to reviving and restoring the CPSU. The organisation has [[Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union#Members|members in all the former Soviet republics]].{{sfn|Backes|Moreau|2008|p=415}}

== List of officeholders ==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan=2| Portrait
! rowspan=2| Name<br />{{small|(Birth–Death)}}
! colspan=3| Term
! rowspan=2| Notes
|-
! Took office
! Left office
! Duration
|-
! colspan=6| Chairman of the [[Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Secretariat]] of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)]]<br />{{small|(1918–1919)}}
|-
| [[File:Yakov Sverdlov crop.jpg|90px|alt=A man in a black suit, black shirt and wearing a pair of glasses]]
| '''[[Yakov Sverdlov]]'''<br />{{small|(1885–1919)}}{{sfn|Williamson|2007|p=42}}
| 8 March 1918
| 16 March 1919 †
| {{ayd|1918|03|08|1919|03|16}}
| Sverdlov was one of five secretaries elected to the first Secretariat at the [[6th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks)|6th Party Congress]] on 19 August 1917, and rose to first among them before being elected chairman at the [[7th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|7th Congress]]. Until Stalin, the office was mainly responsible for technical rather than political matters.{{sfn|Zemtsov|2001|p=132}} 
|-
! colspan=6| Responsible Secretary of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)]]<br />{{small|(1919–1922)}}
|-
| [[File:Stasova2.jpg|90px|alt=A woman wearing dark clothes and using a pair of glasses]]
| '''[[Elena Stasova]]'''<br />{{small|(1873–1966)}}{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=117}}
| 25 March 1919
| 29 November 1919
| {{ayd|1919|03|25|1919|11|29}}
| Stasova previously served as the original secretary of the Central Committee, appointed on 13 March 1917, and as a member of the first Secretariat, where her title was Technical Secretary. She was elected Responsible Secretary at the [[8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|8th Party Congress]].{{sfn|Löwenhardt|2024|pp=70–71}}
|-
| [[File:Nikolai Krestinsky.jpg|90px|alt=A man in a grey suit, light shirt and dark tie]]
| '''[[Nikolay Krestinsky]]'''<br />{{small|(1883–1938)}}{{sfn|Rogovin|2001|p=38}}
| 29 November 1919
| 16 March 1921
| {{ayd|1919|11|29|1921|03|16}}
| When Krestinsky was elected Responsible Secretary, Stasova was demoted to Secretary.{{sfn|Löwenhardt|2024|pp=70–71}}
|-
| [[File:Vyacheslav Molotov.jpg|90px|alt=A man in a dark suit, light shirt and dark tie, smiling]]
| '''[[Vyacheslav Molotov]]'''<br />{{small|(1890–1986)}}{{sfn|Phillips|2001|p=20}}
| 16 March 1921
| 3 April 1922
| {{ayd|1921|03|16|1922|04|03}}
| Molotov was elected Responsible Secretary at the [[10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|10th Party Congress]]. The Congress decided that the office of Responsible Secretary should have a presence at Politburo plenums. As a result, Molotov became a candidate member of the Politburo.{{sfn|Grill|2002|p=72}}
|-
! colspan=6| General Secretary of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)]]<br />{{small|(1922–1952)}}
|-
| [[File:Joseph Stalin, 1950 (close cropped).jpg|90px]]
| '''[[Joseph Stalin]]'''<br />{{small|(1878–[[Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin|1953]])}}{{sfn|Brown|2009|p=59}}
| 3 April 1922
| 16 October 1952
| {{ayd|1922|04|03|1952|10|16}}
| Stalin, elected General Secretary at the [[11th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|11th Party Congress]], used the office to appoint loyalists to positions in the party and create a strong power base for himself. He was not formally re-elected as General Secretary at the [[17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|17th Party Congress]] in 1934,{{sfn|Rappaport|1999|pp=95–96}} and the office was rarely mentioned after that.{{sfn|Ulam|2007|p=734}} On October 16, 1952, Stalin formally abolished the position at the [[19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|19th Party Congress]], but he retained ultimate power and his position as Chairman of the Council of Ministers until his death on 5 March 1953.{{sfn|Brown|2009|pp=231–232}} At a tenure of 30 years, 7 months, Stalin was the longest-serving General Secretary, serving almost half of the USSR's entire existence.
|-
! colspan=6| First Secretary of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]<br />{{small|(1953–1966)}}
|-
| [[File:Nikita Khrushchev official portrait.jpg|90px|alt=An elderly bald man in a suit, with several medals pinned on it]]
| '''[[Nikita Khrushchev]]'''<br />{{small|(1894–1971)}}{{sfn|Taubman|2003|p=258}}
| 7 September 1953
| 14 October 1964
| {{ayd|1953|09|14|1964|10|14}}
| After Stalin's death, [[Georgy Malenkov]] briefly ranked first in the Secretariat until he was forced to give up his position to Khrushchev on 14 March 1953. In September, Khrushchev was elected First Secretary, reestablishing the office.{{sfn|Ra'anan|2006|p=69}} Khrushchev was removed as leader in 1964, and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=378}}
|-
| [[File:Leonid Brezjnev, leider van de Sovjet-Unie, Bestanddeelnr 925-6564.jpg|90px]]
| '''[[Leonid Brezhnev]]'''<br />{{small|(1906–[[Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev|1982]])}}{{sfn|Chubarov|2003|p=60}}
| 14 October 1964
| 8 April 1966
| {{ayd|1964|10|14|1966|04|08}}
| Brezhnev was part of a [[Collective leadership in the Soviet Union|collective leadership]]. He formed an unofficial [[Triumvirate#Soviet Union|Triumvirate]] (also known by its Russian name ''[[List of leaders of the Soviet Union#List of troikas|troika]]'') alongside the country's [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Premier]], [[Alexei Kosygin]], and [[Nikolai Podgorny]] who became in 1965 a [[List of heads of state of the Soviet Union|Chairman of the Presidium]].{{sfn|Brown|2009|p=403}} The office of First Secretary was renamed General Secretary at the [[23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|23rd Party Congress]] in 1966.{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=48}}
|-
! colspan=6| General Secretary of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]<br />{{small|(1966–1991)}}
|-
| [[File:Leonid Brezjnev, leider van de Sovjet-Unie, Bestanddeelnr 925-6564.jpg|90px]]
| '''[[Leonid Brezhnev]]'''<br />{{small|(1906–[[Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev|1982]])}}{{sfn|Chubarov|2003|p=60}}
| 8 April 1966
| 10 November 1982 †
| {{ayd|1966|04|08|1982|11|10}}
| Brezhnev's powers and functions as the General Secretary were limited by the collective leadership.{{sfn|Baylis|1989|pp=98–99 & 104}} By the 1970s, Brezhnev's influence exceeded that of Kosygin and Podgorny as he was able to retain support by avoiding any radical reforms. 
|-
| [[File:ANDROPOV1980S.jpg|90px]]
| '''[[Yuri Andropov]]'''<br />{{small|(1914–1984)}}{{sfn|Vasil'eva|1994|pp=218}}
| 12 November 1982
| 9 February 1984 †
| {{ayd|1982|11|12|1984|02|09}}
| He emerged as Brezhnev's most likely successor as the chairman of the committee in charge of managing [[Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev|Brezhnev's funeral]].{{sfn|White|2000|p=211}} Andropov ruled the country in the same way Brezhnev had before he died.{{sfn|Baylis|1989|p=98}}
|-
| [[File:Константин Черненко (cropped).jpg|90px]]
| '''[[Konstantin Chernenko]]'''<br />{{small|(1911–1985)}}{{sfn|Chubarov|2003|p=60}}
| 13 February 1984
| 10 March 1985 †
| {{ayd|1984|02|13|1985|03|10}}
| Chernenko was 72 years old when elected to the post of General Secretary and in rapidly failing health.{{sfn|Service|2009|pp=433–435}} Like Andropov, Chernenko ruled the country in the same way Brezhnev had.{{sfn|Baylis|1989|p=98}}
|-
| [[File:RIAN archive 359290 Mikhail Gorbachev (cropped).jpg|90px|alt=A man in a grey suit, white shirt and dark tie, balding with grey hair, he has a birthmark on his forehead]]
| '''[[Mikhail Gorbachev]]'''<br />{{small|(1931–2022)}}{{sfn|Service|2009|p=435}}
| 11 March 1985
| 24 August 1991
| {{ayd|1985|03|11|1991|08|24}}
| The 1990 [[Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union|Congress of People's Deputies]] removed [[Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution|Article 6]] from the [[1977 Soviet Constitution]] resulting in the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] loss of its position as the "leading and guiding force of the Soviet society." The powers of the General Secretary were drastically curtailed. Throughout the rest of his tenure, Gorbachev ruled through the office of [[President of the Soviet Union]].{{sfn|Kort|2010|p=394}} He resigned from his party office on 24 August 1991 in the aftermath of the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|August Coup]].{{sfn|Radetsky|2007|p=219}}
|- 
| [[File:Владимир Антонович Ивашко.jpg|90px]]
| '''[[Vladimir Ivashko]]'''<br />{{small|(1932–1994)<br />''Acting''}}{{sfn|McCauley|1998|p=314}}
| 24 August 1991
| 29 August 1991
| {{ayd|1991|08|24|1991|08|29}}
| Ivashko was elected Deputy General Secretary at the [[28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|28th Party Congress]]. He became acting General Secretary following Gorbachev's resignation, but by then the Party was politically impotent. Its activities were suspended on 29 August 1991,{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=105}} and it was banned on 6 November.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://kremlin.ru/acts/bank/385 |title=Указ Президента РСФСР от 6 ноября 1991 г. № 169 «О деятельности КПСС и КП РСФСР» |access-date=23 September 2021 |archive-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301170411/http://kremlin.ru/acts/bank/385 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|}

=== Timeline ===
{{#tag:timeline|
ImageSize = width:950 height:auto barincrement:12
PlotArea  = top:10 bottom:50 right:120 left:20
AlignBars = late

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period     = from:01/01/1917 till:01/01/1992
TimeAxis   = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1917
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1917

BarData =
  bar:1
  bar:2
  bar:3
  bar:4
  bar:5
  bar:6
  bar:7
  bar:8
  bar:9
  bar:10
  bar:11

PlotData =
  width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

  bar:1
 from: 08/03/1918 till: 16/03/1919 color:red text:"[[Yakov Sverdlov|Sverdlov]]" fontsize:10
  bar:2
 from: 25/03/1919 till: 29/11/1919 color:red text:"[[Elena Stasova|Stasova]]" fontsize:10
  bar:3
 from: 29/11/1919 till: 16/03/1921 color:red text:"[[Nikolay Krestinsky|Krestinsky]]" fontsize:10
  bar:4
 from: 16/03/1921 till: 03/04/1922 color:red text:"[[Vyacheslav Molotov|Molotov]]" fontsize:10
  bar:5
 from: 03/04/1922 till: 16/10/1952 color:red text:"[[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]" fontsize:10
  bar:6
 from: 07/09/1953 till: 14/10/1964 color:red text:"[[Nikita Khrushchev|Khrushchev]]" fontsize:10
  bar:7
 from: 14/10/1964 till: 10/11/1982 color:red text:"[[Leonid Brezhnev|Brezhnev]]" fontsize:10
  bar:8
 from: 12/11/1982 till: 09/02/1984 color:red text:"[[Yuri Andropov|Andropov]]" fontsize:10
  bar:9
 from: 13/02/1984 till: 10/03/1985 color:red text:"[[Konstantin Chernenko|Chernenko]]" fontsize:10
  bar:10
 from: 11/03/1985 till: 24/08/1991 color:red text:"[[Mikhail Gorbachev|Gorbachev]]" fontsize:10
  bar:11
 from: 24/08/1991 till: 29/08/1991 color:red text:"[[Vladimir Ivashko|Ivashko]] (acting)" fontsize:10

}}

== Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ==
The Second Secretary was the deputy to the General Secretary, They sat along side the General Secretary on the [[Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Secretariat]] and often in practice Chaired the meetings of the Secretariat because the General Secretary was busy fulfilling other duties. They were often very powerful and sat on the Politburo as well. The Second Secretary was seen as a stepping stone to General Secretary and were often in charge of Party Personnel. Prominent Second Secretaries include [[Mikhail Suslov]], [[Frol Kozlov]], and [[Nikolai Podgorny]] as well as all Post Stalin General Secretaries.

== See also ==
* [[General Secretary of the Communist Party]]
* [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party]]
* [[General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea]]
* [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam]]
* [[General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party]]
* [[First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba]]
* [[Leader of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia]]
* [[Cheget]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
{{See also|Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War|Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union|Bibliography of the Post Stalinist Soviet Union}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | last = Armstrong | first = John Alexander | title = Ideology, Politics, and Government in the Soviet Union: An Introduction | publisher = [[University Press of America]]| year = 1986 | asin = B002DGQ6K2 }}
* {{cite book|ref=CITEREFBackesMoreau2008|author1=Backes, Uwe |author2=Moreau, Patrick |title=Communist and Post-Communist Parties in Europe|publisher=[[Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht]]|isbn= 978-3-525-36912-8|year=2008}}
* {{cite book | author = Baylis, Thomas A. | title = Governing by Committee: Collegial Leadership in Advanced Societies | publisher = [[State University of New York Press]] | year = 1989 | isbn = 978-0-88706-944-4 | ref = CITEREFBaylis1989 }}
* {{cite book | author = Brown, Archie | title = The Rise & Fall of Communism | ref = CITEREFBrown2009 | publisher = [[Bodley Head]] | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-0061138799 | url = https://archive.org/details/risefallofcommun00brow | author-link = Archie Brown (historian) }}
* {{cite book | author = Chubarov, Alexander | year = 2003 | title = Russia's Bitter Path to Modernity: A History of the Soviet and post-Soviet Eras | publisher = [[Continuum International Publishing Group]] | isbn = 978-0826413505 | ref = CITEREFChubarov2003 | url = https://archive.org/details/russiasbitterpat0000chub }}
* {{cite book | author = Clements, Barbara Evans | ref = CITEREFClements1997 | title = Bolshevik Women | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | year = 1997 | isbn = 978-0521599207}}
* {{cite book | title = How the Soviet Union is Governed | publisher = [[Harvard University Press]] | year = 1979 | isbn = 978-0674410305 |last1 = Fainsod|first1 = Merle|last2 = Hough| first2 = Jerry F. | author-link1 = Merle Fainsod | author-link2 = Jerry F. Hough }}
* {{cite book | author = Fairfax, Kaithy | ref = CITEREFFairfax1999 | title = Comrades in Arms: Bolshevik Women in the Russian Revolution | publisher = Resistance Books | year = 1999 | isbn = 090919694X}}
* {{cite book | author = Grill, Graeme |  ref = CITEREFGrill2002 | title = The Origins of the Stalinist Political System | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-0521529365 }}
* {{cite book|ref=CITEREFMarch2002|title= The Communist Party In Post-Soviet Russia|author=March, Luke|publisher=[[Manchester University Press]]|isbn= 978-0-7190-6044-1|year=2002}}
* {{Cite book | author = Kort, Michael | title = The Soviet Colossus: History and Aftermath | publisher = [[M.E. Sharpe]] | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-0-7656-2387-4 | ref = CITEREFKort2010 | author-link = Michael Kort }}
* {{cite book | author1 = Löwenhardt, John | author2 = Ozinga, James R. | author3 = van Ree, Erik | ref = CITEREFLöwenhardt2024 | title = The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Politburo | publisher = [[taylor & Francis]] | year = 2024 | isbn = 978-1040007365 }}
* {{Cite book | author = McCauley, Martin | title = Gorbachev | publisher = [[Pearson Education]] | year = 1998 | isbn = 978-0582437586 | ref = CITEREFMcCauley1998 | url = https://archive.org/details/gorbachev00mcca }}
* {{Cite book | author = McCauley, Martin | title = Who's who in Russia since 1900 | publisher = [[Routledge]] | year = 1997 | isbn = 0-415-13898-1 | ref = CITEREFMcCauley1997 }}
* {{cite book | ref = CITEREFZ._MedvedevR._Medvedev2006| title = The Unknown Stalin | publisher = [[I.B. Tauris]] | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-1585675029 |last1 = Medvedev |first1 = Zhores|last2 = Medvedev| first2 = Roy | author-link1 = Zhores Medvedev | author-link2 = Roy Medvedev }}
* {{cite book | author = Phillips, Steve | title = The Cold War: conflict in Europe and Asia | ref = CITEREFPhillips2001 | publisher = [[Heinemann (publisher)|Heinemann]] | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-0435327361}}
* {{cite book | author = Ra'anan, Uri | title = Flawed Succession: Russia's Power Transfer Crises | ref = CITEREFRa'anan2006| publisher = [[Lexington Books]] | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-0739114025 }}
* {{Cite book | author = Radetsky, Peter | title = The Soviet Image: A Hundred Years of Photographs from Inside the TASS Archives | publisher = [[Chronicle Books]] | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0811857987 | ref = CITEREFRadetsky2007 }}
* {{cite book | author = Rappaport, Helen | title = Joseph Stalin: A Biographical Companion | publisher = [[ABC-CLIO]] | year = 1999 | ref = CITEREFRappaport1999 | isbn = 978-1576070840 | author-link = Helen Rappaport }}
* {{cite book | author = Rogovin, Vadim | title = Stalin's Terror of 1937–1938: Political Genocide in the USSR | ref = CITEREFRogovin2001 | publisher = [[Mehring Books]] | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-1893638082| author-link = Vadim Rogovin }}
* {{Cite book | author = Service, Robert | title = History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-first Century | publisher = [[Penguin Books Ltd]] | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-0674034938 | ref = CITEREFService2009 | author-link = Robert Service (historian) }}
* {{cite book | author = Taubman, William | year = 2003 | title = Khrushchev: The Man and His Era | publisher = [[W.W. Norton & Company]] | isbn = 978-0393051445 | ref = CITEREFTaubman2003 | url = https://archive.org/details/khrushchevmanhis00taub | author-link = William Taubman }}
* {{cite book | author = Ulam, Adam | title = Stalin: The Man and His Era | publisher = [[Tauris Parke Paperbacks]] | year = 2007  | isbn = 978-1-84511-422-0 |ref=CITEREFUlam2007| author-link = Adam Ulam }}
* {{Cite book | author = Vasilʹeva, Larisa Nikolaevna | title = Kremlin Wives | publisher = [[Arcade Publishing]] | year = 1994 | isbn = 978-1559702607 | ref = CITEREFVasil'eva1994 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/kremlinwives0000vasi }}
* {{Cite book | author = White, Stephen | title = Russia's New Politics: The Management of a Postcommunist Society | ref = CITEREFWhite2000 | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | year = 2000 | asin = B003QI0DQE| author-link = Stephen K. White }}
* {{Cite book | author = Williamson, D.G. | title = The Age of the Dictators: A Study of the European Dictatorships, 1918–53 | edition = 1st | publisher = [[Pearson Education]] | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0582505803 | ref = CITEREFWilliamson2007 }}
* {{cite book | author = Zemtsov, Ilya| ref = CITEREFZemtsov2001 | title = Encyclopedia of Soviet Life | publisher = [[Transaction Publishers]] | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-0887383502 }}
{{refend}}

{{Communist Party of the Soviet Union}}
{{Soviet Union topics}}
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[[Category:Heads of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union| ]]
[[Category:1917 establishments in Russia]]
[[Category:1922 establishments in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1991 disestablishments in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:General secretaries of communist parties|Soviet Union]]