View source for Organization of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

{{Short description|How the ruling Marxist-Leninist party was structured across the Eurasian power}}
The '''organization of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union''' was based on the principles of [[democratic centralism]].

The governing body of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU) was the [[Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Party Congress]], which initially met annually but whose meetings became less frequent, particularly under [[Joseph Stalin]] (dominant from the late 1920s to 1953). Party Congresses would elect a [[Central Committee]] which, in turn, would elect a [[Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]] and a [[Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Secretariat]]. Under Stalin, the most powerful position in the party became the [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary]], who was elected by the Politburo and Secretariat. In 1952 the ''Politburo'' became the ''Presidium''.

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 in January 1924, supreme power became the domain of the General Secretary.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gill |first1=Graeme |editor1-last=Millar |editor1-first=James R. |title=Encyclopedia of Russian history |date=2004 |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |location=New York |isbn=0-02-865694-6 |pages=306–313 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofru0001unse/page/306/mode/1up |chapter=Communist Party of the Soviet Union |quote=All aspects of the Party's life came under vigorous debate within leading Party circles. However, during Vladimir Lenin's lifetime, all of these debates ended with the victory of the position that he espoused. Following his death, the maneuvering between different groups of Party leaders for the succession saw conflict between a group around Stalin and, successively, Leon Trotsky, the Left Opposition, the United Opposition, and the Right Opposition. In all cases, Stalin and his supporters were victorious. With the defeat of the Right Opposition in 1929, Stalin emerged as Party leader. He consolidated his position during the 1930s, especially through the Terror of 1936 to 1938, emerging as the vozhd, or unquestioned leader of the party and the people. This process of a shift from the collective leadership of the Lenin years to the personal dictatorship of Stalin had direct implications for the Party. In the initial years of power, leading Party organs were real arenas of debate and conflict, and although Lenin manipulated Party organs, the principal basis upon which he was victorious in inner-party conflict was his ability to persuade sufficient members to support the position he advocated. With Stalin's personal dictatorship, party organs ceased to be the scene of open political debate and instead became stylized assemblies for the laudation of Stalin. While this was not as much the case at the level of the Politburo, even here the cut and thrust of debate was blunted by the personal dominance of Stalin.}}</ref>

==Higher levels==
In the late [[Soviet Union]] the CPSU incorporated the communist parties of the 15 constituent republics (the communist branch of the [[Russian SFSR]] was established in 1990). Before 1990 the communist party organization in Russian [[oblast]]s, [[autonomous republic]]s and some other major administrative units were subordinated directly to the CPSU Central Committee.<ref name=C27>{{cite web| url = http://www.xs4all.nl/~eurodos/docu/cpsu-texts/cpsu86-0.htm| title = Program of the CPSU, 27th Party Congress (1986)}}</ref>

==Lower levels==
At lower levels, the organizational hierarchy was managed by Party Committees, or '''partkoms''' (партком). A partkom was headed by the elected "partkom bureau secretary" ("partkom secretary", секретарь парткома). At enterprises, institutions, [[kolkhoz]]es, etc., they were called as such, i.e., "partkoms". At higher levels the Committees were abbreviated accordingly: '''obkoms''' (обком) at [[oblast]] (zone) levels (known earlier as '''gubkoms''' (губком) for [[guberniya]]s), '''raikoms''' (райком) at [[raion]] (district) levels (known earlier as '''ukoms''' (уком) for [[uyezd]]s), '''gorkom''' (горком) at city levels, etc.

The same terminology ("raikom", etc.) was used in the organizational structure of [[Komsomol]].

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/partbureau''' (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]], who drew his salary from the Party money.

==Main offices==

* [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] – became synonymous with leader of the Party under [[Joseph Stalin]] (General Secretary from 1922 to 1952)
* [[Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee]] – leading body within the Central Committee. Headed by the General Secretary or by the First Secretary.
* [[Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee]] – The political bureau of the [[Central Committee of the CPSU|Central Committee]]; in practice, the ruling body of both the Communist Party and the Soviet Union
* [[Central Committee of the CPSU|Central Committee of the Communist Party]] – the governing body of the Party between each Congress. Conducted the day-to-day business of the Party and the government.
* [[Congress of the CPSU]] – the gathering of Party delegates every five years. It was the oversight body of the entire Party.
* [[Orgburo|Organizational Bureau of the Party Central Committee]], or [[Orgburo]] – fulfilled Party [[human resource management|human-resources management]]
* [[CPSU Party Control Committee|CPSU Party Control Commission]]
* [[CPSU Central Auditing Commission]] (often translated as the [[calque]] ''Central Revision Commission'', from "Центральная ревизионная комиссия")
* [[Conference of the CPSU|Party Conference]] – the oversight body of the Party in between Party Congresses. Usually gathered once a year.

== Republican branches ==

* [[Communist Party of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] (1990–1991), in the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Byelorussia]] (1917–1991), in the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)|Communist Party of Ukraine]] (1918–1991), in the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Estonia]] (1920–1991), in the [[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Latvia]] (1904–1991) in the [[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Lithuania]] (1918–1991) in the [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Kazakhstan (Soviet Union)|Communist Party of Kazakhstan]] (1936–1991) in the [[Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Uzbekistan]] (1925–1991) in the [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Turkmenistan]] (1924–1991) in the [[Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Kirghizia]] (1924–1991) in the [[Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Tajikistan]] (1924–1991) in the [[Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Georgia (Soviet Union)|Communist Party of Georgia]] (1921–1991) in the [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Armenia (Soviet Union)|Communist Party of Armenia]] (1920–1991) in the [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Azerbaijan Communist Party (1920)|Communist Party of Azerbaijan]] (1920–1991) in the [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic]];
* [[Communist Party of Moldavia|Communist Party of Moldavia (Moldova)]] (1940–1991) in the [[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic]].

==See also==
* [[Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War]]
* [[Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union]]
* [[Bibliography of the Post Stalinist Soviet Union]]
* [[Organization of the Communist Party of China]]
* [[Partorg]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.archontology.org/nations/ussr/cpsu Executive Bodies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1917–1991)]

{{Communist Party of the Soviet Union}}
{{Soviet Union topics}}

[[Category:Organization of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Bodies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Organizational structure of political parties|Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]