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The organization of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was based on the principles of
democratic centralism Democratic centralism is a practice in which political decisions reached by voting processes are binding upon all members of the political party. It is mainly associated with Leninism, wherein the party's political vanguard of professional revo ...
. The governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was the
Party Congress The terms party conference (UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party membe ...
, which initially met annually but whose meetings became less frequent, particularly under
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
(dominant from the late 1920s to 1953). Party Congresses would elect a Central Committee which, in turn, would elect a Politburo and a
Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...
. Under Stalin, the most powerful position in the party became the General Secretary, who was elected by the Politburo and Secretariat. In 1952 the title of ''General Secretary'' became ''First Secretary'' and the ''Politburo'' became the ''Presidium''; the names reverted to their former forms under
Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...
in 1966. 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.


Higher levels

In the late
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
the CPSU incorporated the communist parties of the 15 constituent republics (the communist branch of the
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
was established in 1990). Before 1990 the communist party organization in Russian
oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...
s, autonomous republics and some other major administrative units were subordinated directly to the CPSU Central Committee.


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 A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...
es, etc., they were called as such, i.e., "partkoms". At higher levels the Committees were abbreviated accordingly: obkoms (обком) at
oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...
(zone) levels (known earlier as gubkoms (губком) for guberniyas), raikoms (райком) at
raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is co ...
(district) levels (known earlier as ukoms (уком) for
uyezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the ea ...
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 Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
(General Secretary from 1922 to 1952) *
Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee The Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, while the Politburo was charged with the p ...
- 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 Communist Party of the Soviet Union (, abbreviated: ), or Politburo ( rus, Политбюро, p=pəlʲɪtbʲʊˈro) was the highest policy-making authority within the Communist Party of the ...
- The political bureau of the Central Committee; in practice, the ruling body of both the Communist Party and the Soviet Union * 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. * Organizational Bureau of the Party Central Committee, or
Orgburo The Orgburo (russian: Оргбюро́), also known as the Organisational Bureau (russian: организационное бюро), of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union existed from 1919 to 1952, when it was a ...
- fulfilled Party human-resources management * CPSU Party Control Commission * CPSU Central Auditing Commission (sometimes translated as a calque: Central Revision Commission, from "Центральная ревизионная комиссия") *
Party Conference The terms party conference (UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party membe ...
- 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 The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
; * Communist Party of Byelorussia (1917-1991), in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic; *
Communist Party of Ukraine The Communist Party of Ukraine, Abbreviation: KPU, from Ukrainian and Russian "" is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 as the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine which was banned in 1991 (accord ...
(1918-1991), in the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
; *
Communist Party of Estonia The Communist Party of Estonia ( et, Eestimaa Kommunistlik Partei, abbreviated EKP) was a subdivision of the Soviet communist party which in 1920-1940 operated illegally in Estonia and, after the 1940 occupation and annexation of Estonia by the ...
(1920-1991), in the
Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
; *
Communist Party of Latvia The Communist Party of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Komunistiskā partija, LKP) was a political party in Latvia. History Latvian Social-Democracy prior to 1919 The party was founded at a congress in June 1904. Initially the party was known as the Latvia ...
(1904-1991) in the
Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...
; *
Communist Party of Lithuania The Communist Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos komunistų partija; russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clan ...
(1918-1991) in the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic; * Communist Party of Kazakhstan (1936-1991) in the
Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic ; kk, Қазақ Советтік Социалистік Республикасы) *1991: Republic of Kazakhstan (russian: Республика Казахстан; kk, Қазақстан Республикасы) , linking_name = the ...
; *
Communist Party of Uzbekistan The Communist Party of Uzbekistan (russian: Коммунистическая партия Узбекистана, uz, Ўзбекистон Коммунистик Партияси), initially known as Communist Party (Bolshevik) of Uzbekistan, ...
(1925-1991) in the
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз ...
; *
Communist Party of Turkmenistan The Communist Party of Turkmenistan (russian: Коммунистическая партия Туркменистана; tk, Türkmenistanyň Kommunistik Partiýasy) was the ruling communist party of the Turkmen SSR, and a part of the Communis ...
(1924-1991) in the
Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (, ; russian: Туркменская Советская Социалистическая Республика, ''Turkmenskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika''), also commonly known as Turkmenistan o ...
; * Communist Party of Kirghizia (1924-1991) in the
Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR; ky, Кыргыз Советтик Социалисттик Республикасы, Kyrgyz Sovettik Sotsialisttik Respublikasy, ky, Кыргыз ССР, Kyrgyz SSR, russian: Киргизск ...
; *
Communist Party of Tajikistan The Communist Party of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҳизби Коммунистии Тоҷикистон, ''Hizbi Kommunistiyi Tojikiston''; russian: Коммунистическая партия Таджикистана) is a communist party in Tajikistan ...
(1924-1991) in the
Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic,, ''Çumhuriji Şūraviji Sotsialistiji Toçikiston''; russian: Таджикская Советская Социалистическая Республика, ''Tadzhikskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Resp ...
; *
Communist Party of Georgia Communist Party of Georgia (, ''Sakartvelos Komunisturi Partia'') is a communist party in Georgia. The party was founded on 23 February 1992 as the Socialist Labour Party. It was registered at the Ministry of Justice on 27 February 1998. In the ...
(1921-1991) in the
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц ...
; * Communist Party of Armenia (1920-1991) in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic; *
Communist Party of Azerbaijan The Azerbaijan Communist Party ( az, Azərbaycan Kommunist Partiyası; russian: Коммунистическая партия Азербайджана) was the ruling political party in the Azerbaijan SSR, making it effectively a branch of the ...
(1920-1991) in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic;


See also

* Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War *
Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union This is a select bibliography of post World War II English language books (including translations) and journal articles about Stalinism and the Stalinist era of Soviet history. Book entries have references to journal reviews about them when helpful ...
*
Bibliography of the Post Stalinist Soviet Union This is a select bibliography of English language books (including translations) and journal articles about the post-Stalinist era of Soviet history. A brief selection of English translations of primary sources is included. The sections "General ...
*
Organization of the Communist Party of China The organization of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is based upon the Leninism, Leninist idea of democratic centralism. Mechanisms and regulations In May 2013, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party issued a resolution on which ...
* Partorg


References


External links


Executive Bodies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1917-1991)
{{Soviet Union topics Bodies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Communist Party of the Soviet Union