Communist Party of the Soviet Union
| |
| Economic ideology | Communism |
| Social ideology | Democratic centralism |
| General Secretary | Robert Pacitania |
| Motto | Workers of the world, unite! |
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (or simply the Party) is the name used by the successors of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party from 1952 to 1991, but the wording Communist Party was present in the party's name since 1918 when the Bolsheviks became the All-Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). In 1925 the party became the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (Всесоюзная коммунистическая партия (большевиков), ВКП(б)); both VKP(b) and AUCP(b) abbreviations are in use. Finally in 1952 it became simply the Communist Party of the Soviet Union or CPSU. This article follows the course of the party from 1918 until its dissolution in 1991. For information on the pre-1918 party see Bolshevik.
Once the Third International or Comintern was formed in 1919, the democratic centralist Marxist-Leninist structure of the CPSU was copied by the other Comintern members resulting in Communist parties being formed around the world.
For most of the history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union, the Communist Party was virtually indistinguishable from the government, as it was the only political party tolerated by the government and its security forces. Consequently, the history of the USSR and the CPSU are deeply intertwined and overlapping.
Contents
Structure
Central Soviet
The Central Soviet is the executive body of the CPSU. Headed by the General Secretary a representative from each area of the Soviet Union (Each continent). They meet once a year over a period of a week to discuss the activities of the Soviet administration and the next years activities. They have total executive control over the CPSU and a powerful influence within the Political Bureau.
Membership
Membership in the party ultimately became a privilege with Communist Party members becoming an elite, or nomenklatura, in Soviet society. Members of the nomenklatura would enjoy special privileges such as shopping at well-stocked stores, have preference in obtaining housing and access to dachas and holiday resorts, being allowed to travel abroad, send their children to the best universities and obtain prestigious jobs for them. It became virtually impossible to join the Soviet ruling and managing elite without being a member of the Communist Party. However, all Soviet citizens are able to apply and join the CPSU.
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, 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.
When the Bolsheviks became the All-Russian Communist Party 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.
History
History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was to a significant degree determined by a person who was the head of the party in particular periods of time.
Civil War
Initially, following the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks dealt leniently with "enemies of the revolution", in one case releasing a tsarist general if he agreed not to join the Whites. He agreed and promptly joined the counter-revolution on his release. As the Russian Civil War progressed, and particularly after the attempted assassination of Lenin on August 30, 1918 by Fanya Kaplan of the Socialist Revolutionaries, the Bolsheviks became more ruthless with political enemies by instituting the Red Terror, although their counter-revolutionary opponents used equally violent methods against suspected Bolsheviks and their partisans.
The execution of ex-Tsar Nicholas II and his family on July 16, 1918 on the orders of the Yekaterinburg soviet caused a particularly strong reaction from foreign governments.
In December 1917, the Bolshevik government established a security force, the Cheka, which took over the role of the former Tsarist Okhranka. In 1918, the Communist government began to send political opponents to forced labor camps, typically in Siberia and the extreme North of Russia. The labor camps were inherited from the Tsarist penal system of forced labour (katorga).
Opposition banning
The party initially allowed free and open debate at party meetings, but this changed due to the Civil War. At the Tenth Party Congress of 1921, factions were banned in the party, including the Workers' Opposition, and in 1922 the Communist Party became the only legal political party.
The Present
As of now, the CPSU has extreme control over Soviet domestic and foreign policy due to the fact that members each branch of the CPSU from each of the republics (Along with the General Secretary) have been merged with the Political Bureau, allowing for immediate control.
The CPSU has allegedly prosecuted those deemed to be "enemies of the revolution" by using the Committee for State Security Triumvarates (KGB Troikas) to hunt down, put on trail, and usually execute enemies of the Party. However, this hasn't been proven.
