Organisation of The Communist Party of The Soviet Union

The organisation 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 Party Congress which initially met annually but whose meetings became less frequent, particularly under Joseph 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.

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 Secretary.

Read more about Organisation Of The Communist Party Of The Soviet Union:  Higher Levels, Lower Levels, Main Offices

Famous quotes containing the words organisation of the, organisation of, soviet union, organisation, communist, party, soviet and/or union:

    It is because the body is a machine that education is possible. Education is the formation of habits, a superinducing of an artificial organisation upon the natural organisation of the body.
    Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)

    It is because the body is a machine that education is possible. Education is the formation of habits, a superinducing of an artificial organisation upon the natural organisation of the body.
    Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)

    Nothing an interested foreigner may have to say about the Soviet Union today can compare with the scorn and fury of those who inhabit the ruin of a dream.
    Christopher Hope (b. 1944)

    It is because the body is a machine that education is possible. Education is the formation of habits, a superinducing of an artificial organisation upon the natural organisation of the body.
    Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)

    I am a communist because I believe that the Communist idea is a state form of Christianity.
    Alexander Zhuravlyov (b. 1924)

    Yesterday the Electoral Commission decided not to go behind the papers filed with the Vice-President in the case of Florida.... I read the arguments in the Congressional Record and can’t see how lawyers can differ on the question. But the decision is by a strictly party vote—eight Republicans against seven Democrats! It shows the strength of party ties.
    Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)

    Today he plays jazz; tomorrow he betrays his country.
    —Stalinist slogan in the Soviet Union (1920s)

    The only hope of socialism resides in those who have already brought about in themselves, as far as is possible in the society of today, that union between manual and intellectual labor which characterizes the society we are aiming at.
    Simone Weil (1909–1943)