Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee
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The Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee was a key body within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and was responsible for the central administration of the party as opposed to drafting government policy which was usually handled by the Politburo. Its members were elected by the Communist Party's Central Committee, although in all but the first years of its existence the elections were a formality since decisions were made by the senior leadership before the voting. The General Secretary of the CPSU, who was also a Politburo member, was the leader of the Secretariat and the Party. Dual membership in the Secretariat and the Politburo was reserved for two or three very senior members of the Soviet leadership and in the post-Stalin era was a stepping stone to the ultimate power. The last 4 Soviet leaders (Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, Konstantin Chernenko and Mikhail Gorbachev) were all senior Secretaries before becoming General Secretaries.
The Secretariat was established by the Central Committee on August 6, 1917 and was initially composed of Felix Dzerzhinsky, Matvei Muranov and Yakov Sverdlov as full members and Adolph Joffe and Yelana Stasova as candidate members (or alternates). Following the October Revolution of 1917, Sverdlov and Stasova became the de facto Secretariat as other members of the body assumed other duties. At the time, the Secretariat was responsible for technical issues such as coordination of the activities of regional party organizations and handling routine administrative affairs of the Party.
By 1922, the body had been transformed from a technical committee to one of the most important components of the party and from that point on it was responsible for day to day operations of the Communist Party. Also in 1922, the position of General Secretary was created, the General Secretary became the head of the Secretariat and, in the years following Lenin's death, became the most important figure in the party and the country.
See also Organization of the Communist Party of the USSR
[edit] Members of the Secretariat 1917-1991
| Date | Comments |
|---|---|
| August 6, 1917 | Felix Dzerzhinsky, Matvei Muranov and Yakov Sverdlov (full members); Adolph Joffe and Yelena Stasova (candidate members) |
| March 16, 1919 | Sverdlov dies |
| March 25, 1919 | Stasova elected Chief Secretary by the Central Committee |
| Nov 1919 | Nikolai Krestinsky added; becomes Chief Secretary |
| Apr 5, 192 | Krestinsky, Yevgeny Preobrazhensky, Leonid Serebryakov |
| Mar 16, 1921 | V. Mikhaylov, Vyacheslav Molotov, Yemelyan Yaroslavsky |
| Apr 3, 1922 | Kuibyshev and Molotov with Joseph Stalin as General Secretary |
| Apr 26, 1923 | Molotov, Yan Rudzutak, Stalin |
| Feb 1924 | Rudzutak replaced by Andrei Andreyev |
| Jun 2, 1924 | Andreyev, Zelensky, Lazar Kaganovich, Molotov, Stalin |
| Aug 1924 | Zelensky replaced by Uglanov |
| Apr 30, 1925 | Kaganovich replaced by Andrei Bubnov |
| Jan 1, 1926 | Yevdokimov, Kosior, Molotov, Stalin, Uglanov with Artukhina and Bubnov as candidate members |
| Apr 9, 1926 | Yevdokimov replaced by Shvernik |
| Apr 16, 1927 | Shvernik replaced by Kubyak |
| Dec 19, 1927 | Kosior, Kubyak, Molotov, Stalin, Uglanov with Artukhina, Bubnov and Moskvin as candidate members |
| Apr 11, 1928 | Kubyak replaced by Smirnov; Bauman elected candidate member |
| July 12, 1928 | Kosior replaced by Kaganovich |
| Apr 30, 1929 | Uglanov replaced by Bauman |
| Jul 13, 1930 | Bauman, Kaganovich, Molotov, Postyshev, Stalin with Moskvin and Shvernik as candidate members. |
| Dec 21, 1930 | Molotov removed |
| Oct 2, 1932 | Bauman and Moskvin removed |
| Feb 10, 1934 | Andrei Zhdanov, Kaganovich, Sergei Kirov, Stalin |
| Dec 1, 1934 | Kirov assassinated |
| Feb 1935 | Nikolai Yezhov and Andreyev join |
| Mar 22, 1939 | Andreyev, Zhdanov, Georgy Malenkov, Stalin |
| May 4, 1941 | Alexander Shcherbakov joins |
| May 10, 1945 | Shcherbakov dies |
| Mar 18 1946 | Zhdanov, Kuznetsov, Malenkov, Popov, Stalin |
| May 6, 1946 | Malenkov replaced by Patolichev |
| May 24, 1947 | Patolichev replaced by Mikhail Suslov |
| July 1, 1948 | Malenkov and Panteleimon Ponomarenko join |
| Aug 31, 1948 | Zhdanov dies |
| Jan 28, 1949 | Kuznetsov removed |
| Dec 16 1949 | Popov replaced by Nikita Khrushchev |
| Oct 16, 1952 | Aristov, Leonid Brezhnev, Ignatov, Malenkov, N. Mikhaylov, Pegov, Ponomarenko, Stalin, Suslov, Khrushchev The term General Secretary is no longer used; Stalin remains the de facto leader |
| Mar 5, 1953 | Stalin dies |
| Mar 5, 1953 | Brezhnev, Ignatov, Pegov and Ponomarenko replaced by Ignatyev, Pospelov and Shatalin. Note: Malenkov becomes the de facto senior secretary by virtue of the fact that he is also Prime Minister |
| Mar 14, 1953 | Malenkov removed |
| Mar 14, 1953 | Ignatyev, Pospelov, Suslov, Khrushchev, Shatalin |
| Apr 5, 1953 | Ignatyev removed |
| Sep 7, 1953 | Khrushchev elected First Secretary by the Central Committee |
| Mar 8, 1955 | Shatalin removed |
| July 12, 1955 | Aristov, Belyaev, Dmitri Shepilov join |
| Feb 27, 1956 | Aristov, Belyaev, Brezhnev, Pospelov, Suslov, Furtseva, Khrushchev, Shepilov |
| Dec 24, 1956 | Shepilov removed |
| Feb 14, 1957 | Shepilov rejoins |
| Jun 18, 1957 | Presidium of the Central Committee votes to dismiss Khrushchev as First Secretary (7 in favor, 4 against), but the decision is revoked on the same day and the issue is postponed until the June 1957 Central Committee Plenum which reaffirms Khrushchev |
| June 29, 1957 | Shepilov replaced by Otto Kuusinen |
| Dec 17, 1957 | Ignatov, Kirichenko, Mukhitdinov join |
| Nov 12, 1958 | Belyaev removed |
| May 4, 1960 | Aristov, Ignatov, Kirichenko, Pospelov and Furtseva removed; Kozlov joins |
| July 16, 1960 | Brezhnev removed |
| Oct 31, 1961 | Demichev, Ilyichev, Kozlov, Kuusinen, Boris Ponomarev, Spiridonov, Suslov, Khrushchev, Shelepin |
| Apr 23, 1962 | Spiridonov removed |
| Nov 23, 1962 | Andropov, Polyakov, Rudakov and Titov added |
| June 21, 1963 | Brezhnev and Podgorny added |
| May 17, 1964 | Kuusinen dies |
| Oct 14, 1964 | Khrushchev removed, Brezhnev elected First secretary at the Central Committee plenum |
| Nov 16, 1964 | Kozlov and Polyakov removed |
| Mar 26, 1965 | Ilyichev replaced by Ustinov |
| Sep 29, 1965 | Titov replaced by Kulakov |
| Dec 6, 1965 | Podgorny replaced by Kapitonov |
| Apr 8, 1966 | Yuri Andropov, Brezhnev, Demichev, Kapitonov, Kirilenko, Kulakov, Ponomarev, Rudakov, Suslov, Ustinov, Shelepin; Brezhnev's title changes from First Secretary to General Secretary |
| July 10, 1966 | Rudakov dies |
| Dec 13, 1966 | Solomentsev joins |
| June 21, 1967 | Andropov removed |
| Sep 26, 1967 | Shelepin removed |
| Apr 10, 1968 | Katushev joins |
| Apr 9, 1971 | Brezhnev, Demichev, Kapitonov, Katushev, Kirilenko, Kulakov, Ponomarev, Solomentsev, Suslov, Ustinov |
| Nov 23, 1971 | Solomentsev removed |
| Dec 18, 1972 | Dolgikh joins |
| Dec 16, 1974 | Demichev relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum |
| Mar 5, 1976 | Brezhnev, Dolgikh, Zimyanin, Kapitonov, Katushev, Kirilenko, Kulakov, Ponomarev, Suslov, Ustinov, Konstantin Chernenko elected secretaries at the Central Committee plenum; |
| Oct 1976 | Ustinov replaced by Ryabov |
| May 24, 1977 | Katushev replaced by Rusakov |
| July 17, 1978 | Kulakov dies |
| Nov 27, 1978 | Mikhail Gorbachev joins |
| Apr 17, 1979 | Ryabov removed |
| Mar 3, 1981 | Brezhnev, Gorbachev, Dolgikh, Zimyanin, Kapitonov, Kirilenko, Ponomarev, Rusakov, Suslov, Chernenko |
| Jan 25, 1982 | Suslov dies |
| May 24, 1982 | Yury Andropov joins |
| Nov 10, 1982 | Brezhnev dies |
| Nov 12, 1982 | Andropov elected General secretary at a Central Committee extraordinary plenum |
| Nov 22, 1982 | Kirilenko replaced by Ryzhkov. |
| June 15, 1983 | Romanov joins |
| Dec 26, 1983 | Ligachev joins |
| Feb 9, 1984 | Andropov dies |
| Feb 13, 1984 | Chernenko elected General secretary at a Central Committee extraordinary plenum |
| Mar 10, 1985 | Chernenko dies |
| Mar 11, 1985 | Gorbachev, elected General secretary at a Central Committee extraordinary plenum |
| Apr 23, 1985 | Nikonov joins |
| July 1, 1985 | Romanov replaced by Boris Yeltsin and Zaikov |
| Oct 15, 1985 | Ryzhkov removed |
| Feb 18, 1986 | Yeltsin and Rusakov removed |
| Mar 6, 1986 | Biryukova, Gorbachev, Anatoly Dobrynin, Dolgikh, Zaikov, Zimyanin, Lighachev, Medvedev, Nikonov, Razumovsky, Alexander Yakovlev |
| Jan 28, 1987 | Zimyanin replaced by Lukyanov and Slyunkov |
| Feb 18, 1988 | Baklanov joins |
| Sep 30, 1988 | Biryukova, Dobrynin, Dolgikh and Lukyanov removed; Chebrikov joins |
| Sep 20, 1989 | Nikonov and Chebrikov removed; Girenko, Manayenkov, Stroyev and Usmanov join |
| Dec 9, 1989 | Frolov joins |
| Jul 10, 1990 | Gorbachev, re-elected General Secretary, Ivashko Deputy general secretary at the 28th party Congress by secret ballot |
| Jul 14, 1990 | Baklanov, Gidaspov, Girenko, Dzasokhov, Kuptsov, Manayenkov, Semyonova, Stroyev, Falin, Shenin, Gennady Yanayev, Aniskin, Gayvoronsky, Melnikov, Teplenichev and Turgunova join |
| Jan 31, 1991 | Yanayev replaced by Luchinsky |
| Apr 25, 1991 | Gorbachev, tendered his resignation to the joint plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission, but it was declined; Baklanov removed |
| Jul 26, 1991 | Kalashnikov Melnikov and Maltsev join |
| Aug 24, 1991 | After failure of the August coup Gorbachev resigns as General Secretary, CPSU banned by Yeltsin. |
