| Communist Party of Lithuania Lietuvos komunistų partija |
|
|---|---|
| Founded | 1918 |
| Dissolved | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Vilnius |
| Newspaper | Lietuvos tiesos |
| Ideology | Communism, Marxism-Leninism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| International affiliation | Communist International |
| Official colours | Red |
| Politics of Lithuania Political parties Elections |
|
The Communist Party of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos komunistų partija, Russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) was a communist party in Lithuania, established in early October 1918. The party was banned in December 1926.[1]
Contents |
| Party membership[2] | |
|---|---|
| Year | Members |
| 1930 | 650 |
| 1936 | 1,942 |
| 1940 | 1,741 |
| 1941 | 4,620 |
| 1945 | 3,540 |
| 1950 | 27,800 |
| 1955 | 35,500 |
| 1960 | 54,300 |
| 1965 | 86,400 |
| 1970 | 116,600 |
| 1975 | 140,200 |
| 1980 | 165,800 |
The party was working illegally until 1940. In the same year the party was merged with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks). By the time of the formation of the Lithuanian SSR, the Communist Party of Lithuania (LKP) was headed by Antanas Sniečkus. In 1940 the LKP merged into the CPSU(b). The territorial organization of the party in Lithuania was called Communist Party of Lithuania (bolshevik) (LK(b)P). In the Lithuanian territorial organization, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the party (always a Lithuanian) was de facto governor of the country. The second secretary was always a Moscow-appointed Russian. In 1952 the name of the old Lithuanian party, LKP, was retaken.
In 1989, during mass protests of the Singing Revolution against Soviet Union in Lithuania the party declared itself independent from Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1990 the Communist Party of Lithuania was converted into the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, which in turn was later merged with Social Democratic Party of Lithuania under the later's name, but with leadership dominated by ex-communists.
The remainder of the Communist Party of Lithuania ('on platform of Communist Party of the Soviet Union') existed in 1990-1991 under leadership of Mykolas Burokevičius after the "traditional" party declared its independence from its Soviet Union counterpart. The Communist Party of Lithuania was eventually banned in 1991. Although still illegal, the Communist Party of Lithuania is affiliated to the Union of Communist Parties — Communist Party of the Soviet Union (UCP-CPSU) headed by Gennady Zyuganov.
| Congress | Date | Delegates Voting + advisory |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | October 1–3, 1918 | 34 | Took place illegally in Vilnius |
| 2nd | March 4–6, 1919 | 159 + 10 | Joint congress with the Communist Party of Byelorussia; Established the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Lithuania and Belorussia |
| 3rd | October 24–29, 1921 | 12 | Took place illegally in Königsberg |
| 4th | July 17–21, 1924 | 11 + 4 | Took place in Moscow; after the 5th World Congress of the Comintern |
| 5th | February 5–9, 1941 | 294 + 66 | Took place in Kaunas; First congress after establishment of the Lithuanian SSR |
| 6th | February 15–18, 1949 | 471 + 74 | First congress after World War II |
| 7th | September 22–25, 1952 | 517 + 75 | Elected 9 delegates to the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
| 8th | February 16–19, 1954 | 541 + 44 | |
| 9th | January 24–27, 1956 | 578 + 101 | Elected 9 delegates to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
| 10th | February 12–15, 1958 | 572 + 108 | |
| 11th | January 14–16, 1959 | 596 + 126 | Elected 9 delegates to the 21st Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
| 12th | March 1–3, 1960 | 593 + 103 | |
| 13th | April 27–29, 1961 | 688 + 119 | Elected 36 delegates to the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
| 14th | January 9-10, 1964 | 765 + 99 | |
| 15th | March 3–5, 1966 | 789 + 90 | Elected 42 delegates to the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
| 16th | March 3–5, 1966 | 748 + 47 | Elected 45 delegates to the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
| 17th | January 20–22, 1976 | 904 | Elected 49 delegates to the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
| 18th | January 29–30, 1981 | 933 | Elected 42 delegates to the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
| 19th | January 24–25, 1986 | 947 | Elected 55 delegates to the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
| 20th | December 19, 1989 | Voted to separate from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |