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 though, much like the elections for the Politburo, the outcome was a bygone conclusion. The General Secretary of the CPSU was the leader of the Secretariat as were two or three other senior members of the Politburo.
The Secretariat was established by the Central Committee on August 6, 1917 and was initially composed of Felix Dzerzhinsky, Muranov and Yakov Sverdlov as full members and Ioffe and Yelana Stasova as candidate members (or alternates). Following the October Revolution, Sverdlov and Stasova became the de facto Secretariat as other members of the body assumed more important duties. The purpose of the body at this time were technical such as the co-ordination of the activities of regional party organizations as well as handle party administrative work.
By 1922, the body had transformed from a technical committee to one of the most important components of the party and from that point on it was responsible for the day to day operations of the CPSU. 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
Members of the Secretariat 1917-1991
| Date | Comments |
|---|---|
| August 6, 1917 | Felix Dzerzhinsky, Muranov and Yakov Sverdlov (full members) Ioffe and Yelana Stasova (candidate members) |
| March 16, 1919 | Sverdlov dies |
| March 25, 1919 | Stasova elected Chief Secretary by the Central Committee |
| Nov 1919 | Krestinsky and Stasova |
| Apr 5, 1920 | Krestinsky, Preobrazhensky, Serebryakov |
| Mar 16, 1921 | V. Mikhaylov, Molotov, Yaroslavsky |
| Apr 3, 1922 | Kuibyshev and Molotov with Stalin as General Secretary |
| Apr 26, 1923 | Molotov, Rudzutak, Stalin |
| Feb 1924 | Rudzutak removed by Politburo replaced by Andreyev |
| Jun 2, 1924 | Andreyev, Zelensky, Kaganovich, Molotov, Stalin |
| Aug 1924 | Zelensky replaced by Uglanov |
| Apr 30, 1925 | Kaganovich replaced by 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 elected secretaries with Moskvin and Shvernik as candidate members. |
| Dec 21, 1930 | Molotov removed |
| Oct 2. 1932 | Bauman and Moskvin removed |
| Feb 10, 1934 | Zhdanov, Kaganovich, Kirov, Stalin |
| Dec 1, 1934 | Kirov assassinated |
| Feb 1935 | Yezhov and Andreyev join |
| Mar 22, 1939 | Andreyev, Zhdanov, Malenkov, Stalin |
| May 4, 1941 | 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 Suslov |
| July 1, 1948 | Malenkov and Ponomarenko join |
| Aug 31, 1948 | Zhdanov dies |
| Jan 28, 1949 | Kuznetsov removed |
| Dec 16 1949 | Popov replaced by Khrushchev |
| Oct 16, 1952 | Aristov, Brezhnev, Ignatov, Malenkov, N. Mikhaylov, Pegov, Ponomarenko, Stalin, Suslov, Khrushchev |
| Mar 5, 1953 | Stalin dies |
| Mar 5, 1953 | Brezhnev, Ignatov, Pegov and Ponomarenko replaced by Ignatyev, Pospelov and Shatalin. Malenkov becomes First Secretary |
| 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, 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 this decision was revoked on the same day and the issue was postponed until the June 1957 plenum which reaffirms Khrushchev |
| June 29, 1957 | Shepilov replaced by Kuusinen elected secretary |
| 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, 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 | Andropov, Brezhnev, Demichev, Kapitonov, Kirilenko, Kulakov, Ponomarev, Rudakov, Suslov, Ustinov, Shelepin;
Brezhnev's title changes 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, 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 | 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 | Andropov joins |
| Nov 10, 1982 | Brezhnev dies |
| Nov 12 1982 | Andropov elected General secretary at the 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 the Central Committee extraordinary plenum |
| Mar 10, 1985 | Chernenko dies |
| Mar 11, 1985 | Gorbachev elected General secretary at the Central Committee extraordinary plenum |
| Apr 23, 1985 | Nikonov joins |
| July 1, 1985 | Romanov replaced by Yeltsin and Zaikov |
| Oct 15, 1985 | Ryzhkov removed |
| Feb 18 1986 | Yeltsin and Rusakov removed |
| Mar 6, 1986 | Biryukova, Gorbachev, Dobrynin, Dolgikh, Zaikov, Zimyanin, Ligachev, Medvedev, Nikonov, Razumovsky, 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, 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 August coup Gorbachev resigns as General Secretary, CPSU banned by Yeltsin. |