Historical Dictionary: Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). The CPSU is a monument to communism that has gone down in history. What is the CPSU in the USSR

26.12.2023

This now almost unused abbreviation was once known to every child and was pronounced almost with reverence. Central Committee of the CPSU! What do these letters mean?

About the name

The abbreviation we are interested in means, or more simply, Central Committee. Considering the importance of the Communist Party in society, its governing body could well be called the kitchen in which fateful decisions for the country were “cooked.” Members of the CPSU Central Committee, the main elite of the country, are the “cooks” in this kitchen, and the “chef” is the General Secretary.

From the history of the CPSU

The history of this public entity began long before the revolution and the proclamation of the USSR. Until 1952, its names changed several times: RCP(b), VKP(b). These abbreviations reflected both the ideology, which was clarified each time (from workers' social democracy to the Bolshevik Communist Party), and the scale (from Russian to all-Union). But the names are not the point. From the 20s to the 90s of the last century, a one-party system functioned in the country, and the Communist Party had a complete monopoly. The Constitution of 1936 recognized it as the governing core, and in the main law of the country of 1977 it was even proclaimed the guiding and guiding force of society. Any directives issued by the CPSU Central Committee instantly acquired the force of law.

All this, of course, did not contribute to the democratic development of the country. In the USSR, inequality of rights along party lines was actively promoted. Even small leadership positions could only be applied for by members of the CPSU, who could be held accountable for mistakes along party lines. One of the most terrible punishments was deprivation of a party card. The CPSU positioned itself as a party of workers and collective farmers, so there were quite strict quotas for its recruitment with new members. It was difficult for a representative of a creative profession or a mental worker to find himself in the party ranks; The CPSU monitored its national composition no less strictly. Thanks to this selection, the really best did not always end up in the party.

From the party charter

In accordance with the Charter, all activities of the Communist Party were collegial. In primary organizations, decisions were made at general meetings, but in general the governing body was a congress held every few years. A party plenum was held approximately every six months. The Central Committee of the CPSU in the intervals between plenums and congresses was the leading unit responsible for all party activities. In turn, the highest body that led the Central Committee itself was the Politburo, headed by the General (First) Secretary.

The functional responsibilities of the Central Committee included personnel policy and local control, expenditure of the party budget and management of the activities of public structures. But not only. Together with the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, he determined all ideological activities in the country and resolved the most important political and economic issues.

It is difficult for people who have not lived to understand this. In a democratic country where a number of parties operate, their activities are of little concern to the average person - he only remembers them before elections. But in the USSR the leading role of the Communist Party was even emphasized constitutionally! In factories and collective farms, in military units and in creative groups, the party organizer was the second (and in importance often the first) leader of this structure. Formally, the Communist Party could not manage economic or political processes: for this there was a Council of Ministers. But in fact, the Communist Party decided everything. No one was surprised by the fact that the most important political problems and five-year plans for economic development were discussed and determined by party congresses. The Central Committee of the CPSU directed all these processes.

About the main person in the party

Theoretically, the Communist Party was a democratic entity: from the time of Lenin until the last moment, there was no unity of command in it, and there were no formal leaders. It was assumed that the secretary of the Central Committee was just a technical position, and the members of the governing body were equal. The first secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee, or rather the RCP(b), were indeed not very noticeable figures. E. Stasova, Y. Sverdlov, N. Krestinsky, V. Molotov - although their names were well-known, these people had nothing to do with practical leadership. But with the arrival of I. Stalin, the process went differently: the “father of nations” managed to crush all power under himself. A corresponding position also appeared - Secretary General. It must be said that the names of party leaders changed periodically: the General Secretaries were replaced by the First Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee, then vice versa. With the light hand of Stalin, regardless of the title of his position, the party leader simultaneously became the main person of the state.

After the death of the leader in 1953, N. Khrushchev and L. Brezhnev held this post, then for a short period the position was occupied by Yu. Andropov and K. Chernenko. The last party leader was M. Gorbachev, who was also the only President of the USSR. The era of each of them was significant in its own way. If Stalin is considered by many to be a tyrant, then Khrushchev is usually called a voluntarist, and Brezhnev is the father of stagnation. Gorbachev went down in history as the man who first destroyed and then buried a huge state - the Soviet Union.

Conclusion

The history of the CPSU was an academic discipline compulsory for all universities in the country, and every schoolchild in the Soviet Union knew the main milestones in the development and activities of the party. Revolution, then civil war, industrialization and collectivization, victory over fascism and the post-war restoration of the country. And then virgin lands and space flights, large-scale all-Union construction projects - the history of the party was closely intertwined with the history of the state. In each case, the role of the CPSU was considered dominant, and the word “communist” was synonymous with a true patriot and simply a worthy person.

But if you read the history of the party differently, between the lines, you get a terrible thriller. Millions of repressed people, exiled peoples, camps and political murders, reprisals against undesirables, persecution of dissidents... We can say that the author of every black page of Soviet history is the CPSU Central Committee.

In the USSR they loved to quote Lenin’s words: “The party is the mind, honor and conscience of our era.” Alas! In fact, the Communist Party was neither one nor the other, nor the third. After the 1991 coup, the activities of the CPSU in Russia were banned. Is the Russian Communist Party the successor to the All-Union Party? Even experts find it difficult to explain this.

THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION (CPSU) is the Marxist-Leninist vanguard of the Soviet people, an integral part of the international communist movement. Created as the vanguard of the working class, a single party with its own Program and Charter, at the Second Congress of the RSDLP (1903), which completed the process of unifying the revolutionary Marxist organizations of Russia on the ideological, political and organizational principles developed V. I. Lenin. Initially it was called the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP), and from 1917 - the RSDLP (Bolsheviks) - RSDLP (b) (see. ). The VII Congress (1918) renamed the party into the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) - RCP (b), XIV Congress (1925) - into the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) - VKP (b), XIX Congress (1952) - into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . The founder and leader of the party was V.I. Lenin. Therefore, the CPSU, along with its official name, is rightfully called the Leninist party.

At each historical stage, the party consistently solved problems scientifically substantiated in its programs. In the first Program (1903), she declared her goal to be the struggle for the victory of the bourgeois-democratic, and then socialist , the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat. With the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution, this Program was implemented. In the second Program adopted by the VIII Congress (1919), the party put forward the task of building socialism. Under her leadership, the Soviet people, overcoming enormous difficulties and going through tragic trials associated with the cult of personality, solved this problem. A socialist society was built in the USSR.

The Party has more than once had to lead the armed defense of the revolutionary, socialist gains of the working people. This was the case during the civil war and foreign intervention. During the Great Patriotic War, the party inspired and organized the nationwide struggle against the Nazi invaders. Its leadership was the most important factor in the victory over fascism and the elimination of the consequences of the war.

Having adopted the Third Program at the XXII Congress (1961), the CPSU launched a great deal of work in all areas of communist construction. Under her leadership, the Soviet people achieved significant success in the development of productive forces, economic and social relations, socialist democracy, and in the formation of a new man. At the same time, for reasons of an objective and, above all, subjective nature, in the 70s - early. 80s Negative, stagnant phenomena began to arise in the socio-economic development of the country. A turning point has also arisen in global development. The new historical situation required an innovative rethinking of reality, a sharp turn in strategy, politics, and in all the leadership activities of the party. All this was reflected in the new edition of the Party Program adopted by the XXVII Congress of the CPSU (1986).

The Third Program of the CPSU in its current edition is a program for the systematic and comprehensive improvement of socialism, the further advancement of Soviet society towards based on accelerating the socio-economic development of the country, a program of struggle for peace and social progress. It proclaims that the ultimate goal of the party is to build communism. The CPSU constantly correlates its policies, economic and social strategy, and the tasks of organizational and ideological work with the communist perspective.

The modern strategic course of the party was developed by the April (1985) Plenum of the Central Committee and the XXVII Congress of the CPSU. This is a course to accelerate the socio-economic development of the country. With its implementation, the party associates the growth of prosperity and peaceful life of the Soviet people, the future of our Motherland, and the fate of socialism.

The acceleration course required a deep restructuring in all spheres of economics, management, socio-political and spiritual life. The party, in the decisions of the XXVII Congress, subsequent Plenums of the Central Committee, and the XIX All-Union Party Conference, substantiated the objective need for perestroika, its stages, goals and objectives. She led this process, organized work that was revolutionary in nature, aimed at decisively overcoming stagnation, implementing radical economic reform, reconstructing the political system of Soviet society, democratizing public life, and creating a reliable and effective mechanism for socio-economic acceleration. The ultimate goal of perestroika is the renewal of all aspects of social life, giving socialism the most modern forms of social organization, and the fullest disclosure of the creative potential of the socialist system. The implementation of the course of acceleration and restructuring, unanimously supported by the people, is today the main thing in the activities of communists, of all Soviet people.

Under the conditions of perestroika, the role of the party as the leading and organizing force of society appears in a new way. The XIX Party Conference determined the functions of the party in the new conditions. Their essence is that the party, based on Marxist-Leninist teaching, is called upon to develop a theory and strategy of social development, domestic and foreign policy, formulate the ideology of socialist renewal, conduct political and organizational work among the masses, educate and place personnel. At the same time, it operates within the framework of the USSR Constitution and Soviet laws. This requires a rejection of the substitution of party committees for state and economic bodies, and of command-and-order methods of work.

The vanguard role of the CPSU in perestroika is impossible without deep democratization of the internal life of the party. It is necessary to fully revive the Leninist organizational principles on the basis of which the party and all its bodies are called upon to act. These principles are enshrined in its Charter. The current Charter of the CPSU was adopted at the XXVII Party Congress. It reflects a complex of modern demands that are put forward in the field of party building. The guiding principle of the organizational structure, life and activities of the party, according to the CPSU Charter, is democratic centralism, which provides for freedom of discussion at the discussion stage and unity of action when the decision is made by the majority. In the democratization of internal party life and methods of activity of the CPSU, it is one of the important conditions for increasing the vital activity of the party, its self-purification and strengthening, the active work of party organizations, and a guarantee against repeating the mistakes of the past.

The CPSU unites on a voluntary basis the advanced, most conscious part of the working class, collective farm peasantry and intelligentsia of the USSR. Currently the party numbers approx. 19.5 million communists. Among them, 45.3% are workers, 11.6% are collective farmers, 43.1% are office workers. The CPSU is a coherent system of organizations with corresponding governing bodies. It unites 14 communist parties of the union republics, 6 regional, 153 regional, 10 district, 4439 city and district, St. 441 thousand primary party organizations. The work of the party and all its organizations in the period between congresses is headed by the Central Committee of the CPSU, its Politburo and Secretariat.

The CPSU is an integral part of the international communist movement. It firmly adheres to the principles of proletarian, socialist internationalism, actively promotes the strengthening of the cohesion of fraternal socialist countries, the unity of the international communist and labor movement, and shows solidarity with the peoples fighting for national and social liberation, against imperialism, and for the preservation of peace. The Party considers its activities to improve socialist society and build communism, its struggle against the danger of nuclear catastrophe as the most important international duty, the fulfillment of which meets the interests of the world system of socialism, the international working class, and all humanity.

General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee - M. S. Gorbachev. *

Project Editorial Notes

* This is as usual. An indispensable component of dictionaries and encyclopedias of the Soviet era was such boorish groveling before those in power. If some insignificant little man was appointed the biggest boss, then all the political publishing houses in the country simply began to compete with each other in displaying servility. It would seem that if you are compiling a “Concise Political Dictionary” and writing articles about social and political institutions such as the CPSU, then fulfill this pragmatic task. Oh no! You definitely need to “prompt” the top boss (or at least his entourage) that you “checked in” - you mentioned the boss in the dictionary entry with the appropriate regalia.

Brief political dictionary. M., 1988, p. 175-177.

Representatives of the older generation know very well what the CPSU is. They lived during the spread of communist ideology, the basics of which were taught in school.

Many may have disagreed with the policies of the authorities, but everyone knew that the CPSU was the only party that would lead the country forward. With the collapse of the USSR, the situation changed radically. Nevertheless, the existing ideology was firmly entrenched in the minds of the population. Let us consider in detail in the article what the CPSU is.

General information

So, what does CPSU mean? This The acronym stands for Communist Party of the Soviet Union. At the initial stages of its existence, it was called the RSDLP (b), RCP (b), VKP (b). Its founder is V.I. Lenin.

During the socialist years, the CPSU was the party of all the people of the USSR. She became ruling as a result of strengthening political and social unity.

Charter

It establishes that the CPSU is “a proven militant vanguard of the people, uniting on a voluntary basis the most conscious, advanced part of the proletariat, intelligentsia and peasantry.” The Charter states that the party is called upon to serve the people.

What is the CPSU for a Soviet citizen? The party was the highest form of socio-political organization, the guiding, guiding force of society. Moreover, it was proclaimed as an integral element of the international workers' communist movement.

The first congresses of the CPSU

The very first meeting of the party took place in 1898. At this congress it received the name RSDLP. In 1917, the word “Bolsheviks” was added to the name. As a result, the full name was as follows: Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks). At the 7th Congress, however, the name was changed again. The party began to be called in short: RCP (b).

Lenin justified the changes in the name by the need to reflect in it the goal that a socialist society sets for itself - the achievement of communism.

In 1925, the USSR was officially formed. In this regard, the name of the party was changed to the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. The final name was approved in 1952 at the 19th Congress. The party became known as the CPSU.

Batch meaning

If we talk about what the CPSU is for people who participated in the fight against fascism, then we cannot fail to note the enormous contribution of the country’s leadership to the victory over the invaders. The party became the driving force of the entire Soviet people. Its ideology united millions of people in the fight against fascism.

Under the leadership of the CPSU, the people built developed socialism, turning the country into one of the most powerful powers, with advanced science and culture. The policy that Lenin proclaimed, which was put into practice by his followers, ensured the unity of the population around the party. As a result, a new community was formed - the Soviet people.

Theoretical basis

It is the Marxist-Leninist teaching. Based on his ideas, at each congress the CPSU identified new promising tasks. At the same time, the ultimate goal of the party always remained unchanged and was to build a communist society. At the 22nd Congress, a corresponding program was adopted. One of its objectives was to create the material and technical base for building communism. Its implementation assumed:

Electrification of the country, improvement of technology, equipment, organization of production in every economic sector.
Widespread use of chemical products.
Comprehensive mechanization of processes with their subsequent automation.
Development of promising, cost-effective sectors, creation of new materials and types of energy.
Rational and comprehensive use of all resources (labor, material, natural).
Increasing the cultural and technical level of workers.
Achieving superiority over developed capitalist states in terms of labor productivity.

Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee

The leading working body of the party was the secretariat. Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee could participate in Politburo meetings and had the right to an advisory vote.

The current activities of the party were managed by the Plenum of the Central Committee. The secretariat had an apparatus with industry departments. With his help, operational activities were carried out. Below is a list of secretaries of the Central Committee of the CPSU of the USSR from 1925 to 1941:

Bubnov. A.S.
Kosior S. V.
Evdokimov G. E.
Shvernik N.M.
Kubyak N. A.
Smirnov A.P.
Kaganovich L. M.
Bauman K. Ya.
Postyshev P. P.
Kirov S. M.
Zhdanov A. A.
Ezhov N. I.
Andreev A. A.
Malenkov G. M.
Shcherbakov A. S.

Secretary General

The General Secretary of the CPSU was considered the highest official in the country. This post of General Secretary was first introduced, presumably, in 1922. The first party member to occupy it was Stalin. Unofficially, Krestinsky was considered the general secretary when in 1919-1921. was the only one of the three secretaries of the Central Committee to be a member of the Politburo.

During the elections of the secretariat, the position of the general secretary was not mentioned at the plenums. Until Stalin's death, it remained non-statutory.

In 1953, instead of the post of Secretary General, the post of First Secretary was established. In 1966 it was renamed back. At the same time, the position of the General Secretary was enshrined in the Charter of the Communist Party.

Organizational Basics

They are reflected in the Party Charter. This document defines the norms of party life, forms, methods of building communism, ways of managing all areas of ideological, state, social, and economic activity.

In accordance with the Charter, the organizational principle is democratic socialism. It means:

Election of governing bodies from bottom to top.
Regular reporting of party structures to their organizations and higher government institutions.
Strict discipline, subordination of minority opinion to majority opinion.
Unconditional mandatory execution of decisions of higher structures.

Members of the CPSU

Any Soviet citizen who recognized the party program and the Charter, took an active part in building a communist society, carried out the decisions of the party leadership, and paid dues could join the pariah.

All members of the CPSU were subject to the following responsibilities:

Serve as an example of the correct communist attitude to the performance of public duty and work.
Steadfastly and firmly implement the decisions of the party leadership.
Explain the political program to the population.
Actively participate in political processes, government, cultural and economic construction.
Know the basics of Marxist-Leninist theory.
Resolutely fight against all bourgeois manifestations, remnants of private property relations, religious prejudices, and other remnants of the past.
Be attentive and sensitive to people.
Observe the norms of communist morality.
Actively promote the ideas of socialist internationalism and Soviet patriotism.
Strengthen the unity of the party system.
Develop self-criticism and criticism.
To be honest and truthful before the people and the party.
Maintain state and party discipline.
Be vigilant.
Contribute to strengthening the defense capability of the USSR.

Rights

Any party member could be elected to party bodies or participate in the elections of their members. Party citizens could freely discuss issues of practical activities of the CPSU at party meetings, congresses, conferences, and committee meetings.

Party members had the right to make proposals for improving the work of the governing body, to express openly, to defend their own opinions before a decision is made, to criticize any communist at meetings, conferences, and other meetings, regardless of his position.

Procedural issues

Admission to the CPSU was always carried out on an individual basis. Active, conscientious representatives of the intelligentsia, working class and peasantry, devoted to communism, were accepted into the party.

All citizens joining the CPSU underwent candidate experience. It was 1 year. Only persons over 18 years of age could join the party. At the same time, citizens under 23 years of age were admitted to the CPSU through the VLKS.

In case of failure to fulfill the duties of a party member provided for by the Charter, a citizen (including those who are a candidate) was held accountable. Various disciplinary and other measures were taken against him. The highest punishment for a party member was expulsion from it.

Structure

The CPSU was built on the territorial production principle. Primary organizations were formed at the place of work of citizens. They united into district ones, then into city ones, and so on.

The highest governing bodies for primary organizations were general meetings, for district, city, regional, district - conferences, for the CPSU and parties of the republics - congresses.

At general meetings, conferences, and congresses, a bureau or committee was elected. They acted as executive structures and supervised all current activities of the party organization. Elections of members of party bodies were held according to the principle of secret (closed) voting.

The party congress was considered the supreme governing body. It elected the Central Committee and the Central Audit Commission. Congresses were convened at least once every five years. Between them, the party's activities were under the leadership of the CPSU Central Committee.

In 1898-1991, the ruling party in 1917-1991; in the pre-revolutionary period, the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDPR), since 1917, the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks) - RSDLP (b). In March 1918, at the Seventh Congress, it was renamed the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) - RCP (b). The Fourteenth Party Congress (1925) renamed the RCP (b) into the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) - VKP (b). The Nineteenth Party Congress (1952) renamed the CPSU (b) into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

The founding First Congress of the RSDLP took place in 1898 in Minsk. However, systematic work to create a grassroots party network began in 1900 after the publication of V.I. Lenin of the newspaper Iskra. The Second Congress of the RSDLP (1903) contributed to the unification of disparate Marxist organizations in Russia into a mass political party and at the same time revealed two currents in domestic social democracy: Bolshevik and Menshevik. V.I. became the leader of the Bolsheviks. Lenin. As a result of the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolshevik Party came to power. Since the 1920s, the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was the only party in the country and became the basis of the state totalitarian regime led by I.V. Stalin. If in 1917 there were 40,000 party members in Russia, by the mid-1980s this number had grown to 19 million.
At the Twentieth Congress of the CPSU (1956), part of the party leadership led by N.S. Khrushchev exposed Stalin’s personality cult, marking the so-called thaw period. By the mid-1960s, the thaw period ended, conservative forces interrupted the process of updating the party-state apparatus and the search for ways to effectively develop the economy. In 1977, the leading role of the CPSU in Soviet society was enshrined in a special article of the USSR Constitution. Since 1985 M.S. Gorbachev initiated attempts to rebuild Soviet society and the party. The desire for reform was supported by the Soviet people, but the strategy and tactics of the USSR leadership led to a deep socio-economic crisis and, ultimately, to the collapse of the USSR. In 1991, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin, the activities of the CPSU in Russia were stopped and its organizational structures were dissolved.

Organizational principles

The CPSU became the world's first Marxist party to establish political dominance in its country and implement the idea of creating a socialist state. Being a party of scientific communism, the CPSU was based on Marxism-Leninism - the scientific foundation of the revolutionary transformation of society. At each historical stage, the CPSU was guided in its activities by a special document - the Program. The first Party Program was adopted in 1903 at the Second Congress of the RSDLP. It set the tasks of the conquest of political power by the working class and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat. This program was carried out during the Great October Socialist Revolution and the establishment of Soviet power. The Eighth Congress of the RCP (b) in 1919 adopted the second Party Program - the program for building socialism. The Twenty-Second Congress of the CPSU in 1961 adopted the third Program - the program for building a communist society in the USSR. This program formulated the triune task of creating the material and technical base of communism, forming communist social relations and educating a new person. The creation of the material and technical base of communism meant not only the improvement of technology, technology and the organization of social production in all sectors of the national economy, the development of economically efficient branches of production, the rapid pace of scientific and technological progress, the high cultural and technical level of the working people, but also superiority over developed capitalist countries in terms of labor productivity, which was a necessary condition for the victory of the communist system.
The CPSU was created as a single party of the proletariat of multinational Russia, internationalism became the principle of the national program of the party. After the formation of the USSR, republican communist parties were created in all union republics, except the RSFSR, which became an integral part of the unified CPSU. The organizational foundations of the CPSU are embodied in the Charter of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He determined the norms of party life, methods and forms of party building, ways of leading the party in all spheres of state, economic, ideological, and social activity in the USSR. According to the Charter, the guiding principle of the party's organizational structure was democratic centralism, which means: the election of all governing bodies of the party from bottom to top; periodic reporting of party bodies to their party organizations and to higher authorities; party discipline and subordination of the minority to the majority; binding decisions of higher bodies for lower ones. Collectivity was declared the highest principle of party leadership.

Program and charter

Any citizen of the Soviet Union who recognized the Party Program and Charter, participated in the construction of communism, worked in one of the party organizations, carried out party decisions and paid membership fees could be a member of the CPSU. A party member had the right to elect and be elected to party bodies, discuss issues of policy and practical activities of the party at party meetings, conferences, congresses, at meetings of party committees and in the party press, make proposals, openly express and defend their opinions before the organization makes a decision; criticize any communist at party meetings, conferences, congresses, committee plenums, regardless of the position he holds.
Admission to membership of the CPSU was carried out exclusively on an individual basis. Those joining the party underwent candidate experience for a period of one year. Persons over eighteen years of age were accepted into the party; youth up to and including 23 years of age joined the party only through the Komsomol. For failure to fulfill statutory duties and misconduct, a member or candidate member of the party was held accountable and penalties could be imposed on him. The highest measure of party punishment was expulsion from the party.
The CPSU was built on the territorial-production principle: primary party organizations were created at the place of work of communists and united into district, city, and district organizations by territory. The highest governing bodies of party organizations were the general meeting for primary organizations; conference for district, city, district, regional, regional organizations; congress for the communist parties of the union republics and for the CPSU. The general meeting, conference, congress elected a bureau or committee, which were the executive bodies and managed the current work of the party organization. Elections of party bodies were held by closed (secret) voting.
The supreme body of the CPSU was the Party Congress, which elected the Central Committee and the Central Audit Commission. Regular party congresses were convened at least once every five years. In the intervals between congresses, the activities of the party were led by the Central Committee of the CPSU. The Central Committee of the CPSU elected to lead the work of the party between the Plenums of the Central Committee - the Politburo; to manage the current work, mainly in the selection of personnel and the organization of performance verification, - the Secretariat. The Central Committee elected the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. The Party Control Committee operated under the CPSU Central Committee.

Primary organizations

The basis of the party was its primary organizations, which were created at the place of work of party members - in factories, factories, state farms, collective farms, units of the Soviet army, institutions, educational institutions with at least three party members. Territorial primary party organizations were also organized at the place of residence of communists: in rural areas and at house administrations. The primary party organization accepted new members into the CPSU and fought against manifestations of bureaucracy, localism, and violations of state discipline. Primary party organizations of state governing bodies, economic enterprises, scientific and educational institutions, cultural, educational and medical institutions enjoyed the right to control the activities of the administration. The leadership of party work in the armed forces was carried out by the CPSU Central Committee through the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy, which worked as a department of the CPSU Central Committee. The All-Union Leninist Communist Youth Union (VLKSM) operated under the leadership of the CPSU.
The CPSU has always paid attention to ensuring that there is a significant layer of representatives of the proletariat in its ranks. In the 1970s, about 40% of party members were workers, 15% were collective farmers. It was much more difficult for intellectuals and employees to join the CPSU, but advancement through the ranks of the government apparatus was directly related to the presence of a party card. About a third of party members were women.
The CPSU had its own party education system, in which both party members and non-party activists were trained. Leading party and Soviet cadres studied at the Academy of Social Sciences under the CPSU Central Committee, the Higher Party School under the CPSU Central Committee, and the Correspondence Higher Party School under the CPSU Central Committee. In addition, a network of republican and interregional higher party schools and universities of Marxism-Leninism was created in the country. The research center of the CPSU was the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the CPSU Central Committee with a network of branches in the union republics.
The CPSU carried out publishing activities; the central organ of the CPSU Central Committee was the newspaper Pravda. The Central Committee of the CPSU also published the newspapers “Soviet Russia”, “Socialist Industry”, “Rural Life”, “Soviet Culture”, the weekly “Economic Newspaper”, the theoretical and political magazine “Communist”, the magazines “Agitator”, “Party Life”, “ Political self-education." The publishing house “Pravda” and “Publishing House of Political Literature” (Politizdat) were under the jurisdiction of the CPSU Central Committee. The Central Committees of the Communist Parties of the Union Republics had their own publishing houses.