The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), at some points known as the Russian Communist Party, All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet Communist Party (SCP), was the founding and ruling political party of the Soviet Union. The CPSU was the sole governing party of the Soviet Union until 1990 when the Congress of People's Deputies modified Article 6 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution, which had previously granted the CPSU a monopoly over the political system. The party's main ideology was Marxism–Leninism. The party was outlawed under Russian President Boris Yeltsin's decree on 6 November 1991, citing the 1991 Soviet coup attempt as a reason.
The organization of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was based on the principles of democratic centralism.
Vladimir Antonovich Ivashko was a Soviet Ukrainian politician, briefly acting as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the period from 24 to 29 August 1991. On 24 August Mikhail Gorbachev resigned from the post, and on 29 August the CPSU was suspended by the Supreme Soviet. Before becoming General Secretary he had been voted Gorbachev's Deputy General Secretary within the Party on 12 July 1990, a newly created position as a result of the 28th Congress of the Communist Party.
The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1924 until the country's dissolution in 1991, the officeholder was the recognized leader of the Soviet Union. Prior to Joseph Stalin's accession, the position was not viewed as an important role in Vladimir Lenin's government and previous occupants had been responsible for technical rather than political decisions.
The Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, while the Politburo was charged with the policy-making aspects of the party. The Secretariat was a component agency of the party's Central Committee.
Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov was a Soviet politician. He was the Soviet Union's "propagandist-in-chief" after the Second World War, and was responsible for developing the Soviet cultural policy, the Zhdanov Doctrine, which remained in effect until the death of Joseph Stalin. Zhdanov was considered Stalin's most likely successor but died before him.
Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov was a Soviet politician and member of the Politburo and Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1985, he was considered Mikhail Gorbachev's main rival in the succession struggle after the death of Konstantin Chernenko in March 1985, the third Soviet leader to die in just a few short years.
Demokratizatsiya was a slogan introduced by CPSU General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in January 1987 calling for the infusion of "democratic" elements into the Soviet Union's single-party government. Gorbachev's Demokratizatsiya meant the introduction of multi-candidate—though not multi-party—elections for local Communist Party (CPSU) officials and Soviets. In this way, he hoped to rejuvenate the party with reform-minded personnel who would carry out his institutional and policy reforms. The CPSU would retain sole custody of the ballot box.
Alexey Alexandrovich Kuznetsov was a Soviet statesman, CPSU functionary, Lieutenant General and member of CPSU Central Committee (1939–1949).
Ismail Abdurasulovich Yusupov (Uyghur: ئىسمايىل يۈسۈپ, Kazakh: Ысмайыл Юсупов: was a member of the Uyghur minority and a Soviet Communist from 1962 to 1964 and in that era he was first secretary of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR. After Khrushchev was ousted in 1964, Yusupov was replaced with Dinmukhamed Akhmedovich Kunayev, a close friend of Brezhnev's. Until his retirement in 1971, he held several lower functions in the field of agriculture.
The First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the city of Moscow, roughly equating to that of mayor. The position was created on November 10, 1917, following the October Revolution, and abolished on August 24, 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position, usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself. Until the abolition of the CPSU monopoly on power on March 14, 1990, he had actual power in Moscow.
Nina Alexandrovna Andreyeva was a Soviet and Russian chemist, teacher, author, political activist, and social critic. A supporter of classical Soviet principles, she wrote an essay entitled I Cannot Forsake My Principles that defended many aspects of the traditional Soviet system, and criticized General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and his closest supporters for not being true communists. In the rebuke published in the official party newspaper Pravda the essay was called The Manifesto of Anti-Perestroika Forces.
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Uglanov was a Russian Bolshevik politician and Soviet statesman who played an important role in the government of the Soviet Union as a Communist Party leader in the city of Moscow during the 1920s. Uglanov was closely associated with the so-called "Right Opposition" associated with Soviet party leader Nikolai Bukharin and he fell from his leadership position during the mass collectivization campaign of 1929. Uglanov was arrested in the summer of 1936 and was executed the following spring during the secret police terror of 1937–38.
Oleksandr Pavlovych Liashko was a Soviet Ukrainian politician. He served as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR for more than 15 years, making him the longest-serving person in that position. Liashko was also a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1961 to 1989. In 1985, he was honored with the Hero of Socialist Labour award.
Nikolai Grigoryevich Ignatov was a Soviet politician during the 1950s and 1960s who served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Republic briefly in 1959 and again from 1962 until his death.
Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov was a Soviet politician who briefly succeeded Joseph Stalin as leader of the Soviet Union after his death in March 1953. After one week, Malenkov was forced to give up control of the party apparatus, but continued to serve as Premier of the Soviet Union. He then entered a power struggle with the party's First Secretary, Nikita Khrushchev that culminated in his removal from the premiership in 1955 as well as the Presidium in 1957.
The Central Committee of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was in session from 1986 until 1990. Its 1st Plenary Session elected the Politburo, the Secretariat and the Party Control Committee of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
The Leningrad Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, commonly referred to as the Leningrad CPSU obkom, was the position of highest authority in Leningrad Oblast during most of the existence of the Soviet Union. The position was created on 1 August 1927, and abolished on 29 August 1991 although most authority was lost in June that year to the position of Governor of Leningrad Oblast. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
Pyotr Antonovich Zalutsky was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and Communist Party organiser, who was executed for his involvement in the United Opposition.
Nikolai Pavlovich Komarov was a Russian Soviet politician, statesman and Communist Party official.