WOTW 2022/Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Communist Party of the Soviet Union Коммунистическая партия Советского Союза
Abbreviation	CPSU (English) KPSS (Russian) КПСС (Latinised)
First Secretary	Anastas Mikoyan
Presidium	24th Presidium
Central Committee	24th Central Committee
Founder	Vladimir Lenin
Founded	8 March 1918
Preceded by	Bolsheviks
Headquarters	Moscow
Newspaper	Pravda
Youth wing	Little Octobrists Komsomol
Pioneer movement	Young Pioneers
Ideology	Communism Marxism-Leninism Internationalism Pro-Sovietism
Political position	Far-left
National affiliation	Bloc of Communists and Non-Partisans
International affiliation	International Communist League
Anthem	"The Internationale" (Интернационал) File:Internationale orchestral arrangement.ogg
Status	Sole ruling party in the Soviet Union
Soviet of the Union	562 / 767
Soviet of Nationalities	534 / 750

Secretariat

The Secretariat of the Central Commitee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is a Central Committee organ. Its head, the First Secretary, is the party leader.

Portrait	Name (Born-Died)	Term of office			Notes
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
Technical Secretary of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
	Elena Stasova (1873–1966)	April 1917	1918	0–1 years	As Technical Secretary, Stasova and her staff of four women were responsible for maintaining correspondence with provincial party cells, assigning work, keeping financial records, distributing Party funds, formulating party structure policy and appointing new personnel.
Chairperson of the Russian Communist Party
	Yakov Sverdlov (1885–1919)	1918	16 March 1919 †	0–1 years	Sverdlov remained in office until his death on 16 March 1919. During his tenure he was mainly responsible for technical rather than political matters.
	Elena Stasova (1873–1966)	March 1919	December 1919	9 months	When her office was dissolved, Stasova was not considered a serious competitor for the post of Responsible Secretary, the successor office to the Chairman of the Secretariat.
Responsible Secretary of the Russian Communist Party
	Nikolay Krestinsky (1883–1938)	December 1919	March 1921	1 year, 3 months	The office of Responsible Secretary functioned like a secretary, a somewhat menial position given that Krestinsky was also a member of the Party's Politburo, Orgburo and Secretariat. Nevertheless, Krestinsky never tried to create an independent power base as Joseph Stalin later did during his time as General Secretary.
	Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986)	16 March 1921	3 April 1922	291 days	Was elected Responsible Secretary at the 10th Party Congress held in March 1921. The Congress decided that the office of Responsible Secretary should have a presence at Politburo plenums. As a result, Molotov became a candidate member of the Politburo.
General Secretary of the All-Union Communist Party
	Joseph Stalin (1878–1953)	3 April 1922	16 October 1952	30 years, 196 days	Stalin used the office of General Secretary to create a strong power base for himself. At the 17th Party Congress in 1934, Stalin was not formally re-elected as General Secretary and the office was rarely mentioned after that but Stalin retained his positions and all of his power. The office was formally abolished at the 19th Party Congress on 16 October 1952, but Stalin retained ultimate power and his position as Chairman of the Council of Ministers. At 30 years 7 months, Stalin is so far the longest-serving General Secretary.
First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
	Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971)	14 September 1953	11 September 1971 †	17 years, 362 days	Khrushchev reestablished the office on 14 September 1953 under the name First Secretary. In 1957, he was nearly removed from office by the Anti-Party Group. Georgy Malenkov, a leading member of the Anti-Party Group, worried that the powers of the First Secretary were virtually unlimited. Khrushchev, like his predecessor, ruled until his death on 11 September 1971.
	Anastas Mikoyan (1895–Present)	13 September 1971	Present	3 years, 110 days	Mikoyan succeeded Khrushchev after his death in 1971. He has ruled as head of a collective leadership since.