Communist Party, Soviet Union

Communist Party, Soviet Union The party emerged from the Bolsheviks as the Communist Party of Russia in 1921, but was renamed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1925. It had branches in each state of the Union, apart from Russia itself. Throughout its existence, it operated on the principle of Marxism-Leninism, i.e. it was a party led by a small elite. As the only official political party in the USSR, the party leadership automatically formed the leadership of the state. With around 730,000 members just after the Russian Civil War in 1921, initially its membership was relatively selective, as Lenin considered the Russian peasantry and working classes too ‘uncultured’ to provide many useful members. Membership figures fluctuated sharply. To eliminate the party of ‘radishes’ (red on the outside, but white inside), it was periodically purged, the first major purge ridding the party of around 250,000 members (1921–2). Most of the party hierarchy (apart from Stalin himself) was eliminated during the Great Purge. As the only Communist Party in control of a state before 1945 (apart from Mongolia), the Soviet Communist Party became an example for other Communist movements worldwide, which it sought to control through the establishment of the Comintern. During World War II, it trained Communist leaders of other countries, whom it encouraged to set up Communist Parties after the Soviet model in their home countries after 1944–5.

The effective monopoly of the party's principal authority among Communists around the world (and inside the Soviet Union), was shattered with Stalin's death and Khrushchev's anti-Stalinist campaigns, when the party's brutality and fallibility was openly admitted. It led to the formation of Eurocommunism in Western Europe, and growing resistence to the predominance of the Soviet party among Eastern European Communist movements, most apparent during the Hungarian Revolution, the Prague Spring, and the Solidarność protests in Poland. Meanwhile, under the leadership of Brezhnev within the Soviet Union increasing emphasis was put on mass recruitment, as party membership became the sine qua non for holding any responsible position in public, cultural, economic, or educational life.

From the leadership of Andropov, who, after Chernenko's brief tenure, was succeeded in 1985 by Gorbachev, party discipline was strengthened through anti-corruption drives. This led to the exchange of up to 80 per cent of the party hierarchy in some Central Asian republics. Paradoxially, the reforms also led to the drastic decline of the importance of party membership, as expertise and know-how were valued more than party allegiance. The party was also badly shaken by Gorbachev's political reforms which increased the role of the state relative to the party. Increasingly riven by controversies over the pace of change, it began to disintegrate in 1990, losing over four million members 1990–1.

The end of the party came with the August coup of 1991, after which the party was outlawed in Russia and all other component states of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, in each state a successor party was created, and became a major political force. In Russia, for instance, following the 1995 and 1999 Duma elections, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation was the largest parliamentary party, with 157 and 113 seats (out of 450) respectively.