Communist Party of the Soviet Union

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Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) Former ruling party of the Soviet Union. It wielded all effective political power in the country and, via the Communist International, had considerable influence over Communist parties in other countries. At its height the CPSU had c.15 million members, organized into c.400,000 local units (cells) throughout the Soviet Union. Party organization paralleled the hierarchy of local government administration, thus enabling party control of every level of government. There were party cells in almost all areas of Soviet life, such as the school system, armed forces, factories, collective farms and the media. After the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the party was dissolved, following a number of decrees by Boris Yeltsin. There remains a strong, traditional conservative power base of ex-party members who are politically active in Russia. The 1996 presidential elections revealed popular support for the communist leader, Gennady Zyuganov. See also communism; Lenin; individual party leaders

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Communist Party of the Soviet Union