In 1917
the Social Democratic Workers' Party (Bolsheviks)
had 200,000 members. The following year, Vladimir
Lenin persuaded members to change the name of the organization
to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) .
Traditionally,
the Party Congress elected a 27 member Central Committee every year.
Lenin decided this was too large to determine policy and in 1919 the
party created a Politburo. This was
made up of five members (increased to nine in 1925 and ten in 1930).
Its first members were Vladimir Lenin,
Leon Trotsky, Joseph
Stalin, Lev Kamenev and Nikolai
Krestinsky.
There were
over 700,000 members of the CPSU in 1921. At first the Politburo
allowed free and open debate at party meetings. However, as a result
of the Civil War, this policy changed.
At the Party Congress in 1921 all factions such as the Workers'
Opposition were banned. The following year all political parties
other than the CPSU were closed down.
The CPSU
was now all powerful. It controlled the government, which consisted
of the Council of People's Commissars, headed by its chairman (who
was prime minister). The CPSU also appointed all local and national
public officials, who had to be members of the party before they could
be appointed to these posts.
Gradually
power passed from the Politburo to
the General Secretary, who controlled the appointment of party members
to key jobs throughout the country. Joseph
Stalin, who became General Secretary in April, 1922, dominated
the CPSU after the death of Vladimir Lenin
in January, 1924.
In the
1930s Joseph Stalin instigated a series
of purges against senior members of the
CPSU. This included the removal of Leon Trotsky,
Lev Kamenev, Gregory
Zinoviev, Ivan Smirnov, Nikolai
Yezhov, Nickolai Bukharin, Alexei
Rykov,
Genrikh Yagoda, Gregory
Ordzhonikidze, Vladimir
Antonov-Ovseenko,
Nikolai
Krestinsky and
Christian
Rakovsky from
power. These men were either executed, assassinated, committed suicide,
or died in labour camps.
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