Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
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The Congress of the CPSU (Russian: съезд КПСС) was the gathering of the delegates of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its predecessors. Over the course of history, the name was changed in accordance with the current name of the party at the time. The frequency of party congresses varied with the meetings being annual events in the 1920s while no Congress was held at all between 1939 to 1952. After the death of Joseph Stalin, the Congresses were held every five years.
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[edit] First
The First Congress of RSDLP, was held in 1898, Minsk, Belarus of Imperial Russia.
[edit] Second
The Second Congress, 1903, Belgium, resulted into the party's split into Bolshevik and Menshevik factions which eventually became separate parties, each in their own right.
[edit] Ruling Body
Theoretically, the Congress was the supreme ruling body of the entire Communist Party. Between the congresses the party was ruled by the Central Committee, abbreviated as ЦК, "Tseka".
See also: Organization of the Communist Party of the USSR
[edit] List of Party Congresses
| Number | Dates | Place | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-3 [14-16] Mar 1898 | Minsk, Russian Empire | RDSLP founding conference |
| 2 | 17 [30] Jul - 10 [23] Aug 1903 | Brussels, Belgium and London, UK | RDSLP splits into Bolshevik and Menshevik factions. First Program of Bolshevik Party (1st Party Program). |
| 3 | 12-27 April [25 Apr - 10 May] 1905 | London, UK | Bolsheviks only |
| 4 ("Unification") | 10-25 April [23 Apr - 8 May] 1906 | Stockholm, Sweden | Bolsheviks and Mensheviks re-unite in the same party, but keep their factions |
| 5 ("London") | 30 April - 19 May [13 May - 1 June] 1907 | London, UK | Bolsheviks and Mensheviks together |
| 6 | 26 July - 3 August [8-16 August] 1917 | Petrograd, Russian Republic | Held semi-legally in between revolutions, Bolsheviks merge with the Mezhraiontsy, final break with the Mensheviks |
| 7 (Extraordinary) | 6-8 March 1918 | Moscow, Russian SFSR | Party becomes Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) |
| 8 | 18-23 March 1919 | Moscow, Russian SFSR | New (2nd) Party Program adopted by Congress. |
| 9 | 29 March - 5 April 1920 | Moscow, Russian SFSR | |
| 10 | 8-16 March 1921 | Moscow, Russian SFSR | Internal party factions banned in a secret resolution |
| 11 | 27 March - 2 April 1922 | Moscow, Russian SFSR | |
| 12 | 17-25 April 1923 | Moscow, USSR | |
| 13 | 23-31 May 1924 | Moscow, USSR | First Congress since Lenin's death |
| 14 | 18-31 December 1925 | Moscow, USSR | Party becomes All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) |
| 15 | 2-19 December 1927 | Moscow, USSR | Stalin's power consolidated, Trotskyists expelled |
| 16 | 26 June - 13 July 1930 | Moscow, USSR | |
| 17 | 26 January - 10 February 1934 | Moscow, USSR | Vote for Politburo shows Kirov most popular member, Stalin least popular. Hailed as the "Congress of Victors." |
| 18 | 10-21 March 1939 | Moscow, USSR | First congress after Great Purge. |
| 19 | 5-14 October 1952 | Moscow, USSR | Party becomes Communist Party of the Soviet Union - Stalin's last Congress |
| 20 | 14-25 February 1956 | Moscow, USSR | Khrushchev's Secret Speech denouncing Stalin |
| 21 (Extraordinary) | 27 January - 5 February 1959 | Moscow, USSR | "Extraordinary" Congress timed so that Khrushchev could try to consolidate his power over rivals. |
| 22 | 17-31 October 1961 | Moscow, USSR | New (3rd) Party Program adopted. |
| 23 | 29 March - 8 April 1966 | Moscow, USSR | Brezhnev's first Congress as General Secretary. |
| 24 | 30 March - 9 April 1971 | Moscow, USSR | |
| 25 | 24 February - 5 March 1976 | Moscow, USSR | |
| 26 | 23 February - 3 March 1981 | Moscow, USSR | Brezhnev's last congress. |
| 27 | 25 February - 6 March 1986 | Moscow, USSR | Gorbachev presides. Revised (4th) Party Program. Glasnost and perestroika not yet announced. |
| 28 | 2-13 July 1990 | Moscow, USSR | Party Statute formalizes the end to monopoly on power |
| 29 | 26-27 March 1993 | Moscow, Russian Federation | CPSU "temporarily" reformed into UCP-CPSU, a union of communist parties of the former Soviet republics. Oleg Shenin elected the chairman. |
| 30 | 1-2 July 1995 | Moscow, Russian Federation | First congress where CPRF participated as a full member party of UCP-CPSU. |
| 31 | 31 October-1 November 1998 | Moscow, Russian Federation | |
| 32 | 27 October 2001 | Moscow, Russian Federation | Split with O.Shenin. Gennady Zyuganov, already the head of CPRF, elected the chairman. |
| 33 | 16 April 2005 | Moscow, Russian Federation |
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