Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was the ruling political party of the Soviet Union from its establishment in 1922 until the country's dissolution in 1991. Founded by Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshevik followers, the CPSU aimed to implement communist ideology, advocating for the overthrow of the ruling classes and the establishment of a society where property is publicly owned and resources are distributed based on need. The party rose to power following the Russian Revolution of 1917, which led to the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II and the eventual creation of the Soviet state.
Under Lenin and later Joseph Stalin, the CPSU operated as a dictatorship, asserting control over all government and economic sectors, while suppressing dissent through the use of secret police and significant state violence. The party's policies had profound impacts, including land redistribution and industrial control, although they also led to widespread famine and oppression. Throughout its existence, the CPSU expanded its influence across Eastern Europe and Asia, establishing communist governments aligned with its directives.
During the latter part of the 20th century, the CPSU faced increasing pressure for reform, leading to significant changes under Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s, which ultimately contributed to the end of communist rule and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Following this, the CPSU was banned from operating in the newly formed Russian Federation.
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was the governing political party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), also known as the Soviet Union, from 1922 until the country dissolved in 1991. The party's purpose was to uphold the political ideology of communism in formerly imperial Russia, in which emperors had held absolute power over the Russian people for centuries. Communism calls for nations' poor classes to overthrow the ruling upper classes and create new societies in which the public owns all property equally and people are paid based on what they need.
The Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin founded the CPSU in 1912 with the intention of overthrowing Russia's imperial system and establishing communist control over the country. Lenin and his party did this in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and created the Soviet Union in 1922. The CPSU ruled the nation as a dictatorship into the early 1990s, at which point Soviet leaders broke up the country amidst democratic reforms. The Soviet Union was succeeded by the country of Russia, which banned the CPSU from ever reviving.
Background
Nineteenth-century German political philosopher Karl Marx developed the concept of communism, which later became the core ideology of the CPSU. Marx argued that throughout human history, conflict had always ensued from tensions between the wealthy and poor classes. Marx believed the world's poor classes, whom he called the proletariats, should violently overthrow their wealthy rulers. In Marx's view, the proletariats would become the new rulers of their societies after the revolutions.
In the late 1880s, Marx's ideas significantly influenced the young Russian intellectual Vladimir Lenin. Lenin had disliked Russia's absolutist government from his youth, during which time government forces had threatened his father and executed his brother for appearing to threaten Russian leadership. Lenin read Marx's writings while still in school and declared himself a follower of Marx in 1889.
As a supporter of communism, Lenin believed Russia required a revolution of the type Marx had advocated. Russia was one of the poorest countries in Europe at the start of the twentieth century. The Russian economy was a land-based system called feudalism, in which destitute farmers grew crops on land owned by wealthy nobles. Lenin joined the revolutionary Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) in the early 1900s. He eventually broke off from the party with his own group of communist hardliners called the Bolsheviks. Lenin and the Bolsheviks formed the CPSU in 1912.
Lenin wanted to overthrow Emperor Nicholas II and take over Russia. Nicholas had violently put down popular protests for economic reform in 1905. Russia's entry into World War I (1914–1918) in 1914 only worsened the country's economic problems, as the war effort was expensive. With conditions not improving, Russians began protesting again in March 1917. This time, they fought with law enforcement and refused to stop. Nicholas abandoned his throne later in March. This allowed a group of liberal politicians to form a provisional, or transitional, government.
Lenin opposed the provisional government and believed his own CPSU was the better successor of the imperial government. Lenin wanted the Russian people to rule the country directly through councils and districts called soviets. In November of 1917, the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government and installed Lenin as the leader of Russia. The events of 1917 became known as the Russian Revolution. The Bolsheviks fought against their liberal political opponents into 1923. In 1922, however, Lenin and the CPSU established the Soviet Union as a communist nation.
Overview
The Soviet Union was the first nation in the world to adopt Marx's communist style of government. In these early years, Lenin worked quickly to integrate communist principles into Soviet society and help the general public. The CPSU gave land formerly owned by the wealthy classes to the peasants and allowed workers' committees to control industry. The party also instituted eight-hour workdays and provided people with unemployment benefits.
These actions allowed Lenin to declare that the Soviet Union was a dictatorship of the proletariats. However, Lenin and the CPSU were the true rulers of the Soviet Union. Lenin banned the teaching of history in favor of educating the masses in communism. The CPSU held ultimate authority over all areas of government and industry in the country. The party's secret police force, the Cheka, imprisoned, tortured, and killed anyone considered a threat to the government.
Lenin had several health crises in the early 1920s and, no longer able to serve the Soviet Union directly, took to writing about his wishes for the future of the CPSU. Lenin regretted that the party had become so tyrannical. He also feared that Joseph Stalin, who had become the party's general secretary in 1922, held too much power. Lenin wanted Stalin removed from his post, but this was not to be—Lenin died in 1924, leaving Stalin in control of the CPSU. Stalin remained dictator of the Soviet Union until he died in 1953. At that time, his economic programs caused great famine and killed millions of Soviets. Stalin also continued suppressing dissenters with imprisonment and death.
Over time, the CPSU also ruled fourteen additional countries in Eastern Europe and Western and Central Asia. The party established puppet communist governments in nations such as Ukraine, Lithuania, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. These nations derived their power from the CPSU.
The Soviet Union's totalitarian style of leadership brought the country into conflict with the United States and Western Europe. Western leaders believed the Soviets were trying to undermine and destroy the West. Soviet leaders felt the same about the West. This period of tensions between East and West was called the Cold War. It lasted from 1945 to 1991. During this time, the Soviet Union and the United States continually tried to outmatch each other in military and technological strength.
Mikhail Gorbachev became general secretary of the CPSU in 1985. He wanted to reform the Soviet Union to develop a stronger economy and become more open to the world. Gorbachev eventually ended communist rule in the Soviet Union, and the country dissolved in 1991. The fourteen countries formerly ruled by the CPSU declared independence and formed their own governments. The Russian Federation, or simply Russia, which succeeded the Soviet Union, outlawed the CPSU from ever reorganizing.
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