The first ruler of the young Country of Soviets, which arose as a result of the October Revolution of 1917, was the head of the RCP (b) - the Bolshevik Party - Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), who led the “revolution of workers and peasants”. All subsequent rulers of the USSR held the post of General Secretary of the central committee of this organization, which, starting in 1922, became known as the CPSU - Communist Party Soviet Union.

Let us note that the ideology of the system ruling the country denied the possibility of holding any national elections or voting. Change senior managers state was carried out by the ruling elite itself, either after the death of a predecessor, or as a result of coups accompanied by serious internal party struggle. The article will list the rulers of the USSR in chronological order and the main stages are marked life path some of the most prominent historical figures.

Ulyanov (Lenin) Vladimir Ilyich (1870-1924)

One of the most famous figures in history Soviet Russia. Vladimir Ulyanov stood at the origins of its creation, was the organizer and one of the leaders of the event, which gave rise to the world's first communist state. Having led a coup in October 1917 aimed at overthrowing the provisional government, he took the post of Chairman of the Council People's Commissars- the post of leader of a new country formed on the ruins of the Russian Empire.

His merit is considered to be the peace treaty of 1918 with Germany, which marked the end of the NEP - the new economic policy government, which was supposed to lead the country out of the abyss of widespread poverty and hunger. All the rulers of the USSR considered themselves “faithful Leninists” and in every possible way praised Vladimir Ulyanov as a great statesman.

It should be noted that immediately after the “reconciliation with the Germans,” the Bolsheviks, under the leadership of Lenin, unleashed internal terror against dissent and the legacy of tsarism, which claimed millions of lives. The NEP policy also did not last long and was canceled shortly after his death, which occurred on January 21, 1924.

Dzhugashvili (Stalin) Joseph Vissarionovich (1879-1953)

Joseph Stalin became the first General Secretary in 1922. However, right up to the death of V.I. Lenin, he remained in the secondary leadership role of the state, inferior in popularity to his other comrades, who also aimed to become the rulers of the USSR. Nevertheless, after the death of the leader of the world proletariat, Stalin a short time eliminated his main opponents, accusing them of betraying the ideals of the revolution.

By the early 1930s, he became the sole leader of nations, capable of deciding the fate of millions of citizens with the stroke of a pen. His policy of forced collectivization and dispossession, which replaced the NEP, as well as mass repressions against people dissatisfied with the current government, claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of USSR citizens. However, the period of Stalin's reign is noticeable not only in its bloody trail; it is worth noting the positive aspects of his leadership. In a short time, the Union turned from a country with a third-rate economy into a powerful industrial power that won the battle against fascism.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, many cities in the western part of the USSR, destroyed almost to the ground, were quickly restored, and their industry became even more efficient. The rulers of the USSR, who held the highest position after Joseph Stalin, denied his leading role in the development of the state and characterized his reign as a period of the cult of the leader’s personality.

Khrushchev Nikita Sergeevich (1894-1971)

Coming from a simple peasant family, N.S. Khrushchev took the helm of the party soon after Stalin’s death, which occurred. During the first years of his reign, he waged a behind-the-scenes struggle with G.M. Malenkov, who held the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers and was the de facto leader of the state.

In 1956, Khrushchev read a report on Stalin’s repressions at the 20th Party Congress, condemning the actions of his predecessor. The reign of Nikita Sergeevich was marked by the development of the space program - the launch of an artificial satellite and the first human flight into space. His new one allowed many citizens of the country to move from cramped communal apartments to more comfortable separate housing. The houses that were built en masse at that time are still popularly called “Khrushchev buildings.”

Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich (1907-1982)

On October 14, 1964, N. S. Khrushchev was removed from his post by a group of members of the Central Committee under the leadership of L. I. Brezhnev. For the first time in the history of the state, the rulers of the USSR were replaced in order not after the death of the leader, but as a result of an internal party conspiracy. The Brezhnev era in Russian history is known as stagnation. The country stopped developing and began to lose to the leading world powers, lagging behind them in all sectors, excluding military-industrial.

Brezhnev made some attempts to improve relations with the United States, which were damaged in 1962, when N.S. Khrushchev ordered the deployment of missiles with nuclear warheads in Cuba. Agreements were signed with the American leadership that limited the arms race. However, all the efforts of L.I. Brezhnev to defuse the situation were canceled out by the introduction of troops into Afghanistan.

Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich (1914-1984)

After Brezhnev's death on November 10, 1982, his place was taken by Yu. Andropov, who had previously headed the KGB - the USSR State Security Committee. He set a course for reforms and transformations in the social and economic spheres. His reign was marked by the initiation of criminal cases exposing corruption in government circles. However, Yuri Vladimirovich did not have time to make any changes in the life of the state, as he had serious health problems and died on February 9, 1984.

Chernenko Konstantin Ustinovich (1911-1985)

Since February 13, 1984, he held the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. He continued the policy of his predecessor to expose corruption in the echelons of power. He was very ill and died in 1985, having held the highest government post for just over a year. All past rulers of the USSR, according to the order established in the state, were buried with K.U. Chernenko was the last on this list.

Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeevich (1931)

M. S. Gorbachev is the most famous Russian politician the end of the twentieth century. He won love and popularity in the West, but his rule evokes ambivalent feelings among the citizens of his country. If Europeans and Americans call him a great reformer, many people in Russia consider him the destroyer of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev proclaimed internal economic and political reforms, held under the slogan “Perestroika, Glasnost, Acceleration!”, which led to a massive shortage of food and industrial goods, unemployment and a drop in the standard of living of the population.

To assert that the era of M. S. Gorbachev’s reign had only Negative consequences for the life of our country, it will be wrong. In Russia, the concepts of a multi-party system, freedom of religion and press appeared. For my foreign policy Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The rulers of the USSR and Russia, neither before nor after Mikhail Sergeevich, were awarded such an honor.

This now almost unused abbreviation was once known to every child and was pronounced almost with reverence. Central Committee of the CPSU! What do these letters mean?

About the name

The abbreviation we are interested in means, or more simply, Central Committee. Considering the importance of the Communist Party in society, its governing body could well be called the kitchen in which fateful decisions for the country were “cooked.” Members of the CPSU Central Committee, the main elite of the country, are the “cooks” in this kitchen, and the “chef” is the General Secretary.

From the history of the CPSU

The history of this public entity began long before the revolution and the proclamation of the USSR. Until 1952, its names changed several times: RCP(b), VKP(b). These abbreviations reflected both the ideology, which was clarified each time (from workers' social democracy to the Bolshevik Communist Party), and the scale (from Russian to all-Union). But the names are not the point. From the 20s to the 90s of the last century, a one-party system functioned in the country, and the Communist Party had a complete monopoly. The Constitution of 1936 recognized it as the governing core, and in the main law of the country of 1977 it was even proclaimed the guiding and guiding force of society. Any directives issued by the CPSU Central Committee instantly acquired the force of law.

All this, of course, did not contribute to the democratic development of the country. In the USSR, inequality of rights along party lines was actively promoted. Even small leadership positions could only be applied for by members of the CPSU, who could be held accountable for mistakes along party lines. One of the most terrible punishments was deprivation of a party card. The CPSU positioned itself as a party of workers and collective farmers, so there were quite strict quotas for its recruitment with new members. It was hard for a representative to find himself in the party ranks creative profession or a knowledge worker; The CPSU followed its own no less strictly. national composition. Thanks to this selection, the really best did not always end up in the party.

From the party charter

In accordance with the Charter, all activities of the Communist Party were collegial. In primary organizations, decisions were made at general meetings, in general, the governing body was a congress held every few years. A party plenum was held approximately every six months. In the intervals between plenums and congresses, the Central Committee of the CPSU was the leading unit responsible for all party activities. In turn, the highest body that led the Central Committee itself was the Politburo, headed by the General (First) Secretary.

In number functional responsibilities The Central Committee included personnel policy and local control, expenditure of the party budget and management of activities public structures. But not only. Together with the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, he determined all ideological activities in the country and resolved the most important political and economic issues.

It is difficult for people who have not lived to understand this. In a democratic country where a number of parties operate, their activities are of little concern to the average person - he only remembers them before elections. But in the USSR the leading role of the Communist Party was even emphasized constitutionally! In factories and collective farms, in military units and in creative groups, the party organizer was the second (and in importance often the first) leader of this structure. Formally, the Communist Party could not manage economic or political processes: for this there was a Council of Ministers. But in fact, the Communist Party decided everything. No one was surprised by the fact that the most important political problems, and five-year plans for economic development were discussed and determined by party congresses. The Central Committee of the CPSU directed all these processes.

About the main person in the party

Theoretically, the Communist Party was a democratic entity: from the time of Lenin to last moment there was no unity of command in it, and there were no formal leaders. It was assumed that the secretary of the Central Committee was just a technical position, and the members of the governing body were equal. The first secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee, or rather the RCP(b), were indeed not very noticeable figures. E. Stasova, Y. Sverdlov, N. Krestinsky, V. Molotov - although their names were well-known, their relationship to practical guide these people didn't have. But with the arrival of I. Stalin, the process went differently: the “father of nations” managed to crush all power under himself. A corresponding position also appeared - Secretary General. It must be said that the names of party leaders changed periodically: the General Secretaries were replaced by the First Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee, then vice versa. WITH light hand Stalin, regardless of the title of his position, the party leader at the same time became the main person of the state.

After the death of the leader in 1953, N. Khrushchev and L. Brezhnev held this post, then for short term the position was occupied by Yu. Andropov and K. Chernenko. The last party leader was M. Gorbachev, who was also the only President of the USSR. The era of each of them was significant in its own way. If Stalin is considered by many to be a tyrant, then Khrushchev is usually called a voluntarist, and Brezhnev is the father of stagnation. Gorbachev went down in history as the man who first destroyed and then buried a huge state - the Soviet Union.

Conclusion

The history of the CPSU was academic discipline, mandatory for all universities in the country, and every schoolchild in the Soviet Union knew the main milestones in the development and activities of the party. Revolution, then Civil War, industrialization and collectivization, victory over fascism and the post-war restoration of the country. And then virgin lands and space flights, large-scale all-Union construction projects - the history of the party was closely intertwined with the history of the state. In each case, the role of the CPSU was considered dominant, and the word “communist” was synonymous with a true patriot and simply a worthy person.

But if you read the history of the party differently, between the lines, you get a terrible thriller. Millions of repressed people, exiled peoples, camps and political murders, reprisals against undesirables, persecution of dissidents... We can say that the author of every black page Soviet history- Central Committee of the CPSU.

In the USSR they loved to quote Lenin’s words: “The party is the mind, honor and conscience of our era.” Alas! In fact, the Communist Party was neither one nor the other, nor the third. After the 1991 coup, the activities of the CPSU in Russia were banned. Is the Russian Communist Party the successor to the All-Union Party? Even experts find it difficult to explain this.

“Wait! - the reader will say. - Where is the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee? Where are Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev? After all, it is the general secretaries, and not those sitting in the Politburo and the Secretariat, who rule the country with their echoes!”

This is a common but erroneous view.

In order to be convinced of its fallacy, it is enough to think about the question: if such different people as Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev and Gorbachev autocratically determine the entire policy of the Soviet Union, then why do not all any significant lines of this policy change? ?

Because the country is not ruled by general secretaries, but by the nomenklatura class. And the policy pursued by the CPSU Central Committee is not the policy of the general secretaries, but the policy of this class. The “fathers” of the nomenclature, Lenin and Stalin, formulated the direction and main features of the policy of the nomenklatura state in accordance with its wishes. To a large extent, this is why Lenin and Stalin look like such autocratic rulers of the Soviet Union. They undoubtedly exercised their parental rights in relation to the then fledgling ruling class, but they were also dependent on this class. As for Khrushchev and his successors, they were always only high-ranking executors of the will of the nomenklatura.

So, are the general secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee something like kings in modern democratic monarchies? Of course not. Kings are simply hereditary presidents of parliamentary republics, while general secretaries are not hereditary, and the nomenklatura state is a pseudo-parliamentary pseudo-republic, so there is no parallel here.

The Secretary General is not a sovereign sole ruler, but his power is great. The General Secretary is the highest nomenklatura, and, therefore, the most powerful person in a society of real socialism. The one who managed to occupy this post gets the opportunity to concentrate enormous power in his hands: Lenin noticed this after just a few months of Stalin’s tenure as General Secretary. On the contrary, anyone who tries to head the nomenklatura class, having failed to secure this post for himself, is inevitably thrown out of the leadership, as was the case with Malenkov and Shelepin. The question, therefore, is not whether under real socialism the power of the General Secretary is great (it is enormous), but that it is not the only power in the country and that the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Central Committee are something more than located at various levels; assistant general secretaries,

Let's take the example of Stalin. During the first five years of his tenure as Secretary General, Trotsky was a member of the Politburo. But he was not an obedient assistant to Stalin. This means that things were not so simple even under Stalin: it was not for nothing that he purged his Politburo so savagely. This is especially true for Khrushchev, whom in June 1957 the majority of the Presidium of the Central Committee (that is, the Politburo) openly tried to overthrow from the post of First Secretary of the Central Committee, and in October 1964 new line-up The Presidium was indeed overthrown. And what can we say about Brezhnev, who had to expel Shelepin, Voronov, Shelest, Polyansky, Podgorny, and Mzhavanadze from the Politburo? This is especially true for Gorbachev, who had to constantly maneuver between various groups in the leadership and in the apparatus in order to stay in power.

Yes, the General Secretary heads both the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Central Committee. But the relationship between him and the members of these higher authorities nomenclature classes are not identical to the relationship between the boss and his subordinates.

It is necessary to distinguish two stages in the relationship between the General Secretary and the Politburo and Secretariat headed by him. The first stage is when the Secretary General deals with the composition of these bodies, selected not by him, but by his predecessor; the second stage is when his own nominees sit in them.

The fact is that only those who are helped by the General Secretary to get into the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Central Committee are usually elected.

This is the same principle of creating a “clip” that we already mentioned.

The nomenclature class is an environment in which it is difficult for a single person to advance. Therefore, entire groups try to advance, supporting each other and pushing away strangers. Anyone who wants to make a career in the nomenklatura will certainly carefully put together such a group for himself and, no matter where he is, will never forget to recruit the right person. The people who are needed are selected first and foremost, and not based on personal sympathies, although, of course, the latter play a certain role.

The head of the group himself will try, in turn, to enter the group of the highest possible nomenklatura and, at the head of his group, will become his vassal. As a result, as in classical feudalism, the unit of the ruling class of the society of real socialism is a group of vassals subordinate to a certain overlord. The higher the nomenklatura overlord, the more vassals he has. The overlord, as expected, patronizes the vassals and protects them, and they support him in every possible way, praise him and generally serve him, it would seem, faithfully.

It would seem - because they serve him like this only up to a certain point. The fact is that the relationship between nomenklatura overlords and vassals only looks idyllic on the surface. The most successful and highly climbed vassal, continuing to please the overlord, just waits, as if at opportunity push him off and sit in his place. This happens in any group of the nomenklatura class, including the highest - in the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Central Committee.

In addition, this group is not always a “cage” of vassals of the Secretary General. After the death or removal of the former Secretary General, the successor - the most successful of his vassals - finds himself at the head of a group of vassals of his predecessor. This is what we talked about when we called this situation the first stage in the relationship between the General Secretary and the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Central Committee headed by him. At this stage, the Secretary General has to lead a group selected by the former Secretary General. He still has to drag his own group to the highest level and thus move into the second stage of his relationship with the top of the nomenklatura.

True, by allowing him to the post of General Secretary, this elite formally recognized him as their overlord. But in fact, members of the Politburo treat him with more or less hostility and envy, as an upstart who has overtaken them. They regard him essentially as their equal, in best case scenario- as first among equals. That is why every new General Secretary begins and will begin by emphasizing the principle of collective leadership.

The Secretary General himself strives for something else: to establish his sole power. He is in a very strong position to achieve such a goal, but the difficulty is that the goal is known. He cannot, at least at first, use force and expel the intractable members of the Politburo and the Secretariat, since they are high-ranking members of the nomenklatura class, each of them wide circle vassals and very... ...replenish the top of the nomenklatura with members of their group. The usual method is to raise as many of your vassals as possible and place them, using their power, on the approaches to the top of the nomenklatura. This is a complex chess game involving the promotion of a pawn to a queen.

This is why appointments to the highest nomenklatura positions take such a painfully long time: the point is not that they doubt the political qualities of the candidates (not to mention those who are of no interest to anyone business qualities), but in the fact that such a difficult political-chess study is being played out.

As the Secretary General pursues... ...complexly constructed, historically established positions. This means that the new Secretary General must be in best regards with all members of the nomenklatura elite: each of them must consider him, as General Secretary, the least evil. Meanwhile, the Secretary General must very inventively put together coalitions against those who especially hinder him, and ultimately achieve their elimination. At the same time, he tries... ...his vassals to the top of the nomenklatura class and places them densely at its doors, his strength increases. In the optimal version - quite achievable, because Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev achieved this - the top should consist of vassals selected by the leader. When this is achieved, discussions about the collectivity of the leadership fall silent, the Politburo and the Secretariat really approach the position of a group of assistants to the Secretary General, and the second stage of his relationship with this group begins.

This is the pattern of development from the first stage of the General Secretary to the second, from collective leadership to the fact that external world accepts the Secretary General as a one-man dictatorship. This scheme is not speculative: this is exactly what happened under Stalin, under Khrushchev, and this is what happened under Brezhnev. Even if the optimal option is not achieved, the strengthening of the position of the General Secretary creates such a balance of forces that members of the nomenklatura elite who did not originally belong to his “clip” prefer to recognize themselves as truly his vassals.

But it remains important question: How reliable are the Secretary General's vassals - both new and original? Let us remember that Brezhnev had long been a member of Khrushchev’s group, but this did not stop him from participating in the overthrow of his overlord. Khrushchev, in turn, enjoyed the patronage of Stalin, and went down in history as an anti-Stalinist.

What does such a group look like in real life?

Let's take specific example. If you leaf through the biographies of the top nomenclature officials during the Brezhnev period, what is striking is the disproportionate big number among them came from Dnepropetrovsk. Here are the members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee: Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR N.A. Tikhonov, a graduate of the Dnepropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute, was the chief engineer at a plant in Dnepropetrovsk, chairman of the Dnepropetrovsk Economic Council; Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee A.P. Kirilenko was the first secretary of the Dnepropetrovsk regional party committee; First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine V. Shcherbitsky was at one time Kirilenko’s successor in this post. Let's go lower. Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR I.V. Novikov is a graduate of the same institute as N.A. Tikhonov, also a metallurgical engineer from Dnepropetrovsk, the USSR Minister of Internal Affairs N.A. graduated from the same institute. Shchelokov and First Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR G.K. Tsinev. Assistant to the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee A.I. Blatov also graduated from the Engineering Institute in Dnepropetrovsk. Head of the Secretariat of the Secretary General G.E. Tsukanov, a graduate of the metallurgical institute in neighboring Dneprodzerzhinsk, worked for a number of years as an engineer in Dnepropetrovsk.

Lomonosov wrote immortal lines about

what can Platonov's own

and the quick-witted Newtons

Russian land to give birth.

Russian land - yes! But why Dnepropetrovsk? Light can be shed on this mystery by naming another metallurgical engineer and party worker from Dneprepetrovsk and Dneprodzerzhinsk - this is L.I. Brezhnev. He graduated from the Metallurgical Institute in Dnepropetrovsk in 1935 and then worked in this city as deputy chairman of the city executive committee, head of a department, and since 1939 - secretary of the Dnepropetrovsk regional party committee. In 1947, Brezhnev became the first secretary of this regional committee and from here he was sent in 1950 to the post of first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova.

You begin to understand why Moldova is not left out in the highest spheres of nomenklatura. Member of the Politburo and Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee K.U. Chernenko was under the leadership of L.I. Brezhnev, head of the department of propaganda and agitation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova. The director of the Higher Party School under the Moldovan Central Committee at that time was S.P. Trapeznikov, who became the head of the Science Department of the CPSU Central Committee. First Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR, Army General S.K. Tsvigun was then deputy chairman of the KGB of the Moldavian SSR and was married to his wife’s sister L.I. Brezhnev.

This is the prosaic explanation of the Dnepropetrovsk-Kishinev anomaly at the top of the nomenklatura under Brezhnev: it was not about the nursery of Russian Platonov, but about Brezhnev’s group.

Of course, mistakes happen when selecting a group. Gorbachev already had them. It was he who helped Ligachev become a member of the Politburo, without even being its candidate. It was Gorbachev, who expelled his rival Grishin from the post of first secretary of the Moscow Party Committee, installed Yeltsin in his place and made him a candidate member of the Politburo; in Leningrad, Gorbachev made Gidaspov first secretary. Gorbachev supported Nikonov, the Secretary of the Central Committee for agriculture. And all of them later turned out, albeit from different political sides, to be Gorbachev’s opponents, and he had to spend a lot of work to weaken their positions.

So being the General Secretary of the Central Committee does not mean reigning complacently, it is constant maneuvering, complex calculations, sweet smiles and sudden blows. All this in the name of power - the most precious treasure of the nomenklatura.

Under Gorbachev, another element appeared at the top of the nomenklatura: the post of President of the USSR was introduced.

Of course, it was said in connection with the introduction of the Presidential regime that it exists in developed democratic countries: the USA and France. At the same time, it was delicately kept silent that it predominates in underdeveloped countries - in African states, in countries Latin America, Middle and Near East. In these countries, the president is usually called a dictator, especially if he is not elected by popular vote. Gorbachev was also not elected by such a vote: this was explained by the fact that the president was needed immediately, right now, and there was no way to postpone his election for a month to prepare for the elections.

So, the President of the USSR is a dictator? He becomes a dictator. In any case, compare it with the American or French President it is forbidden.

People speak of Stalin as the Leader and General Secretary, less often - as the Prime Minister, Chairman of the Government of the USSR. All this is true, but if you ask whether Stalin was the General Secretary until his death, then most of the respondents will be mistaken in saying that Joseph Vissarionovich died as General Secretary. Many historians are also mistaken when they say that Stalin wanted to resign from the post of Secretary General in the fifties.
The fact is that Stalin's post General Secretaries The All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was liquidated in the thirties and until the sixties, already under Brezhnev, there were no general secretaries (already the Central Committee of the CPSU!) in the USSR. Khrushchev was First Secretary and Head of the Government after Stalin's death. What position did Stalin himself hold from the thirties until his death, and what position did he want to leave? Let's figure this out.

Was Stalin Secretary General? This question will puzzle almost everyone. The answer will follow - of course, there was! But if you ask an elderly person who remembers the late 30s - early 50s, whether Stalin was called that then, he will answer: “I don’t remember something. You know, definitely not.”
On the other hand, we have heard many times that in April 1922, at the plenum of the Central Committee after the 21st Party Congress, “at Lenin’s proposal” Stalin was elected General Secretary. And after that there was a lot of talk about his secretaryship.

It should be sorted out. Let's start from afar.
Secretary, according to the original meaning of the word, is a clerical position. Not a single state or political institution can do without office work. The Bolsheviks, who from the very beginning aimed at seizing power, paid a lot of attention to their archives. It was inaccessible to most party members, but Lenin often looked into it for his polemics, in other words, criticism. He had no difficulties - Krupskaya kept the archive.

After February Revolution Elena Stasova became the secretary of the Central Committee (still with a small letter). If Krupskaya kept the party archive in her desk, then Stasova was given a room in the Kseshinskaya mansion, and she had a staff of 3 assistants. In August 1917, after the 6th Congress of the Central Committee, a secretariat was established, headed by Sverdlov.

Further more. Bureaucratization gradually took hold of the Bolshevik Party. In 1919, the Politburo and the Organizing Bureau emerged. Stalin entered into both. In 1920, Krestinsky, a supporter of Trotsky, became the head of the secretariat. A year after another discussion, or simply put another way - squabbles, Krestinsky and other “Trotskyists” were removed from all the highest bodies of the party. Stalin, as usual, skillfully maneuvered and remained senior in the Organizing Bureau, which included the secretariat.

While Lenin and other “best minds” of the party were engaged in big politics, Stalin, in Trotsky’s words, “an outstanding mediocrity,” was preparing his army - the party apparatus. Separately, it should be said about Molotov, a typical party official, completely devoted to Stalin. He was in 1921-22. headed the secretariat, i.e. was his predecessor.

By April 1922, when Stalin became General Secretary, his position was quite strong. Almost no one noticed this appointment itself. In the first edition of the Bolshoi Soviet Encyclopedia in the article “VKP(b)” (1928), Stalin is not mentioned separately at all and there is not a word about any General Secretary. And it was drawn up in a “working order”, among others they “listened and decided”, at the suggestion, by the way, of Kamenev.

Most often, the General Secretary was remembered in connection with the so-called “Testament of Lenin” (in fact, the document was called “Letter to the Congress”). One should not think that Lenin only spoke badly about Stalin: “too rude,” and suggested replacing him with someone else. The most humane man did not say a kind word about any of his “Partaigenosse”.

Eat important feature Lenin's statements about Stalin. Lenin dictated the proposal to remove him on January 4, 1923 after he learned about Stalin’s rudeness towards Krupskaya. The main text of the “Testament” was dictated on December 23-25, 1922, and it says quite restrainedly about Stalin: “he concentrated immense power in his hands,” etc. In any case, not much worse than others (Trotsky is self-confident, Bukharin is a scholastic, does not understand dialectics, and in general, is almost a non-Marxist). So much for the “principled” Vladimir Ilyich. Until Stalin became rude to his wife, he did not even think about removing Stalin.

I will not dwell in detail on the further history of the Testament. It is important to emphasize that Stalin, through skillful demagoguery, flexible tactics, and blocking with various “tsekists”, ensured that the post of General Secretary remained with him. Let's go straight to 1934, when the 17th Party Congress took place.

It has already been written many times that some of the congress delegates decided to replace Stalin with Kirov. Naturally, there are no documents about this, and the “memoir evidence” is extremely contradictory. The party charter, based on the notorious “democratic centralism,” completely excludes any personnel movements by decision of the congresses. The congresses elected only central bodies, but no one personally. Such issues were resolved in a narrow circle of the party elite.

Nevertheless, the “Testament” was not forgotten, and Stalin could not yet consider himself guaranteed against any accidents. At the end of the 20s, the “Testament” was remembered openly or in disguise at various party gatherings. For example, Kamenev, Bukharin and even Kirov spoke about him. Stalin had to defend himself. He interpreted Lenin’s words about his rudeness as praise that he was supposedly rude to those who “rudely and treacherously destroy and split the party.”

By 1934, Stalin decided to put an end to all talk related to the Testament. During the era of the “Great Terror”, the storage of this Leninist document began to be equated with counter-revolutionary activity. With corresponding conclusions. Neither at the 17th Congress, nor at the subsequent plenum of the Central Committee, the question of Secretary General was not installed. Since then, Stalin signed all documents modestly - Secretary of the Central Committee, even after Molotov's Presovnarkom. This was the case until May 1940, when he combined both positions.

In October 1952, at the plenum after the 19th Congress, the position of the General Secretary was abolished - officially, however, there was no announcement about this. No one should have remembered this story at all.

The General Secretariat was revived many years later, during the Brezhnev era.
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that the topic of this note is rather secondary, and in no case should Stalin’s reluctance to be called General Secretary after 1934 be considered a sign of his “modesty”. This is just his petty maneuver, aimed at quickly forgetting about Lenin’s letter and all the vicissitudes associated with it.

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General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev 1906–1982

General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev

Born on December 19, 1906 (January 1, 1907 according to the new style) in the village of Kamenskoye (later the city of Dneprodzerzhinsk) in the Yekaterinoslav province in a working-class family. Russian.

In 1923–1927 he studied at the Kursk Land Management and Reclamation College. After graduation, he worked until 1930 as a land surveyor in the Kursk province, then in the Urals.

In 1928, he married Victoria Petrovna Denisova, and the next year they had a daughter, Galina, and in 1933, a son, Yuri.

In 1935 he graduated from the Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Institute.

On October 24, 1931, Brezhnev joined the CPSU and made a quick party career, becoming already in 1939 the secretary of the Dnepropetrovsk regional committee of the CP(b) of Ukraine.

In Great Patriotic War Colonel (since December 15, 1942) Brezhnev has headed the political department of the 18th Army since April 1, 1943. On November 2, 1944, he was awarded the rank of major general, with which Leonid Ilyich ended the war.

Small Earth. Novorossiysk. Artist Dmitry Nalbandyan. 1975

After the Victory, Brezhnev continued his ascent to the heights of power: in 1946–1947 - first secretary of the Zaporozhye regional committee of the CP(b) of Ukraine, in 1947–1950 - first secretary of the Dnepropetrovsk regional committee of the CP(b) of Ukraine, then in 1950–1952 - first secretary Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Moldova. In 1952, Leonid Ilyich was elected secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. In 1953, he suddenly took a demotion - he was removed from the post of Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and appointed Deputy Head of the Main Political Directorate Soviet army and the Navy.

In 1954–1955, Brezhnev served as second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, in 1955–1956 – first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan.

At the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee on February 27, 1956, Leonid Ilyich was elected as a candidate member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee and Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. V.M. Sukhodrev described it appearance at this time: “Above average height, strong, dashing, with combed-back hair, he seemed to radiate health and strength.”

The 5th session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 5th convocation was held in the Grand Kremlin Palace from May 5 to 7, 1960. K.E. Voroshilov was relieved of his post as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “for health reasons in connection with his request.” L.I. was elected Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Brezhnev. A.N. became the first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Kosygin.

At the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, which took place from June 18 to 21, 1963, Leonid Ilyich was elected Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

Being one of the main participants in the conspiracy that led to the removal of Khrushchev on October 13, 1964, Brezhnev headed the CPSU Central Committee and began to play a primary role in implementing the new collegial policy of the USSR. Acting as a guarantor of the stability of the situation within the country, sharing with Kosygin the responsibility for carrying out economic reforms, and with Suslov for following the “correct” ideological line, Brezhnev leaves a noticeable personal imprint on Soviet foreign policy of this period.

During Leonid Ilyich’s 18 years in power, the Soviet government pursued a realistic policy, abandoning Khrushchev’s plans for building communism in favor of the outwardly more modest concept of “developed socialism,” as the stage at which, according to the country’s leadership, the USSR is located. Deeply conservative in its own way political views, the Brezhnev “team” begins its activities by focusing on issues economic development country and began in 1965 to carry out a series of reforms aimed at providing greater independence to enterprises. The result of these reforms is a slight increase in the standard of living of the population, especially the rural population.

However, after the first period of real growth in the country's economy, by the mid-1970s, signs of stagnation appeared, and the irremovability of the political leadership led to the growth of the nomenklatura, concerned mainly with maintaining their posts and privileges. The party's claim to a leading role in all spheres of social life is expressed, first of all, in its obsession with the idea of ​​complete control over the intelligentsia.

In the international arena, Brezhnev continues to follow the course initiated by Khrushchev towards the development of dialogue with the West. Settlement of the status of Berlin, recognition of the inviolability of borders in Eastern Europe and especially the first bilateral disarmament agreements represent tangible achievements of the policy of détente, which culminates in the signing of the Helsinki Accords. These successes, however, were seriously undermined by the introduction of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968, Soviet intrigues in Africa, and then the direct invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, after which tensions reigned again in international affairs.

Since June 1977, Brezhnev has combined the position of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee with the position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

The last years of Brezhnev's rule are clearly called the “years of stagnation.” Leonid Ilyich was seriously ill and did not rule the country, but only observed his surroundings so that no one would dare to “sit on” him and deprive him of the position of the first person in the country. He loved receiving more and more awards and prizes, began to love flattery and expensive gifts more and more, and appointed only his acquaintances from working in Dnepropetrovsk, Moldova and Kazakhstan to the highest leadership positions in the country. Seriously ill, narrow-minded, but a cunning career politician, surrounded by the same decrepit members of the Politburo, Brezhnev at the end of his life evoked neither respect nor pity among the people - only contempt and ridicule. He became a character heroic epic, but just an anecdote.

Brezhnev in Crimea with sailors. Photographer Vladimir Musaelyan. 1978

These years are characterized by increased corruption, an economic crisis, and an acute shortage of consumer goods and food products.