Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

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The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the highest organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between Congresses. Elected by the Congress, the Central Committee emerged as the core nexus of executive and administrative authority in the party, with de facto supremacy over the government of the Soviet Union. It was composed of full members and candidate (non-voting) members. Real authority was often concentrated in smaller, more agile organs elected by the Committee, namely the Politburo, Secretariat, and Orgburo (dissolved in 1952), as well as in the post of General Secretary. Theoretically a collective leadership, the Committee increasingly became a rubber-stamp institution, particularly from the late 1920s onward under the dominance of Joseph Stalin. The Central Committee originated in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP), established in 1898, and continued in the Bolshevik party, established in 1912. After the Bolsheviks seized power...

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