The Politburo (in Russian: Политбюро), known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966, functioned as the central policymaking and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The body was made up of the top members of the Central Committee. In theory, it acted as the political bureau (hence Politburo) of the Central Committee, elected by them to direct the Party between the sessions of the committee and with a mandate that only covered the Party. The Politburo was responsible to, and its membership was subject to, the approval of the Central Committee.
In reality, the Politburo oversaw the operations of the Committee and made all major policy decisions, which it then passed down through the Central Committee, the Supreme Soviet and the Party Congress. Its control extended from the Party and into government because Party personnel held all key government posts and party discipline therefore insured that Politburo policy was implemented by all government organizations. One example of the Central Committee of the CPSU overruling the Presidium (as the Politburo was known) was the defeat of the so-called Anti-Party Group in 1958.
Lenin set up the Politburo in 1917 to direct the Revolution, and following the Eighth Party Congress in 1919 it became and remained the true centre of political power in the Soviet Union. Originally, the Politburo consisted of 5 members: Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Kamenev and Krestinsky.
Although, in theory, the Politburo was elected from below, in practice, the leading members of the Politburo and, of course, Lenin were highly influential in determining the body's composition which, in the end, reflected the weight and competing influence of various individuals within the party, their allies within the Politburo and supporters outside of it.
Under Stalin the processes under which the leadership of the party was determined became an entirely hiearchial matter with the General Secretary (ie Stalin) determining the composition of the Politburo and even that of the Central Committee rather than the reverse. After Stalin's death the authority of the general secretary waxed and waned to various degrees and the composition of the Politburo again became a matter of shifting alliances among leading members and interest groups within the party, at least until a general secretary was able to consolidate his position.
The Politburo had both full and candidate (non-voting) members. The actual size of the Politburo varied, but it usually consisted of fourteen full and eight candidate members. Although it had no formal head, the General Secretary of the Party, who was also often head of the Central Committee, always played the leading role. In practice the most powerful Politburo members also had membership of the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee, the General Secretary leading of this group. Those who had seats on only one of these two bodies had less influence. Only a few women ever became members of the Politburo.
In order to minimize personal clashes and avoid factionalism there was a convention of procedure which mandated that strong criticisms be circulated beforehand to avoid conflict during actual meetings.
In 1990, the 28th Party Congress agreed to transfer the powers of the Politburo to parliament, and the Politburo ceased to exist in August 1991.
According to an agreement between the Politburo and the Orgburo, chief secretary of the Central Committee Stasova temporarily joined the Politburo from July to Sept 1919
5 Apr 1920
Kamenev, Krestinsky, Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky elected full members at the Central Committee plenum; Bukharin, Zinoviev and Kalinin elected candidate members
16 Mar 1921
Zinoviev, Kamenev, Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky elected full members at the Central Committee plenum; Bukharin, Kalinin and Molotov elected candidate members
3 Apr 1922
Zinoviev, Kamenev, Lenin, Rykov, Stalin, Tomsky and Trotsky elected full members at the Central Committee plenum; Bukharin, Kalinin and Molotov elected candidate members
Uglanov relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Bauman elected candidate member
21 Jun 1929
Syrtsov elected candidate member at the Central Committee plenum
17 Nov 1929
Bukharin relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum
13 Jul 1930
Voroshilov, Kaganovich, Kalinin, Kirov, Kosior, Kuibyshev, Molotov, Rudzutak, Rykov and Stalin elected full members at the Central Committee plenum; Andreyev, Mikoyan, Petrovsky, Syrtsov and Chubar elected candidate members
1 Dec 1930
Syrtsov relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum
21 Dec 1930
Rykov and Andreyev relieved of duties at the joint plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission; Ordzhonikidze elected full member
4 Feb 1932
Rudzutak relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Andreyev elected full member
10 Feb 1934
Andreyev, Voroshilov, Kaganovich, Kalinin, Kirov, Kosior, Kuibyshev, Molotov, Ordzhonikidze and Stalin elected full members at the Central Committee plenum; Mikoyan, Petrovsky, Postyshev, Rudzutak and Chubar elected candidate members
Presidium re-elected at the joint session of the Central Committee, the Council of Ministers and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet as follows: Beria, Bulganin, Voroshilov, Kaganovich, Malenkov, Mikoyan, Molotov, Pervukhin, Saburov, Stalin, Khrushchev; candidate members: Bagirov, Melnikov, Ponomarenko, Shvernik
Kirilenko elected full member at the Central Committee plenum
23 Nov 1962
Yefremov elected candidate member at the Central Committee plenum
13 Dec 1963
Shcherbitsky relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Shelest elected candidate member
17 May 1964
Kuusinen dies
14 Oct 1964
Khrushchev relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum
16 Nov 1964
Kozlov relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Shelepin and Shelest elected full members, Demichev elected candidate member
26 Mar 1965
Mazurov elected full member at the Central Committee plenum, Ustinov elected candidate member
6 Dec 1965
Shcherbitsky again elected candidate member at the Central Committee plenum
8 Apr 1966
Brezhnev, Voronov, Kirilenko, Kosygin, Mazurov, Pelshe, Podgorny, Polyansky, Suslov, Shelepin and Shelest elected full members at the Central Committee plenum; Grishin, Demichev, Kunayev, Masherov, Mzhavanadze, Rashidov, Ustinov and Shcherbitsky elected candidate members
21 Jun 1967
Andropov elected candidate member at the Central Committee plenum
9 Apr 1971
Brezhnev, Voronov, Grishin, Kirilenko, Kosygin, Kulakov, Kunayev, Mazurov, Pelshe, Podgorny, Polyansky, Suslov, Shelepin, Shelest and Shcherbitsky elected full members at the Central Committee plenum; Andropov, Demichev, Masherov, Mzhavanadze, Rashidov and Ustinov elected candidate members
23 Nov 1971
Solomentsev elected candidate member at the Central Committee plenum
19 May 1972
Ponomarev elected candidate member at the Central Committee plenum
18 Dec 1972
Mzhavanadze relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum
27 Apr 1973
Voronov and Shelest relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Andropov, Grechko and Gromyko elected full members, Romanov candidate member
16 Apr 1975
Shelepin relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum
5 Mar 1976
Andropov, Brezhnev, Grechko, Grishin, Gromyko, Kirilenko, Kosygin, Kulakov, Kunayev, Mazurov, Pelshe, Podgorny, Romanov, Suslov, Ustinov and Shcherbitsky elected full members at the Central Committee plenum; Aliyev, Demichev, Masherov, Ponomarev, Rashidov and Solomentsev elected candidate members
26 Apr 1976
Grechko dies
24 May 1977
Podgorny relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum
3 Oct 1977
Kuznetsov and Chernenko elected candidate members at the Central Committee plenum
17 Jul 1978
Kulakov dies
27 Nov 1978
Mazurov relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Chernenko elected full member; Tikhonov and Shevardnadze candidate members
27 Nov 1979
Tikhonov elected full member at the Central Committee plenum; Gorbachev elected candidate member
4 Oct 1980
Masherov killed in car crash
21 Oct 1980
Kosygin relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Gorbachev elected full member, Kiselyov candidate member
3 Mar 1981
Andropov, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, Grishin, Gromyko, Kirilenko, Kunayev, Pelshe, Romanov, Suslov, Tikhonov, Ustinov, Chernenko and Shcherbitsky elected full members at the Central Committee plenum; Aliyev, Demichev, Kiselyov, Kuznetsov, Ponomarev, Rashidov, Solomentsev and Shevardnadze elected candidate members
25 Jan 1982
Suslov dies
24 May 1982
Dolgikh elected candidate member at the Central Committee plenum
Ligachev, Ryzhkov and Chebrikov elected full members at the Central Committee plenum; S.Sokolov elected candidate member
1 Jul 1985
Romanov relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Shevardnadze elected full member
15 Oct 1985
Tikhonov relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Talyzin elected candidate member
18 Feb 1986
Grishin relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Yeltsin elected candidate member
6 Mar 1986
Aliyev, Vorotnikov, Gorbachev, Gromyko, Zaykov, Kunayev, Ligachev, Ryzhkov, Solomentsev, Chebrikov, Shevardnadze, Shcherbitsky elected full members at the Central Committee plenum; Demichev, Dolgikh, Yeltsin, Slyunkov, S.Sokolov, Solovyov and Talyzin elected candidate members
28 Jan 1987
Kunayev relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Yakovlev elected candidate member
26 Jun 1987
S.Sokolov relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Slyunkov, Yakovlev and Nikonov elected full members, Yazov elected candidate member
21 Oct 1987
Aliyev relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum
14 Feb 1988
Yeltsin relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Maslyukov and Razumovsky elected candidate members
30 Sep 1988
Gromyko, Solomentsev, Demichev and Dolgikh relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Medvedev elected full member, Biryukova, Vlasov and Lukyanov elected candidate members
20 Sep 1989
Nikonov, Chebrikov, Shcherbitsky, Solovyov and Talyzin relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Kruchkov and Maslyukov elected full members, Primakov and Pugo candidate members
9 Dec 1989
Ivashko elected full member at the Central Committee plenum
14 Jul 1990
Burokyavichus, Gumbaridze, Gorbachev, Gurenko, Dzasokhov, Ivashko, Karimov, Luchinsky, Masaliyev, Makhkamov, Movsisyan, Mutalibov, Nazarbayev, Niyazov, Polozkov, Prokofyev, Rubiks, Semyonova, Sillari, Ye. Sokolov, Stroyev, Frolov, Shenin and Yanayev elected members of the Politburo at the Central Committee plenum
11 Dec 1990
Ye. Sokolov and Movsisyan relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Malofeyev and Pogosyan elected members
31 Jan 1991
Gumbaridze and Yanayev relieved of duties at the joint plenum of the Central Committee and Central Control Commission; Annus elected member
25 Apr 1991
Masaliyev relieved of duties at the joint plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission; Amanbayev, Yeremey and Surkov elected members
26 Jul 1991
Pogosyan relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum
