Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)

For the post-Soviet party, see Communist Party of Ukraine and Communist Party of Ukraine (renewed).

Communist Party of Ukraine Коммунистическая партия Украины
General Secretary	Stanislav Hurenko (last)
Founder	Mykola Skrypnyk
Slogan	Workers of the world, unite!
Founded	July 17, 1918 (1918-07-17)
Dissolved	August 26, 1991 (1991-08-26)
Preceded by	Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
Succeeded by	Socialist Party of Ukraine
Headquarters	Kiev, Ukraine
Newspaper	Pravda Ukrayiny Radyanska Ukrayina
Youth wing	Komsomol of Ukraine Young Pioneers
Ideology	National communism Marxism–Leninism
Political position	Far-left
International affiliation	Comintern (1919–43) Cominform (1947–56)
Colours	Red
Anthem	The Internationale

The Communist Party of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Комуністична Партія України Komunistychna Partiya Ukrayiny, КПУ, KPU; Russian: Коммунистическая партия Украины), known as the Communist Party (Bolshevik) of Ukraine until 1952, was the Ukrainian branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).

Overview

See also: Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets and All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets

The Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine was created in July 1918 in Moscow. Most of its constituent members were former members of the Russian Bolsheviks who in 1917 pronounced themselves Social-Democracy of Ukraine and with the help of the Antonov-Ovseyenko expeditionary forces of Petrograd and Moscow Red Guards instigated a civil war in Ukraine by routing a local Red Guards. After the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk the Bolsheviks faction Social-Democracy of Ukraine was forced to dissolve as all Bolsheviks were forced out of Ukraine.

On October 13, 1952 the party officially was renamed into the Communist Party of Ukraine.

On August 26, 1991 the Communist Party was outlawed in Ukraine. Different sectors reconstituted themselves in different parties. One group led by moderate members under Oleksandr Moroz formed the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) out of most of the former members, a group of agrarians led by Serhiy Dovhan and Oleksandr Tkachenko formed the Peasant Party of Ukraine (SelPU), another group the Communist Party of Ukraine was re-created in 1993 in Donetsk under the leadership of Petro Symonenko when the ban was lifted, the remaining members either changed political direction, or created their own parties of the left orientation such as the Vitrenko bloc, Social-Democratic (United) party, and others.

Central Committees

Initial composition of the committee was elected at the 1st party Congress on July 12, 1918 and consisted of the following people: Ivan Amosov, Andrei Bubnov, Afanasiy Butsenko, Shulim Gruzman, Vladimir Zatonsky, Lavrentiy Kartvelishvili, Emmanuil Kviring, Stanislav Kosior, Isaak Kreisberg, Yuriy Lutovinov, Yuriy Pyatakov, Rafail Farbman, Pinkhus Rovner, Leonid Tarsky (Sokolovsky), Isaak Shvarts. Beside full members there also were candidate to the committee. The initial composition included Yan Hamarnik (Yakov Pudikovich), Dmitriy Lebed, Mikhail Mayorov (Meyer Biberman), Mykola Skrypnyk, Petro Slynko, Yakov Yakovlev (Epshtein). On September 9, 1918 Mayorov and Slynko replaced Kertvelishvili and Farbman as full members, while the last two lost their membership.

During World War II on October 2, 1942 there was created the Illegal Central Committee of the Party consisting of 17 members. The committee was dissolved on June 29, 1943. Among the members of the committee were such personalities as Sydir Kovpak, Leonid Korniets, Oleksiy Fedorov, and others.

Politburo

The party had its own Politburo created on March 6, 1919. On September 25, 1952 the committee was renamed into the Bureau of the Central Committee (CC) of CP(b)U, and in October the same year as the Bureau of the CC CPU. On October 10, 1952 it became the Presidium of the CC CPU. On June 26, 1966 again the bureau was finally left with its original name as the Politburo of the CC CPU.

At first it consisted of five members and later another one was added. The first Politburo included Andriy Bubnov, Emanuel Kviring, Volodymyr Mescheriakov, Heorhiy Pyatakov, Christian Rakovsky, and later Stanislav Kosior, all centrists.

From March 23 until April 15, 1920 there was elected a Provisional Bureau which the next day was ratified by the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

Orgburo

Along with Politburo the party like its Russian counterpart had its own Orgburo that was created the same day as Politburo.

Party leader

The party was headed by its secretary. The position was highly influential and often was considered to be more important than the head of state (see Ukrainian SSR).

Years	Name	Remarks
1918 - 1920	Secretary of Central Committee
1920 - 1925	1st Secretary of Central Committee
1925 - 1934	General Secretary of Central Committee
1934 - 1991	1st Secretary of Central Committee

The following list is composed of the secretary of the Central Committee of the party who were the leaders of the Party. The position also was changing names between being called the First Secretary or the General Secretary, depending on a political atmosphere in the Soviet Union. The position was not officially of the head of state, but certainly was very influential, especially within the republic. The longest serving secretary was Vladimir Shcherbitsky with some 17 years as the head of the Communist Party, the second best is split between Stanislav Kosior and Nikita Khrushchev, both of which have 11 years.

• Mykola Oleksiiovych Skrypnyk (20 April–26 May 1918) (Secretary of the Organizational Bureau)

#	Secretary		Took office	Left office	Deputy	Congress
1		Yurii Leonidovych Pyatakov	12 July 1918	9 September 1918	None	1
2		Serafima Ilyinichna Gopner	9 September 1918	22 October 1918	None
3		Emanuil Ionovich Kviring	23 October 1918	6 March 1919	None	2
4		Yurii Leonidovych Pyatakov	6 March 1919	30 May 1919	None	3
5		Stanislav Vikentevich Kosior	30 May 1919	10 December 1919	None
-		Rafail Borisovich Farbman (acting)	10 December 1919	23 March 1920	None
6		Nikolai Ilyich Beschetvertnoi	23 March 1920	25 March 1920	None	4
-		Stanislav Vikentevich Kosior (temporary)	25 March 1920	17 October 1922	None
7		Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov	23 November 1920	22 March 1921	Dmitriy Lebed	5
-		Feliks Yakovlevich Kon (acting)	22 March 1921	13 December 1921
8		Dmitry Zakharovich Manuilsky	14 December 1921	10 April 1923		6
9		Emanuil Ionovich Kviring	10 April 1923	16 May 1924		7
			17 May 1924	7 April 1925	Aleksei Medvedev	8
					Ivan Klimenko
10		Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich	7 April 1925	12 December 1925
			12 December 1925	29 November 1927		9
					Aleksei Medvedev
			29 November 1927	14 July 1928		10
11		Stanislav Vikentevich Kosior	14 July 1928	15 June 1930
					Lavrentiy Kartvelishvili
			15 June 1930	23 January 1934		11
					Vasiliy Stroganov
					Mendel Khatayevich
					Pavel Postyshev
			23 January 1934	3 June 1937		12
					Mendel Khatayevich
			3 June 1937	27 January 1938		13
					Sergei Kudryavtsev
12		Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (acting until 18 June 1938)	27 January 1938	17 May 1940	Mikhail Burmistenko (acting until 18 June 1938)
						14
			17 May 1940	3 March 1947		15
					Demian Korotchenko
13		Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich	3 March 1947	26 December 1947
14		Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev	26 December 1947	28 January 1949	Leonid Melnikov
			28 January 1949	16 December 1949		16
15		Leonid Georgyevich Melnikov	16 December 1949	27 September 1952	Aleksei Kirichenko
			27 September 1952	4 June 1953		17
16		Aleksey Illarionovich Kirichenko	4 June 1953	26 March 1954	Nikolai Podgorny
			26 March 1954	21 January 1956		18
			21 January 1956	26 December 1957		19
17		Nikolay Viktorovich Podgorny	26 December 1957	19 February 1960	Leontiy Naidek
			19 February 1960	30 September 1961	Ivan Kazaenets	20
			30 September 1961	2 July 1963		21
18		Pyotr Yefimovich Shelest	2 July 1963	18 March 1966	Nikolai Sobol
			18 March 1966	20 March 1971	Aleksandr Lyashko	22
					Ivan Lutak
			20 March 1971	25 May 1972		23
19		Vladimir Vasilyevich Shcherbitsky	25 May 1972	13 February 1976
			13 February 1976	12 February 1981	Ivan Sokolov	24
			12 February 1981	8 February 1986		25
					Aleksei Titarenko
			8 February 1986	28 September 1989		26
					Vladimir Ivashko
20		Vladimir Antonovich Ivashko	28 September 1989	23 June 1990	Stanislav Gurenko	27
21		Stanislav Ivanovich Gurenko	23 June 1990	1 September 1991	Leonid Kravchuk	28
					Grigoriy Kharchenko

Party Congresses

There were 28 Congresses with the last one consisting out of two stages. There also were three consolidated conferences of the party from 1926 to 1932. At the second stage of the last Congress there were 273 members in the Central Committee.

First Congress, July 1918

This took place in Moscow and decided to call for preparations for an armed uprising against the occupying Central Powers forces and Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi’s dictatorship. There were only 15 members in the Central Committee and six candidates.It reversed the decision adopted that April by a preliminary council in Tahanroh to established an independent Ukrainian bolshevik party with a membership in the envisaged Third International apart from the Russian party.

Central Committee

Ivan Amosov, Andrei Bubnov, Afanasiy Butsenko, Shulim Gruzman, Vladimir Zatonsky, Lavrentiy Kartvelishvili (excl.), Emmanuil Kviring, Stanislaw Kosior, Isaak Kreisberg, Yuriy Lutovinov, Georgiy Pyatakov, Rafail Farbman (excl.), Pinkhus Rovner, Leonid Tarskiy (Sokolovsky), Isaak Shvarts.

Promoted to members: Mikhail Mayorov (Meyer Biberman) and Pyotr Slinko

Second Congress, October 1918

This also took place in Moscow. Joseph Stalin was elected to the Central Committee.

Central Committee

Artyom (Fyodor Sergeyev), Nikolai Beschetvertnoi, Shulim Gruzman

Third Congress, March 1919

This congress took place in Kharkov. A new central committee with a majority of Left Communists was elected. This prompted the Eight Congress of the Russian Communist Party to pass the following motion: ""It is necessary to have a unified communist party with a unified central committee ... All decisions of the RCP and its leading organs are absolutely binding for all parts of the party, independent of their national composition. The central committees of the Ukrainian, Lettish and Lithuanian communists are conferred the rights of regional committees of the party; they are to be unreservedly subordinate to the central committee of the RCP."

Fourth Congress, March 17–23, 1920

The Borotbists were forced to dissolve themselves and their erstwile members were permitted to join the CP(b)U. Vasyl Ellan-Blakytny and Shumsky drawn from the Borotbist leadership were elected to the Committee and the Borotbist Central Committee passed a resolution dissolving the Borotbist party and its central committee. All members were instructed to apply for CP(B)U membership. Nearly 4,000 out of approximately 5,000 Borotbists were admitted to the CP(B)U.

Later congresses

From 1919 to 1934 all meetings were conducted in Kharkiv, capital of the Ukrainian SSR.

There were three major Committees and several Bureaus. Each committee had members and candidates to members each with certain degree of obligations. The members and candidates to the committees were elected at the Party Congress. The number of members varied from one gathering to the next usually in ascending sequence. During the Great Purge the numbers remarkably declined as well as one of the committees, Central Control Committee, was disbanded. The first members were elected in 1918, 15 members of the Central Committee, six candidates as well as three members and two candidates of the Revision Committee. In 1920 the Central Control Committee was formed and by 1934 the Party accounted for some 191 members and 45 candidates in all committees. In 1937 there were only 71 members and 40 candidates in two committees. By 1990 the number of members grew just over 300 members.

Party headquarters

Years	Photo	Building	Remarks
1922 - 1934		Building of Noble Assembly, Kharkiv
1934 - 1938		Security Service of Ukraine building, Kiev
1938 - 1941		Building of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kiev
1943 - 1991		Presidential Administration Building (Kiev)

Party newspapers

Central newspapers

• Pravda Ukrainy (Sovetskaya Ukraina 1938-1943, Pravda Ukrainy 1944-1991), Russian language newspaper
• Radyanska Ukrayina (Kommunist 1918-1926, Komunist 1926-1943, Radyanska Ukrayina 1944-1991), Ukrainian language newspaper
• Silski Visti (1920-1991)
• Ukrayina Moloda (1991)

Regional newspapers

• Bilshovyk Poltavshchyny (1917-1941)

See also

• First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine
• Handbook on history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union 1898–1991
• Institute of History of the Party

Further reading

• J. Borys, The Sovietization of Ukraine 1917-1923 : the Communist doctrine and practice of national self-determination (1980)
• A. Adams, Bolsheviks in the Ukraine (1963)

External links

• Dmitricheva, O., Rakhmanin, S. Ukraine partisan. Part IV. Communist. Mirror Weekly. 1 March 2002.