The Orgburo (russian: Оргбюро́), also known as the Organisational Bureau (russian: организационное бюро), of the
Central Committee of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union existed from 1919 to 1952, when it was abolished at the
19th Congress of the Communist Party and its functions were transferred to the enlarged
Secretariat
Secretariat may refer to:
* Secretariat (administrative office)
* Secretariat (horse)
Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...
.
Role
The Orgburo was established during Lenin's reign to make important decisions about organisational work in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. It oversaw the work of local Party committees and had the power to select and place Communist Party members in positions as it saw fit.
The functions of the Orgburo and the Politburo were often interconnected, but the latter was ultimately the final decision-maker. While the Politburo mostly focused on strategic planning and monitoring of the people and status of the country, the Orgburo was tasked with overseeing the Party
cadre and its assignment to various positions and duties, presumably in furtherance of the Party's strategic agenda.
Election and chronology
In the same manner as the Politburo and the Secretariat, the Orgburo was elected at
plenary session
A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference which all members of all parties are to attend. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily related to a specific st ...
s of the Central Committee.
One of the Central Committee secretaries supervised the work of the Orgburo. The first Orgburo of three members (
Vladimirsky,
Krestinsky and
Sverdlov) was elected on 16 January 1919, at the Central Committee meeting.
The
8th Party Congress (8 March 1919 – 23 March 1919) amended the party charter and set up provisions for election of the Politburo, the Orgburo and the Secretariat.
The Central Committee plenum elected the new Orgburo of five members and of one candidate member on 25 March 1919. Some key
Communist politicians (such as
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
,
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._25_February.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dat ...
,
Lazar Kaganovich and others) served as members both of the Orgburo and of the Politburo, but most of the Orgburo members were less important figures than those elected to the Politburo and the Secretariat.
See also
*
Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War
*
Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union This is a select bibliography of post World War II English language books (including translations) and journal articles about Stalinism and the Stalinist era of Soviet history. Book entries have references to journal reviews about them when helpful ...
*
Comintern
*
Uchraspred
*
Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party
*
Central Organization Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam
References
{{Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Human resource management
Bodies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
1919 establishments in Russia
1952 disestablishments in the Soviet Union