The Soviet elite from Lenin to Gorbachev : the Central Committee and its members, 1917-1991

## Abstract The USSR was dominated by its ruling Communist Party, and the party was in turn dominated by a political elite that was represented in its Central Committee. Nearly two thousand individuals were members of the Central Committee between 1917 and 1991, who may be divided into four distinct political generations from the professional revolutionaries born in the late nineteenth century to the post‐war generation that was beginning to enter the political elite in the Gorbachev years. There were considerable variations over time in the characteristics of the Central Committee, including the extent to which its membership was replaced at successive party congresses. But a close relationship developed between particular occupational positions and Central Committee membership, a ‘job‐slot’ system that lasted until the final years of communist rule. The Central Committee as an institution was generally marginal to the political process. But it met more frequently and took more decisions in the 1920s and late 1980s, and on several occasions, its meetings were decisive in resolving leadership conflicts; they also ventilated policy alternatives, and sometimes disagreements. In the last years of communist rule, the elite sought increasingly to transform their positions of political power into the more enduring advantage of property, and this allowed many of them to maintain their elite status into the post‐communist period. As well as printed sources, the study draws on recently opened party archives and about a hundred interviews with members of the Brezhnev‐era Central Committee. Although The Product Of A Self-proclaimed Proletarian Revolution, Soviet Russia Was Always Dominated By An Elite. Basing Itself Upon Nearly Two Thousand People Who Served On The Communist Party's Central Committee From 1917 To 1991, This Is The First Book To Study The Elite That Ruled The World's Largest Country Throughout The Entire Period Of Soviet Rule. It Is Also The First To Make Full Use Of The Rich Sources Available Since The Collapse Of Communism. The Authors Profile The Elite As A Whole And Look More Closely At Fifteen Individual Members, Identifying Four Elite Generations. The Book Examines The Evolving Connection Between Central Committee Membership And Administrative Functions; The Changing Power And Privileges Of The Elite And Its Relationship With The Population; The Communist Party And The Top Leaders; And The Surprising Extent To Which The Elite Managed To Maintain Its Position Into The Early Years Of Post-communist Russia.--jacket. 1. Revolutionaries In Power, 1917-1923 -- 2. Old Bolsheviks, Socialist Construction, And The Purges, 1923-1939 -- 3. Stalin's New Elite, 1939-1956 -- 4. Stalinist Generation, 'leninist Norms', 1956-1966 -- 5. The Elite Consolidates, 1966-1985 -- 6. Challenge And Crisis, 1985-1991 -- 7. Elite And Society -- 8. An Evolving Elite. Evan Mawdsley And Stephen White. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [303]-315) And Index. Although the product of a self-proclaimed proletarian revolution, Soviet Russia was always dominated by an elite. Basing itself upon nearly two thousand people who served on the Communist Party's Central Committee from 1917 to 1991, this is the first book to study the elite that ruled the world's largest country throughout the entire period of Soviet rule. It is also the first to make full use of the rich sources available since the collapse of Communism. The authors profile the elite as a whole and looks more closely at fifteen individual members, identifying four elite generations. The book examines the evolving connection between Central Committee membership and administrative functions; the changing power and privileges of the elite and its relationship with the population; the Communist party and the top leaders; and the surprising extent to which the elite managed to maintain its position into the early years of post-communist Russia. This ground-breaking book examines the Soviet ruling elite over the entire period of Communist rule. It serves as a collective biography of nearly two thousand people who served on the Communist Party's Central Committee from 1917 to 1991. The book is based on archival research, only available after the collapse of communism, and extensive interviews with former Central Committee members. Serving as a collective biography of nearly 2000 people who served on the Communist Party's Central Committee from 1917 to 1991, this book is based on archival research and extensive interviews with former Central Committee members. The first five years after the Revolution were the 'heroic' period of Soviet history and the time when Lenin and an elite of underground veterans led the Communist Party and the Soviet state.