The Communist Party of Byelorussia (CPB; ; ) was the ruling Marxist-Leninist party of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, a constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1922, that existed from 1918 to 1993.
History The party was founded in 1917 as the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Byelorussia () following the Russian Revolution of 1917 as part of the Russian Communist Party (bolsheviks) led by Vladimir Lenin on 30–31 December 1918 with 17,800 members. It was important in creating the Byelorussian Soviet Republic in January 1919. From February 1919 until 1920 it functioned as a single organisation together with the Communist Party of Lithuania, known as the Communist Party (bolsheviks) of Lithuania and Belorussia.Glossary of Organisations: Co It was renamed to the Communist Party of Byelorussia in 1952.Коммунистическая партия Белоруссии
The CPB was a communist party, organized on democratic centralism. This principle, introduced by Lenin, entails democratic and open discussion of policy issues within the party, followed by the requirement of total unity in upholding the agreed policies. The highest body within the CPB was the Party Congress, which convened every five years. When Congress was not in session, the Central Committee was the highest body. Because the Central Committee met twice a year, most day-to-day duties and responsibilities were vested in the Politburo, (previously the Presidium), the Secretariat. The party leader was the head of government and held the office of either General Secretary, Premier or head of state, or two of the three offices concurrently, but never all three at the same time. The party leader was the de facto chairman of the CPB Politburo and chief executive of the Republic. Ideologically, the CPB embraced Marxism–Leninism, a fusion of the original ideas of German philosopher and economic theorist Karl Marx, and Lenin, became formalized by Joseph Stalin as the party's guiding ideology and would remain so throughout the rest of its existence.
With debate raging regarding Belarusian independence, Byelorussian representatives in Petrograd were far more willing to accept Joseph Stalin's plans for establishing an autonomous Byelorussian Authority. Byelorussian Communist Party First Secretary Alexander Miasnikian, however, initially having held control of Minsk, was seemingly unwilling to share collective influence regarding the future affairs of Byelorussia. This internal conflict resulted in Byelorussian nationalist leadership attempting to establish power by calling the All-Byelorussian National Congress, in which 1872 delegates were gathered to discuss the future of the nation. While contingents of the organization voted in the Rada, a council of representatives for Byelorussia, the Communist Party played an active role in suppressing the Rada, causing them to go underground.
The 1930s saw the Communist Party of Byelorussia targeted most heavily by Stalin's purges. The vast majority of high-profile figures were arrested and removed, while an additional 40% of all members were also removed (Marples 1999, 8-9) Having taken place during Stalin's infamous purges, much of the socially and culturally significant gains that the occurred—such as the return of exiled individuals, a resurrection of language, among other cultural developments that had begun in the 1920s—had become halted, affecting Byelorussian culture and society for some significant time. 1937 especially saw the highest rate of purges throughout the Party, but arrests and removals of key figures continued well into the 1940s. These formative years tended to halt specific social developments pushed by the Communist Party, hindering much for the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
28 July 1990, from Art. 6 of the Constitution of the Byelorussian SSR, the provision on the monopoly of the Communist Party of Byelorussia on power was excluded.Закон Белорусской ССР от 28 июля 1990 г. №212-XII "Об изменениях и дополнениях Конституции (Основного Закона Белорусской ССР)"
From 25 August 1991, to 3 February 1993, the activities of the Communist Party of Belarus were suspended.Постановление Верховного Совета Белорусской ССР от 25 августа 1991 г. № 1016-XII от 25 августа 1991 года "О временном приостановлении деятельности КПБ—КПСС на территории Белорусской ССР"Постановление Верховного Совета Республики Беларусь от 3 февраля 1993 г. № 2161-XII "О признании утратившим силу Постановления Верховного Совета Республики Беларусь "О временном приостановлении деятельности КПБ - КПСС на территории Республики Беларусь"
On 25 April 1993, at the XXXII (extraordinary) congress of the Communist Party of Belarus, it was decided to join the party in the Party of Communists of Belarus (PCB).Коммунистическая партия Белоруссии (КПБ)
First Secretaries of the Communist Party of Byelorussia PictureNameTook officeLeft officePolitical partyFirst Secretary of the Central Committee1Alexander Miasnikian(1886–1925)19181919CPB2Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas(1880–1935)19191919CPB3Yefim Genkin(1880–1935)11 November 19201920CPB4Vilhelm Knorin(1890–1939)25 November 1920May 1922CPB/CPSU5Waclaw Bogucki(1890–1939)May 19224 February 1924CPB/CPSU7Aleksandr Osatkin-Vladimirsky(1885–1937)4 February 192414 May 1924CPB/CPSU8Alexander Krinitsky(1894–1937)September 19247 May 1927CPB/CPSU9Vilhelm Knorin(1890–1939)7 May 19274 December 1928CPB/CPSU10Yan Gamarnik(1894–1937)4 December 19283 January 1930CPB/CPSU11Konstantin Gey(1896–1939)3 January 193018 January 1932CPB/CPSU12Nikolay Gikalo(1897–1938)18 January 193218 March 1937CPB/CPSU13Vasily Sharangovich(1897–1938)18 March 193717 July 1937CPB/CPSU14Yakov Yakovlev(1896–1938)27 July 19378 August 1937CPB/CPSU15Aleksei Volkov(1890–1942)11 August 193718 June 1938CPB/CPSU16Panteleimon Ponomarenko(1902–1984)18 June 19387 March 1947CPB/CPSU17Nikolai Gusarov(1905–1985)7 March 194731 May 1950CPB/CPSU18Nikolai Patolichev(1908–1989)31 May 195028 July 1956CPB/CPSU19Kirill Mazurov(1914–1989)28 July 195630 March 1965CPB/CPSU20Pyotr Masherov(1918–1980)30 March 19654 September 1980CPB/CPSU21Tikhon Kiselyov(1917–1983)15 October 198011 January 1983CPB/CPSU22Nikolay Slyunkov(1929–2022)13 January 19836 February 1987CPB/CPSU23Yefrem Sokolov(1926–2022)6 February 198730 November 1990CPB/CPSU24Anatoly Malofeyev(1933–2022)30 November 199025 April 1993CPB/CPSU
See also
Belarusian United Left Party "A Just World" Communist Party of Belarus
References