The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, abbreviated as Politburo, was the de facto highest executive authority in the Communist Party of the Soviet Un
Kremlin Senate 1
Excerpt of protocol of Politburo meeting of 17 January 1940 noting the decision to put 457 persons on trial and to execute 346 of them with the rest (111) being sent to the Gulags
Portraits of Soviet Politburo members at a demonstration in honour of the October Revolution anniversary, November 7, 1976, Leningrad
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the highest organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between Congresses. Elected by the Congress, the Central Committee eme
Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
…was the de facto highest executive authority in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). While elected by and formally accountable to the Central Committee, in practice the Politburo operated as the ruling body of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union from its creation in 1919 until the party's dissolution…
Supreme Soviet 1982
CPSU Central Committee staff headquarters in 1920s-1991, current Administration of the President of Russia at Staraya Square.
The victors of the 15th Congress; Rykov (left), Mykola Skrypnik (center) and Stalin (right)
Stalin on 1937 portrait. Under his rule the Central Committee lost effective control over policymaking.