People / group

Communist Party of the Soviet Union

1912–1991 · 20th century · Also known as CPSU, Bolshevik Party

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union grew out of Lenin's Bolshevik faction and took power in the October Revolution of 1917. It was the only legal party of the Soviet Union, governing through soviets and the secret police, with branches led by first secretaries in each Soviet republic. It lost its monopoly of power in 1990 and was banned after the failed coup of August 1991.

Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Image: Kosogorsky Yaroslav, and others. · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 profiles

Russian SFSRSummarySoviet UnionGovernance

Mentioned in 22 state histories

Terek Cossack HostRussian SFSRTranscaucasian CommissariatMountainous Republic of the Northern CaucasusBlack Sea Soviet RepublicAzerbaijan Democratic RepublicTaurida Soviet Socialist RepublicKuban Soviet RepublicFirst Republic of ArmeniaBaku CommuneNorth Caucasian Soviet RepublicKuban-Black Sea Soviet Republicand 10 more

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/communist-party-of-the-soviet-union
MLA
“Communist Party of the Soviet Union.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/communist-party-of-the-soviet-union. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Communist Party of the Soviet Union.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/communist-party-of-the-soviet-union.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Communist Party of the Soviet Union’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/communist-party-of-the-soviet-union (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻