The
Orgburo ( "Organizational Bureau") of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union existed from 1919 to 1952, until the
19th Congress, when the Orgburo was abolished and its functions were transferred to the enlarged
Secretariat.
Role of Orgburo
Orgburo was created to make important decisions about organizational work in the
USSR. The Orgburo oversaw the work of local party committees and had the power to select and place Communist members in the positions that they saw fit. The functions of the Orgburo and the
Politburo were often interconnected, but the Politburo was ultimately the final decision-maker. While the Politburo was mostly concerned with strategic planning and monitoring of the people and status of the USSR, the Orgburo was tasked with overseeing the party cadre and its assignment to various positions and duties, presumably in furtherance of the government's strategic agenda.
Election and Power of Officials
The Orgburo was elected in the same manner as the Politburo and the Secretariat by the plenums 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 January 16, 1919, at the Central Committee meeting. The
8th party congress (March 8, 1919 - March 23, 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 March 25, 1919. Some key Communist politicians such as
Stalin,
Molotov,
Kaganovich and others were both members 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