23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

1966 meeting of Soviet delegates

The 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) took place in Moscow, RSFSR between 29 March and 8 April 1966. It was the first Congress during Leonid Brezhnev's leadership of the Party and state. The position of First Secretary (held by Brezhnev) was renamed back to General Secretary, which had been its name from 1922 to 1952. The congress elected the 23rd Central Committee.

Leonid Brezhnev, Gennady Voronov, Andrei Kirilenko, Alexei Kosygin, Kirill Mazurov, Arvid Pelshe, Nikolai Podgorny, Dmitry Polyansky, Mikhail Suslov, Alexander Shelepin and Petro Shelest were elected full members of the 23rd Politburo, while Viktor Grishin, Pyotr Demichev, Dinmukhamed Konayev, Pyotr Masherov, Vasil Mzhavanadze, Sharof Rashidov, Dmitriy Ustinov and Volodymyr Shcherbytsky were elected candidate members.

On 4 April, the Soviet probe Luna 10, the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon, broadcast the notes of The Internationale to the Congress.

References

Twenty-Third Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979).

External links

23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, containing major speeches and documents

Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Central Committee

Leaders	Vladimir Lenin (1912–24) Joseph Stalin (1929–53) Nikita Khrushchev (1953–64) Leonid Brezhnev (1964–82) Yuri Andropov (1982–84) Konstantin Chernenko (1984–85) Mikhail Gorbachev (1985–91)
General Secretaries	Elena Stasova (1917–18) Yakov Sverdlov (1918–19) Elena Stasova (Mar.–Dec. 1919) Nikolay Krestinsky (1919–21) Vyacheslav Molotov (1921–22) Joseph Stalin (1922–52) Nikita Khrushchev (1953–64) Leonid Brezhnev (1964–82) Yuri Andropov (1982–84) Konstantin Chernenko (1984–85) Mikhail Gorbachev (1985–91) Vladimir Ivashko (acting, Aug. 1991)
Decision-making bodies	Politburo / Presidium Secretariat Orgburo Control Commission
Departments	Administrative Organs Agriculture Chemical Industry Construction Culture Defence Industry Foreign Cadres General Heavy Industry Information International Light- and Food Industry Machine Industry Organisational-party Work Planning and Financial Organs Political Administration of the Armed Forces Propaganda Science and Education Trade and Consumers' Services Transportation-Communications Women
Publications	Pravda Bolshevik / Kommunist

National meetings

Congress	1st (1898) 2nd (1903) 3rd (1905) 4th (1906) 5th (1907) 6th (1917) 7th (1918) 8th (1919) 9th (1920) 10th (1921) 11th (1922) 12th (1923) 13th (1924) 14th (1925) 15th (1927) 16th (1930) 17th (1934) 18th (1939) 19th (1952) 20th (1956) 21st (1959) 22nd (1961) 23rd (1966) 24th (1971) 25th (1976) 26th (1981) 27th (1986) 28th (1990)
Conference	1st (1905) 2nd (1906) 3rd (Aug. 1907) 4th (Nov. 1907) 5th (1908) 6th (1912) 7th (1917) 8th (1919) 9th (1920) 10th (May 1921) 11th (Dec. 1921) 12th (1922) 13th (1924) 14th (1925) 15th (1926) 16th (1929) 17th (1932) 18th (1941) 19th (1988)

Leadership sittings

Elected by the
Central Committee

Politburo	Aug.–Oct. 1917 Oct.–Dec. 1917 6th (1917–18) 7th (1918–19) 8th (1919–20) 9th (1920–21) 10th (1921–22) 11th (1922–23) 12th (1923–24) 13th (1924–25) 14th (1925–27) 15th (1927–30) 16th (1930–34) 17th (1934–39) 18th (1939–52) 19th (1952–56) 20th (1956–61) 22nd (1961–66) 23rd (1966–71) 24th (1971–76) 25th (1976–81) 26th (1981–86) 27th (1986–90) 28th (1990–91)
Secretariat	6th (1917–18) 7th (1918–19) 8th (1919–20) 9th (1920–21) 10th (1921–22) 11th (1922–23) 12th (1923–24) 13th (1924–25) 14th (1925–27) 15th (1927–30) 16th (1930–34) 17th (1934–39) 18th (1939–52) 19th (1952–56) 20th (1956–61) 22nd (1961–66) 23rd (1966–71) 24th (1971–76) 25th (1976–81) 26th (1981–86) 27th (1986–90) 28th (1990–91)
Orgburo	7th (Jan.–Mar. 1919) 8th (1919–20) 9th (1920–21) 10th (1921–22) 11th (1922–23) 12th (1923–24) 13th (1924–25) 14th (1925–27) 15th (1927–30) 16th (1930–34) 17th (1934–39) 18th (1939–52)
Control Committee	17th (1934–39) 18th (1939–52) 19th (1952–56) 20th (1956–61) 22nd (1961–66) 23rd (1966–71) 24th (1971–76) 25th (1976–81) 26th (1981–86) 27th (1986–90)

Elected by the Central
Control Commission

Presidium	12th (1923–24) 13th (1924–25) 14th (1925–27) 15th (1927–30) 16th (1930–34) 28th (1990–91)
Secretariat	12th (1923–24) 13th (1924–25) 14th (1925–27)
Collegium	12th (1923–24) 13th (1924–25) 14th (1925–27) 15th (1927–30) 16th (1930–34)

Elected by
Congress

Central Committee	1st (1898–1903) 2nd (1903–05) 3rd (Apr.–Dec. 1905) CC of the 1st Conf. (1905–06) 4th (1906–07) 5th (1907–12) CC of the 6th Conf. (1912–17) CC of the 7th Conf. (Apr.–Aug. 1917) 6th (1917–18) 7th (1918–19) 8th (1919–20) 9th (1920–21) 10th (1921–22) 11th (1922–23) 12th (1923–24) 13th (1924–25) 14th (1925–27) 15th (1927–30) 16th (1930–34) 17th (1934–39) 18th (1939–52) 19th (1952–56) 20th (1956–61) 22nd (1961–66) 23rd (1966–71) 24th (1971–76) 25th (1976–81) 26th (1981–86) 27th (1986–90) 28th (1990–91)
Auditing Commission	8th (1919–21) 10th (1921–24) 13th (1924–25) 14th (1925–27) 15th (1927–30) 16th (1930–34) 17th (1934–39) 18th (1939–52) 19th (1952–56) 20th (1956–61) 22nd (1961–66) 23rd (1966–71) 24th (1971–76) 25th (1976–81) 26th (1981–86) 27th (1986–90)
Control Commission	9th (1920–21) 10th (1921–22) 11th (1922–23) 12th (1923–24) 13th (1924–25) 14th (1925–27) 15th (1927–30) 16th (1930–34) 28th (1990–91)

Wider organisation

Republican-level	Armenian Azerbaijani Byelorussian Bukharan Estonian Georgian Karelo-Finnish Kazakh Khorezmi Kirghiz Latvian Lithuanian Moldavian Russian SFSR Tajik Transcaucasian Turkestani Turkmen Ukrainian Uzbek

Local-level	Obkom Okrugkom Gorkom Raikom Partkom

Other organs	Statute All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (Komsomol) Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Soviet Navy

Groupings