Lenin illustration, USSR 1984
From the Soviet Press, 1983:
In 1983, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union marked its 80th anniversary. Heading the liberation struggle of the proletariat and its class allies, it brought the toiling masses to the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution which heralded a radical turn in the historical destinies of all humanity. Under the leadership of the CPSU a developed socialist society has been built in the USSR.
A Party of Millions
From its very emergence Lenin’s Party came forward as truly a party of the masses. In 1903 it numbered a few thousands of Communists in its ranks and influenced hundreds of thousands of people outside of it.
On the eve of the October Revolution of 1917 the Party had about 350,000 members and a following of millions of working people. Its numbers grew all the time and today over 18 million Communists are united in the Party. In its prestige and influence among the broadest masses of the people it is really a mass Party.
A Party of the Working Class, of the Entire Soviet People
The CPSU was formed and grew as a party of the working class. Since its origin it has been struggling for the liberation of the working class and realization of its ideals. Joining the Party, the workers brought with them high organization, discipline, and the fighting revolutionary spirit typical of the proletariat.
Today the CPSU has about eight million worker members (44 per cent of all Communists). They make up over 59 per cent of new Party recruits. As a result of socialist transformations of Soviet society the peasantry, the intelligentsia, in fact, all sections of the Soviet people went over to the side of the working class, fully subscribing to its ideals. With the construction of developed socialism, the CPSU, while retaining its class character, became a party of the whole people. This is reflected in its membership which includes about 2.2 million (12.5 per cent) cooperated peasants. Workers and farmers constitute over a half of the Soviet Communists.
Almost 7.9 million Communists are office employees. Three quarters of them are from the scientific, engineering, technical and creative intelligentsia. One in every four or five specialists employed in the national economy, every other scientist and writer, one in every four teachers, one in every six doctors are members of the Party. Each year over a quarter of all newly admitted members come from the intelligentsia.
The CPSU is the firm alliance of the working class, collective-farm peasantry and people’s intelligentsia, all of the three making the foundation of the Soviet system.
Women in the CPSU
Women have always been active in the revolutionary struggle and in building the new society. Appraising their role, Lenin wrote: “There can be no socialist revolution unless very many working women take a big part in it.” Socialism brought emancipation to women, opened broad opportunities for them to apply their creative abilities in widely differing spheres. In 1920 there were 45,000 women Communists (about 8 per cent), today their number is nearly 5 million (27 per cent). One-third of new Party members are women.
The CPSU and the Youth
“We are the party of the future,” Lenin wrote, “and the future belongs to the youth. We are a party of innovators, and it is always the youth that most eagerly follows the innovators.” More and more young people join the CPSU via the Young Communist League (YCL). In 1966-1970 45 per cent of new members came from the Young Communist League, in 1982 the figure was 73 per cent. Today four-fifths of all new members are people under 30 years.
National Composition
The USSR is a multinational state inhabited by more than IOO nations and nationalities. The CPSU, by its ideology and structure, symbolizes the unity of all peoples in the country. People from all Soviet nations and nationalities are members of the CPSU. The CPSU affiliates 14 Communist Parties of the Union Republics.
Each such party is a component of the CPSU and one of its international contingents.
The communist parties of the Ukraine and Kazakhstan have members from 100 nationalities. the communist parties of Kirghizia, Latvia, Tajikistan and Turkmenia are each composed of 75 nationalities, the Communist Party of Uzbekistan of 84 nationalities, and so on. All Party organizations in the regions and administrative territories of the Russian Federation are multinational in composition. Thus, 100 nationalities form the membership of the Moscow Regional Party organization, about 80 of the Rostov regional organization and over 70 of the Gorky regional organization.
Prestige among the People
The Party has earned high prestige among the people by its selfless struggle for their interests, showing unparalleled examples of heroism in the fight against counter-revolution and foreign interventionists, during the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against Hitler fascism, at all stages of communist construction.
Nearly three-quarters of all Communists employed in the national economy in the 80s have been working in material production, every second Communist working in industry and construction, and every fifth, in agriculture. One-sixth of all Communists have their occupations in science, education, the health service and cultural institutions. About 9 per cent of CPSU members are in state administration and economic management.
After the October Revolution only about 7 per cent of Party members had a higher or secondary education. Today almost three-quarters of all Party members have such an educational level.
The CPSU has deep roots in all strata and social groups of the Soviet peopIe. It is a party of the people not only in its composition, but also in its policy and methods of activity. When formulating its policy the CPSU always takes counsel with the working people and heeds their views.
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