Politburo of the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The Politburo of the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was in session from 1966 to 1971.

The 23rd Congress, the first such event since Nikita Khrushchev's ousting, the Presidium reverted to its previous name; Politburo. Mikoyan and Nikolai Shvernik, the two oldest members, were not reelected to the Presidium, while Arvīds Pelše became the only Presidium débutant. While Brezhnev may have been General Secretary, he did not have a majority in the Presidium; when Kosygin and Podgorny agreed on policy, which was not often the case, Brezhnev found himself in the minority. Brezhnev could only count on three to four votes in the Presidium: Suslov, who often switched sides, Kirilenko, Pelše and Dmitry Polyansky. Brezhnev and Kosygin often disagreed on policy; Brezhnev was a conservative while Kosygin was a modest reformer. Kosygin, who had begun his premiership as Brezhnev's equal, lost much power and influence within the Presidium when he introduced the 1965–1971 Soviet economic reform. After the reshuffling process of the Presidium ended in mid-to-late 1970, the Soviet leadership evolved into a gerontocracy, a form of rule in which the rulers are significantly older than most of the adult population; this meant that fewer up-and-comers were promoted to top party positions.

Composition Members +Members of the Political Bureau of the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Name Cyrillic 22nd PRE 24th POL Ethnicity Леонид Брежнев 1906 1982 1931 Russian Андре́й Кириле́нко 1906 1990 1930 Russian Алексей Косыгин 1904 1980 1927 Russian Кири́лл Ма́зуров 1914 1989 1940 Belarusian А́рвид Пе́льше 1899 1983 1915 Latvian Никола́й Подго́рный 1903 1983 1930 Ukrainian Дми́трий Поля́нский 1917 2001 1939 Ukrainian Алекса́ндр Шеле́пин 1918 1994 1940 Russian Петро Шелест 1908 1996 1928 Ukrainian Михаил Суслов 1902 1982 1921 Russian Геннадий Воронов 1910 1994 1931 Russian

Candidates +Candidate Members of the Political Bureau of the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Name Cyrillic 22nd PRE 24th POL Ethnicity Юрий Андропов 1914 1984 1939 Russian Пётр Де́мичев 1917 2010 1939 Russian Ви́ктор Гри́шин 1914 1992 1939 Russian Дінмұхаммед Қонаев 1912 1993 1939 Kazakh Пётр Машеров 1918 1980 1943 Belarusian Василий Мжаванадзе 1902 1988 1927 Georgian Шараф Рашидов 1917 1983 1939 Uzbek Влади́мир Щерби́цкий 1918 1990 1948 Ukrainian Дми́трий Усти́нов 1908 1984 1927 Russian

References General Full- and candidate membership of the Presidium were taken from these sources:

Specific

Bibliography