Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that can help answer the question.
Query: Who was the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union?
In the 1950s, Stalin increasingly withdrew from Secretariat business, leaving the supervision of the body to Georgy Malenkov, possibly to test him as a potential successor.[7] In October 1952, at the 19th Party Congress, Stalin restructured the party's leadership. His request, voiced through Malenkov, to be relieved of his duties in the party secretariat due to his age, was rejected by the party congress, as delegates were unsure about Stalin's intentions.[8] In the end, the congress formally abolished Stalin's office of General Secretary, though Stalin remained one of the party secretaries and maintained ultimate control of the Party.[9][10] When Stalin died on 5 March 1953, Malenkov was the most important member of the Secretariat, which also included Nikita Khrushchev, among others. Under a short-lived troika of Malenkov, Beria, and Molotov, Malenkov became Chairman of the Council of Ministers but was forced to resign from the Secretariat nine days later on 14 March, leaving Khrushchev in effective control of the body.[11] Khrushchev was elected to the new office of First Secretary at the Central Committee plenum on 14 September of the same year. Originally conceived as a collective leadership, Khrushchev removed his rivals from power in both 1955 and (especially) 1957 and reinforced the supremacy of the First Secretary.[12]
The First Secretary of the Mordovian regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Mordovian AO (1930–1934) and the Mordovian ASSR (1934–1991) in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created in September 1928, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
In 1964, opposition within the Politburo and the Central Committee led to Khrushchev's removal as First Secretary. Leonid Brezhnev succeeded Khrushchev to the post as part of another collective leadership, together with Premier Alexei Kosygin and others.[13] The office was renamed General Secretary in 1966.[14] The collective leadership was able to limit the powers of the General Secretary during the Brezhnev Era.[15] Brezhnev's influence grew throughout the 1970s as he was able to retain support by avoiding any radical reforms.[16] Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko ruled the country in the same way as Brezhnev had.[17] Mikhail Gorbachev ruled the Soviet Union as General Secretary until 1990, when the Communist Party lost its monopoly of power over the political system. The office of President of the Soviet Union was established so that Gorbachev still retained his role as leader of the Soviet Union.[18] Following the failed August coup of 1991, Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary.[19] He was succeeded by his deputy, Vladimir Ivashko, who only served for five days as Acting General Secretary before Boris Yeltsin, the President of Russia, suspended all activity in the Communist Party.[20] Following the party's ban, the Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union (UCP–CPSU) was established by Oleg Shenin in 1993. The UCP–CPSU works as a framework for reviving and restoring the CPSU. The organisation has members in all the former Soviet republics.[21]
The First Secretary of the Chuvash regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Chuvash AO (1920–1925) and the Chuvash ASSR (1925–1991) in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created on October 8, 1920, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The partisans in Finland were controlled by organs of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the NKVD. The three most important people co-ordinating the partisan activity were the NKVD major general Sergey Vershinin, the First Secretary of the Karelian Communist Party Gennady Kupriyanov, and the First Secretary of the Karelo-Finnish Komsomol Yuri Andropov, who later became the leader of the Soviet Union. Andropov's responsibility was to train the Karelian partisans. The headquarters were located in Belomorsk on the shore of the White Sea. 
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was an office of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) that by the late 1920s had evolved into the most powerful of the Central Committee's various secretaries. With a few exceptions, from 1929 until the union's dissolution the holder of the office was the de facto leader of the Soviet Union,[2] because the post controlled both the CPSU and the Soviet government.[3] Joseph Stalin elevated the office to overall command of the Communist Party and by extension the whole Soviet Union.[4] Nikita Khrushchev renamed the post First Secretary in 1953; the change was reverted in 1966.
The First Secretary of the North Ossetian regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the North Ossetian AO (1924–1936) and the North Ossetian ASSR (1936–1991) in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created in November 1924, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The First Secretary of the Adjar regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Adjar ASSR in the Georgian SSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created in 1921, and abolished in 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The First Secretary of the South Ossetian regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the South Ossetian AO in the Georgian SSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created in June 1918, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The First Secretary of the Yakut regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Yakut ASSR in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created on June 6, 1920, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The First Secretary of the Buryat regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Buryat ASSR (until July 7, 1958 Buryat–Mongol ASSR) in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created in August 1923, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The First Secretary of the Kabardino–Balkar regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Kabardino-Balkar AO (1921–1936), Kabardino-Balkar ASSR (1936–1944, 1957–1991) and the Kabardin ASSR (1944–1957) in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created in 1921, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The First Secretary of the Bashkir regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Bashkir ASSR in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created on November 18, 1919, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
Yevgen Igorovich Tsarkov (; ), born 14 October 1974 in Kommunarsk Lugansk oblast, Ukrainian SSR is a politician, Member of Verkhovna Rada of the VI сonvocation, first secretary of the Odessa oblast committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine chairman of the International Union of Komsomol Organizations - Allunion Lenin Communist Union of Youth (2009), 2005—2009 first secretary of the Central Committee of Komsomol, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (since 2005), member of the Soviet of the Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union (since 2009). Advisor of the first vicechairman of the Verkhovna Rada(2013). Secretary of the Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union (since 2014). Member of the presidium of the Central committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (since 2014). Opponents have accused him of Ukrainaphobic statements. Thus he has claimed that "NKVD squashed nationalists insufficiently". He declares himself an opponent of capitalism, NATO, fascism and nationalism. He supports the traditional family and once initiated a legislation proposal for prohibiting the "propaganda of homosexuality".
The First Secretary of the Nakhichevan regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Nakhichevan ASSR in the Azerbaijan SSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created in 1920, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The First Secretary of the Karelian regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Karelian ASSR (1923–1940, 1956–1991) in the Russian SFSR, and in the Karelo-Finnish SSR (1940–1956) of the Soviet Union. The position was created in 1921, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The First Secretary of the Kalmyk regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Kalmyk AO (1920–1935, 1957–1958) and the Kalmyk ASSR (1935–1943, 1958–1991) in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created on February 20, 1921, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The First Secretary of the Tuvan regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Tuvan AO (1944–1961) and the Tuvan ASSR (1961–1991) in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created on October 13, 1944, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The First Secretary of the Adyghe regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Cherkess (Adyghe) AO (1922), Adyghe (Cherkess) AO (1922–1928), Adyghe AO (1928–1991) and the Adyghe ASSR (1991) in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created on September 23, 1922, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was the Party Congress, which initially met annually but whose meetings became less frequent, particularly under Joseph Stalin (dominant from the late 1920s to 1953). Party Congresses would elect a Central Committee which, in turn, would elect a Politburo. Under Stalin, the most powerful position in the party became the General Secretary, who was elected by the Politburo. In 1952 the title of "General Secretary" became "First Secretary" and the "Politburo" became the "Presidium"; the names reverted to their former forms under Leonid Brezhnev in 1966.
The First Secretary of the Khakassian regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Khakassian NO (1925–1930), Khakassian AO (1930–1991) and the Khakassian ASSR (1991) in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created in September 1925, and abolished on August 23, 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
History of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks): Short Course (), translated to English under the title History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks): Short Course, is a textbook on the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, first published in 1938. Colloquially known as "the Short Course", it was the most widely disseminated book during the time Joseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU and one of the most important ones elucidating Marxism-Leninism.
The First Secretary of the Tatarstan regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Tatar ASSR in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created in 1920, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
The First Secretary of the Dagestan regional branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the position of highest authority in the Dagestan ASSR in the Russian SFSR of the Soviet Union. The position was created on February 16, 1919, and abolished in August 1991. The First Secretary was a de facto appointed position usually by the Politburo or the General Secretary himself.
General Secretary of the Communist Party General Secretary of the Communist Party of China General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba