Authors

Discussion

One of the most significant processes of the perestroika period was the loss of the CPSU monopoly on power. Researchers have different views on the causes of this process. Some believe that the initiator was Gorbachev himself, who was thus trying to get rid of the apparatus’s opposition. Others believe that the party’s loss of power was not planned and was a consequence of the crisis of the party itself, which, contrary to the expectations of its leadership, was unable to adapt to the new conditions. 

A visible expression of the CPSU’s loss of its monopoly on power was the departure of communists from the party. The process began back in 1989, but assumed a mass character in 1990, especially after Yeltsin’s demonstrative exit right during the 28th Congress. In 1990, 2.7 million people left the party, of which 1.7 million in the RSFSR (16.9%).

This paper examines in detail the situation in the Sverdlovsk city party organization based on statistical and analytical reports of the city committee, as well as newspaper publications and personal notes of leave.

The overall results of 1989 - the first half of 1991 for the Sverdlovsk party organization were disappointing. In 1989 the number of communists in the city decreased by 3.4%, then in 1990 - by 25.5%, 23,557 people left the party. The Sverdlovsk city committee of the CPSU conducted an analysis of the reasons for leaving the party. It was acknowledged that many "random people" (implying careerists) had been accepted into the party in previous years. According to the analysis for 1990, 28.3% of those who left mentioned the decline in the authority of the CPSU, 9.4% did not want to fulfill their party obligations, in particular, pay dues, 6.5% did not agree with the party's policies. A fairly significant number of communists who left the CPSU in the first half of 1991 represented the conservative wing. As can be seen from the analysis of applications for leaving the party, approximately every 12th application contained criticism of Gorbachev's policies from conservative positions.

Data from the Sverdlovsk City Committee for the first 6 months of 1991 show that intelligentsia made up over 50% of those who left (in 1990, the proportions of workers and employees leaving the party were approximately the same). In terms of age, this is mainly the range of 30-40 years old. Party documents contain complaints that the party is “aging”.

The most important feature of the first half of 1991 was the accelerated exodus of high-ranking leaders. Much attention was drawn in February 1991 to the leave of the rector and several deans of the Ural State University, who declared that the party was becoming the main force standing in the way of the renewal of society. In just five months of 1991, 43 people with top-management status left the party. Party membership no longer provided advantages for building a career. The party was losing its levers of influence at all levels.