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I know that each Soviet Republic X had its own Communist Party of X. Question is: were members of these parties also members of the CPSU?

I am interested here only in the formal side of things - I'd like to know if there was a formal dual membership (entailing two documents the member had to possess) or if each CP of X was considered a collective member of the CPSU. Or other arrangements I haven't thought of, perhaps.

Also - which normative document defined these things? As far as I remember, the Constitution of the USSR only mentioned the CPSU, not the CP of X parties, and (again, as far as I remember) the Republics did not have their own constitutions (thought they did have separate penal codes). So did the CP of X parties exist in a juridical limbo?

P.S. Curiously, the only republic that did not have its own separate party was.... Russia. Once you think a bit about it, it makes a lot of sense, actually... :)

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  • The republics all HAD their own constitutions. – Anixx Apr 23 '13 at 11:50
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    I like this question. I also wonder whether the membership in CPSU was considered more "prestigious" and whether CPSU members could participate in the republican party congresses. – Anixx Apr 23 '13 at 11:56
  • @Anixx: Re: constitutions. Nice to know! Is there a place where one can have a look at them online? – Felix Goldberg Apr 23 '13 at 12:26
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    Ukraine's constitutions from 1978 and from 1937: ru.wikisource.org/wiki/… worldconstitutions.ru/archives/587 – Anixx Apr 23 '13 at 12:29
  • the constitutions of the Soviet republics were as valuable as their democratic elections, iow they were not worth the paper they were written on. – jwenting Apr 23 '13 at 13:35
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Seems like there was no "separate" Regional parties - they were merely administrative units of KPSS. From the as-of-1972 Charter of KPSS, published by Uzbekistan SSR communist party:

УСТАВ Коммунистической партии Советского Союза
Утвержден XXII съездом, частичные изменения внесены XXIII и XXIV съездами КПСС
Издательство ЦК Компартии Узбекистана, Ташкент — 1972

...

V. РЕСПУБЛИКАНСКИЕ, КРАЕВЫЕ, ОБЛАСТНЫЕ, ОКРУЖНЫЕ, ГОРОДСКИЕ И РАЙОННЫЕ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ ПАРТИИ

  1. Республиканские, краевые, областные, окружные, городские, районные партийные организации и их комитеты в своей деятельности руководствуются Программой и Уставом КПСС, проводят в пределах республики, края, области, округа, города и района всю работу по осуществлению политики партии, организуют исполнение директив Центрального Комитета КПСС.

Basically, the individual republican party organizations and committee are simply part of the KPSS.

This may not have been true in 1920s, but I assume the question pertains to later times.

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  • Thanks, you've cleared up a question that has puzzled me for years! (btw, there is the colloquial Russian expression "put your party ticket on the table", meaning a loud resignation, either forced or voluntary - and I could not square it with the notion of having two documents). – Felix Goldberg Apr 23 '13 at 17:40

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