На пути к «брежневской стабильности»: Секретариат Центрального комитета Коммунистической партии Советского Союза в 1966–1968 годах
On the Way to “Brezhnev Stability”: Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPSU, 1966–1968

Summary/Abstract: The article uses primary sources not previously published, including draft minutes of the CPSU Central Committee Secretariat during the period 1966–1967. This primary source clearly demonstrates the practice of making the most important decisions in one of the most important bodies of the party apparatus during the formation of the practice of “collective leadership”. The article shows the place of the CPSU Central Committee Secretariat in the power structure of the USSR. Despite the brevity of notes, an analysis suggests several conclusions about the political and economic orientations of the country’s leaders in the early Brezhnev period. Speeches made during discussions of various issues demonstrate the desire of party leaders to move away from unjustified (in their opinion), reforms of the Khrushchev-era management apparatus and to focus instead on systematic changes aimed at strengthening the role of the party-state apparatus and improving the economy. The article also analyzes speeches by individual party leaders who most clearly expressed their position, such as L. I. Brezhnev, M. A. Suslov, D. F. Ustinov, and A. N. Shelepin. The article discusses the organization of the activities of the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee: the composition of participants in meetings, the distribution of responsibilities between them, the procedure for preparing agenda items for meetings of departments of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the practice of discussions, and attempts to streamline the work of the Secretariat.

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