17th Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)

Central Committee elected
by the 17th Congress

16th ← → 18th
A scene from the 17th Congress
Duration	10 February 1934 – 22 March 1939
General Secretary	Joseph Stalin
Second Secretary	Lazar Kaganovich (1934–1935)
Inner-groups	Politburo: 12 full & 5 candidates Secretariat: 6 members Orgburo: 12 full & 2 candidates
No. of departments	12
Members	71 full and 68 candidates

The Central Committee (CC) composition was elected at the 17th Congress, and sat from 10 February 1934 until 22 March 1939. Its 1st Plenary Session renewed the composition of the Politburo, Secretariat and the Orgburo of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). The 17th Congress was labelled the "Congress of Victors" to mark the success of the First Five-Year Plan and the collectivization of agriculture. The CC 1st Plenary Session elected Joseph Stalin General Secretary of the Central Committee, and Lazar Kaganovich continued to serve as Stalin's deputy, an informal post referred to by Sovietologists as Second Secretary, and was empowered to manage party business and sign Politburo resolutions when Stalin was away from Moscow.

This Central Committee composition saw the de-formalisation of politics; for example, the number of Politburo meetings was reduced to 16 for the year of 1934. Politburo decisions were made either by polling the members or informal meeting between Stalin and other Politburo members. According to Ukrainian historian Oleg Khlevniuk the "procedures followed by the Politburo became increasingly simplified as it was transformed from a collective body into an appendage of a decision-making system that rested on Stalin's sole authority. [e.g. that the Soviet Union, originally an oligarchic state, was turning into an ]" According to Vadim Rogovin, "During the period of the Great Purge, the rights of the Central Committee and its members were restricted even more", noting that CC members lost the right to attend Politburo sessions or being informed on the decisions taken by the Politburo, Secretariat or the Orgburo. When looking back, Nikita Khrushchev lamented the situation; "by 1938, the earlier democracy in the Central Committee had already been greatly undermined. For instance, as a candidate member of the Politburo, I did not receive materials of our sessions. ... I received only the material which Stalin sent to me on his own orders."