The Orgburo (Russian: Оргбюро́), also known as the Organisational Bureau (Russian: организационное бюро), of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union existed from 1919–52, until it was abolished at the 19th Congress of the Communist Party and its functions were transferred to the enlarged Secretariat.
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Role
The Orgburo was created to make important decisions about organisational work in the Soviet Union. It oversaw the work of local party committees and had the power to select and place Communist members in the positions that they saw fit. The functions of the Orgburo and the Politburo were often interconnected, but the latter was ultimately the final decision-maker. While the Politburo was mostly concerned with strategic planning and monitoring of the people and status of the country, the Orgburo was tasked with overseeing the party cadre and its assignment to various positions and duties, presumably in furtherance of the government's strategic agenda.
Election and chronology
In the same manner as the Politburo and the Secretariat, the Orgburo was elected at plenary sessions of the Central Committee. One of the Central Committee secretaries supervised the work of the Orgburo. The first Orgburo of three members (Vladimirsky, Krestinsky and Sverdlov) was elected on January 16, 1919, at the Central Committee meeting. The 8th party congress (March 8, 1919 – March 23, 1919) amended the party charter and set up provisions for election of the Politburo, the Orgburo and the Secretariat. The Central Committee plenum elected the new Orgburo of five members and of one candidate member on March 25, 1919. Some key Communist politicians such as Joseph Stalin, Vyacheslav Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich and others were both members of the Orgburo and of the Politburo, but most of the Orgburo members were less important figures than those elected to the Politburo and the Secretariat.