Communist Party of Lithuania

The Communist Party of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos komunistų partija, Russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) was a communist party in Lithuania, established in early October 1918. The party was banned in 1991.

Communist Party of Lithuania

Lietuvos komunistų partija
First SecretaryMykolas Burokevičius (last)
Founded1918
Banned1991
Succeeded byDemocratic Labour Party of Lithuania
HeadquartersVilnius
NewspaperTiesa
IdeologyCommunism
Marxism–Leninism
International affiliationCommunist International
Colours  Red
Election symbol

Former Central Committee office of the Lithuanian Communist Party

History

The party was working illegally until 1940. During the same year, the party amalgamated with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks). By the time of the formation of the Lithuanian SSR, the Communist Party of Lithuania (LKP) was headed by Antanas Sniečkus. In 1940, the LKP merged into the CPSU(b). The territorial organisation of the party in Lithuania was called Communist Party of Lithuania (bolshevik) (LK(b)P). In the Lithuanian territorial organisation, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the party (always a Lithuanian) was de facto governor of the country. The second secretary was always a Moscow-appointed Russian. In 1952 the name of the old Lithuanian party, LKP, was re-adopted.

On 24 December 1989,[1] during mass protests of the Singing Revolution against the Soviet Union in Lithuania, the party declared itself independent from Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1990, the Communist Party of Lithuania evolved into the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, which in turn was later merged with Social Democratic Party of Lithuania under the latter's name; but with leadership dominated by ex-communists.

The remainder of the Communist Party of Lithuania ('on platform of Communist Party of the Soviet Union') existed in 1990-91 under leadership of Mykolas Burokevičius after the "traditional" party declared independence from its Soviet Union counterpart. The party played a major role in the January 1991 Events in Lithuania and initiating the creation of the National Salvation Committee. The Communist Party of Lithuania was eventually banned in August 1991. Although still illegal, the Communist Party of Lithuania is affiliated to the Union of Communist Parties — Communist Party of the Soviet Union (UCP-CPSU) headed by Gennady Zyuganov.

Party membership[1]
Year Members
1930 650
1936 1,942
1940 1,741
1941 4,620
1945 3,540
1950 27,800
1955 35,500
1960 54,300
1965 86,400
1970 116,600
1975 140,200
1980 165,800

First Secretaries of the Communist Party of Lithuania
Antanas Sniečkus, the leader of the Communist Party of Lithuania from 1940 to 1974.[2]
No. Picture Name

(Birth–Death)

 Took office Left office Political party
First Secretary
1 Antanas Sniečkus

(1903-1974)

 21 July 1940 22 January 1974 CPL/CPSU
2 Valerijus Charazovas

(1918-2013)

 22 January 1974 18 February 1974 CPL/CPSU
3 Petras Griškevičius

(1924-1987)

 18 February 1974 14 November 1987 CPL/CPSU
4 Nikolajus Mitkinas

(1929-1998)

 14 November 1987 1 December 1987 CPL/CPSU
5 Ringaudas Songaila

(1929-2019)

 1 December 1987 19 October 1988 CPL/CPSU
6 Algirdas Brazauskas

(1932-2010)

 19 October 1988 23 December 1989 CPL/CPSU
7 Mykolas Burokevičius

(1927-2016)

 23 December 1989 24 August 1991 CPL/CPSU

Second Secretaries of the Communist Party of Lithuania
  • Icikas Meskupas-Adomas February 9, 1941 – March 13, 1942
  • Vladas Niunka April 1944-December 30, 1944
  • Alexander Isachenko December 30, 1944–November 24, 1946
  • Alexander Trofimov November 24, 1946–September 22, 1952
  • Vasily Aronov September 25, 1952–June 11, 1953
  • Motiejus Šumauskas February 1954–January 24, 1956
  • Boris Sharkov January 28, 1956–September 27, 1961
  • Boris Popov September 30, 1961 – April 13, 1967
  • Valery Khazarov April 13, 1967 – December 10, 1978
  • Nikolay Dubenko December 11, 1978 – September 17, 1986
  • Nikolay Mitkin September 17, 1986 – December 9, 1988
  • Vladimir Beryozov December 9, 1988 – 1990

Congresses of the Communist Party of Lithuania
Congress Date Delegates

Voting + advisory

 Notes
1st October 1–3, 1918 34 Took place illegally in Vilnius
2nd March 4–6, 1919 159 + 10 Joint congress with the Communist Party of Byelorussia; Established the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Lithuania and Belorussia
3rd October 24–29, 1921 12 Took place illegally in Königsberg
4th July 17–21, 1924 11 + 4 Took place in Moscow; after the 5th World Congress of the Comintern
5th February 5–9, 1941 294 + 66 Took place in Kaunas; First congress after establishment of the Lithuanian SSR
6th February 15–18, 1949 471 + 74 First congress after World War II
7th September 22–25, 1952 517 + 75 Elected 9 delegates to the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
8th February 16–19, 1954 541 + 44
9th January 24–27, 1956 578 + 101 Elected 9 delegates to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
10th February 12–15, 1958 572 + 108
11th January 14–16, 1959 596 + 126 Elected 9 delegates to the 21st Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
12th March 1–3, 1960 593 + 103
13th April 27–29, 1961 688 + 119 Elected 36 delegates to the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
14th January 9–10, 1964 765 + 99
15th March 3–5, 1966 789 + 90 Elected 42 delegates to the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
16th March 3–5, 1966 748 + 47 Elected 45 delegates to the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
17th January 20–22, 1976 904 Elected 49 delegates to the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
18th January 29–30, 1981 933 Elected 42 delegates to the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
19th January 24–25, 1986 947 Elected 55 delegates to the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
20th December 19, 1989 Voted to separate from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

See also
  • Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Lithuania and Belorussia

References
  1. "24.12.1989". Tagesschau (Germany). Retrieved 2016-12-29.
  2. Motyl, Alexander J. (2000). Encyclopedia of Nationalism, Two-Volume Set. Elsevier. pp. 494–495. ISBN 0080545246.
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