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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 October 2009
Centre–periphery relations
Between 1919 and 1922 the central party organisation was modified and reconstructed to transform the Bolsheviks from an underground movement of revolutionary activists into a party of government. In the process of this revamping, a hierarchical bureaucratic apparat was created in the party and changes were made to ensure that power at all levels was transferred from the Soviets and resided with party committees so that the senior administrative figure was the party secretary. The tightening of central party control in this period may also be explained by the desire of the top leadership to maintain political conformity within party ranks and to combat and curb ‘local separatism’ which had surfaced in all areas of the country in the wake of the collapse of the ancien régime. Given the enormity and ethnic diversity of the territory, its poor communications, the administrative chaos and the small number of Bolsheviks scattered across the country, a policy of strict overlordship was essential to sustain the party's monopoly of power. To this end the Central Committee was empowered by the party leadership with two principal measures: firstly, it had the final say in the assignment of all party personnel to posts in the provinces, and secondly, it regularly assigned special instructors to tour provincial areas, investigate and verify the work of local party organisations and report back on intra-party political loyalties.
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