Politburo, << puh LIHT `byur` oh, or POL iht `byoor` oh, >> was the political bureau of the Central Committee that controlled the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1919 to 1991. Before 1990, the Politburo included the most powerful members of the party, and all important decisions in the Soviet government needed the Politburo’s approval. But in 1990, the Politburo’s power was greatly reduced when its role was limited to the development of party policy. In August 1991, several Communist officials failed in an attempt to overthrow Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and take control of the government. After the attempt, the Soviet parliament suspended all Communist Party activities, including those of the Politburo. In December 1991, the Soviet Union broke up into a number of independent states.
V. I. Lenin, the Soviet Union’s first leader, set up the Politburo in 1919. In 1952, the Politburo became the Presidium of the Central Committee. In 1966, the Presidium was renamed the Politburo. Lenin dominated the Politburo until his death in 1924. Joseph Stalin later gained control of it and replaced his adversaries with hand-picked associates. After Stalin’s death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev handled the Presidium the same way.
The first Politburo had five members. But for many years, the Politburo usually had from 10 to 15 full members and from 7 to 10 candidate (nonvoting) members. In 1990, its membership was set at 24 full members. The name Politburo is also used for similar groups in other Communist countries.
