Ero sivun ”Luettelo Neuvostoliiton kommunistisen puolueen pääsihteereistä” versioiden välillä

! colspan="4" align="center" | Venäjän sosiaalidemokraattisen työväenpuolueen keskuskomitean tekninen sihteeri

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| [[File:Stasova2.jpg|90px|alt=A woman wearing dark clothes and using a pair of glasses]]

| April 1917–1918

! colspan="4" align="center" | Venäjän kommunistisen puolueen keskuskomitean sihteeristön puheenjohtaja

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| [[File:Old Russia - Yakov Sverdlov.jpg|90px|alt=A man in a black suit, black shirt and wearing a pair of glasses]]

| 1918 – 16 March 1919

| Sverdlov remained in office until his death on 16 March 1919. During his tenure he was mainly responsible for technical rather than political matters.{{sfn|Zemtsov|2001|p=132}}

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| [[File:Stasova2.jpg|90px|alt=A woman wearing dark clothes and using a pair of glasses]]

| March 1919 – December 1919

| When her office was dissolved, Stasova was not considered a serious competitor for the post of Responsible Secretary, the successor office to the Chairman of the Secretariat.{{sfn|Noonan|2001|p=183}}

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| [[File:Nikolai Krestinsky.jpg|90px|alt=A man in a grey suit, light shirt and dark tie]]

| December 1919 – March 1921

| The office of Responsible Secretary functioned like a [[secretary]], a somewhat menial position given that Krestinsky was also a member of the Party's [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]], [[Orgburo]] and [[Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Secretariat]]. Nevertheless, Krestinsky never tried to create an independent power base as [[Joseph Stalin]] later did during his time as General Secretary.{{sfn|Merle|Hough|1979|p=126}}

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| [[File:Molotov.bra.jpg|90px|alt=A man in a dark suit, light shirt and dark tie, smiling]]

| March 1921 – April 1922

| Was elected Responsible Secretary at the [[10th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|10th Party Congress]] held in March 1921. The Congress decided that the office of Responsible Secretary should have a presence at Politburo plenums. As a result Molotov became a candidate member of the Politburo.{{sfn|Grill|2002|p=72}}

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|-

| [[File:Stalin_lg_zlx1.jpg|90px]]

| 3 April 1922 – 16 October 1952

| Stalin used the office of General Secretary to create a strong power base for himself. At the [[17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|17th Party Congress]] in 1934, Stalin was not formally re-elected as General Secretary{{sfn|Rappaport|1999|pp=95–96}} and the office was rarely mentioned after that{{sfn|Ulam|2007|p=734}} but Stalin retained all other positions and all of his power. The office was formally abolished at the [[19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|19th Party Congress]] on 16 October 1952, but Stalin remained secretary and retained ultimate power.{{sfn|Brown|2009|pp=231–232}}

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| [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B0628-0015-035, Nikita S. Chruchstschow.jpg|90px|alt=An elderly bald man in a suit, with several medals pinned on it]]

| 14 September 1953 – 14 October 1964

| Khrushchev reestablished the office on 14 September 1953 under the name First Secretary. In 1957 he was nearly removed from office by the [[Anti-Party Group]]. [[Georgy Malenkov]], a leading member of the Anti-Party Group, worried that the powers of the First Secretary were virtually unlimited.{{sfn|Ra'anan|2006|p=69}} Khrushchev was removed as leader on 14 October 1964, and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=378}}

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| [[File:1977 CPA 4774(Cutted).jpg|90px|alt=A man with wavy dark graying hair in a suit, with three Hero of the Soviet Union stars pinned on it]]

| 14 October 1964 – 8 April 1966

| The office of First Secretary was renamed General Secretary at the [[23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|23rd Party Congress]].{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=48}}

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|-

| [[File:1977 CPA 4774(Cutted).jpg|90px|alt=A man with wavy dark graying hair in a suit, with three Hero of the Soviet Union stars pinned on it]]

| 8 April 1966 – 10 November 1982

| At first there was no clear leader of the [[collective leadership]] with Brezhnev and Premier [[Alexei Kosygin]] ruling as equals.{{sfn|Brown|2009|p=403}} However, by the 1970s Brezhnev's influence exceeded that of Kosygin's and he was able to retain this support by avoiding any radical reforms. The powers and functions of the General Secretary were limited by the collective leadership during Brezhnev's tenure.{{sfn|Baylis|1989|pp=98–99 & 104 }}

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| [[File:RIAN archive 101740 Yury Andropov, Chairman of KGB.jpg|90px|alt=A baldman in a suit wearing glasses]]

| 12 November 1982 – 9 February 1984

| He was seen as the most likely candidate for the General Secretary when it became known he had been the chairman of the committee in charge of arranging, managing and preparing [[Death and funeral of Leonid Brezhnev|Brezhnev's funeral]].{{sfn|White|2000|p=211}} Andropov was obliged by protocol{{clarifyme|date=February 2014}} to rule the country in the same way Brezhnev had before he died.{{sfn|Baylis|1989|p=98}}

|-

| [[File:Konstantin Chernenko1.jpg|90px|alt=A elderly man, balding with white hair, in a suit]]

| 13 February 1984 – 10 March 1985

| Chernenko was 72 years old when elected to the post of General Secretary and in rapidly failing health.{{sfn|Service|2009|pp=433–435}} Chernenko was also obliged by protocol{{clarifyme|date=February 2014}}, as [[Yuri Andropov]] had been, to rule the country in the same way Brezhnev had.{{sfn|Baylis|1989|p=98}}

|-! scope="row" style="font-weight:normal;"

| [[File:Mikhail Gorbachev 1987.jpg|90px|alt=A man in a grey suit, white shirt and dark tie, balding with grey hair, he has a birthmark on his forehead]]

| 11 March 1985 – 24 August 1991

| The 1990 [[Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union|Congress of People's Deputies]] voted to remove [[Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution|Article 6]] from the [[1977 Soviet Constitution]]. This meant that the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] lost its position as the "leading and guiding force of the Soviet society" and the powers of the General Secretary were drastically curtailed. Throughout the rest of his tenure Gorbachev ruled through the office of [[President of the Soviet Union]].{{sfn|Kort|2010|p=394}} He resigned from his party office on 24 August 1991 in the aftermath of the [[August Coup]].{{sfn|Radetsky|2007|p=219}}

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| [[File:Vladimir Ivashko.jpg|90px]]

| 24 August 1991 – 29 August 1991