19th All-Union Party Conference (1988)
제19차 전연방 당대표자회의 (1988년)
A Communist Party conference held in Moscow from 28 June to 1 July 1988, where Mikhail Gorbachev pushed through a radical political reform agenda. The conference adopted resolutions on democratization of Soviet society and reform of the political system, creating the Congress of People's Deputies, introducing multi-candidate elections with secret ballots, and separating party organs from state organs. A dramatic televised confrontation between Boris Yeltsin, who criticized elite privileges and asked for political rehabilitation, and Yegor Ligachev, who cut him off with 'Boris, you are wrong,' riveted the nation; the resolutions led to the December 1988 constitutional reform and the Soviet Union's first competitive elections in spring 1989.
In depth
Background
After Stalin's death, the party statute dropped the provision for All-Union Party Conferences. The 23rd Congress restored it in 1966, but none had actually been convened since the 18th Conference in 1941. Gorbachev lacked grounds for an extraordinary congress, yet needed the weight of the whole party, not just the Central Committee, behind his planned political reform. He called the first party conference in 47 years.
Proceedings
4,991 delegates attended. In his opening speech, Gorbachev declared political reform the key issue and argued for moving toward a 'socialist state under the rule of law.' The conference adopted five resolutions: on democratization of Soviet society and political system reform, fighting bureaucracy, inter-ethnic relations, glasnost, and legal reform. The centerpiece was multi-candidate elections with secret ballots for soviets at all levels, the creation of the Congress of People's Deputies as the supreme organ of state power, and the combination of party secretary and soviet chair posts so that party organs would separate from state organs.
The dramatic climax came with Boris Yeltsin's speech. Removed as First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee after his October 1987 Central Committee plenum speech and then dropped as a Politburo candidate member, Yeltsin criticized party elite privileges, argued that the whole Politburo, not Brezhnev alone, bore responsibility for the 'stagnation,' and asked the conference to rescind his disciplinary censure. Yegor Ligachev grabbed a microphone and cut him off with 'Boris, you are wrong' (Ты, Борис, не прав), a phrase broadcast live that became instantly legendary.
Aftermath
The conference resolutions led to the constitutional reform of 1 December 1988. In March-April 1989, the Soviet Union held its first competitive elections; the First Congress of People's Deputies opened in May. The reforms effectively stripped the CPSU of its core role as the axis of state power, marking the turning point that set in motion the rapid political restructuring and ultimate dissolution of the Soviet system.
Related people
Sources
- Wikipedia (RU) Russian Wikipedia: dates (28 June–1 July 1988), five resolutions, Gorbachev's political reform agenda, creation of Congress of People's Deputies, multi-candidate elections, Yeltsin-Ligachev confrontation and full quotation, December 1988 constitutional reform, first competitive elections spring 1989
- Wikipedia (EN) English Wikipedia: 4,991 delegates, Gorbachev's opening speech on 'socialist state under the rule of law,' secret ballots and multiple candidacies, conference as a victory for Gorbachev despite conservative resistance
- w.histrf.ru histrf.ru (Энциклопедия Всемирная история), author A.V. Shubin: last party conference, not convened since 1941, Yeltsin-Ligachev dynamics, alternative elections mechanism, 1 December 1988 constitutional reform, role in dismantling CPSU's core power
- britannica.com Britannica: Congress of People's Deputies established in 1988 as part of perestroika reforms, first elections with choice of candidates including non-communists
- thenation.com The Nation (Nadezhda Azhgikhina, June 2024): Gorbachev's June 1988 declaration of political reform at the 19th Party Conference, quotation from Understanding Perestroika on transferring power from the party to the soviets