General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

In 1922 the position of General Secretary was created as a purely administrative and disciplinary role. Joseph Stalin, the first to be appointed, used the principle of Democratic centralism, which emphasised party discipline and the subordination of every party member to the general line of the party, deviation from which would be penalised as factionalism, to transform his office into that of party leader. As all decisions of higher bodies were absolutely binding on lower bodies, his control of the party cadres grew tighter, in turn increasing his standing among the other party leaders. The other members of the Politburo were increasingly isolated from the party cadres and divided among themselves, allowing Stalin to play off different groupings against each other, eventually eliminating them all. By the 1930s, Stalin had not only become party leader but through the party also effectively the ruler of the Soviet Union.

miniclip
Real Estate Park City