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Soviet Union [USSR] Military Representation in the Party
As of 1989, only two career military ministers of defense had
become full Politburo members. Since 1984 the minister of defense
has been only a candidate member. The top leaders in the Ministry
of Defense, however, have been regularly elected as members or
candidate members of the Central Committee. Central Committee
membership apparently has come with certain important posts and
major field commands. The military presence in the Central
Committee has varied little over time, normally constituting
between 7 and 12 percent of this influential body.
Military officers with full membership on the Central Committee
have generally included the minister of defense, the first deputy
ministers of defense, the deputy ministers of defense, the chief of
the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy, the
chief and one or two members of the Main Inspectorate, the
commander of the Moscow Military District, and the commander in
chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. At the TwentySeventh Party Congress in February-March 1986, full Central
Committee membership was granted to the commanders of the Western
and Far Eastern TVDs.
Candidate members of the Central Committee from the armed
forces have included the commanders of all military districts and
fleets, the first deputy chief of the Main Political Directorate of
the Soviet Army and Navy, the chiefs of the political directorates
of the armed services, and the chairman of the Voluntary Society
for Cooperation with the Army, Air Force, and Navy (Dobrovol'noe
obshchestvo sodeistviia armii, aviatsii i flotu--
DOSAAF; see Glossary). All military representatives
on the Central Committee
were also deputies of the Supreme Soviet. Other military officials
were elected to the party's Central Auditing Commission
(see Soviet Union USSR - Central Auditing Commission
, ch. 7).
Party-military interaction also occurred at lower levels, and
it enabled the armed forces to coordinate their activities with
local party officials and draw on them for assistance. The
commanders of military districts and fleets were usually members of
the party bureau and deputies of the supreme soviet of the republic
in which the district or fleet was located
(see Soviet Union USSR - Intermediate-Level Party Organizations
, ch. 7). Other senior
military officers sat on
oblast, raion, or city party committees.
Data as of May 1989
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