Page "Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union" Paragraph 40

By 1971, Brezhnev had succeeded in becoming first amongst equals in the Politburo and the Central Committee.

Six years later, Brezhnev had succeeded in filling the majority of the Central Committee with Brezhnevites.

But as Peter M. E.

Volten noted, " the relationship between the general secretary and the central committee remained mutually vulnerable and mutually dependent.

" The collective leadership of the Brezhnev era emphasised the stability of cadres in the party.

Because of this, the survival ratio of full members of the Central Committee increased gradually during the era.

At the 23rd Congress ( 29 March – 8 April 1966 ) the survival ratio was 79. 4 percent, it decreased to 76. 5 percent at the 24th Congress ( 30 March – 9 April 1971 ), increased to 83. 4 percent at the 25th Congress ( 24 February – 5 March 1976 ) and at its peak, at the 26th Congress ( 23 February – 3 March 1981 ), it reached 89 percent.

Because the size of the Central Committee expanded, the majority of members were either in their first or second term.

It expanded to 195 in 1966, 141 in 1971, 287 in 1976 and 319 in 1981 ; of these, new membership consisted of 37, 30 and 28 percent respectively.