The Communist Party of Lithuania (; ) is a banned Marxist-Leninist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clandestinely until it was legalized in 1940 after the Soviets claimed the Baltics. The party was banned in August 1991, following the coup attempt in Moscow which later led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Lithuanian SSR. It remains illegal in modern day Lithuania and continues to operate, albeit having a negligible presence in Lithuanian politics.
History The party was working illegally from 1920 until 1940. Although the party was illegal, some of its members took part in the 1922 Lithuanian parliamentary election under title "Workers Groups". It managed to gather 5.0 per cent of vote (or around 40,000 votes) and elect five members. Due to political instability, Seimas was dissolved and new elections took place in 1923. In these elections, the party lost half of its support.
In 1940 the party amalgamated with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) (CPSU). By the time of the formation of the Lithuanian SSR, the Communist Party of Lithuania (LKP) was headed by Antanas Sniečkus. In 1940, the LKP merged into the CPSU(b). The territorial organisation of the party in Lithuania was called Communist Party of Lithuania (Bolshevik) (LKP (b)). In the Lithuanian territorial organisation, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the party (always a Lithuanian) was de facto ruler of the country. The second secretary for the most of Soviet era was a Moscow-appointed Russian. In 1952 the name of the old Lithuanian party, LKP, was re-adopted.
On 24 December 1989, during mass protests of the Singing Revolution against the Soviet Union in Lithuania, the party declared itself independent from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. By 1990, the main body of the CPL reorganized itself as the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania, which in turn by 2001 merged with Social Democratic Party of Lithuania under the latter's name; but with leadership dominated by ex-communists and 'progressive' socialists.
A small portion of the party remained loyal to the CPSU, and reorganized as the Communist Party of Lithuania ('on platform of Communist Party of the Soviet Union') under the leadership of Mykolas Burokevičius after the "traditional" party declared independence from its Soviet Union counterpart. The party played a major role in the January 1991 Events in Lithuania.
The Communist Party of Lithuania was eventually banned on 23 August 1991.Деятельность компартии Литвы под запретом
Membership Party membershipYearMembers193065019361,94219401,74119414,62019453,540195027,800195535,500196054,300196586,4001970116,6001975140,2001980165,800
Governance First Secretaries
PictureNameTook officeLeft officePolitical partyFirst Secretary1Antanas Sniečkus(1903–1974)21 July 194022 January 1974CPL/CPSU—Valery Khazarov(1918–2013)22 January 197418 February 1974CPL/CPSU2Petras Griškevičius(1924–1987)18 February 197414 November 1987CPL/CPSU—Nikolai Mitkin(1929–1998)14 November 19871 December 1987CPL/CPSU3Ringaudas Songaila(1929–2019)1 December 198719 October 1988CPL/CPSU4Algirdas Brazauskas(1932–2010)19 October 198823 December 1989CPL/CPSU23 December 19898 December 1990CPL (independent)"Leading role" of the party abolished 7 December 1989First Secretary (of pro-Moscow breakaway faction)5Mykolas Burokevičius(1927–2016)23 December 198923 August 1991CPL/CPSU
Second Secretaries Icikas Meskupas-Adomas (9 February 1941 – 13 March 1942) Vladas Niunka (April – 30 December 1944) Alexander Isachenko (30 December 1944 – 24 November 1946) Alexander Trofimov (24 November 1946 – 22 September 1952) Vasily Aronov (25 September 1952 – 11 June 1953) Motiejus Šumauskas (February 1954 – 24 January 1956) Boris Sharkov (28 January 1956 – 27 September 1961) Boris Popov (30 September 1961 – 13 April 1967) Valery Khazarov (13 April 1967 – 10 December 1978) Nikolay Dubenko (11 December 1978 – 17 September 1986) Nikolai Mitkin (17 September 1986 – 9 December 1988) Vladimir Beryozov (9 December 1988 – 1990)
Congresses CongressDateDelegates Voting + advisoryNotes1st 1–3 October 191834Took place illegally in Vilnius2nd 4–6 March 1919159 + 10Joint congress with the Communist Party of Byelorussia; Established the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Lithuania and Belorussia3rd 24–29 October 192112Took place illegally in Königsberg4th 17–21 July 192411 + 4Took place in Moscow; after the 5th World Congress of the Comintern5th 5–9 February 1941294 + 66Took place in Kaunas; First congress after establishment of the Lithuanian SSR6th 15–18 February 1949471 + 74First congress after World War II7th 22–25 September 1952517 + 75Elected 9 delegates to the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union8th 16–19 February 1954541 + 449th 24–27 January 1956578 + 101Elected 9 delegates to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union10th 12–15 February 1958572 + 10811th 14–16 January 1959596 + 126Elected 9 delegates to the 21st Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union12th 1–3 March 1960593 + 10313th 27–29 April 1961688 + 119Elected 36 delegates to the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union14th 9–10 January 1964765 + 9915th 3–5 March 1966789 + 90Elected 42 delegates to the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union16th 3–5 March 1971748 + 47Elected 45 delegates to the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union17th 20–22 January 1976904Elected 49 delegates to the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union18th 29–30 January 1981933Elected 42 delegates to the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union19th 24–25 January 1986947Elected 55 delegates to the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union20th19 December 19891033Voted to separate from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
See also Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Lithuania and Belorussia
References