"General purge" of the RCP(b) in 1921 as an instrument for social control

After establishment of the Soviet regime in Russia, the Bolshevik party became one of the most efficient «elevators» of social mobility. RCP(b) (Russian Communist Party (bolsheviks)) membership ensured the rapid career growth of many of its fellows. This caused the increase of the party ranks notwithstanding the existing statutory limitations, which served as «filters» for affiliating with the party, and the danger which the Bolsheviks faced during the Civil War. By the spring of 1921, the number of RCP(b) reached 730 thous. persons, with about the half of them non-proletarians. Fierce debate at the 10th Congress of the RCP(b) showed that the party needed a thorough purge of its ranks. The article describes the purge of RCP(b) in 1921 (named «general») on the basis of rich factual evidence, including recently declassified. Its causes, goals, and objectives stated by V. I. Lenin and the Central Committee; preparatory arrangements for purge campaign, including the time of creation and the personal composition of the Central, regional, and governorate inspection boards; guidelines given by the Central Committee of the Party and the Central Inspection Board; ideological and agitation-and-propaganda support of the purge; intraparty and other instruments and mechanisms which were used during the purge in the centre and locally; criteria used for assessment of activities of RCP(b) members engaged in manufacturing, farming, institutional, and military organizations; size and composition of people expelled from RCP(b) as a result of the purge in general and in the largest party organizations; impact of the purge on the condition of the party, including its social composition and moral environment, are identified. The presented factual evidence shows that as a result of the purge RCP(b) got rid of approximately a quarter of its structure: of counterrevolutionary, criminal, socially alienated, and inactive members. At the same time, percentage of workers in RCP(b) increased, and the party became more homogeneous. The purge was an emergency measure that enabled the transformation of RCP(b), which contributed to normalization of the party functioning as a social elevator.