ABSTRACT
The distinctive nature of the Soviet Union lies less in its external appearance as a federally structured Soviet republic than in its organization as a one-party State. One-party rule emerged in Russia in 1918 as a result of a particular historical constellation. It took on greater shape in the course of the civil war waged between the Whites and the Reds until 1921. After Nikita Khrushchev's fall in October 1964, the repeal of his administrative reform led to the restoration of the dualistic structure of the Soviet one party State. By restoring a relative balance between the individual institutions making up the Soviet Union's system of political rule, the State machinery was considerably strengthened in comparison with the party machinery. Leonid Brezhnev's name stood for the second longest period in the history of the Soviet Union. By contrast, the leadership of Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko turned out to be but a brief interlude.
