ABSTRACT
The wording of Boris N. Yeltsin’s August 23 decree against the Russian Communist Party (RCP) had a temporizing character, however. For it spoke of the “suspension” of the RCP’s activity until a final resolution of the question in court and thus gave some ground for hope to the communists and their supporters. The suppression of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the RCP gave a powerful stimulus to battle on the part of the ideologically committed minority in the former communist ranks. Even some who viewed the CPSU more than a little critically considered it immoral to break with the party under conditions of its suppression. The reforms begun by Gorbachev quickly and radically changed the socio-political conditions in which the CPSU operated. The Democratic Platform had its beginnings in a series of party clubs—informal organizations uniting CPSU intellectuals of a social-democratic and moderate Marxist slant.
