Secretariats of the Central Committee of the CCP (1956-1969)

In 1956, the Secretariat was formed. By 1969, the majority of its original members were removed for a number of reasons. In 1962, two members were removed from their positions. Prior to this, they were blamed for being associates of Peng Dehuai, who at the 1959 Lushan Conference, wrote a private letter to Mao, criticizing the Great Leap Forward. One of these two were grouped with Peng in an anti-party clique, leading to his dismissal as Chief of the General Staff of the PLA. The other one was dismissed from his position of Director of the General Department of the PLA for less clear reasons. He was accused of having close ties to Peng, however he was most likely removed in order to consolidate the position of the new Minister of Defense, Lin Biao, as his replacement, Luo Ronghuan, served with Lin. In 1966, four members were removed for being part of another anti-party clique, except these four were removed for differing reasons. In 1966, due to the Cultural Revolution, additional members were removed from their position and were replaced. In 1967, the new head of the Secretariat, who replaced the old one in 1966, was purged from all positions due to conflicts with radicals such as Jiang Qing.