Bolsheviks

Presidium of the 9th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)

Bolsheviks

The Bolsheviks, also known in English as the Bolshevists, were a radical, far-left, Marxist faction founded by Vladimir Lenin and Alexander Bogdanov that split from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) in 1903. The split occurred after a dispute over membership and organizational issues within the party. The Bolsheviks supported the idea of a tightly organized party of professional revolutionaries with a central leadership, in contrast to the Mensheviks' preference for a more open and decentralized organization.

Origins and Background

The term "Bolshevik" comes from the Russian word bol'shinstvo, meaning "majority," reflecting the fact that, at the Second Congress of the RSDLP, Lenin's faction won a temporary majority on the editorial board of the party newspaper, Iskra (The Spark). This victory was symbolic of the split between the two factions, which would have profound implications for the future of the Russian revolutionary movement.

Ideology and Goals

The Bolsheviks were guided by the ideas of Karl Marx and aimed to overthrow the Russian Empire's autocratic regime through a proletarian revolution. They believed that Russia was ripe for a socialist revolution, despite its predominantly agrarian economy and relatively small working class. The Bolsheviks argued that the proletariat could not achieve its revolutionary potential without the leadership of a vanguard party, a concept that became central to Lenin's theory of the vanguard party.

The 1917 Revolutions

The Bolsheviks played a key role in the February Revolution of 1917, which led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the establishment of a provisional government. However, they considered the provisional government insufficiently radical and incapable of implementing the changes necessary for a socialist transformation of society.

In April 1917, Lenin returned to Russia from exile with the April Theses, advocating for the Bolsheviks to take a more active role in opposing the provisional government and calling for "All power to the Soviets." The Bolsheviks gained significant influence in the Soviets, which were councils of workers' and soldiers' deputies.

The culmination of the Bolsheviks' efforts was the October Revolution (also known as the Bolshevik Revolution) in November 1917 (using the Julian calendar), when they led an armed insurrection in Petrograd, overthrowing the provisional government and establishing a Bolshevik-led government.

Civil War and the Soviet State

Following their seizure of power, the Bolsheviks faced numerous challenges, including a devastating civil war from 1918 to 1922 against a coalition of anti-Bolshevik forces known as the White Army. The Bolsheviks, now calling themselves the Communist Party, managed to consolidate power, reorganize the Russian state into the Soviet Union, and implement policies aimed at creating a socialist society.

Legacy

The Bolsheviks' rise to power and their subsequent actions fundamentally transformed Russia and had a profound impact on the course of world history. They established the world's first socialist state, which would become a superpower and play a central role in global affairs throughout the 20th century. The policies and actions of the Bolshevik-led Soviet government, including collectivization, industrialization, and political repression, remain subjects of significant historical debate and analysis.