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BOLSHEVIKS, a faction along with the Mensheviks within the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP); then a political party. Name "Bolsheviks" (originally - "majority") reflected the election results governing bodies RSDLP at its 2nd Congress (1903).
IN AND. Lenin considered 1903 to be the time of the emergence of Bolshevism “as a current of political thought and as a political party,” but his works, which formed the ideological basis of Bolshevism (primarily “What is to be done?”, 1902), appeared earlier. Contrary to the generally accepted opinion among Russian Social Democrats at that time, the Bolsheviks assigned a priority place among the forces interacting in society to the subjective factor, mainly to the proletarian party - the “avant-garde of the working class.” The Bolsheviks continued the radical trend in Russian revolutionary movement: while remaining on the basis of Marxism, Bolshevism at the same time absorbed elements of the ideology and practice of revolutionaries of the 2nd half of the 19th century (N. G. Chernyshevsky, P. N. Tkachev, S. G. Nechaev).
The Bolsheviks used (following the ideas of K. Kautsky and G. V. Plekhanov) the experience of the French Revolution of the 18th century, primarily the period of the Jacobin dictatorship (V. I. Lenin contrasted the Bolshevik “Jacobins” with the Mensheviks “Girondists”). During the formation of Bolshevism, the special position of the Bolsheviks was manifested mainly in discussions on the organizational issue. At the 2nd Congress of the RSDLP, Lenin proposed that personal participation in the work of one of the party organizations be considered a condition for party membership. Lenin's position was based on the concept of the party as illegal centralized organization professional revolutionaries, suitable for conspiracy activities and seizure of power. It corresponded to the exceptional authority of Lenin, the leader and chief ideologist of the Bolsheviks. The composition of the Bolshevik leadership changed, initially V. I. Lenin’s inner circle included A. A. Bogdanov, V. V. Borovsky, G. M. Krzhizhanovsky, L. B. Krasin, A. V. Lunacharsky, M. S. Olminsky and etc.; almost all of them are in different time The Bolsheviks were declared insufficiently consistent or “conciliators.”
At the end of 1904, the Bolsheviks began publishing their first factional newspaper “Forward” (opposed to the Menshevik newspaper “Iskra”, which became in 1903) and created a factional center - the Bureau of Majority Committees. In the outbreak of the Revolution of 1905-07, according to the Bolsheviks, the place of the main driving force belonged to the proletariat, which opposed both the autocracy and the “liberal bourgeoisie”; his victory would make it possible to fully implement the minimum program of the RSDLP and move on to the socialist revolution. The practical conclusions from this were the Bolsheviks’ support for the peasant demands for the confiscation of all landowners’, state-owned and monastic lands (which meant a refusal program position RSDLP on returning only “cuts” to the peasants), military technical training uprisings, a course towards establishing a “dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry.” During the rise of the revolution, the Bolsheviks acted together with the Socialist Revolutionary Party, the Mensheviks and others revolutionary organizations who used violent methods of struggle, including in the preparation and conduct of the December armed uprisings of 1905. Counting on the armed overthrow of the autocracy, the Bolsheviks boycotted the elections to the 1st State Duma.
In 1907-10, the factional governing body was the Bolshevik Center (consisting of members of the expanded editorial board of the factional newspaper “Proletary”). In 1907, the Bolsheviks admitted the boycott was wrong. State Duma, adhered to the tactics of the “left bloc” in the elections to the 2nd State Duma.
The number of Bolsheviks grew from 14 thousand (summer 1905) to 60 thousand members (spring 1907); after the Revolution of 1905-07 it decreased sharply. Many Bolsheviks were forced to emigrate, a number of prominent Bolsheviks stopped political activity. Some Bolsheviks were excluded from the faction due to their differences in views with V.I. Lenin, among them a group of “otzovists” led by A.A. Bogdanov (demanded the recall of Social Democratic deputies from the State Duma, considered the use of only illegal means justified struggle). A group of “Bolshevik party members” emerged from the faction (they sought to cooperate with those Mensheviks who defended the need to preserve the illegal party). In 1907-14, the main point of disagreement between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks was the question of the degree of bourgeois changes in Russia: the Bolsheviks considered an imminent bourgeois revolution inevitable. Lenin abandoned the search for compromises with other movements in the RSDLP and agreed to a final split with them. At the Prague Conference of the RSDLP (1912; its delegates were mainly Bolsheviks), the “liquidators” (focused on building a legal party) were excluded from the party, all other (non-Bolshevik) movements were declared opponents of the party; Thus, the Bolsheviks actually turned into an independent party. Since 1912, the newspaper Pravda (published legally in St. Petersburg) became the most popular organ of the Bolsheviks. In 1913, Bolshevik deputies of the State Duma left the Social Democratic faction of the Duma and formed an independent faction led by R.V. Malinovsky (since 1914 with G.I. Petrovsky). Since the beginning of World War I, the Bolsheviks rejected the slogan of “defense of the Fatherland,” adopted by the majority of Russian Social Democrats, and opposed it with the slogan of “transformation imperialist war in the civil war"; members of the Bolshevik faction in the State Duma were arrested.
The beginning of the February Revolution of 1917 was unexpected for the Bolsheviks, as well as for other Russian political parties. The Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDLP, consisting of Bolsheviks, put forward the slogan of creating a Provisional Government on the basis of the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies and bringing the bourgeois-democratic revolution to the end. The leaders of the Petrograd and Moscow Bolsheviks, as well as the editorial board of the newspaper Pravda (L. B. Kamenev, I. V. Stalin, M. K. Muranov) considered it possible to conditionally support the Provisional Government with constant pressure on it, which coincided with the tactics of the Mensheviks; A significant number of united organizations of the RSDLP remained; the Bolsheviks discussed the issue of restoring its unity. A complete reorientation of the Bolshevik strategy and tactics occurred with the return of V. I. Lenin from emigration to Russia in April 1917. He stated (“April Theses”) that the transition from a bourgeois-democratic revolution to a socialist one has already begun in Russia, and since without the “overthrow of capital” it is impossible to either end the “imperialist war” or solve general democratic problems, all state power must pass to the Soviets . Lenin demanded that we abandon support for the Provisional Government, explain to the masses the “falsity” of its promises, and fight “revolutionary defencism,” i.e., the opinion that the nature of the war had changed after the overthrow of the autocracy. Thus, the Bolsheviks entered into confrontation with all supporters of cooperation with the government (“compromisers”), the April Conference of the Bolsheviks completed the organizational and ideological separation of the Bolsheviks into an independent political party: at it, Lenin’s proposals were mainly supported, on their basis it was decided to prepare a new party program, and also add the word “Bolsheviks” to the name of the RSDLP. During October revolution In 1917, the Bolsheviks came to power. In March 1918, after representatives of the left socialist-revolutionary party left the Council of People's Commissars, the Bolsheviks became the only ruling party. Subsequently, the name of the Bolshevik Party changed several times; the word “Bolsheviks” continued to be present in it (since 1952 it was called the Communist Party of the Soviet Union).
Source: Leninsky collection: In 40 volumes. M.; L., 1924-1985; CPSU in resolutions and decisions of congresses, conferences and plenums of the Central Committee. 1898-1954. M., 1954. Part 1; Lenin V.I. Complete. collection Op.: In 55 volumes. 5th ed. M., 1958-1965; Bolsheviks. Documents on the history of Bolshevism from 1903 to 1916 of the former Moscow Security Department. 3rd ed. M., 1990.
Lit.: Dan F.I. Origin of Bolshevism. New York, 1946; Berdyaev N. A. Origins and meaning of Russian communism. M., 1990; Ponomareva I.A. Theoretical disagreements in the RSDLP (1907-1910). M., 1990; Rosenthal I. S. Bolsheviks // Political history Russia in parties and persons. M., 1994; Heimson L. Menshevism and Bolshevism (1903-1917): the formation of mentality and political culture// Mensheviks in 1917. M., 1994. T. 1; Tyutyukin S.V., Shelokhaev V.V. Marxists and the Russian Revolution. M., 1996; Martov Yu. O. Favorites. St. Petersburg, 2000; Potresov A. N. Favorites. M., 2002.
V. I. Ulyanov-Lenin was born on April 10 (22), 1870 in Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk) in the family of a prominent figure public education. The formation of Vladimir Ulyanov's worldview took place under the influence of revolutionary democratic literature, especially the works of Chernyshevsky, and communication with his older revolutionary brother. Alexander Ulyanov was executed in 1887. This had strong influence to resolve it younger brother become a professional revolutionary.
In December 1887, for participating in student unrest, Ulyanov was expelled from Kazan University, arrested and deported. Four years later, he passed the exams as an external student at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University.
Ulyanov spent the end of the 80s under police supervision in the village of Kokushkino, Kazan province, then moved to Kazan, and later to Samara province. In 1893, V. Ulyanov moved from Samara to St. Petersburg - the center of the Social Democratic movement in Russia. Having established contact with a group of St. Petersburg Social Democrats, he gained authority in it and became its leader.
From the very beginning revolutionary activities V. Ulyanov took an active part in completing the ideological defeat of populism. The ideologists of populism then responded to the successes of the Social Democratic movement with an open campaign against it.
V. Ulyanov spoke out against the leaders of populism, whose criticism was, at the same time, the starting point for presenting his own views, his substantiation of the Marxist concept of socio-economic development of Russia and the relationship of class forces determined by this development.
In 1896 - 1899 V. Ulyanov completed work on the major work “The Development of Capitalism in Russia.” In it, he crushed the populist views on the community and so-called folk production (home crafts, peasant artels), and also demonstrated the inconsistency of the populists’ main position about the artificiality of capitalism in Russia.
The ideological struggle of the 90s among the democratic intelligentsia ended in the victory of Marxism.
However, there were also differences among Marxists. Representatives of the so-called legal Marxism are economist and sociologist P.B. Struve, M.I. Tugan-Baranovsky and others spoke in the legal press criticizing populism, contrasting it with Marxism. But the nature of this criticism differed from the views of the revolutionary Marxists led by V. Ulyanov.
Revolutionary Marxists, rejecting the socialism of the populists, put forward proletarian socialism in its place. Legal Marxists leaned toward bourgeois liberalism. They saw capitalism as an absolute good.
V. Ulyanov’s group adopted the name “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class” at the end of 1895. In subsequent years, Social Democratic organizations emerged in Moscow and Tula; Rostov-on-Don, Ivanovo-Voznesensk, industrial centers Ukraine, Transcaucasia and other cities. Social Democrats took an increasingly active part in the strike struggle, which increased significantly.
In December 1895 and January 1896 large group leaders and activists of the Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class, led by V. Ulyanov, were arrested. At the beginning of 1897 they were sent into exile in Eastern Siberia.
A major event in the Russian labor movement was the first congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. It took place on March 1-3 (13-15), 1898 in Minsk. Representatives of the “Unions of Struggle”, social democratic organizations of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv, Yekaterinoslav, and the Western Territory took part in the work of the congress.
The congress itself practically did not create any party. However important had the very fact of proclamation of the party and its revolutionary goals. Social democratic organizations were left without general program and the charter, without a single leadership (the Central Committee elected by the congress was immediately defeated), without a really tangible connection with each other.
Until the beginning of 1900, V. Ulyanov remained in exile. At this moment, his main task was to create a revolutionary Marxist organization of an illegal type. He considered the immediate task in this direction to be the publication of an all-Russian newspaper of revolutionary Marxists.
Upon returning from exile, V. Ulyanov concentrated his main efforts on implementing his plan. For this purpose, he established contacts with Social Democratic organizations in a number of Russian cities, and then went abroad.
On December 11, 1900, the 1st issue of the all-Russian newspaper was published in Leipzig, which became the ideological and organizational center of the Social Democratic movement. The newspaper was called “Iskra.” Its motto was the words from the Decembrists’ response to Pushkin: “From a spark a flame will ignite.” The editors of the newspaper were V. Ulyanov, Yu. Martov, A. Potresov (representatives of Russian social democratic organizations), as well as members of the “Emancipation of Labor” group - G. Plekhanov, P. Axelrod, V. Zasulich. Iskra was not only a herald of Marxist ideas, but also an organizer of revolutionary social democracy.
In the first years of the newspaper’s existence, V. Ulyanov assigned the main role to the struggle on its pages with the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs). The Socialist Revolutionary program was a mixture of populist views with certain provisions of Marxism. They denied the role revolutionary theory and the need for the dictatorship of the proletariat. Like the liberal populists, the Social Revolutionaries idealized the peasant community, choosing terrorism as their tactics.
In July - August 1903, the Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) took place. The party program developed by the editors of the newspaper Iskra was adopted at the congress. This was the only program of the workers’ party in the world at that time, which put forward both the main task the struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat.
The RSDLP program determined final goal- socialist revolution, the immediate task of the party in the impending bourgeois-democratic revolution was also indicated: the overthrow of the autocracy, its replacement democratic republic, introduction of an 8-hour working day, elimination of the remnants of serfdom. The RSDLP program proclaimed the nation's right to self-determination.
At the congress, the organizational issue was discussed in intense struggle. V. Ulyanov defended the principle of a monolithic party. He considered it necessary for each party member to directly participate in the work of one of the party organizations. In his opinion, only a party consisting of active, conscious fighters, united by strict discipline, could actually become the combat headquarters of the proletariat.
The opposite point of view was presented by Martov. He proposed to open access to the party to everyone, to those who consider themselves social democrats and agree to provide regular assistance to the party.
As a result of heated discussions, the first paragraph of the RSDLP charter, which contained a definition of party membership, was adopted by Martov.
But by the end of the congress, the balance of forces changed in favor of Ulyanov’s supporters. During the elections of the party's governing bodies, they received a majority at the congress.
This is where their historical name came from - the Bolsheviks, in contrast to the Mensheviks.
For a long time, only an absolute monarchical system existed in Russia. The power of the king, and then the emperor, was not disputed by anyone - it was believed (and not only in our state) that the king was God’s representative on Earth, his anointed one.
In the 19th century, the situation in the Russian Empire began to change. Several workers' parties emerge. Most of them occurred during the reign of the last Tsar Nicholas II. In 1901, the Socialist Revolutionary Party was created - socialist revolutionaries united under political auspices. The Social Revolutionaries gathered all the popular movements that propagated the policy of terror in the 19th century. 1905 gave Russia the Cadet Party - its members advocated moderate policies and the creation constitutional monarchy. Unlike other parties, the Cadets wanted to preserve the Tsar's power, but limit it. In 1898 at political arena another party appears that was destined to change the history of the country - the Social Democratic workers' party Russia – RSDLP. People called her “Bolsheviks”.
Creation of a party
In 1898, a congress was held in Minsk, which was attended by only nine people. It was not official. The congress was attended by representatives of organizations from large Russian cities– Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, etc. it lasted only 3 days and was dispersed by the police. However, during this time, decisions were made to create special committee and the publication of a newspaper. Let us note that before this, attempts had already been made to convene congresses on the territory of the Russian Empire, but they were unsuccessful. In that era, ideological movements and ideas were already gaining enormous popularity. They found their people in Russia too.
In 1890 the first Marxist groups. In 1895, the Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class was formed. One of the members of the organization was Vladimir Ulyanov, who would later become famous under the pseudonym “Lenin”. He was the ideological inspirer of the party, the so-called “engine of the revolution.” He stood up for revolution, the overthrow of the monarchical system, and freedom for the entire working class.
Party split
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Second Congress of the RSDLP was held, at which Lenin and his entourage received a majority of votes in the elections to the Central Committee. After this they began to be called Bolsheviks. The second part of the party received a name - the Mensheviks. Thus occurred the legendary split.
The Bolsheviks sought revolutionary and forceful methods of fighting the autocracy, their opponents, the Mensheviks, proposed legal ways and reforms. However, the former categorically disagreed with this - the basis was the ideas of Marxism, supported by various left-wing radical movements (suffice it to recall populism in the mid-19th century and).
However, until 1912, both sides of the RSDLP were on the “same wavelength” - that it was necessary to change the existing system, to give freedom to the working class. IN AND. Lenin at a conference in Prague refused to cooperate with the Mensheviks and broke ties with them. Thus, the split in the party was completed. Now the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks were on their own and pursued the policies whose ideas they adhered to. In the spring of 1917, Lenin proclaimed the new name of his party. In fact, it was the same name, but with a mention of the Bolsheviks - RSDLP (B). Subsequently, after the October Revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy in Russia, it was renamed the Communist Party.
The role of Lenin
Let’s not argue that Vladimir Ilyich had a huge influence on the formation of the future communist party. He played one of key roles in the October Revolution, which turned into regime change for Russia. Since after its formation the Freedom Union... was on an illegal basis, members of the organization were often arrested and sent to prison. Some were even exiled. Lenin did not escape this fate either. In 1897, by order of the emperor, he was sent to Siberia. It was there that it was developed revolutionary program. The ideas of Marx were taken as a basis. Later it was continued in the form of the ideology of Marxism-Leninism.
Let us note that Marx, putting forward his ideas about and, assumed that they would be continued only in a wealthy state. Lenin rejected these thoughts as absurd - it is possible to build communism in a backward, agrarian country (as it was then Russian empire). According to Marx, the main driving force the workers must become revolutions. Lenin mentioned that peasants also deserve to be at the head of the revolutionary movement.
To do this, it will be necessary to create an ideal party with a revolutionary elite at its head, which perfectly understands the ideas and tasks of building communism, and can call on the masses to revolt and create a new type of life.
After returning from exile, Lenin left Russia and temporarily settled in Switzerland, from where he continued to maintain contact with Russian revolutionaries. At this time he is already known more as Lenin - real name is gradually becoming a thing of the past.
The year was 1917 difficult time for Russia – two revolutions, instability in the country itself. However, Lenin the day before February events decided to return to his native land. The route ran through the German Empire, Sweden, and Finland. Some scholars agree that the trip and the revolution were sponsored by the Germans - they were interested in destabilizing Russia from within in order to benefit from the outcome of the war. The communists received powerful financial support - otherwise where would they have gotten the funds for two revolutions in a year?
April of the same year marked the appearance of theses, where Lenin clearly stated that the masses should rise up and organize a revolution, the monarchical regime should be destroyed, and power should be given to the councils of workers and peasants. The provisional government headed by A. Kerensky was also subject to destruction.
Clear victory
There were still several months left before the decisive step. The country tried to maintain its position in the war, but understood that the situation inside Russia was worsening. However, he did nothing to improve his image as a sovereign or improve the lives of the citizens of his homeland. October came, and it became clear that the Bolsheviks had won. On October 25 (old style), one of the largest and most powerful political events- revolution of the people. The emperor finally lost his power, the whole family was under arrest, and it was Vladimir Ilyich and his party who took control of the state. He became chairman of the council people's commissars, the constitutional assembly was dissolved. Communism began to take its first steps on Russian soil.
Of course, not all of Russia agreed with the new regime. The Bolsheviks were resisted, which resulted in another carnage- Civil war. No one expected that it would last 5 long years. But it is still considered one of the bloodiest (after the Great Patriotic War) pages in our history. In 1922, the resistance was suppressed, the instigators were tried and executed, and a new state appeared on the world map - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Lenin is identified with the Bolsheviks much more than any of his other successors. Throughout his life he fought for the right of the party to be at the head of the state. Even being seriously ill (he had several strokes, at the end of his life he could not walk, and besides, the wounds from numerous assassination attempts affected him), he did not let go of the reins of power from his tenacious hands. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that after his death in 1924, a cult of personality emerged, which was identified with the one who forever changed the life of Russia and wrote his name on the pages of the history of the state.
At one time, the RSDLP (Russian Social Democratic Labor Party), formed in 1989 at the Minsk Congress, suffered extremely unpleasant and numerous losses. Production was dying, the crisis completely engulfed the organization, forcing society in 1903 at the Second Congress in Brussels to split into two opposing groups. Lenin and Martov did not agree with the views of the membership management, so they themselves became leaders of associations, which later served as the reason for the formation of the abbreviations in the form of a small letter "b" and "m".
The history of the Bolsheviks is still covered in some mysteries and secrets, but today we have the opportunity to at least partially find out what happened during the collapse of the RSDLP.
What caused the discord?
It is impossible to find out in history the exact cause of the events that occurred. The official version of the split of the RSDLP there was a disagreement between the two sides regarding the solution of important organizational issues that were raised during the fight against the monarchical system of government and foundations. Both Lenin and Martov agreed that internal changes in Russia they demand a network of worldwide proletarian revolutions, especially in good economic conditions developed countries. In this case, you can only count on a wave of uprisings both in your native state and in countries that are lower in social level.
Despite the fact that the two sides had the same goal, the disagreement lay in the method of obtaining what was desired. Yuliy Osipovich Martov advocated ideas European countries, based on legal ways gaining power and rule. While Vladimir Ilyich argued that only through active actions and terror can one gain influence on the Russian state.
Differences between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks:
- closed organization with strict discipline;
- opposed democratic conditions.
Menshevik differences:
- were guided by the experience of Western rule and supported the democratic foundations of society;
- agrarian reforms.
In the end, Martov won the discussion, calling everyone to an underground and quiet struggle, which served to split the organization. Lenin called his people Bolsheviks, and Yuliy Osipovich made concessions, agreeing to the name “Mensheviks.” Many believe that this was his mistake, since the word Bolsheviks caused people associations with something powerful and huge. While the Mensheviks were not taken seriously because of considerations of something small and hardly so impressive.
It is unlikely that terms like “commercial brand”, “marketing” and “advertising” existed in those years. But only the ingenious name of the group that was invented led to popularity in narrow circles and obtaining the status of a trusted organization. Vladimir Ilyich’s talent, of course, manifested itself in those very moments when, with unpretentious and simple slogans, he was able to offer ordinary people outdated ones since the time of the French Revolution ideas of equality and brotherhood.
People were impressed by the loud words promoted by the Bolsheviks, the symbols that inspired strength and radicalism - the five-pointed star, hammer and sickle with red in the background immediately fell in love with a large number of residents Russian state.
Where did the money for the activities of the Bolsheviks come from?
When the organization was divided into several groups, there was an urgent need to collect additional finances to ensure their revolution. And the methods of obtaining the necessary money also differed between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. The difference between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks in this regard was their more radical and illegal actions.
If the Mensheviks came to the idea of a membership fee for the organization, then the Bolsheviks were not limited only to the contribution of participants, they did not disdain bank robberies. For example, in 1907, one of these operations brought the Bolsheviks more than two hundred and fifty thousand rubles, which greatly outraged the Mensheviks. Unfortunately, Lenin regularly carried out a large number of similar crimes.
But the revolution was not the only waste for the Bolshevik party. Vladimir Ilyich was deeply convinced that only people who were completely passionate about their work could bring good results to the revolution. This meant that the Bolshevik staff had to receive a guaranteed salary so that workers could perform their duties all day long. Compensation in the form of monetary incentives supporters of radical views really liked it, so in a short period of time the party’s size increased noticeably, and the wing’s activities noticeably improved in quality.
In addition, significant expenses came from printing brochures and leaflets, which party accomplices tried to spread throughout the state in various cities during strikes and rallies. This also reveals a characteristic difference between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, since their funding was spent on completely different needs.
The ideas of the two parties became so different from each other and even contradictory that Martov’s followers decided not to take part in the Third Party Congress of the RSDLP. It took place in 1905 in England. Despite the fact that some Mensheviks took part in the First Russian Revolution, Martov still did not support armed uprisings.
Bolshevik ideas and principles
It seemed that people with such radical and significantly different views from democratic and liberal views could not have principles. The first time one could notice ideological glimpses and human morality in Lenin was before the outbreak of the First World War. At that time, the party leader lived in Austria and at the next meeting in Bern, he expressed his opinion about the brewing conflict.
Vladimir Ilyich is happy spoke out strongly against the war and everyone who supports it, since in this way they betrayed the proletariat. Therefore, Lenin was very surprised when it turned out that the majority of socialists supported military activities. The party leader tried to prevent a split between people and was very afraid Civil War.
Lenin used all his perseverance and self-organization so as not to relax discipline in the party. Another difference can be considered that the Bolsheviks went to their goals by any means. Therefore, sometimes Lenin could renounce his political or moral views for the good of his party. Similar schemes were often used by him to attract new people, especially among the poor layer of citizens. Sweet words about how their lives would improve after the revolution forced people to join the party.
U modern society Naturally, there is a lot of misunderstanding about who the Bolsheviks are. Some people present them as deceivers who were ready to make any sacrifice to achieve their goals. Someone saw them as heroes who worked hard for the prosperity of the Russian state and the creation better conditions life for ordinary people. In any case, the first thing to remember is the organization that wanted remove everyone ruling persons and put new people in their places.
Under slogans, beautiful brochures and promises that offered ordinary people to completely change the conditions of their lives - their faith in their own strength was so great that they easily received support from citizens.
The Bolsheviks were an organization of communists. In addition, they received part of the funding from German sponsors who benefited from Russia's withdrawal from the war. This significant amount helped the party develop in terms of advertising and PR.
It is worth understanding that in political science it is customary to call some organizations right or left. The left stands for social equality, and the Bolsheviks belonged to them.
Dispute at the Stockholm Congress
In Stockholm in In 1906 there was a congress of the RSDLP, where it was decided by the leaders of the two groups to try to find compromises in their judgments and meet each other halfway. It was clear that the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks had many tempting offers for each side, and everyone benefited from this cooperation. At first it seemed that everything was going well, and soon they even planned to celebrate the mutual rapprochement of the two rival parties. However, one issue that was on the agenda created some differences between the leaders and a debate began. The issue that caused Lenin and Martov to argue concerned the possibility of people joining parties and their contribution to the work of the organization.
- Vladimir Ilyich believed that only full-fledged work and a person’s dedication to work could produce noticeable and significant results, while the Mensheviks rejected this idea.
- Martov was confident that ideas and consciousness alone were enough for a person to be part of the party.
On the surface this question seems simple. Even without reaching agreement, it is unlikely that it can do much harm. However, behind this formulation one could discern the hidden meaning of the opinion of each of the party leaders. Lenin wanted an organization with a clear structure and hierarchy. He insisted on strict discipline and abandonment, which turned the party into something like an army. Martov lowered everything to the simple intelligentsia. After the vote was held, it was decided that Lenin's proposal would be used. In history, this meant the victory of the Bolsheviks.
The Mensheviks gaining political power and initiative
February Revolution made the state weak. While all organizations political parties moved away from the coup, and the Mensheviks were able to quickly find their bearings and direct their energy in the right direction. Thus, after a short period of time, the Mensheviks became the most influential and visible in the state.
It is worth noting that the Bolshevik and Menshevik parties did not take part in this revolution, therefore the uprising was a surprise to them. Of course, both of them assumed such a result in their immediate plans, but when the situation occurred, the leaders showed some confusion and lack of understanding of what to do next. The Mensheviks were able to quickly cope with inaction, and 1917 became the time for them when they were able to register as a separate political force.
And although the Mensheviks experienced their best time Unfortunately, many of Martov's followers decided to go over to Lenin's side. The consignment lost its most prominent figures, finding themselves in the minority before the Bolsheviks.
In October 1917, the Bolsheviks carried out a coup. The Mensheviks extremely condemned such actions, trying in every possible way to achieve their former control over the state, but everything was already useless. The Mensheviks clearly lost. And besides this, some of their organizations and institutions were dissolved by orders new government.
When political situation became more or less calm, the remaining Mensheviks had to join the new government. When the Bolsheviks gained a foothold in control and began to more actively lead the main political places, the persecution and struggle against political migrants of the former anti-Leninist wing began. Since 1919 it has been accepted decision to liquidate all former Mensheviks by shooting.
U modern man It is not for nothing that the word “Bolshevik” is associated with the bright symbolism of the proletariat “Hammer and Sickle”, since at one time they bribed a large number of ordinary people. It is now very difficult to answer the question of who the Bolsheviks are - heroes or swindlers. Everyone has their own point of view, and any opinion, whether supporting the policies of Lenin and the Bolsheviks or opposing the militant policies of communism, can be correct. It is worth remembering that this is all the history of our native state. Whether their actions are wrong or reckless, they still need to be known.