Bolsheviks

• 1. Ideological Foundations And Leninism

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  Vladimir Lenin wrote What Is to Be Done? in 1901. This pamphlet argued that a revolution requires strong professional leadership rather than loose worker groups. He called existing methods artisanal work and demanded a shift toward organized revolutionary action. The text insisted that without this structure, the workers' fight would drift away from party objectives. Lenin believed only dedicated individuals could maintain influence over the struggle. He envisioned a core group of revolutionaries who would devote their full time to building the party. These members would operate under democratic centralism after overthrowing the autocracy. Most party members viewed unequal treatment as immoral and supported a classless society. Lenin opposed reformers known as Economists who sought economic changes while leaving the government intact.

• 2. The 1903 Party Split And Etymology

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  The Second Party Congress met in Brussels and London during August 1903. Lenin and Julius Martov clashed over membership rules for the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Lenin wanted limits on those supporting the party full-time and working in obedience to elected leaders. Martov proposed extending membership to anyone recognizing the program and providing material support. Their disagreement became irreconcilable by the end of the congress. Lenin's faction won votes on most issues and became known as Bolsheviks from bolshinstvo meaning majority. Martov's group was called Mensheviks from menshinstvo meaning minority. The vote on party membership actually favored Martov initially. Delegates switched sides throughout the proceedings making the split uneven. Personal conflicts like dropping editorial board members fueled the division further. Plekhanov and Lenin argued about nationalizing land versus private ownership rights.

• 3. Demographics And Organizational Structure

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  In 1907 twenty-two percent of Bolshevik members were under twenty years old. Thirty-seven percent fell between ages twenty and twenty-four while sixteen percent ranged from twenty-five to twenty-nine. Industrial workers made up sixty-two percent of the membership compared to three percent of the total population in 1897. Twenty-two percent came from the gentry class which represented only one point seven percent of all people. Uprooted peasants accounted for thirty-eight percent of the ranks. Total membership reached eight thousand four hundred in 1905 and grew to forty-six thousand one hundred by 1907. By 1910 both factions combined had fewer than one hundred thousand members. Seventy-eight percent of Bolsheviks identified as Russian while ten percent were Jewish. The faction recruited heavily from young industrial workers and disaffected peasants to build a professional cadre. They used bank robberies to fund operations with one 1907 heist yielding over two hundred fifty thousand roubles.

• 4. Factional Struggles Within The Movement

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  Tensions existed between Lenin and Alexander Bogdanov starting in 1904. Lenin fell out with Nikolai Valentinov after Valentinov introduced him to Ernst Mach's Empiriocriticism. Bogdanov developed this view as Empiriomonism. In 1909 Lenin published Materialism and Empirio-criticism attacking Bogdanov's philosophical position. He accused Bogdanov of idealism and tried to expel him from the faction. Bogdanov set up Vpered running the Capri Party School from August to December 1909. Recallists demanded subordination to all party decisions while others argued for participation in the Third Duma. Most leaders supported Bogdanov or remained undecided by mid-1908 when differences became irreconcilable. Police infiltration prevented reunification attempts in January 1910. Kamenev resigned from the editorial board amid mutual recriminations in August 1910. The factions permanently broke relations in January 1912 at the Prague Party Conference.

• 5. The October Revolution And Seizure Of Power

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  Lenin returned to Russia after the February Revolution of 1917 and issued his April Theses. These called for no support for the Provisional Government and all power to the soviets. Large numbers of radicalized workers joined during the summer of 1917 including events like the July Days. The Bolsheviks planned the October Revolution that overthrew the government. They initially governed in coalition with Left Socialist-Revolutionaries before centralizing power. Opposition was suppressed during the Russian Civil War which lasted from 1917 to 1922. Elections to the Constituent Assembly took place in November 1917 where Bolsheviks won twenty-three point nine percent of the vote. They dissolved the Assembly in January 1918. Trotsky's plan carried out the insurrection rather than Lenin's own design according to some figures. Joseph Stalin later linked Bolshevism to socialism in one country policies.

• 6. Evolution Into The Communist Party Of The Soviet Union

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  In 1918 the party renamed itself the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) at Lenin's suggestion. This name remained until 1925 when it became All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). From 1925 to 1952 the organization operated under this title. At the 19th Party Congress in 1952 Stalin suggested renaming it the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This final name persisted until 1991. The faction formally established its independent status in 1912 as RSDLP(b). Throughout the twentieth century the party adopted multiple names reflecting structural consolidation. By 1921 it became the sole legal party in Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union. The movement grew from a small radical group into the ruling authority of a global superpower state.