Bolsheviks

Bolsheviks
Name	Bolsheviks
Native name	Большевики
Colorcode	#FF0000
Foundation	1903
Dissolution	1952
Founder	Vladimir Lenin
Split	Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
Merged	Into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Ideology	Communism, Marxism–Leninism, Revolutionary socialism
International	Comintern
Newspaper	Pravda
Position	Far-left

Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks were a radical, far-left faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) that emerged at its Second Congress in 1903 under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. Following the October Revolution of 1917, they seized state power in Russia, establishing the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later forming the Soviet Union. The faction evolved into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which maintained a single-party dictatorship until the state's dissolution in 1991.

Origins and early history

The split originated during the 1903 RSDLP congress, held initially in Brussels before moving to London, where a dispute over membership criteria between Lenin and Julius Martov created the Bolshevik ("majority") and Menshevik ("minority") factions. Key early supporters included Alexander Bogdanov and Leonid Krasin. The faction consolidated its position at the Third Congress in 1905. During the 1905 Russian Revolution, Bolsheviks participated in events like the Saint Petersburg Soviet and the Moscow Uprising, though their influence was limited. Periods of repression, such as after the June 1907 Russian coup d'état, forced leaders like Lenin into exile in cities like Geneva and Zürich, while others, including Joseph Stalin, were imprisoned in places like Siberia.

Ideology and political theory

Bolshevik ideology, termed Bolshevism, was a revolutionary adaptation of Marxist theory developed primarily by Lenin. Core texts included Lenin's *What Is To Be Done?* and *Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism*, which argued for a vanguard party of professional revolutionaries. This contrasted with the more gradualist approach of the Mensheviks and the agrarian socialism of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. The concept of Democratic centralism dictated internal party discipline. Following the February Revolution, Lenin's April Theses, published in Pravda, called for opposition to the Russian Provisional Government and transfer of power to soviets.

Role in the Russian Revolution

Following the February Revolution and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, Lenin returned to Petrograd with German assistance via the Sealed train. The Bolsheviks initially operated within the Petrograd Soviet, which competed with the Russian Provisional Government under Alexander Kerensky. Following the July Days unrest, Lenin fled to Finland. The party gained majorities in key soviets by autumn, and the Military Revolutionary Committee, led by Leon Trotsky, planned an insurrection. The October Revolution culminated in the storming of the Winter Palace, dissolving the Russian Constituent Assembly after a single session in January 1918. The subsequent Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ended Russia's involvement in World War I.

Leadership and key figures

The central leader was undisputedly Vladimir Lenin, the architect of the party and the revolution. Other pivotal figures included Leon Trotsky, who organized the Red Army during the ensuing Russian Civil War; Joseph Stalin, who served as General Secretary; and Grigory Zinoviev, who headed the Comintern. The inner circle, the Politburo, also included figures like Lev Kamenev and Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Cheka. Early intellectuals such as Nikolai Bukharin and Alexandra Kollontai played significant roles in policy and ideology.

Soviet rule and development

After the revolution, the Bolsheviks faced the Russian Civil War against the White movement and allied intervention forces from nations including the United Kingdom, France, United States, and Japan. The period of War communism was characterized by grain requisitioning and nationalization. Following victory, the New Economic Policy (NEP) introduced limited market reforms. In 1922, the Bolshevik government formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). After Lenin's death in 1924, a power struggle ensued, from which Stalin emerged victorious, leading to the marginalization of Trotsky and the Left Opposition, and the eventual implementation of collectivization and the Five-Year Plans.

Dissolution and legacy

The Bolshevik faction was formally dissolved in 1952 when the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was restructured under Stalin. Its legacy is deeply contested, credited with creating the world's first Socialist state that defeated Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War, but also criticized for establishing a totalitarian system responsible for the Great Purge, the Gulag penal system, and widespread repression. The ideology inspired communist movements globally, from the Chinese Communist Party under Mao Zedong to Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement in Cuba, while its collapse in 1991 with the Dissolution of the Soviet Union marked a defining geopolitical shift.

Category:Political parties established in 1903 Category:Communist parties in Russia Category:Russian Revolution