Russian Social Democratic Labour Party

Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
Name	Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
Native name	Российская социал-демократическая рабочая партия
Colorcode	#FF0000
Foundation	13 March 1898
Dissolution	March 1918
Split	Emancipation of Labour
Merger	League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class
Successor	Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
Ideology	Socialism, Marxism
Position	Far-left
International	Second International
Newspaper	Iskra
Colors	Red

Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was the primary Marxist political party in the Russian Empire, founded to unite various revolutionary groups under a socialist program. Its internal division between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks fundamentally shaped the course of the Russian Revolution of 1905 and the October Revolution. The party ultimately splintered, with the Bolshevik faction seizing power and reconstituting itself as the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), leading to the creation of the Soviet Union.

History

The party was officially founded at its First Congress in Minsk in 1898, though most founding members were arrested immediately by the Okhrana. The effective formation occurred at the Second Congress in 1903, held in Brussels and London, where the pivotal split between Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks and Julius Martov's Mensheviks emerged. During the Russian Revolution of 1905, the party played a significant role in events like the Saint Petersburg Soviet, though it remained largely underground due to repression by the Tsarist autocracy. The outbreak of World War I further fractured the party, with most Bolsheviks opposing the war while many Mensheviks supported the Russian Provisional Government after the February Revolution.

Ideology and program

The party's ideology was rooted in the Marxism of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, as interpreted through the work of early Russian Marxists like Georgi Plekhanov. Its program, finalized at the Second Congress, aimed for the overthrow of the Tsarist autocracy and the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat. Key theoretical disputes centered on the role of the party: Lenin's concept of a vanguard party of professional revolutionaries, outlined in What Is To Be Done?, contrasted with the Mensheviks' vision of a broader, more democratic workers' organization. The party platform also addressed the agrarian question, advocating for the nationalization of land.

Organizational structure and factions

The party's central governing body was the Central Committee, supported by the newspaper Iskra as a unifying organ. The major, enduring factions were the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks, whose split originated over membership rules and party discipline. Other significant groups included the Jewish Bund, which initially was autonomous, and later factions like the Menshevik-Internationalists led by Julius Martov and the Bolshevik Centralists. The Prague Conference in 1912 saw the Bolsheviks formally expel the Mensheviks, creating separate central committees.

Key figures

Prominent leaders included Vladimir Lenin, the ideological leader of the Bolsheviks, and Julius Martov, the leading theoretician of the Mensheviks. Other major figures were Georgi Plekhanov, a founding theorist often aligned with the Mensheviks; Leon Trotsky, who initially worked with the Mensheviks before leading the Petrograd Soviet; and Joseph Stalin, a key Bolshevik organizer. Influential women in the party included Nadezhda Krupskaya and Alexandra Kollontai. Notable Menshevik leaders also included Pavel Axelrod and Irakli Tsereteli.

Congresses and conferences

The foundational First Congress in 1898 was swiftly suppressed. The decisive Second Congress (1903) formalized the Bolshevik-Menshevik split. The Third Congress (1905) was a Bolshevik-only meeting in London, while the Mensheviks held a separate conference in Geneva. The Fourth (Unification) Congress (1906) in Stockholm failed to heal the rift. The Fifth Congress (1907) in London was the last joint gathering. The Bolsheviks held their pivotal Prague Conference in 1912, effectively making the split permanent.

Legacy and impact

The party's most direct legacy was the October Revolution of 1917, where the Bolshevik faction seized power, leading to the Russian Civil War and the formation of the Soviet Union. The Bolshevik wing became the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), which later became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, governing the USSR until 1991. Internationally, the party's split influenced the global communist movement, contributing to the formation of the Comintern. The ideological conflict between Bolshevik centralism and Menshevik democratic socialism continued to echo in debates within socialist and Marxist movements worldwide.

Category:Political parties in the Russian Empire Category:Communist parties in Russia Category:Defunct communist parties Category:1898 establishments in the Russian Empire Category:1918 disestablishments in Russia