Who led the Bolsheviks to what they aspired. Who are the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks in simple words. The strongest propaganda on German funds
At one time, the RSDLP (Russian Social Democratic Labor Party), formed in 1989 at the Minsk Congress, suffered extremely unpleasant and numerous losses. Production perished, the crisis completely engulfed the organization, forcing society in 1903 at the Second Congress in Brussels to split into two opposite 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 abbreviations in the form of a small letter "b" and "m".
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The history of the Bolsheviks is still shrouded in some mysteries and secrets, but even today we have the opportunity to at least partially find out what happened during the collapse of the RSDLP.
What caused the contention?
It is impossible to know the exact cause of the events in history. The official version of the split of the RSDLP there was a disagreement between the two sides about the solution of important organizational issues that were put forward in the fight against the monarchical system of government and foundations. Both Lenin and Martov agreed that internal changes in Russia required a network of worldwide proletarian revolutions, especially in well-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 goal of the two sides was the same, the disagreement lay in the method of obtaining the desired. Julius Osipovich Martov advocated the ideas of European countries, based on legal ways to gain power and rule. While Vladimir Ilyich argued that only active actions and terror could influence the Russian state.
Differences between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks:
- closed organization with strict discipline;
- opposed democratic conditions.
Differences of the Mensheviks:
- guided by the experience of Western governments and supported the democratic foundations of society;
- agrarian reforms.
In the end, Martov won the discussion, calling on everyone to an underground and quiet struggle, which served to split the organization. Lenin called his people Bolsheviks, and Yuli 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 the consideration of something petty and hardly so impressive.
It is unlikely that in those years there were terms like "commercial brand", "marketing" and "advertising". But only the invented ingenious name of the group led to popularity in narrow circles and obtaining the status of a trusted organization. The talent of Vladimir Ilyich, of course, manifested itself in those very moments when, with unpretentious and simple slogans, he was able to offer ordinary people obsolete from the time french revolution ideas of equality and brotherhood.
People were impressed by the big words propagated by the Bolsheviks, the symbols that inspire strength and radicalism - a five-pointed star, a sickle and a hammer with a red 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 split into several groups, there was an urgent need to raise additional funds to support 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 more radical and illegal actions.
If the Mensheviks came to a membership fee to the organization, then the Bolsheviks did not limit themselves only to the contribution of the 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 held a large number of such 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 coup. This means that the composition of the Bolsheviks had to receive a guaranteed salary so that the workers could perform their duties all day long. Compensation in the form of cash incentives supporters of radical views were very fond of, therefore, in a short period of time, the size of the party increased markedly, and the activities of the wing markedly improved its quality.
In addition, there were significant costs printing of brochures and flyers, which the accomplices of the parties tried to distribute throughout the state in various cities at strikes and rallies. This also shows the characteristic difference between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks, since their funding went to completely different needs.
The ideas of the two parties became so dissimilar and even contradictory that the followers of Martov decided not to take part in the party Third 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.
Ideas and principles of the Bolsheviks
It seemed that people with such radical and fundamentally different views from democratic and liberal views could not have principles. The first time one could notice ideological glimpses and human morality in Lenin before the start 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 quite strongly opposed the war and all those who support it, because 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 leader of the party tried to prevent a split between people and was very afraid of the Civil War.
Lenin used all his stubbornness and self-organization so as not to weaken the discipline in the party. Another difference can be considered that the Bolsheviks went to their goals by any means. Therefore, sometimes Lenin could deviate from 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 poorer stratum of citizens. Sweet words about the fact that after the revolution their life will improve, forced people to join the party.
At modern society Naturally, there is a lot of misunderstanding about who the Bolsheviks are. Someone presents them as deceivers who were ready to make any sacrifices in order 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 to remove all the 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 the withdrawal of Russia 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, it was to them that the Bolsheviks belonged.
Dispute at the Stockholm Congress
In Stockholm at 1906 was the congress of the RSDLP, where it was decided by the leaders of the two groups to try to find compromises in their judgments and go towards each other. It was clear that the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks had many tempting offers for each of the parties, and this cooperation was beneficial to everyone. At first it seemed that everything was going well, and soon they were even going to celebrate the mutual rapprochement of the two rival parties. However, one issue that was on the agenda created some disagreement among the leaders, and the debate began. The issue that forced Lenin and Martov to argue was the possibility of people joining the parties and their contribution to the work of the organization.
- Vladimir Ilyich believed that only full-fledged labor and a person's devotion to the cause could produce noticeable and significant results, while the Mensheviks rejected this idea.
- Martov was sure that one idea and consciousness was enough for a person to be a part of the party.
Outwardly, this question seems simple. Even without reaching an agreement, it is unlikely that it can do much harm. However, behind this wording one could see the hidden meaning of the opinion of each of the leaders of the party. Lenin wanted to get an organization with a clear structure and hierarchy. He insisted on strict discipline and outcasting which turned the party into a kind of army. Martov lowered everything to a mere intelligentsia. After the vote was taken, it was decided that Lenin's proposal would be put into effect. In history, this meant the victory of the Bolsheviks.
Gaining political power and initiative by the Mensheviks
The February Revolution made the state weak. While all organizations, political parties were moving away from the coup, the Mensheviks were able to quickly orient themselves 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 happened, the leaders showed some confusion and incomprehension of what to do next. The Mensheviks were able to quickly cope with inaction, and 1917 was the time for them 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 the Leninist side. The consignment lost its most prominent figures, being in the minority before the Bolsheviks.
In October 1917, the Bolsheviks staged a coup. The Mensheviks strongly 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 on the orders of the new government.
When the political situation became more or less calm, the rest of the Mensheviks had to join the new government. When the Bolsheviks gained a foothold in government and began to more actively head 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 execution.
For a modern person, the word "Bolshevik" is not in vain associated with the bright symbols 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 the native state. Whether their actions are wrong or reckless, they still need to be known.
The Bolsheviks are representatives of a political trend (fraction) in the RSDLP (since April 1917 an independent political party), headed by V. I. Lenin (see Art. communist party Soviet Union). The concept of B. arose at the 2nd Congress of the RSDLP (1903) after Lenin's supporters received a majority of votes (hence the Bolsheviks) in elections to the leading bodies of the RSDLP, while their opponents received a minority (Mensheviks). In 1917-52, the word B. was included in the official name of the party - RSDLP (b), RCP (b), VKP (b). The 19th Party Congress (1952) decided to call it the CPSU.
Bolshevism, which arose at the beginning of the 20th century. in Russia, a revolutionary, consistent Marxist current of political thought in the international working-class movement, which was embodied in a proletarian party of a new type, in the Bolshevik Party, created by V. I. Lenin. Bolshevism began to take shape at a time when the center of the world revolutionary movement moved to Russia. The concept of Bolshevism arose in connection with the elections at the Second Congress of the RSDLP (1903) of the leading bodies of the party, when Lenin's supporters were in the majority (Bolsheviks), and the opportunists were in the minority (Mensheviks). “Bolshevism has existed as a current of political thought and as a political party since 1903” (V. I. Lenin, Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 41, p. 6).
The theoretical basis of Bolshevism is Marxism-Leninism. Lenin defined Bolshevism "... as the application of revolutionary Marxism to the special conditions of the era..." (ibid., vol. 21, p. 13). Bolshevism embodies the unity of revolutionary theory and practice, combines the ideological, organizational and tactical principles worked out by Lenin. Bolshevism, summarizing the experience of the revolutionary movement in Russia and throughout the world, was the most important contribution of the Russian working class to the international communist and labor movement.
Bolshevism as a political party is a proletarian party of a new type, fundamentally different from the parties of the Second International that existed during the period of its organization and development. Bolshevism is the party of the social revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat, the party of communism. Bolshevism waged a struggle against liberal populism, which replaced the revolutionary liberation movement with petty-bourgeois reformism, against “legal Marxism”, which tried under the flag of Marxism to subordinate the labor movement to the interests of the bourgeoisie, against “economism”, the first opportunist trend among Marxist circles and groups in Russia. Bolshevism grew and tempered in the struggle against hostile political parties and trends: the Cadets, bourgeois nationalists, Socialist-Revolutionaries, anarchism, Menshevism. The struggle of Bolshevism against Menshevism, the main variety of opportunism in the labor movement in Russia, for a proletarian party of a new type, for the leading role of the working class in the revolutionary battles against autocracy and capitalism, was of the greatest historical significance. Bolshevism has always strictly monitored the purity of its ranks and fought against opportunist currents within the Bolshevik Party - otzovists, "left communists", Trotskyism, the "workers' opposition", the right deviation in the CPSU (b) and other anti-party groups.
A characteristic feature of Bolshevism is consistent proletarian internationalism. From the moment of its inception, Bolshevism waged a resolute principled struggle in the international working-class movement for the purity of Marxist-Leninist theory, for uniting scientific socialism with the working-class movement, against Bernsteinism, with all kinds of opportunists, revisionists, sectarians, dogmatists, the struggle against centrism and social chauvinism II International. At the same time, the Bolsheviks, true to the ideas of proletarian internationalism, tirelessly rallied the left elements of the Western European Social Democratic parties. By directing the Left Social Democrats into the channel of a consistent revolutionary struggle, patiently explaining their mistakes and deviations from Marxism, the Bolsheviks contributed to the consolidation of the revolutionary Marxists. From the time of World War I, on the basis of the rallying of the left elements of the Western European Social Democratic parties by Lenin, Bolshevism led the revolutionary trend in the international labor movement, which took shape after October revolution into communist parties and their association - the Third International (Comintern). As the most consistently implementing the Marxist-Leninist doctrine of the socialist revolution, the dictatorship of the proletariat and the construction of socialism, as well as the organizational, strategic and tactical principles of socialism, Bolshevism was recognized by the Comintern as a model for the activities of all communist parties. At the same time, the 5th Congress of the Comintern (1924) emphasized that this "... in no case should be understood as a mechanical transfer of the entire experience of the Bolshevik Party in Russia to all other parties" ("Communist International in Documents. 1919 -1932", 1933, p. 411). The Congress determined the main features of the Bolshevik Party: in any conditions, it must be able to maintain an inseparable connection with the mass of workers and be the spokesman for their needs and aspirations; be able to maneuver, i.e., its tactics should not be dogmatic, but, resorting to strategic maneuvers in the revolutionary struggle, in no case deviate from Marxist principles; under all circumstances make every effort to bring the victory of the working class closer; “...must be a centralized party, not allowing factions, currents and groupings, but monolithic, poured from one piece” (ibid.). The history of Bolshevism has no equal in its richness of experience. True to its program adopted in 1903, the Bolshevik Party led the struggle of the popular masses of Russia against tsarism and capitalism in three revolutions: the bourgeois-democratic Revolution of 1905-1907, the February bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1917 and the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917 .
Implementing revolutionary theory, strategy and tactics, the Bolshevik Party united the struggle of the working class for socialism, the movement of the whole people for peace, the peasant struggle for land, the national liberation struggle of the oppressed peoples of Russia into one revolutionary stream and directed these forces to overthrow the capitalist system. As a result of the victory of the socialist revolution of 1917, the dictatorship of the proletariat was established in Russia, and for the first time in history a country of socialism arose. The first party program, adopted in 1903, was carried out.
The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) became officially known as the RSDLP (Bolsheviks) - RSDLP (b) from the 7th (April) Party Conference (1917). From March 1918, the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) - RCP (b), from December 1925 the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) - VKP (b). The 19th Party Congress (1952) decided to call the CPSU (b) the Communist Party of the Soviet Union - the CPSU.
The Bolsheviks arose at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (1903), after the supporters of V.I. Lenin received the majority of votes (hence - the Bolsheviks), their opponents - a minority (Mensheviks). In 1917 - 52 the word "Bolsheviks" was included in the official name of the party - the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks), the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). The 19th Party Congress (1952) decided to call it the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Modern Encyclopedia. 2000 .
See what "BOLSHEVIK" is in other dictionaries:
Representatives of a political trend (fraction) in the RSDLP (since April 1917 an independent political party), headed by V. I. Lenin. The concept of the Bolsheviks arose at the 2nd Congress of the RSDLP (1903) after the elections to the leading bodies of the party ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Representatives of a political trend (fraction) in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (since April 1917 an independent political party), headed by V. I. Lenin (see Communist Party of the Soviet Union). The concept of the Bolsheviks ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Representatives of a political trend (fraction) in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (an independent political party since April 1917), headed by V. I. Lenin (Communist Party of the Soviet Union). The concept of the Bolsheviks ... ... Political science. Dictionary.
Bolsheviks- BOLSHEVIK, representatives of a political trend (fraction) in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (since April 1917 an independent political party). The concept of the Bolsheviks arose at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Workers ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
BOLSHEVIKS, representatives of a political trend (fraction) in the RSDLP (since April 1917, an independent political party), headed by V. I. Lenin (see in Art. COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE SOVIET UNION; CPSU). Acceptance of B. arose at the 2nd congress ... ... Russian history
Bolsheviks- (Bolsheviks), members of the faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, headed by Lenin, who in 1903 chose the tactics of rev. struggle. B. rejected an alliance with moderate reformers, called for the overthrow of power by the forces of a small party roar ... The World History
Mn. 1. The political trend (Bolshevism) and the party, which took shape as a powerful historical phenomenon as a result of a sharp ideological struggle and the split of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party at the II Congress of the RSDLP in 1903 into the Bolsheviks (supporters ... ... Modern Dictionary Russian language Efremova
- "BOLSHEVIK", USSR, TsT, 1987, color, 135 min. Teleplay. Based on the play of the same name by Mikhail Shatrov. The action of the play (recorded in 1987) staged by Oleg Efremov and Galina Volchek takes place on August 30, 1918 during a meeting of the Council of People's Commissars in ... ... Cinema Encyclopedia
B. M. Kustodiev Bolshevik. 1920. State Tretyakov Gallery. 1920 I. E. Repin Bolsheviks. 1918. Private collection. 1918 Bolshevik member of the left (revolutionary) wing of the RSDLP after the party split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. Later, the Bolsheviks stood out as a separate ... ... Wikipedia
See Bolshevism and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Books
- Bolsheviks in the State Duma, A. Badaev. Life edition. Issued in 1939 by the State Publishing House of Political Literature. The safety is good. Publisher's binding. This book highlights one of the brightest stages ...
The Bolshevik Party has its roots in a congress in Minsk in March 1898, which was attended by only nine people. The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party was founded at the congress.
Nine delegates represented local organizations in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv and Yekaterinoslav, as well as the "Pan-Jewish Workers' Union in Russia and Poland", known as the Bund. The congress lasted three days - from March 1 to March 3, 1898. The Central Committee was elected at it and a decision was made to publish a party newspaper. Soon the congress was dispersed and the participants were arrested. So, in essence, what remained of this first attempt was only the common name of a number of local committees and organizations that had neither a common center where they could meet, nor any other way to keep in touch with each other. None of the nine delegates to the first congress played a leading role.
Edward Carr claims that this congress was the first concerted attempt to create a Russian Marxist party on Russian soil. Prior to this, the congresses took place abroad. This indicates that Marxism spread rapidly and began to gain strength. It spread due to the growth of industry in the country, the increase in the working class, and the crisis of revolutionary populism turned the Russian public towards Marxism.
In the 1990s, the first Marxist groups emerged in Russia. In 1895, the "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class" was founded in St. Petersburg. Among the members of this organization was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin. He made a huge contribution to the spread of Marxism in the country, strengthened the Bolshevik Party, was the first of the Marxists in Russia to prove the hegemony of the proletariat and the idea of a revolutionary union of the working class and the peasantry, was the "engine of the revolution", so it is worth paying special attention to his biography.
Biography of V.I. Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was born in April 1870 in Simbirsk. In the family of a small employee. In 1887, his brother Alexander Ulyanov was arrested and executed for conspiring to assassinate Alexander III, and a bomb was found on him. Perhaps his older brother influenced the young Lenin and attracted him to the ideas of Marx and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, through the revolution. Many years later, Lenin's younger sister Maria will tell that, having learned about the death of his brother, Lenin allegedly exclaimed: “No, we will not go this way. This is not the way to go." His path was directed to the propaganda of the working class and its education as the driving force of the revolution.
Vladimir Ulyanov studied at Kazan University. There he met radical students who attracted him to join an illegal group. People's Will". This proves that Lenin developed his ideas and was looking for like-minded people. But he was expelled from the university for his revolutionary activities.
Soon he moved to St. Petersburg, where he joined the Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class. For distributing revolutionary leaflets, he was arrested and exiled to Siberia. There he wrote in response to the "Credo" (in the drafted manifesto it was said that the workers should not wage a political struggle, it should be done by the intelligentsia, but concentrate on the economic struggle.), that for the working class the most important task is precisely the political struggle. Lenin argued that the proletariat is the driving force of the revolution.
After being released from exile in 1900, Ulyanov, Potresov and Martov, having collected the necessary funds, went to Geneva in order to begin to cooperate with Plekhanov. A public weekly called Iskra and a respectable theoretical journal Zarya were to be published by an editorial board of six people. It included Plekhanov, Axelrod and Zasulich, who represented the Emancipation of Labor group, as well as Ulyanov, Potresov and Martov. These newspapers were distributed illegally among the Russian proletariat. Thus was created an organ for the propaganda of the masses. Thus, the party had a strong leader and ideologist. Lenin was a practitioner of the Russian revolution, whose revolutionary theory was formed on the basis of an analysis of Russian needs and Russian potentialities.
Having declared its creation at the Minsk congress in 1898, five years later it underwent a crisis, which caused its division into two warring factions. The leader of one of which was V. I. Lenin, and the other - Yu. O. Martov. This happened at the Second Party Congress, which began in Brussels and then continued in London. At the same time, the small letter “b” enclosed in brackets appeared in the abbreviation of its most numerous wing.
Legal activity or terror?
The reason for the contention was the differences in the approach to solving key issues related to the organization of the struggle against the monarchical system that existed in the country. Both Lenin and his opponent agreed that the proletarian revolution should be a worldwide process, the beginning of which will be laid in the most economically developed countries, and after that it can continue in other states, including Russia.
The disagreement lay in the fact that each of them had a different idea of the methods of political struggle aimed at preparing Russia for participation in the world revolution. Martov's supporters advocated exclusively legal forms political activity while the Leninists were supporters of terror.
political marketing genius
As a result of the vote, the adherents of the underground struggle won, and this was the reason for the division of the party. It was then that Lenin called his supporters Bolsheviks, and Martov agreed to call his followers Mensheviks. This, of course, was his fundamental mistake. Over the years, the idea of the Bolshevik Party has become stronger in the minds of the masses, as something powerful and large, while the Mensheviks are something petty and very doubtful.
In those years, the modern term “commercial brand” did not yet exist, but it was precisely this that turned out to be the name of the group, brilliantly invented by Lenin, which later became the market leader of the warring parties in Russia. His talent as a political marketer was also expressed in the fact that, using simple and intelligible slogans, he managed to “sell” to the broad masses of the ideas of equality and fraternity that had been stale since the French Revolution. Undoubtedly, the extremely expressive symbols invented by him - a five-pointed star, a sickle and a hammer, as well as the red corporate color that united everyone were also a successful find.
Political struggle against the backdrop of the events of 1905
As a result of different approaches to the methods of political activity, the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks were so divided that the followers of Martov refused to participate in the next party Third Congress of the RSDLP, held in 1905 in London. Nevertheless, many of them became active participants in the First Russian Revolution.
Known, for example, their role in the events unfolding on the battleship Potemkin. However, after the suppression of the riots, the leader of the Mensheviks, Martov, got a reason to speak out about the armed struggle as an empty and hopeless affair. In this opinion, he was supported by another of the founders of the RSDLP - G. V. Plekhanov.
During Russo-Japanese War the Bolsheviks made every effort to undermine the military potential of Russia and, as a result, its defeat. In this they saw the way to create conditions most favorable for the subsequent revolution. In contrast to them, the Menshevik Party, although it condemned the war, categorically rejected the idea that freedom in the country could be the result of foreign intervention, especially from such an economically underdeveloped state as Japan at that time.
Debate at the Stockholm Congress
In 1906, another congress of the RSDLP was held in Stockholm, at which the leaders of both opposing party groups, recognizing the need for joint action, tried to determine the path to mutual rapprochement. In general, they succeeded, but nevertheless, no agreement was reached on one of the most important issues on the agenda.
It turned out to be a wording that determined the possibility of belonging to the party of its members. Lenin insisted on the specific participation of each party member in the work of one or another primary organization. The Mensheviks did not consider this necessary, it was sufficient only to promote the common cause.
Behind the external and seemingly insignificant discrepancy in the wording, a deep meaning was hidden. If the Leninist concept involved the creation of a combat structure that had a strict hierarchy, then the Menshevik leader reduced everything to an ordinary intelligentsia talking shop. As a result of the vote, the Leninist version was included in the party charter, which was another victory for the Bolsheviks.
Are robberies acceptable in the name of a brighter future?
Formally, after the Stockholm Congress, the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks came to an agreement, but nevertheless, hidden contradictions continued to exist. One of them was the way to replenish the party fund. This issue was of particular relevance due to the fact that the defeat of the armed uprising of 1905 forced many party members to emigrate abroad and money was urgently needed for their maintenance.
The Bolsheviks in this regard stepped up their notorious expropriations of values, which were, simply put, robberies that brought them the necessary funds. The Mensheviks considered this unacceptable and condemned it, but nevertheless they took the money very willingly.
L. D. Trotsky, who published the newspaper Pravda in Vienna and published frankly anti-Leninist articles in it, added a considerable amount of fuel to the fire of discord. Such publications, which regularly appeared on the pages of the main printed organ of the pariah, only aggravated the mutual hostility, which was especially evident during the conference in August 1912.
Another aggravation of contradictions
With the outbreak of World War I, the joint party of Bolsheviks and Mensheviks entered a period of even sharper internal contradictions. The programs exhibited by its two wings were radically different from each other.
If the Leninists were ready to seek the overthrow of the monarchy at the cost of defeat in the war and the accompanying national tragedy, then the leader of the Mensheviks, Martov, although he condemned the war, considered it the duty of the army to defend the sovereignty of Russia to the end.
His supporters also advocated a cessation of hostilities and a mutual withdrawal of troops "without annexations and indemnities." The situation that developed after that, in their opinion, could be favorable for the start of a world revolution.
In a colorful kaleidoscope political life In those years, representatives of various parties defended their points of view. The Cadets, Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, as well as representatives of other trends, succeeded each other in the stands of spontaneous rallies, trying to win over the masses to their side. Sometimes it was possible to do it first one, then the other.
The political creed of the Mensheviks
The main provisions of the policy of the Mensheviks boiled down to the following theses:
a) since the necessary prerequisites have not been formed in the country, the seizure of power at this stage is useless, only oppositional struggle is expedient;
b) the victory of the proletarian revolution in Russia is possible only in the distant future, after its implementation in the countries Western Europe and USA;
c) in the struggle against the autocracy, it is necessary to rely on the support of the liberal bourgeoisie, since its role in this process is extremely important;
d) since the peasantry in Russia is a class, although numerous, but backward in its development, it cannot be relied upon, and can only be used as an auxiliary force;
e) the main driving force of the revolution must be the proletariat;
f) the struggle can be waged only by legal means, with the complete rejection of terrorism.
Mensheviks who became an independent political force
It must be admitted that neither the Bolsheviks nor the Mensheviks took part in the process of overthrowing the tsarist regime, and bourgeois revolution took them by surprise, as they say. Despite the fact that it was the result of the political struggle, which they considered as a minimum program, both at first showed obvious confusion. The Mensheviks were the first to overcome it. As a result, 1917 became the stage at which they took shape as an independent political force.
Loss of political initiative by the Mensheviks
Despite a temporary rise, on the eve of the October Revolution, the Menshevik Party lost many of its prominent representatives who left its ranks due to the blurring of the program and the extreme indecision of the leadership. The process of political migration reached a particular intensity by the autumn of 1917, when such authoritative Mensheviks as Yu. Larin, L. Trotsky and G. Plekhanov joined the Leninist wing of the RSDLP.
In October 1917, supporters of the Leninist wing of the party carried out a coup d'état. The Mensheviks described this as a usurpation of power and sharply condemned it, but they could no longer influence the course of events. They were clearly among the losers. To top it off, the Bolsheviks dispersed the Constituent Assembly they supported. When the events that took place in the country resulted in civil war, then the right Mensheviks, led by F. N. Potresov, V. N. Rozanov and V. O. Levitsky, joined the enemies of the new government.
Former allies turned enemies
After the strengthening of the Bolshevik positions, achieved in the course of the struggle against the White Guard movement and foreign intervention, mass repressions began against persons who had previously joined the anti-Leninist Menshevik wing of the RSDLP. Beginning in 1919, so-called purges were carried out in many cities of the country, as a result of which former members of the same party, classified as a hostile element, were isolated, and in some cases were shot.
Many former Mensheviks had, as in tsarist times, to seek refuge abroad. Those who were able to adapt to the new conditions and even take prominent positions in the structures of the new government were constantly under the threat of reprisals for the political mistakes of past years.
