The Bolshevik Party

Who were the Bolsheviks?

The Bolsheviks were founded by Vladimir Lenin and Alexander Bogdanov when the Social Democratic Party split into two: the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Bolshevik means 'majority' and Menshevik means 'minority'.

When was the Bolshevik party formed?

The Bolsheviks were formed in Brussels, Belgium, in 1903.

How many members did the Bolshevik party have?

At the beginning of 1917, they had just 23,000 members.

What did the Bolshevik party believe in?

The Bolsheviks had 5 main beliefs:

• ❖ In creating a communist society in which all private ownership of property, land and businesses would be abolished to benefit the workers.
• ❖ The party should be run by a small dedicated group of revolutionaries who would lead the communist revolution.
• ❖ Russia was not ready for a communist revolution according to Marx's theory because it was not yet fully industrialised and the peasants and workers were not ready.
• ❖ The Bolsheviks would create a 'Dictatorship of the Proletariat' and rule on the workers' behalf.
• ❖ They refused to work with other political parties.

How were the beliefs of the Bolshevik party different to those of the Mensheviks?

There were 3 main differences between the Mensheviks' beliefs and those of the Bolsheviks:

• ❖ The Mensheviks were willing to work with other left-wing parties to bring about democracy, but the Bolsheviks were not.
• ❖ The Bolsheviks believed in forcing a revolution, whereas the Mensheviks believed in a more democratic approach to gaining power.
• ❖ The Mensheviks believed a liberal capitalist society would be a stepping stone to communism, whereas the Bolsheviks believed a small group leading a revolution by force was the way to achieve it.