Politics After the 1905 Revolution

The Split of the Socialist Party – Menshevik and Bolshevik

In the turmoil that followed the 1905 Revolution, socialist groups continued to push for a change in the way the Russia was ruled. These groups fought with the government and themselves in the attempt to define the future of the country. These battles led to a split of the socialist part into two groups called the Menshevik (Russian for minority) and Bolshevik parties (Russian for majority).

Initially, the majority of the socialist supporters belonged to the Menshevik party, but the leadership of the Bolsheviks was able to influence members to join their party. They believed that Russia must go through the various stages of historical evolution as defined by Karl Marx. Each stage must be completed before the country could reach the ideal socialist society that Marx predicted.

A radical group of socialists called the Bolsheviks split off from the Mensheviks. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, who took the nickname Lenin to protect himself from the secret police, led the group. He believed that a different course was necessary to develop the ideal socialist society. He proposed that a small party of “professional revolutionaries” seize power and drive the working classes into the vision proposed by Marx. In other words he did not trust the people to make the right decisions necessary to achieve socialism.

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