Bolshevik

A Bolshevik ("??????????", derived from a Russian word loosely translated as "majority") was a member of a faction of Bolsheviks of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP), a Marxist political party. Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin seized power in Russia in 1917, a world-historical event known as the October Revolution.

February Revolution

The February 1917 revolution came about when Tsar Nicholas II attempted to dissolve the Duma only to have the body reject the action and declare a provisional government. The Tsar abdicated leaving the provisional government in control.

Related Topics:
February 1917 revolution - Tsar Nicholas II

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While the Mensheviks and other moderate socialists believed that an industrially backwards country such as Russia could not hope to achieve socialism and that the task of the revolution was therefore to complete the country's transformation to liberal capitalism, the Bolsheviks believed that Russia could be the spark that would lead Europe to a socialist transformation of society and did not attempt to moderate their program.

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Lenin and other exiled Bolsheviks returned from exile. The Petrograd Bolshevik Party had been under the control of Stalin who supported the provisional government. Lenin opposed this line in his April Theses and the Bolsheviks became opponents of the government with slogans of All Power to Soviets and Bread, Peace and Land which attempted to appeal to the urban working class, soldiers, and to Russia's huge peasant population. Some radical Mensheviks, such as Trotsky joined the Bolsheviks at this point. Stalin changed his position and decided to support Lenin's line.

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