The history of Bolshevism has many vital lessons for today’s revolutionaries – particularly regarding the origins of the revolutionary party that led the masses to victory in Russia. At the second congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903, the famous split between the majority (Bolsheviks) and minority (Mensheviks) took place. Many myths and distortion surround this split. It is often wrongly alleged the Mensheviks stood for a ‘democratic’ and ‘decentralized’ party, in opposition to Lenin’s ‘ultra-centralist’ and ‘authoritarian’ tendencies. In reality, this split on organizational questions was an anticipation of future political differences, which will lead the Mensheviks to betray the revolution.

This talk was given by Fightback editor Alex Grant at the 2023 Montreal Marxist Winter School.