Who were/are the Mensheviks?

[Captain Communism]

Ive been reading through the first chapter of the book called the Soviet Achievement and the term Menshevik has come up a lot in the first chapter and I was wondering if someone could explain to me who they were/are?

[Die Neue Zeit]

Two-stage reactionary theorists who were the minority on a key RSDLP vote...

Martov was like Trotsky, but didn't have the courage to recognize the errors of his theories and side with his personal friend Lenin (even though the latter did provide funds to an exiled Martov for his newspaper).

[Devrim]

Two-stage reactionary theorists who were the minority on a key RSDLP vote...
Actually they were the majority of the RSDLP funnily enough. I think the name comes from the amount of something they agreed with, not the size of the organisations.

Devrim

[( R )evolution]

They were a faction of the revolutionary movement in early 20th century Russia. They disagreed with Lenin on that they wanted a large party of activist with a lot of representation, while Lenin wanted a small group of professional revolutionaries with a large support of the people. They also split on different things. I suggest you read for a overview this wikipedia article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensheviks

[Tower of Bebel]

Originally posted by [email protected] 18, 2007 04:20 am

Two-stage reactionary theorists who were the minority on a key RSDLP vote...
Actually they were the majority of the RSDLP funnily enough. I think the name comes from the amount of something they agreed with, not the size of the organisations.

Devrim
Wasn't it the vote at the second party congres in 1903 that made that a majority supported Lenin's view on party organisation, but later on the mensheviks grew bigger than the bolsheviks?

[Spike]

The Mensheviks did not have any meaningful support outside of Sakartvelo.

[Whitten]

Originally posted by [email protected] 18, 2007 03:46 am
Two-stage reactionary theorists who were the minority on a key RSDLP vote...
The didn't become reactionary until post-revolution, under the Czarist regime they should still be considered progressive.

[Vargha Poralli]

Originally posted by Whitten+April 18, 2007 08:12 pm--> (Whitten @ April 18, 2007 08:12 pm)
[email protected] 18, 2007 03:46 am
Two-stage reactionary theorists who were the minority on a key RSDLP vote...
The didn't become reactionary until post-revolution, under the Czarist regime they should still be considered progressive. [/b]
No they did support the people like Kadets who are total reactionary liberals. They saw them as actually progressive. They are reactionaries from the days of Tsar.

[Leo]

Wasn't it the vote at the second party congres in 1903 that made that a majority supported Lenin's view on party organisation, but later on the mensheviks grew bigger than the bolsheviks?

I sort of remember something like that but I am not sure. I think Bolsheviks were supported by some quite famous and respected but very reactionary figures like Plekhanov at the beginning so they might have had the majority at that time, but soon they rid themselves of Plekhanov and similar popular figures and this really put them in the minority position, by far. After all, Bolsheviks were not advocates of a mass party, they favored a smaller party while the Mesnheviks wanted to lead a mass party.

[Amusing Scrotum]

Originally posted by [email protected] 18, 2007 04:20 am
I think the name comes from the amount of something they agreed with, not the size of the organisations.

The name refers to, unless I'm mistaken, the composition of the editorial board Iskra. There, Lenin & co. were in the majority, and Martov & co. were in the minority. Hence the Bolshevik-Menshevik categorisation.

On a side note, there's a degree of historical debate surrounding the exact date when the two factions split. Many see the date as being 1903 or 1912; but there's another school of thought that reckons the date of the real, meaningful split was 1917.

According to that school of thought, that was the point when the two factions became more than just factions -- they became distinct parties.

An interesting article on this (http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/638/lenin.htm).

"...it has now been clear for some time that (a) the Bolshevik-Menshevik split of 1903 did not create two separate parties, but rather two public factions of a single party, and that even the split of 1912 did not do so, two separate parties only emerging in the course of 1917". -- From the article I linked.

[Whitten]

Originally posted by g.ram+April 18, 2007 02:51 pm--> (g.ram @ April 18, 2007 02:51 pm)
Originally posted by [email protected] 18, 2007 08:12 pm

[email protected] 18, 2007 03:46 am
Two-stage reactionary theorists who were the minority on a key RSDLP vote...
The didn't become reactionary until post-revolution, under the Czarist regime they should still be considered progressive.
No they did support the people like Kadets who are total reactionary liberals. They saw them as actually progressive. They are reactionaries from the days of Tsar. [/b]
Liberals are more progressive than fuedalists.

[Vargha Poralli]

Originally posted by Whitten+April 18, 2007 11:27 pm--> (Whitten @ April 18, 2007 11:27 pm)
Originally posted by [email protected] 18, 2007 02:51 pm

Originally posted by [email protected] 18, 2007 08:12 pm

[email protected] 18, 2007 03:46 am
Two-stage reactionary theorists who were the minority on a key RSDLP vote...
The didn't become reactionary until post-revolution, under the Czarist regime they should still be considered progressive.
No they did support the people like Kadets who are total reactionary liberals. They saw them as actually progressive. They are reactionaries from the days of Tsar.
Liberals are more progressive than fuedalists. [/b]
Certainly in case of Czarist Russia there is nothing different between Feudalists and Liberals.


According to that school of thought, that was the point when the two factions became more than just factions -- they became distinct parties.


Well Mensheviks didn't form parties. And the Bolsheviks became Communists.

[Janus]

Past thread on this:
Differences between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks (http://www.revleft.com/index.php?showtopic=37663&hl=Mensheviks)

[Captain Communism]

Thanks guys, that helped a lot, and I would suggest that you should read the book "The Soviet Achievment", its a good bit of history.