1920 Meeting of the Bolsheviks during a Presidium of the 9th Congress of the Russian Communist Party
At the party congress in 1903, members disagreed with each other. The party divided into two groups, the Bolsheviks and theMensheviks. They were called Bolsheviks because it means "those who are more." Vladimir IlyichLenin was the leader of the Bolshevik group. The more moderate group, the Mensheviks (meaning "those of the minority") were led byJulius Martov. Although the Bolsheviks were called "those who are more", before 1917 there were more Mensheviks. Many of Lenin's opponents were afraid that he liked to control things too much.
In 1905 the Bolshevik group became a separate political party, theRSDLP(B) the 'b' in brackets standing for 'Bolshevik'.
After theFebruary Revolution, some of the Mensheviks took positions in theRussian Provisional Government. Lenin said socialists must oppose the Provisional Government. The government began to weaken and Lenin started to have more authority. Because of this, many Mensheviks joined the Bolsheviks.
The Bolsheviks led theOctober Revolution in Russia in 1917. They said they created the world's firstWorkers' State. The Mensheviks opposed the government led by the Bolsheviks. Many ended up in prison or were killed. After that, they opposed the Bolsheviks from outside Russia, in exile.
.jpg)