Russian Social Democratic Labour Party

The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was a Marxist political party founded in 1898 to organize Russia’s socialist movement. It split into Bolshevik and Menshevik factions in 1903.

Russian Marxism: A socialist movement that adapted Marxist ideas to Russia’s economic and political conditions. The party formed to organize Russian Marxists into a national political movement.
Vladimir Lenin: A Russian revolutionary and Marxist theorist who led the Bolshevik faction and later the Soviet state. Lenin argued for a tightly organized party of professional revolutionaries.
February Revolution: The 1917 Russian uprising that toppled the monarchy and established a provisional government. The revolution opened legal political space in which party factions competed openly.
Socialist Revolutionary Party: A Russian socialist party that drew support chiefly from peasants and advocated land socialization. Its agrarian base and political tradition differed from the party’s Marxist orientation.
Georgi Plekhanov: A Russian Marxist theorist who helped introduce Marxism to Russian revolutionary circles. He helped found the party and shaped its early theoretical direction.
Emancipation of Labour: A Russian Marxist group founded in Geneva in 1883 by Georgi Plekhanov and associates. Its writings and organizers helped prepare the intellectual ground for the party.
Julius Martov: A Russian Marxist revolutionary who led the Menshevik faction after the 1903 party split. Martov favored broader membership rules than Lenin at the party congress.
October Revolution: The Bolshevik seizure of power in Petrograd in October 1917, according to the Julian calendar then used in Russia. The Bolshevik faction, formed within the party, led the seizure of power.
Bund (General Jewish Labour Bund): A Jewish socialist organization founded in the Russian Empire in 1897, advocating workers’ rights and Jewish cultural autonomy. The Bund joined the party’s founding congress but disputed its centralized approach to Jewish workers.
Vera Zasulich: A Russian revolutionary and Marxist writer who helped found the Emancipation of Labour group. Her earlier organizing connected the party’s founders to Russian revolutionary traditions.

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