Question

Differentiate between the policies of menshiviks and bolsheviks.(write 5 points).

Answer 1

During the early 1900s, the Social-Democrat Worker's Party was created in tsarist Russia. This would escalate into the Russian Revolution of 1917. Within the party, there was a spilt and two factions emerged: the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. The word Menshevik comes from the word "minority" (in Russian of course), and Bolshevik from "majority". Bolsheviks believed in a radical —and elitist— revolution, whereas Mensheviks supported a more progressive change in collaboration with the middle class and the bourgeoisie. The central figures were Julius Martov, at the head of the Mensheviks, who opposed Vladimir Lenin, leader of the bolcheviks. The Bolcheviks did not truly have the majority, yet it was their vision that prevaded for the upcoming decades.