Socialism in Russia


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Socialism in Russia

Socialism in Russia: All political parties were illegal in Russia before 1914.

  • The Russian Social Democratic Workers Party was founded in 1898 by socialists who respected Marx’s ideas. Due to government, policing, it had to operate as an illegal organisation
  • . It started a newspaper, mobilised workers and organised strikes. Some Russian socialists recognised that the Russian peasant custom of dividing land periodically made them natural socialists
  • . Therefore, peasants rather than workers would be the main force of the revolution and Russia could become socialist more quickly than other countries.
  • In the countryside, socialists were active by the late 19th century. The Socialist Revolutionary Party was formed in 1900 by the socialists who struggled for peasants’ rights.
  • They demanded that land belonging to nobles be transferred to peasants.

     Lenin and Socialist Movement: Lenin felt that peasants were not one united group. Some were poor and others were rich. Some worked as labourers while others were capitalists. Due to these ‘differentiation’, i.e. they could not all be a part of socialist movement. The Social Democratic Party was later divided over the strategy of the organisation.

    The party split into two wings the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Vladimir Lenin led the Bolshevik group. He was in the view that in Tsarist Russia the party should be disciplined and control its quality and number of members. On the other hand, Menshevik group viewed that party should be open to all, as in Germany.

     
     


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