The Bolshevik-Menshevik Split

In July 1903, fifty-seven delegates to the Second Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) assembled in a flea-ridden flour warehouse in Brussels. Plekhanov, the respected veteran Russian Marxist, was elected chairman, but the delegates felt uneasy in Belgium and moved to London, where the authorities could be relied on to ignore them. The meetings were extremely argumentative, with endless hair-splitting as every tiny point was dissected and analyzed. It became clear that the party was split between two groups, the Bolsheviks (‘majority’) and the Mensheviks (‘minority’). The Bolsheviks claimed the name after getting their way in a dispute over control of the editorial board of the Party newspaper, Iskra (‘the Spark’ – which was to ‘start a big blaze’). The Mensheviks unwisely accepted the title of minority group, though they were actually more often in the majority. Both groups were enthusiastic for the destruction of capitalism and the overthrow of the Tsarist regime, but the Mensheviks, led by Martov, favored a large, loosely organized democratic party whose members could agree to differ on many points. They were prepared to work with the different political parties in Russia and they had scruples about the use of violence. The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, were hardline revolutionaries who would not have known a scruple if they stumbled over it. Lenin had no time for democracy and no confidence in the masses. He wanted a small, tightly organized, strictly disciplined party of full-time members who did what they were told and followed the party line in every particular detail. In his notes at the time, Lenin called his group ‘hards’ and his opponents ‘softs’. When a delegate complained that uncomradely attitudes were spoiling the congress, Lenin sharply replied that, on the contrary, he relished a good open fight instead of endless inconclusive talk. His attitude was attacked as elitist and tyrannical. Trotsky, now and for years to come a Menshevik, reportedly told Lenin at one point, ‘That’s dictatorship you’re advocating,’ to which Lenin replied, ‘There is no other way.’ The congress decided to set up a central committee, which would oversee a new party council and a new editorial board of Iskra. Lenin was determined to gain complete control of this propaganda tool, and succeeded in getting three Mensheviks thrown off Iskra's controlling board. At this, Martov angrily withdrew from any further involvement with the paper. And with the congress ending in August, Lenin was left in command. Lenin’s triumph soon turned to humiliation. At a party conference in October, Martov launched a devastating personal attack on Lenin. The meeting had a built-in Menshevik majority and Lenin, who had tried unsuccessfully to pack it, stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. In November, he announced his resignation from the editorial board and the party council. Iskra was henceforth a Menshevik organ. The split was now irrevocable. All attempts to mend it broke on Lenin’s inflexible hatred of the Mensheviks, and he concentrated on creating an efficient machine for his obedient followers, with fateful consequences.