Parties that set the task of liberating the proletariat from exploitation by parasitic classes have traditionally been called social democratic since the end of the 19th century. Moreover, the ideological basis of these organizations was Marxism of the most revolutionary kind. The decoding of "RSDLP" includes the Socialist-Democratic formula, but during its early development, the platform of the party was much more diverse than traditional Marxism. It allowed maneuvering in a wide range, from legal and legitimate forms of struggle to terrorism. This was both disadvantages and advantages of the young party of Russian Social Democrats.
Creation of RSDRP
At the end of 1895, the "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class" was created, which is an association of Marxist circles in order to coordinate their work. Only three years later, on the basis of this organization, it was possible to develop a single party program and declare the emergence of a single party. The founders of the RSDLP were nine delegates of the "Union of Struggle" from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv and representatives of the Bund (Jewish workers' union). Happenedthis event at the beginning of March 1898 in the city of Minsk.
Then the name appeared. Deciphering "RSDLP", five letters, unequivocally spoke about the revolutionary essence of the organization, social democracy in the slang of the then politicians was synonymous with radical Marxism.
"Iskra" and the first cracks of the split
Another two years passed, and the party moved from declarations to actions. At the end of 1900, the first edition of the Iskra newspaper was published, edited by Lenin (Ulyanov V. I.), assisted by Plekhanov, Martov, Zasulich, Axelrod and Potresov. In the course of the work of this printed organ, serious contradictions were revealed in the approach to the methods of the coming class struggle. The essence of the conflict was in relation to the legal struggle and the compromises that had to be made in its process, as well as to discipline. The comrades argued, sometimes to the point of hoarseness, it was not possible to come to a common denominator, a split was brewing, and Vladimir Ulyanov, then still a rather young (thirty-year-old) man with a thin beard and burning eyes, was the initiator of it. He insisted on a quick, revolutionary overthrow of the foundations of the "old world", and old Plekhanov, the patriarch of Russian Marxism, objected to him intelligently.
Split and emergence of Bolshevism
The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party existed for seven years, bearing in itself a kind of two-pronged beginning, Plekhanov-Lenin. But nothing lasts forever. Conversations and discussions only deepened the contradictions, making them antagonistic, and at the Second Congress the question was posed point-blank: who will make the revolution,representatives of the bourgeoisie or the proletariat? Who will become the hegemonic class after her?
Lenin and his supporters voted for the dictatorship of the working class, and won with a majority. As a result, the party was organizationally divided, a split occurred, the decoding of the RSDLP remained the same, but depending on belonging to one of the two factions, the abbreviation was supplemented with the letter “b” or “m” in parentheses. Those who voted for proletarian hegemony at the Second Congress became Bolsheviks, while Plekhanov's supporters, on the contrary, became Mensheviks.
The minimum program and the maximum program are two components of Russian Marxism
These organizational issues did not prevent the adoption of a common program consisting of two parts (minimum and maximum). The least that the Russian social democrats agreed to was the destruction of the monarchist-landowner way of life, the bourgeois revolution, the distribution of land to the peasants (free of charge) and the provision of an eight-hour working day to the workers. And in the future, much larger transformations loomed, during which the proletarian was supposed to become a dictator. This is already the maximum that the Bolsheviks counted on. Further progress in social thought was not part of their plans.
Seventh Congress – Rubicon
The third, fourth and fifth congresses of the RSDLP completed the split between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. The Bolsheviks completely expelled the Mensheviks from the party leadership by 1907. At this point, they constituted a disciplined, cohesive and very active detachment,having, among other things, a military wing, capable of conducting underground work and owning propaganda tools. The Mensheviks could not boast of such assets, for which they later paid the price.
Social Democracy and war
The RSDLP party experienced another internal conflict at the beginning of the World War. This time, the conditional "front line" was more complicated, it divided the Bolsheviks into three main groups: internationalists, pacifists and patriots. In order to advocate the defeat of your homeland, and in fact, to become its traitor, you need to have special personal qualities, not everyone can do it. Here Plekhanov failed to cross the line. Lenin did it.
The Social Democratic Labor Party at that time could be called Russian only on a territorial basis. The Bolshevik agitators made great efforts to convince the soldiers that they should not fight for their homeland, but should fraternize with the enemy by killing their commanders. Only the mildness shown by the "bloody tsarist regime" in relation to the captured traitors is surprising. In essence, Lenin and his accomplices were of little interest to the fate of the country, they raved about the world revolution, which seemed to be close, but in fact it never came.
Why the RCP(B) became the CPSU(b)
After seizing power in 1917, the Bolsheviks had serious disagreements with the social democratic movement, whose representatives in many countries adhered to less radical views, showing “shakyness”. Positions of the German, French andother European Social Democrats expressed their desire to use legal mechanisms, in extreme cases, combining them with underground work, and achieve victory by promoting their representatives to government through elections. This path did not suit the Leninists, they understood that if the people were given the opportunity to freely express their will, they would hardly have come to power, which is why they carried out a coup, overthrowing the Provisional Government (the very fact of its dispersal is absurd, because it was created for a while before the elections).
The decoding of the RSDLP ceased to express the essence of the party, and in order not to be confused with other public associations, in 1918 it was renamed into the VKP (All-Union Communist Party) with an indispensable letter (b) at the end, so that doubts would not torment anyone. The first letter of the abbreviation until 1925 meant "all-Russian", and after the formation of the USSR, the party became all-Union. It remained so until 1952, which marked the onset of mature Stalinist socialism. This year, another 19th congress was held, at which the CPSU (b) was renamed the CPSU, already without any small letters in brackets. It was the last name of Lenin's party.
