RSDLP

The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) was a Marxist political party in the Russian Empire, founded in 1898 to unite the scattered workers and socialist groups into a formal revolutionary movement. It operated underground and in exile for many years, using publications such as Iskra to spread its ideas and coordinate activity among a growing network of local organizations. The party sought to promote socialist transformation through both agitation and organized political action, with the aim of overthrowing autocratic rule and establishing a socialist system.

In 1903, at the Second Party Congress, the RSDLP split into two main factions: the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, and the Mensheviks, led by Julius Martov. The split reflected deep disagreements over party organization and strategy: Bolsheviks advocated a centralized, tightly organized vanguard party of professional revolutionaries, while Mensheviks favored a broader, more inclusive party with a mass membership and gradual growth.

The RSDLP played a central role in the 1905 revolution and continued to influence revolutionary politics through the early 20th century. Following the February and October Revolutions of 1917, the Bolshevik faction led by Lenin seized power and established a new political order. In 1918, the party was renamed the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), marking a shift from the pre-1917 designation. The Bolshevik party later became the core of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) after subsequent reorganizations, while the Menshevik faction persisted as a separate movement for a time but eventually dissolved or diminished in influence.

The RSDLP’s legacy lies in its foundational role in the Russian revolutionary movement and in the development of Marxist-Leninist theory and practice that shaped the early Soviet state.