Editing Mensheviks

The '''Mensheviks''' (from Russian меньшиство, "minority") were an [[Opportunism|opportunist]] group within the [[Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]] led by [[Julius Martov]]. 

== History ==
In 1903, at the [[Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party|Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]], they voted to allow members of the [[Petty bourgeoisie|petty-bourgeoisie]] who sympathized with the [[proletariat]] to join the party. Soon after, they took control of ''[[Iskra]]'', a formerly revolutionary socialist newspaper. In the summer of 1904, they gained a majority of seats in the Central Committee of the RSDLP.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Joseph Stalin]]|year=1939|title=History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)|chapter=Formation of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. Appearances of the Bolshevik and the Menshevik Groups within the Party|chapter-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:History_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union#Formation_of_the_Russian_Social-Democratic_Labour_Party._Appearance_of_the_Bolshevik_and_the_Menshevik_groups_within_the_party_(1901%E2%80%941904)|section=|mia=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:History_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union}}</ref>

During the [[Russo-Japanese War]], the Mensheviks, including [[Leon Trotsky|Trotsky]], sided with the tsarist government.<ref>{{Citation|author=Joseph Stalin|year=1939|title=History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)|title-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:History_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union|chapter=The Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks in the Period of the Russo-Japanese War and the First Russian Revolution (1904–1907)|chapter-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:History_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union#The_Mensheviks_and_the_Bolsheviks_in_the_period_of_the_Russo-Japanese_war_and_the_first_Russian_revolution_(1904%E2%80%941907)|quote=The Mensheviks, including Trotsky, were sinking to a position of defending the "fatherland" of the tsar, the landlords and the capitalists. The Bolsheviks, headed by Lenin, on the other hand, held that the defeat of the tsarist government in this predatory war would be useful, as it would weaken tsardom and strengthen the revolution.|mia=}}</ref>

The Mensheviks boycotted the [[Third Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party|Third Congress of the RSLDP]] in 1905 and held their own congress. They also supported the liberal bourgeoisie in the [[Russian revolution of 1905|revolution of 1905]].

During the [[Fourth Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party|Fourth Congress]], the Mensheviks proposed giving land to local governments instead of nationalizing it.

The Mensheviks opposed the [[Russian revolution of 1917|October Revolution]] and considered the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|USSR]] to be [[State capitalism|state capitalist]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation|author=Ludo Martens|year=1996|title=Another View of Stalin|chapter=The struggle against bureaucracy|chapter-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:Another_view_of_Stalin#The_struggle_against_bureaucracy|page=|pdf=|publisher=|isbn=}}</ref>

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:History of Russia]]
[[Category:History of the Soviet Union]]
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	{{Infobox political party\|name=Mensheviks\|native_name=Меньшевики\|founded=July 1903 ([[II Congress of RSDLP]])\|leader=[[Julius Martov]]<br>[[Pavel Axelrod]]<br>[[Alexander Potresov]]<br>[[Fyodor Dan]]<br>[[Irakli Tsereteli]]<br>[[Noe Zhordania]]<br>[[Leon Trotsky]] ([[Bolsheviks\|Bolshevik]] since 1917)<br>[[Alexander Martynov]] (Bolshevik since 1922)\|founder=Julius Martov\|banned=December 1921\|dissolved=1924-1925\|split=[[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party]]\|newspaper=«[[Worker's Deal]]» (1917-1918)<br>«[[Socialist Herald]]» (1921-1965; in emigration)\|political_orientation=[[Menshevism]]<br>[[Reformism]]<br>[[Social Democracy]]<br>[[Democratic Socialism]] (Left Mensheviks)}}

	The '''Mensheviks''' (from Russian меньшиство, "minority") were an [[Opportunism\|opportunist]] group within the [[Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]] led by [[Julius Martov]].		The '''Mensheviks''' (from Russian меньшиство, "minority") were an [[Opportunism\|opportunist]] group within the [[Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]] led by [[Julius Martov]].