Russian Social Democratic Workers Party
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Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
Росси́йская социа́л-демократи́ческая рабо́чая па́ртия |
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| General Secretary (Bolshevik) | Vladimir Lenin |
| General Secretary (Menshevik) | Julius Martov |
| Founded | 1 March 1898 |
| Dissolved | 1918 |
| Preceded by | Emancipation of Labour |
| Succeeded by | Communist Party of Soviet Union |
| Headquarters | Petrograd |
| Newspaper | Iskra |
| Ideology | Socialism Marxism Internal factions: • Bolsheviks • Mensheviks |
| Political position | Far-left |
| International affiliation | Second International (1889–1912) |
| Colours | Red |
| Party flag | |
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The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Russian: Росси́йская социа́л-демократи́ческая рабо́чая па́ртия, РСДРП, Rossiyskaya sotsial-demokraticheskaya rabochaya partiya, RSDRP), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or the Russian Social Democratic Party, was a revolutionary socialist political party formed in 1898 in Minsk to unite the various revolutionary organizations of the Russian Empire into one party. The RSDLP later split into Majority and Minority factions, with the Majority (in Russian: "Bolshevik") faction eventually becoming the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Interdistrictites were also formed from this party.
The RSDLP was not the first Russian Marxist group; the Emancipation of Labour group was formed in 1883. The RSDLP was created to oppose narodnichestvo, revolutionary populism, which was later represented by the Socialist-Revolutionary Party (SRs). The RSDLP program was based on the theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels - that, despite Russia's agrarian nature, the true revolutionary potential lay with the industrial working class. The RSDLP was illegal for most of its existence; at the end of the first party congress in March 1898, all nine delegates were arrested by the Imperial Russian Police. At this time there were 3 million Russian industrial workers, just 3% of the population.
Before the Second Congress, a young intellectual named Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov joined the party, better known by his pseudonym—Vladimir Lenin. In 1902 he had published What is to be Done?, outlining his view of the party's task and methodology—to form "the vanguard of the proletariat." He advocated a disciplined, centralized party of committed activists who sought to fuse the underground struggle for political freedom with the class struggle of the proletariat.
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