Originally a small faction within the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, Bolshevism took more of a stronghold during the Second Party Congress in 1903. Formed by Vladimir Lenin and Alexander Bogdanov in the 1890s in Belarus to combat Czarist ideals, they soon won a majority of votes in Russia due to the rising frustrations with the czarist regime at the time. Their ideals were based firmly in the beliefs of labour unification, land redistribution, and centralized democracy. During the Second Party Congress in 1903 held in Brussels and London, there was a crucial split within the Party.

Lenin, generally viewed as strong-headed and unwilling to compromise, wanted members who were very active in the Party and was willing to restrict membership significantly if they did not support it both materially and with their time commitment. He wanted members to overthrow czarist authority and create a workers revolution. The other party idealist, Julius Martov, insisted on a party that had the general support of a wide range of people, in which the party could help motivate individuals to accomplish a certain goal, as opposed to the other way around. Lenin also believed in hard and fast centralized authority and collectivization of land, while Martov and Trotsky believed in maintaining private ownership of land as a way to increase labor organization and motivation. The division of these two groups was hardened even further when they held separate meetings in London for the 3rd Party Congress. Lenin’s supporters, known as “hard” Communists then kept the label as Bolsheviks while Martov and Trotsky’s “soft” supporters were known as Mensheviks. The Communist Bolsheviks ultimately won over in the 1917 Revolution in Russia.

The root of the Bolshevik and Menshevik split can be tied, in fact, to Germany. Lenin served a sentence of exile in Germany. While there, Lenin wrote a book titled “What Is To Be Done?” that advocated for the strong leadership of one person over the masses. Lenin firmly believed that this revolutionary individual must keep control over workers while also releasing power. His book revealed further that he was not a firm and complete supporter of Marxism in its entirety but rather select elements of Marx’s beliefs. Unlike Marx, Lenin felt that there should still be a separation and distinction between the workers and those in politics. This differed significantly from Marx’s advocacy for a classless society in which the Bourgeoisie is eliminated through revolutionary means. While this book was banned in Russia prior to 1917 after its publication in 1902, it was not banned in Germany, thus creating the ideals and seeds for Bolshevism to grow in Germany.