What was the former name of the Russian communists?

Answer 1

Communists have lots of nicknames, many of them unflattering. Here's a few more common ones:

1. "Reds" - red is the color of Socialism; Communism is considered a branch of Socialism, so Communists use red as their color too.
2. "Pinko" - related to #1 above, pink is seen as an effeminate, weaker version of red. "Pinko" is meant to be an insult; it has evolved into a term referring to anyone who is leftist, even if they're not Communist or Socialist.
3. "Bolshevik" - in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, which was the primary Communist party of Russia, split into two main groups- the Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin, and the Mensheviks led by Julius Martov. The Bolsheviks eventually took control of the RSDLP and then Russia, reforming it as the Soviet Union in the early 1920s. So their name used to be used as a synonym for Communists; this has become less common since the end of World War II.
4. "Bolshie" - a shortened version of Bolshevik, used to be pretty commonly used in Britain.
5. "Commie" - just a short version of Communist
6. "Socialist" - back in the days of the RSDLP, the terms Socialism and Communism were fairly interchangeable. Only after the Bolshevik takeover of Russia did the terms become more separated, as other forms of Socialism took root in opposition to Communism. So it is still fairly common to see Socialist and Communist used interchangeably.
7. "Trotskyite", "Maoist", "Marxist" - Leon Trotsky, Mao Zedong, and Karl Marx were influential leaders during the development of Communism, and have branches of Communism named after them. So their followers tend to use those terms, and others will use them as a synonym for Communism in general.

Answer 2

At the time of the communist revolution in 1917, the Russian communists were known as Bolsheviks.

Answer 3

Bolsheviks or reds

Answer 4

bolsheviks