It comes from the Russian word for minority. There were two factions in the Russian Social Democratic (Marxist) Party at its Party Congress in Brussels in 1903. One was more moderate, while the other, led by Lenin, was more radical. The moderate group was in the majority, however many of that faction walked out of the Congress because of Lenin's actions. This left Lenin's group with a temporary technical majority, or in Russian, bolshinstvo, in the Congress. Lenin declared his group the Bolsheviks (majorityites) even though strictly speaking they had a minority of the members of the Party. The other group came to be known as the Mensheviks (minorityites) even though they, strictly speaking, had the majority of members in the Party.
Bolsheviki The Bolsheviks were actually a minority faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. The majority faction was the Mensheviks. At a RSDLP congress in Brussels in 1903, Lenin put up for a vote a measure on how stringent the leadership of the RSDLP should be. Several members of the RSDLP walked out in protest, giving Lenin a one vote majority for that one vote. Lenin promptly called his party the Bolsheviks, meaning majorityites even though in terms of number they were a distinct minority. For some reason, the majority faction became known as the Mensheviks, meaning minoritites even though their numbers exceeded that of the Bolsheviks.
In 1903 the Russian Social Democratic Party held its Second Congress. At this time, Trotsky had become a noticeable figure in revolutionary politics. He would not, however, align himself with either the Mensheviks or the Bolsheviks. The former party was run by Martov and the latter party was headed by Lenin.
They completely disagreed on how the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party was to be formed. Julius Martov, then in charge of the party, wanted it to be as large as possible with relatively few restrictions. This would be more in keeping with Karl Marx's idea of a large but united proletarian revolution. Lenin felt the party should be a tightly knit small organization of professional revolutionaries. He felt this was the way to keep Tsarist spies out of the organization. At the Party Congress in Brussels, Belgium, the dispute over this issue became very heated and Lenin formed his own faction called the Bolsheviks. They did not split completely in 1903, but the Bolsheviks did hold their own meetings while at the same time participating in the RSDLP. A few years later, the Bolsheviks formally severed ties and became their own party.
After the Second Congress of the Social Democratic Party, Trotsky was turned off by the violence he saw in Lenin's Bolshevik Party. They were too much like the Jacobin policies of the French Revolution. Trotksky instead preferred the socialism of the Mensheviks. In fact, Trotsky authored pamphlets attacking Lenin and his Bolsheviks.
The Bolshevik Party had its birth in 1903 at the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) Congress in Brussels, Belgium. Lenin and his followers disagreed with others in the RSDLP on how membership in the party should be determined. His faction was in the minority but when certain voting members in the Party Congress walked out in protest, Lenin had a temporary one vote majority. He named his faction the Bolsheviks ,meaning majorityites. The Bolsheviks remaining part of the RSDLP until they formally broke away from it several years later.
At the 1903 Congress of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Party in Brussels votes were being taken on various issues. Lenin's supporters were more radical in their goals than others in the party and they were in the minority. Lenin agitated so much that several of the more conservative members of the Congress walked out in protest of Lenin's actions. When those members left, Lenin had a temporary majority which he used to declare his supporters the Bolsheviks of the RSDP. Bolshevik meant majorityite. The name stuck even though in truth, the Bolsheviks were in the minority overall. The opposing majority members for some reason simply allowed themselves to be called Mensheviks, or minorityites, even though they were in the majority.
Vladimir I. Lenin was responsible for the Bolshevik movement in the early 1900s. He was the leader of a minority dissident faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, (RSDLP), a Marxist political party. At its party congress in 1903 in Brussels, he seized an opportunity to gain a temporary majority and named his minority faction Bolsheviks, which means majorityites in Russian. From then on the Bolsheviks were a separate faction with separate ideologies from the rest of the RSDLP. Soon it became an entirely separate political party in and of itself.
Vladimir I. Lenin led the Bolshevik Party. At first it had been part of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, a Marxist political party, but it split off from it. In March 1918the Bolshevik Party renamed itself the Communist Party.
He had to work with a Democratic Congress. (Apex)
The two main parties were the Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs), a non-Marxist political party, and the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP), a Marxist political party. The RSDLP was itself split into two factions, the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks.The names came about during the RSDLP Congress in Brussels in 1903. Lenin and his followers were the more radical members of the RSDLP, however they were in the minority. The more conservative majority members were angered at Lenin and some walked out in a protest. This walk-out gave Lenin a temporary majority and he quickly dubbed his followers Bolsheviks, meaning 'majorityites' even though they were actually the minority. The other RSDP members allowed themselves to be called Mensheviks, meaning minorityites even though they were in the majority.Nihilists and Populists(Narodniks)
The two main parties were the Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs), a non-Marxist political party, and the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP), a Marxist political party. The RSDLP was itself split into two factions, the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks.The names came about during the RSDLP Congress in Brussels in 1903. Lenin and his followers were the more radical members of the RSDLP, however they were in the minority. The more conservative majority members were angered at Lenin and some walked out in a protest. This walk-out gave Lenin a temporary majority and he quickly dubbed his followers Bolsheviks, meaning 'majorityites' even though they were actually the minority. The other RSDP members allowed themselves to be called Mensheviks, meaning minorityites even though they were in the majority.Nihilists and Populists(Narodniks)