The Bolsheviks emerged in 1903 at the Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, held in Brussels and London, when a dispute over membership rules and party organisation split the delegates. Vladimir Lenin's followers won a majority on key votes and took the name Bolsheviks, meaning those of the majority, while their opponents around Julius Martov became known as Mensheviks. The Bolsheviks favoured a tightly disciplined party of professional revolutionaries. They seized power in Petrograd in the October Revolution of 1917 and, after winning the Russian Civil War, became the core of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Before and after
- 1903Origins of Major League Baseball
- 1903Founding of Beşiktaş J.K.
- 1903Airplane
- 1903Publication of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
- 1903Rise of Bolsheviks
- 1903Founding of Atlético Madrid
- 13 February 1903Birth of Georges Simenon
- 3 May 1903Birth of Bing Crosby
- 8 May 1903Death of Paul Gauguin
More in Society, economy & sport
- 25 March 1807Britain abolishes the slave trade
- from 19 July 1848 to 20 July 1848The Seneca Falls Convention
- 1869Founding of Goldman Sachs
- 1874Founding of Universal Postal Union
- 1878Founding of Manchester United F.C.
- 23 September 1889Founding of Nintendo
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.