The Mensheviks: From the Revolution of 1917 to the Second World War

506 Pages·1974·7.482 MB·English

by  Leopold H. Haimson (editor)

The History of Menshevism
Leopold H. Haimson, General Editor

HOOVER INSTITUTION PU B LIC A TIO N S 117
The Mensheviks
THE HOOVER I N S T I T U T I O N
on W ar, Revolution,
and Peace
Edited by Leopold H. Haim son
T he Mensheviks
1917
FROM THE REVOLUTION OF
TO THE SECOND WORLD WAR
With Contributions by David Dallin, George Denicke,
Leo Lande, Boris Sapir, and Simon Wolin
Translated by Gertrude Vakar
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
CHICAGO AND LONDON
This volume is one of a series arising from the
work of the Inter-University Project on the
History of the Menshevik Movement
Leopold H. Haimson, general editor of the
History of Menshevism series, has been with
the Russian Institute of Columbia University
since 1963.
[1974]
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 1974 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 1974
Printed in the United States of America
International Standard Book Number: 0-226-31222-4
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-87302
To the memory of two cherished collaborators
Julia Abramovna Kamermacher and Gertrude Vakar

Contents
Preface Leopold H. Haimson xi
PART I. THE MENSHEVIKS IN 1917 Leo Lande 1
Introduction 3
1. The Basic Currents in Menshevism 6
2. The Mensheviks and the Provisional Government 15
3. The First Days of Soviet Rule 43
4. Vikzhel 58
5. The Consolidation of Bolshevik Rule 73
PART II. THE PERIOD OF WAR COMMUNISM
AND THE CIVIL WAR 93
Chronology of Events Gilbert Doctorow 94:i-vi
Introduction David Dallin 95
6. From the Dissolution of the Constituent Assembly
to the Outbreak of the Civil War George Denicke 107
7. The Outbreak of the Civil War David Dallin 156
8. Between the World War and the NEP David Dallin 191
PART III. THE MENSHEVIKS UNDER THE NEP AND
IN EMIGRATION Simon Wolin 241
9. The Opposition to the NEP 243
10. The Party’s Activities in Russia 250
11. The Evolution of Ideology 266
12. Two Party Centers 289
13. The Platform of 1924 310
14. The Party in Emigration 320
15. Socialism and Stalinism 324
PART IV. NOTES AND REFLECTIONS ON THE HISTORY
OF MENSHEVISM Boris Sapir 349
Introduction 351
16. The Mensheviks Before the Revolution of 1917 353
17. The Conception of the Bourgeois Revolution 364
Appendixes
A. Some Statistics of the Unification Congress,
August 1917 Leo Lande 389
B. The Social-Democratic Press of 1918 George Denicke 392
C. The “Menshevik” Trial of 1931 Simon Wolin 394
Notes 403
Name Index 465
Subject Index 471