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{{Infobox ideology|name=Bolsheviks<br><small>Большевики</small>|image=[[File:Lenin Bolshevik Rally.jpg|380x380px]]|caption=[[Vladimir Lenin]], a [[Classics of Marxism|foundational]] [[Marxism|Marxist]] theorist and revolutionary, rallying other Bolsheviks.|class=[[Proletariat]]|position=[[Leftism|Far-left]]|theorists=[[Vladimir Lenin]]<br>[[Joseph Stalin]]<br>[[:Category:Bolsheviks|''Others...'']]|related=[[Communism]]<br>[[Marxism–Leninism]]|organizations=[[File:РСДРП.svg|25px]][[Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]]<br>[[File:КПСС.svg|25px]][[All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)]]}}
The '''Bolsheviks'''{{Efn|Russian: ''большевики'', ''bolsheviki''.}} were a [[Communism|communist]] [[Revolution|revolutionary]] movement which emerged in [[Russian Empire|Russia]] at the beginning of the 20<sup>th</sup> century. The Bolsheviks were organized as a party of a new type under the theoretical and political leadership of [[Vladimir Lenin]] and others, being established at a time when the contradictions of world [[imperialism]] were becoming intensified and socialist revolution was becoming a practical question. The Bolsheviks distinguished themselves with their consistent adherence to [[proletarian internationalism]] and opposition to the [[opportunism]] of other organization such as those of the [[Second International]]. The Bolsheviks would initially organize themselves in the [[Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]], but would eventually form a new [[communist party]] which would later be named the [[All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|All-Union Communist Party]] in 1912 following a conclusive split with the [[Mensheviks]] and other factions. The Bolsheviks would become the vanguard of the working class within its country and led the [[Great October Socialist Revolution]] in 1917, which would result in the formation of the [[Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic|Russian Soviet Republic]] and later the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet Union]] in 1922, among the first [[Socialist state|socialist states]] to exist.<ref>''[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/ch02.htm History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks), Ch. 2, FORMATION OF THE RUSSIAN SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC LABOUR PARTY. APPEARANCE OF THE BOLSHEVIK AND THE MENSHEVIK GROUPS WITHIN THE PARTY (1901–1904)]'' (1939). Available on the Marxists Internet Archive. </ref> 

The ideological basis of this movement, '''Bolshevism''' (later to be developed into [[Marxism–Leninism|Leninism]] with the contributions of [[Joseph Stalin]]), would emerge as a distinctive tendency within the [[Socialism|socialist]] movement after the Bolsheviks split with the Mensheviks at the [[2nd Congress of the RSDLP]] in 1903. The Bolsheviks adhered to political, organizational, and tactical principles such as [[democratic centralism]], consistent [[Proletarian internationalism|internationalism]], [[Revolution|social revolution]], and the need for a [[dictatorship of the proletariat]]. 

After the death of Lenin in 1924, leadership of the Bolsheviks was given to Joseph Stalin, who continued in Lenin's path in socialist construction and synthesized his theory into the framework of Marxism–Leninism. The Bolsheviks would be disbanded in the 1950s following the death of Stalin and revisionist counter-revolution in the Soviet Union. However, the actions and developments made by the Bolsheviks and its leaders remains of great importance to the international communist and working class movement into the present day.<ref>Vladimir Lenin (1920). [https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/lwc/ch01.htm ''Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder'', Ch. 1. ''In What Sense We Can Speak of the International Significance of the Russian Revolution'']. Available on the Marxists Internet Archive.</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Great October Socialist Revolution]]
* [[Russian Social Democratic Labor Party]]
* [[All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)]]

== References ==
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=== Notes ===
{{Notelist}}
[[Category:Bolsheviks]]
[[Category:Communist party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Russian revolution]]