Hillary Is a Menshevik

E. Jeffrey Ludwig

The Bolshevik/Menshevik crisis we saw in the first stages of the Russian Revolution is bubbling to the surface in our country through the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party today reflects an updated version of the Bolshevik/Menshevik split of the early 20th century.  In 1903, the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (communist) split into two opposing groups, the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks.  Vladimir Lenin, leader of the pro-dictatorial Bolsheviks, defined the difference between the two groups, as one being "hard" (Bolsheviks) and the other being "soft," led by Leon Trotsky, Georgi Plekhanov, Julius Martov, and others.  Both were for the overthrow of capitalism and of the Tsarist regime, but the Mensheviks would allow for a somewhat broader range of views within the communist apparatus.  Ironically, the meeting that sealed this split was held in London, a center of capitalism, where differences could be aired, and even revolutionary groups could meet without fear of reprisal.   More