The
Mensheviks (sometimes called
Menshevists ) were a
faction of the
Russian socialist movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute in the
Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party between
Vladimir Lenin and
Julius Martov, leading to the
party splitting into two factions, one being the Mensheviks and the other being the
Bolsheviks. The dispute originated at the
Second Congress of the RSDLP, ostensibly over minor issues of party organization.
Martov's supporters, who were in the minority in a crucial vote on the question of party membership, came to be called
Mensheviks, derived from the Russian word меньшинство (
minority), whereas Lenin's adherents were known as
Bolsheviks, from большинство (
majority). Neither side held a consistent majority over the course of the congress. The split proved to be long-standing and had to do both with pragmatic issues based in history, such as the failed
revolution of 1905, and theoretical issues of class leadership, class alliances, and interpretations of
historical materialism. While both factions believed that a "
bourgeois democratic" revolution was necessary, the Mensheviks generally tended to be more moderate and were more positive towards the
liberal opposition and the dominant peasant-based
Socialist Revolutionary party.