Mensheviks

Thought i provide some links to those very much misrepresented Mensheviks .



First , of course , is Martov's The State and the Socialist Revolution .



A short Socialist Standard biography of him here . "Socialism, he argued, could only be achieved by a politically conscious working class. It is the experience of workers under capitalism which drives them to understand the need for Socialism and this process is enhanced by the degree of democracy which they have won for themselves. Dictatorial power wielded by a vanguard minority, no matter how sincere its intentions, can never act as a substitute. That way the workers remain a subject class and the dictators, having acquired a taste for power, consolidate their own rule.This then is Martov’s value to Socialist theory."



A 1940 Socialist Standard review of "State and the Socialist Revolution" here .

And here is an article by Adam Buick on the role of soviets in Russia and Martov's viewpoint

There is an online download of a talk by Steve Coleman on the ideas of Martov that can be found here

Historical analysis of the Menshevik role in post - October Russia can be read here - The Menshevik's Political Comeback Spring 1918 by Vladimir Brovkin