CHAPTER XV

MILITANT SOCIALISM: THE BOLSHEVISTS


143. SIGNIFICANCE OF BOLSHEVISM.-The term "bolshevist" is used to
designate a group of militant socialists that seized power in Russia
in the fall of 1917. Strictly speaking, the bolshevists were purely a
Russian group, nevertheless, they are of interest to students of
American democracy. Until the outbreak of the World War socialism was
primarily a theory, the claims of which could not definitely be
settled for the reason that it had never been applied on a large
scale. Bolshevism is significant because it is the only instance in
the history of the world where nation-wide socialism has actually been
put into operation. The peculiar conditions surrounding the Russian
experiment may prevent any detailed conclusions as to the availability
of bolshevist experience for other countries; on the other hand, the
general results of that experiment must throw some light upon what we
might expect if a socialist experiment were made in other countries.
It is important, therefore, that we inquire into the nature of the
Russian socialist state.

144. ORIGIN OF THE BOLSHEVISTS.--There is a popular impression that
since the word bolshevist means "majority" in the Russian language,
the bolshevists represented or constituted a majority of the Russian
people. This is not true, as the history of the group shows. The