Old Bolshevik, old Bolshevik Guard or old Party guard (Russian: ста́рый большеви́к, stary bolshevik) is an unofficial designation for members of the Bolshevik party before the Russian Revolution of 1917, many of whom were either tried and executed by the NKVD during Stalin's purges or died under suspicious circumstances.
In 1922 there were 44,148 Old Bolsheviks.[1] Vladimir Lenin expressed an opinion that the "old party guard", a "thinnest layer" has a "huge, unshared prestige". [2]
Joseph Stalin removed many of the Old Bolsheviks from power during the Great Purges of the 1930s. The most prominent survivor in the Communist Party was Vyacheslav Molotov. Most were executed for treason after show trials; some were sent to labor camps (the Gulag); and a few, such as Alexandra Kollontai were sent abroad as ambassadors, preventing them from participating in the central government. Many communist opponents of Stalin, most notably the Trotskyists, cite this fact in support of their argument that Stalin betrayed the aims of the revolution for his own gain.
Various things in the Soviet Union, such as a publishing house, several steamships, motorboats, kolkhozes and settlements, were given the name Old Bolshevik.[3][4][5]
References
- ^ "Shameless Classic", Mark Deutsch, Moskovsky Komsomolets, 2003, citing Д.А.Чугаев, "Коммунистическая партия - организатор СССР".
- ^ «Если не закрывать себе глаза на действительность, то надо признать, что в настоящее время пролетарская политика партии определяется не ее составом, а громадным, безраздельным авторитетом того тончайшего слоя, который можно назвать старой партийной гвардией. Достаточно небольшой внутренней борьбы в этом слое, и авторитет его будет если не подорван, то во всяком случае ослаблен настолько, что решение будет уже зависеть не от него», V.Lenin, March 26, 1922
- ^ Подвиг экипажа парохода “Старый Большевик” Victory of crew of "Stari Bolshevik" (in russian) (Article about one of 5 steamship called "Old Bolshevik" or "Stari Bolshevik)
- ^ Печать в Москве в 1917 году : отражение борьбы партий в печати (in russian). Example of book edited by "Stari Bolshevik" or "Old Bolshevik"
- ^ Robert C. Tucker. "Letter of an Old Bolshevik". Slavic Review, Vol. 51, No. 4 (Winter, 1992), pp. 782-785 (in english)
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