The Bolsheviks Claimed to Represent The Working Class Due to Their Promises and Influence: Were They Justified in Their Claim?

In October of 1917, the communist party known as the Bolsheviks claiming to represent the working class had finally taken power in Russia. Though the Bolsheviks felt they were right in claiming to represent working class within their many promises and strong influence, they were not justified in making this claim in the end. The party felt it had won the right to represent the proletarians by promising freedom and self-government, but after demonstrations such as the Kronstadt Rebellion and the formation of the Cheka, it became apparent that the Bolsheviks had betrayed the working class.

Firstly, the Bolsheviks felt that they were a clear representation of the working class. One of the main reasons for this assumption was Lenin’s irresistible promises to the working class. In Lenin’s work “Declaration of the Rights of the Toiling and Exploited Peoples” he outlines the rights and privileges promised by the Bolshevik party if they should come into power. One of the first rights he outlines is “The sovereignty of the people; i.e., the concentration of the supreme power of the state in a unicameral legislative assembly composed of representatives of the people.”[1] Lenin demonstrates how the Bolshevik party stands for people’s representation in government, to further show the proletarians that the Bolshevik party is a “people’s party”. Lenin then goes on to point out that workers should be given the right to “Unrestricted freedom of conscience, speech, press and assembly; the right to strike and to form trade unions.” [1]  Because these new rights and freedoms were never available to the proletarians under the Tsarist regime, the promises made by the Bolsheviks were too good to pass up. In addition, the strength of the influence of the Bolsheviks’ served to gain support of the working class to the extent that other parties could not reach. Alexander Shotman, an attendee of the Second Congress of the Social Democratic Labour Party, demonstrates this when he says, “When Plekhanov spoke, I enjoyed the beauty of his speech, the remarkable incisiveness of his words. But when Lenin arose in opposition, I was always on Lenin’s side. Why? I cannot explain it to myself. But so it was, and not only with me, but with my comrades and workers.”[2] Shotman demonstrates how he and many others like him were influenced more by Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks , than any other party leader. The result of this debate and many others like it demonstrate how Bolshevik influence dominated in comparison to that of any other party. Because of the many promises and strong influence of the Bolshevik party, its members felt that they were justified in representing the working class. The validity of this idea, however, proved to be questionable after the Bolsheviks came into power.