The Old Bolsheviks (), also called the Old Bolshevik Guard or Old Party Guard, were members of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party prior to the October Revolution of 1917. Many Old Bolsheviks became leading politicians and bureaucrats in the Soviet Union and the ruling Communist Party. While some died over the years from natural causes, many were removed from power, imprisoned in gulag camps, or executed by the late 1930s, as a result of the Great Purge by Joseph Stalin.
Overview
Definition
Initially, the term "Old Bolshevik" referred to Bolsheviks who joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party before 1905. On February 13, 1922, under the chairmanship of the Old Bolshevik historian Mikhail Olminsky, the at the Istpart (Commission on the Study of the History of the October Revolution and RCP(b)) was established. The first Statute required membership before January 1, 1905, with admission in some cases of other Social Democrats with the same career time who later joined the Bolsheviks. Initially there were 64 members. Later it was renamed the All-Union Society. The 1931 Statute had a requirement of a continuous party membership of at least 18 years, with exceptions to be granted by the Society Presidium (approved by the Society Council). By 1934, there were over 2,000 members. The All-Union Society was self-dissolved in 1935, announcing that "it has completed its tasks". Vladimir Lenin wrote about the "enormous, undivided authority of that thinnest layer, which can be called the old party guard"., V.Lenin, March 26, 1922 Old Bolsheviks that were part of Lenin's inner circle or directly worked with him formed a sub-designation known as the "Lenin Guard" (, ).
Vadim Rogovin cites the statistics published by the 13th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) that, in 1924, of 600,000 Party members, 0.6% joined before 1905, 2% joined in 1906–1916 and less than 9% joined in 1917.
Presence in the Soviet Union By the end of the Russian Revolution in 1923, Old Bolsheviks filled many of the powerful positions in the state apparatus of the Soviet Union, its constituent republics, and the ruling All-Union Communist Party. Stalin, himself an Old Bolshevik, feared that Old Bolsheviks were potential usurpers who could use their prestige to depose him. Stalin used the assassination of Sergei Kirov in 1934 as a pretext to purge the party and removed a large part of the surviving Old Bolsheviks from positions of power during the Great Purge from 1936 to 1938. Purged Old Bolsheviks were condemned in a series of show trials such as the Moscow Trials, and then executed for treason or imprisoned in the Gulag system of labor camps. By 1938, the number of Old Bolsheviks who remained in power (other than Stalin himself) was small, and the vacant positions were filled by a younger generation of party members who were considered to be more loyal to Stalin himself.
In his memoirs, Nikita Khrushchev argued that Stalin's widespread purges of the "most advanced nucleus of people" among the Old Bolsheviks and leading figures in the military and scientific fields had "undoubtedly" weakened the nation.
Various things in the Soviet Union had the name Old Bolshevik, such as a publishing house, several steamships, motorboats, kolkhozes and populated places.Подвиг экипажа парохода "Старый Большевик" Victory of crew of "Stari Bolshevik" (in Russian) (Article about one of 5 steamships called "Old Bolshevik" or "Stari Bolshevik)Печать в Москве в 1917 году: отражение борьбы партий в печати (in Russian). Example of a book edited by "Stari Bolshevik" or "Old Bolshevik"
Fate of some of the Old Bolsheviks This list lists Old Bolsheviks according to the original definition, i.e., those who joined the Bolshevik faction before 1 January 1905.
Died regardless of the purges BornDiedNotesNikolay Bauman18731905Sided with Lenin at the 2nd Party Congress (1903). Killed during demonstrations in 1905.Nikolai Chuzhak18761937Member of the Bolshevik faction since 1904. Died of natural causes in 1937.Mikhail Frunze18851925Bolshevik since 1903.Maria Iasneva-Golubeva1861 1936Joined the Bolsheviks after the second congress of the RSDLP, in 1903.Sergey Ivanovich Gusev18741933Member of the SBORK since 1896. Member of the RSDLP since 1898. Founding member of the Bolshevik faction in 1903.Simon Kamo18821922Joined Bolsheviks in 1904. Died in a traffic accident.Lev Karpov18791921Member of the SBORK. Member of the RSDLP since 1898. Joined the Bolsheviks in 1904.Sergei Kirov18861934Joined Bolsheviks in 1904. Kirov's assassination was used as a pretext for Stalin's Great Purge.Lydia Knipovich18571920Member of SBORK. Sided with Lenin at the 2nd Party Congress (1903).Leonid Krasin18701926Member of the RSDLP since 1898. Bolshevik since 1903. Elected member of the Central Committee in 1903.Valerian Kuybyshev18881935Joined the Bolsheviks in 1904.Mikhail Lashevich18841928Member of the RSDLP since 1901. Bolshevik since 1903. Vladimir Lenin18701924Leader of SBORK since 1895. Member of the RSDLP since 1898. Main founder and leader of the Bolsheviks since 1903.Anatoly Lunacharsky18751933Joined Bolsheviks in 1904.Viktor Nogin18781924Member of the RSDLP since 1898. Bolshevik since 1903.Mikhail Olminsky18631933Member of the RSDLP since 1898. Joined Bolsheviks in 1904. First President of the Society of Old Bolsheviks (1922–1931).Alexander Parkhomenko18861921 Joined Bolsheviks in 1904. Killed by Makhnovists during the Civil War Semyon Sereda1871 1933Joined Bolsheviks in 1903.Stepan Shaumian18781918Member of the RSDLP since 1900. Bolshevik since 1903.Ivan Skvortsov-Stepanov18701928Member of the RSDLP since 1898. Joined Bolsheviks in 1904.Pyotr Smidovich18741935Member of the RSDLP since 1898.Sofia Smidovich18721934Member of the RSDLP since 1898, sided with Bolsheviks in 1903.Suren Spandaryan18821916Member of the Bolshevik faction since 1903.Pēteris Stučka18651932Member of the RSDLP since 1898. Supported Bolsheviks in 1903.Yakov Sverdlov18851919Member of the RSDLP since 1902. Bolshevik since 1903.Alexander Tsiurupa18701928Member of the RSDLP since 1898. Bolshevik since 1903.Anna Ulyanova18641935Member of the RSDLP since 1898. Sister of Vladimir Lenin, Dmitry Ilyich Ulyanov and Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova. Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova18781937Member of the RSDLP since 1898. Bolshevik since 1903. Sister of Vladimir Lenin, Dmitry Ilyich Ulyanov and Anna Ulyanova.Vatslav Vorovsky18711923Founding member of the Bolshevik faction in 1903. Assassinated by a White émigré.Vladimir Zagorsky18831919Member of the RSDLP since 1901. Joined Bolsheviks in Geneva in 1904. Killed by a bomb planted by an anarchist group.
Died in the Stalinist purges