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THE MAZE OF RUSSIAN POLITICS

PARTIES AND THEIR LEADERS

CONFLICTING VARIETY

The Revolution having suppressed all overt monarchist parties, • practically the only non-Socialist Party at present existing is that oi' tho People's .freedom, or the Constitutional .Democrats, popularly known as the Cadets (writes a correspondent in the "Manchester Guardian"), 'their 'nucleus is made up of Liberals ot Imperialist leanings, and their large following is a nebulous mass of adherents of all hues, from moderate Conservatives to black reactionaries, and of all sorts and conditions of individuals, from high generals down to petty officials. The "nucleus" itself consists, ] socially, of professors, writers, enlightened manufacturers, and the liberal professions in general. It also includes a goad many of those who, in the humour of the day, are said to belong to the party of "Wafus," that is, of •'Wa-are-fed-up's," and of "F.l.'s," that is, of "Frightened Intellectuals." The party stands for a. constitutional find centralised rule with strong Government authority, and for the continuation of the war with tlio object of conquering Constantinople. Its leaders aro~ Professor Mily.ukoff, M. Vinaver (a well-known banister), M. Shingareff (Minister of Trade and Industry and then of Finance in the first two Provisional Governments), aM. Nahokoff, tho well-known jurist, M. Hessen, the editor of tho -'Retch'' and a number of other brilliant politicians and writers.

The Moderate ncvolutionaries. The Socialists themselves are split up into many parties, groups, and sections, forming two large schools of thought. Ono is the non-Marxist school and is represented chiefly by the Revolutionary .Socialists. Thoy may he conned peasant or agrarian Socialists, aiming at the transfer of all lands to the working peasantry, to be administered by the village communes and to be periodically divided among the individual households in such a way that no household should have more land than it can till by its own efforts without hired labour or less land tlian it needs for its sustenance. Before the Revolution they' were also the party of terrorism, but since then they have become a constitutional party like every other. Their success in tho first months of the Revolution was immense, ana\thsy therefore attracted a large following, some of which has since broken away and joined the Cadets, but the bulk still remains in the party, forming its light wing Accordingly the party now consists of three sections, of which the Extreme Left is practically independent, and is very ' much akin to the Bolsheviks. It is internationalist and revolutionary and is led hv Mme. Marie Spiridonoff, one of tho great heroines and martyrs of the first Revolution of 1905, who has done eleven years' imprisonment and hard labour in Siberia; Kamkoff, and Mstislavky. Tbe Centre of the party is composed of tbe moderate elements wdio are best characterised by their habit of abstaining from voting iu all critical situations. Their leader is the well-known ex-Minister of Agriculture, M. Tchcrnolf, a brilliant orator and. theorist, tho father of the party's igrarian programme, but no man of action.

The Right of the party is represented by the patriotic elements who have all along supported Kerensky and tho principle of allianco with the Cadets, and who were in active sympathy with Ivomiloff. Their leaders are Avkstentielf, former Minister of the Interior and President of the Provisional Parliament; M. Gotz and M. Savinkoff, a novel writer of repute, and since tbe. war a "jusu'au-boutist."

Allied with the Revolutionary Socialists is the Toil Party of Populist Socialists, a recent amalgamation of the Party of Toil, of which M. Kerensky was the leader in the last Duma, and of the populist Socialists, which includes among its distinguished members 51. Feshckhonoff, ex-Minister of Food Supply, and M. Zarudry, exMinister of Justice, a famous. barrister. The party is practically a Radical party, with mild Socialist tendencies of the "peasai't" school. It has hut a small following, and consists mainly of writers syid barristers.

Mensheviki and Bolshevilu. Then comes the other targe division, tho Marxists, who are the Socialists of the town proletariat, the Socialists of the "class war," or the Social Democrats, as they are known on tho Continent. At oire time they were all united in one party, but since 1903 they have been split up into two rival parties, one known variously as the Mensheviki, the Minority Party, or Minimalists, and the other as Bolslieviki, or the Majority Party, or Maximalists. The former are more moderate anil opportunist. They preach class war, but they are not averse from allying themselves with the "bourgeoisie.'' But among them there is also a large right wing and a small left wing, the former oeing more opportunist and more nationalist, and the other less opportunist and internationalist. Tho right wing, led by Tseretclli, Dan, Lieber, and others, has been a staunch supporter of the Coalition Governments and their policy, while tlie left wing, led by Martoff and Axelrod, approximates to the Bolslieviki iu its aims though not in its mothods. In addition the Mensheviki have an Extreme Right Wing under Plokhanoif, Leo Deutsch, Mme. Vera Znssoulitch, which has been advocating a war against Germany "a outrauco," and which has therefore been compelled to lcavo the party and to form a small group of their own called "Yedinstvo" (Unity). Lastly come the notorious Bolslieviki, the present rulers of Russia. They are irreconcilable enemies of the "bourgeois" State, of militarism, of Imperialism, of national oppression, and are revolutionary in their methods. They were the most implacable opponents of-the old regime, and their opposition to Lhe Kerensky regime was equally uncompromising. Still, even they have Extremists and Moderates, the former being represented by Lenin, a man of- remarkable strength of will, and the latter by Kamenell, an able speaker and writer, who spent two years in Siberia with the five Bolshevik members of the Duma for opposing the

war. t'rot'sky has only recently joined the Bolshevik party, having previously represented a group of his own, akin to Bolshevism. He is one of the most brilliant speakers and stylists in Russia, but ambitious, a defect which made him often quarrel with Leniu in the past. He was the leader of the Petrogrnd Council of Labour Delegates in llic first devolution, and lived ever since abroad—in Paris, Switzerland, Austria, and again in Paris, where he edited during Hho war an anti-war dail.y\paper, for which he was expelled from France, and had to go to America. Closely allied to the Bolshoviki is a small group of Bolshevik Internationalists, who have separated from the bulk uf the party, not being able to agree with Lenin's methods. Maxim Gorky is their titular head, and their most prominent members are Aviloff and Bazarotf.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19180304.2.51

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 141, 4 March 1918, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,105

THE MAZE OF RUSSIAN POLITICS Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 141, 4 March 1918, Page 6

THE MAZE OF RUSSIAN POLITICS Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 141, 4 March 1918, Page 6

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