Party of Revolutionary Communism

Split after the 6–7 July 1918 uprising Along with another Left Socialist-Revolutionary splinter-group, the Party of Narodnik Communists, the group that would form the Party of Revolutionary Communism opposed the actions and decisions taken by the Central Committee of the Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (internationalists) in carrying out the failed 6–7 July uprising. The split originated with the decision of the Saratov Party Organization of PLSR(i) on 9 July 1918, to denounce the 6–7 July uprising and called for convening of an All-Russia Conference of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries to held in Saratov on 20 July 1918. The dissidence in Saratov had an echo among some leading figures in the party such as Andrei Kolegayev, Mark Natanson and Novitsky. On 14 September 1918, a publication named Volya Truda began publishing as a joint organ of the Saratov-based group and the group around Kolegaev, Natanson and Novitsky. The first issue of Volya Truda called for the holding of congress of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries. The proposal was voted down, and 15 people (out of whom 8 were delegates with decisive votes) left the venue in protest. Between the First and Second Party Congresses By mid-November 1918 the first split in the new party had occurred as Central Committee members Kolegayev, Bitsenko, Alexandrov, Dobrokhotov and Cherny joined the RCP(B). Third Party Congress A Third Party Congress was held in April 1919. At the time the party was estimated to have some 3,300 members and sympathizers. On 26 April 1919, the Saratov Governorate Committee of the RCP(B) decided to include members of the Party of Revolutionary Communism in the Executive Committees of the governorate and city soviets. On 8 September 1918, Zitta and Semenovskaya signed the joint declaration 'To all revolutionary populists'. The Fourth Party Congress, meeting in October 1919, recognized that the party had 'difficulties in working with the masses', gaps in communication between the Central Committee and Party Organizations and a decline in party membership. The Fifth Party Congress affirmed support for economic measures of soviet power, such as the militarization of labour and the formation of labour armies, as necessary to deal with the current extraordinary conditions. The Fifth Party Congress declared that it was an obligation of all party members to support soviet power. Ustinov and Sapozhnikov handed over a declaration from the Central Committee of the Party of Revolutionary Communism to the Congress Presidium, which expressed that the party was ready to adhere to the decisions of the Comintern Congress and raised the question of joining the RCP(B). ==Ideological line and political positions==

The Party of Revolutionary Communism retained the Left Socialist-Revolutionary programme, but differed with the PLSR(i) on tactics. It upheld the theoretical legacy of Nikolay Mikhaylovsky and Pyotr Lavrov. Vladimir Lenin perceived the programme of the Party of Revolutionary Communism as "remaining on the platform of Narodnik utopianism" and "muddled and eclectic". Per Lenin, "[w]hile recognising that Soviet rule created preconditions for the establishment of a socialist system, the party denied the necessity of the proletarian dictatorship during the transitional period from capitalism to socialism". The party spoke of a single class of 'toiling people' (трудящихся) that would encompass both urban industrial and rural agricultural workers. The Party of Revolutionary Communism aligned with the Bolsheviks calling for the victory of world revolution and supported universal labour conscription, red terror and abolishing of commodity-money relations. But they differed with the Bolsheviks on agrarian issues, and opposed the Committees of Poor Peasants. Whilst the party supported the campaign against kulaks, it opposed perceived excesses committed in the name of fighting kulaks. The party called for socialization of land, as a voluntary and gradual process. ==Social base==

Whilst the Party of Revolutionary Communism defined itself as a party for toiling masses the party membership became largely limited to intellectuals, sectors that retained ambitions for a 'third way'. For example, the delegate from Kazan at the Third Party Congress stated that among 40 members there were 36 intellectuals, 3 workers and a single peasant. Those that remained in the Party of Revolutionary Communism after the different splits often suffered repression linked to their opposition towards the Bolshevik food policy. ==Party organ==

The central party organ was Volya Truda (Воля Труда, 'Will of Labour'), which was published as a daily newspaper from 14 September to 4 December 1918. Per Fleishman (1990) Volya Truda had an mediocre editorial team at its onset, but that on the eve of the First Party Congress the editorial board began publishing a cultural and literary section which would include texts from writers like Sergei Yesenin, Andrei Bely, Velimir Khlebnikov, Osip Mandelstam, Vadim Shershenevich and Boris Pasternak. ==External links==