The Popular Socialist Party () emerged in Russia in the early twentieth century.

History

The roots of the Popular Socialist Party (NSP) lay in the 'Legal Populist' movement of the 1890s, and its founders looked upon N.K. Mikhailovsky and

Alexander Herzen Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Ге́рцен, translit=Alexándr Ivánovich Gértsen; ) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the "father of Russian socialism" and one of the main fathers of agra ...

as ideological forerunners. The NSP was founded in 1906, by a number of dissidents from the

Socialist-Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...

(SRs). They objected to the PSR's adoption of political

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

and wanted to 'nationalize' the land (i.e., turn it over to the state), rather than 'socialize' it (i.e., make it common property of the peasantry), as the PSR proposed. The Popular Socialists also wanted to indemnify landowners; the PSR did not. Furthermore, the Popular Socialists deplored the influence of

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

on the leading ideologues of the PSR, such as V.M. Chernov. Leading members of the NSP were N.F. Annensky (1843-1912), V.A. Miakotin (1867-1937) and A.V. Peshekhonov (1867-1933). The latter was minister of agriculture in the

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

of A.F. Kerensky during the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

. The Popular Socialists collaborated closely with the

Trudoviks The Trudoviks (russian: Трудова́я гру́ппа, translit=Trudovaya gruppa, lit=Labour Group) were a social-democratic political party of Russia in early 20th century. History The Trudoviks were a breakaway of the Socialist Revolut ...

(Labour Group), Kerensky's party in the

State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...

. After the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

of 1917, the Popular Socialist Party merged with the Trudoviks and actively supported the Provisional Government, in which it was represented. The Popular Socialists opposed the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

. The party was dissolved during the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

of 1918-1922. The party's Russian name is sometimes translated as 'National Socialist Party', but this is misleading, since that label is usually associated with Hitler's

National Socialist German Workers' Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

(NSDAP). The Russian NSP was not anti-Semitic and advocated democracy and gradual reform.

History

Further reading

External links