Editing Bolsheviks (section)

===Second Party Congress===
At the [[2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party|2nd Congress of the RSDLP]], which was held in [[Brussels]] and then [[London]] during August 1903, [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] and [[Julius Martov]] disagreed over the party membership rules. Lenin, who was supported by [[Georgi Plekhanov|Georgy Plekhanov]], wanted to limit membership to those who supported the party full-time and worked in complete obedience to the elected party leadership. Martov wanted to extend membership to anyone "who recognises the Party Programme and supports it by material means and by regular personal assistance under the direction of one of the party's organisations."<ref>{{cite book|last =Service|first =Robert|title=Lenin : a biography |date=2010|publisher=Pan|location=London|isbn = 978-0-33051838-3 | page = 154}}</ref> Lenin believed his plan would develop a core group of professional revolutionaries who would devote their full time and energy towards developing the party into an organization capable of leading a successful [[proletarian revolution]] against the [[Tsarist autocracy]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pipes |first1=Richard |title=The Russian Revolution |date=1990 |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |chapter=Chapter 9: Lenin and the Origins of Bolshevism}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Figes |first1=Orlando |title=Revolutionary Russia, 1891–1991: A History |date=2014 |publisher=Metropolitan Books |location=New York |chapter= 1: The Start}}</ref>

The base of active and experienced members would be the recruiting ground for this professional core. Sympathizers would be left outside and the party would be organised based on the concept of [[democratic centralism]]. Martov, until then a close friend of Lenin, agreed with him that the core of the party should consist of professional revolutionaries, but he argued that party membership should be open to sympathizers, revolutionary workers, and other fellow travellers. The two had disagreed on the issue as early as March–May 1903, but it was not until the Congress that their differences became irreconcilable and split the party.<ref>{{Citation | last = Getzler | first = Israel | author-link = Israel Getzler | title = Martov: A Political Biography of a Russian Social Democrat | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2003 | orig-year = 1967 | isbn = 0-521-52602-7 | page = 78}}.</ref> At first, the disagreement appeared to be minor and inspired by personal conflicts. For example, Lenin's insistence on dropping less active editorial board members from ''[[Iskra]]'' or Martov's support for the Organizing Committee of the Congress which Lenin opposed. The differences grew and the split became irreparable.

Internal unrest also arose over the political structure that was best suited for [[Soviet power]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stalin |first1=Joseph |title=History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) |url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/index.htm |website=www.marxists.org |access-date=3 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715121504/https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1939/x01/index.htm |archive-date=15 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> As discussed in ''What Is To Be Done?'', Lenin firmly believed that a rigid political structure was needed to effectively initiate a formal revolution. This idea was met with opposition from once close allies, including Martov, [[Georgi Plekhanov|Plekhanov]], [[Vera Zasulich]], [[Leon Trotsky]], and [[Pavel Axelrod]].{{Sfn | Tucker | 1975}}{{Page needed |date=August 2015}} Plekhanov and Lenin's major dispute arose addressing the topic of [[Nationalization|nationalizing]] land or leaving it for private use. Lenin wanted to nationalize to aid in [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|collectivization]], whereas [[Georgi Plekhanov|Plekhanov]] thought worker motivation would remain higher if individuals were able to maintain their own property. Those who opposed Lenin and wanted to continue on the [[socialist mode of production]] path towards complete [[socialism]] and disagreed with his strict party membership guidelines became known as "softs" while Lenin supporters became known as "hards".{{Sfn | Tucker | 1975 | p = xxxviii}}

Some of the factionalism could be attributed to Lenin's steadfast belief in his own opinion and what was described by Plekhanov as Lenin's inability to "bear opinions which were contrary to his own" and loyalty to his own self-envisioned [[utopia]].{{Sfn|Shub|1976|p=76}} Lenin was seen even by fellow party members as being so narrow-minded and unable to accept criticism that he believed that anyone who did not follow him was his enemy.{{Sfn | Pipes | 1995 | p = 104}} [[Leon Trotsky|Trotsky]], one of Lenin's fellow revolutionaries, compared Lenin in 1904 to the French revolutionary [[Maximilien Robespierre]].{{Sfn | Pipes | 1995 | p = 104}}