Editing Bolsheviks (section)

===Etymology of ''Bolshevik'' and ''Menshevik''===
The two factions of the [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party]] (RSDLP) were originally known as ''hard'' (Lenin supporters) and ''soft'' (Martov supporters). In the 2nd Congress vote, Lenin's faction won votes on the majority of important issues,{{Sfn|Shub|1976|p=81}} and soon came to be known as ''Bolsheviks'', from the Russian ''bolshinstvo'', 'majority'. Likewise, Martov's group came to be known as ''[[Mensheviks]]'', from ''menshinstvo'', 'minority'.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Edmund|title=To the Finland Station|date=1977|publisher=Fontana|isbn=0-00-632420-7|location=London|page=402|author-link=Edmund Wilson}}</ref> However, Martov's supporters won the vote concerning the question of party membership, and neither Lenin nor Martov had a firm majority throughout the Congress as delegates left or switched sides. In the end, the Congress was evenly split between the two factions.

Starting in 1907, English-language articles sometimes used the term ''Maximalist'' for "Bolshevik" and ''Minimalist'' for "Menshevik", which proved to be confusing as there was also a "Maximalist" faction within the Russian [[Socialist Revolutionary Party]] in 1904–1906 (which, after 1906, formed a separate [[Union of Socialists-Revolutionaries Maximalists]]) and then again after 1917.<ref>Antonelli, Étienne. 1920. ''Bolshevik Russia'', translated by C. A. Carroll. [[Alfred A. Knopf|A. A. Knopf]]. p. 59: "the term 'Maximalist' rather widely used as a translation for 'Bolshevik' is historically false."</ref>

The Bolsheviks ultimately became the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]].{{Efn|After the split, the Bolshevik party was designated as RSDLP(b) (Russian: РСДРП(б)), where "b" stands for "Bolsheviks". Shortly after coming to power in November 1917, the party changed its name to the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (РКП(б)) and was generally known as the Communist Party after that point. However, it was not until 1952 that the party formally dropped the word "Bolshevik" from its name. See [[Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] article for the timeline of name changes.}} The Bolsheviks, or ''Reds'', came to power in Russia during the [[October Revolution]] phase of the 1917 [[Russian Revolution]], and founded the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] (RSFSR). With the Reds defeating the [[White movement|Whites]] and others during the [[Russian Civil War]] of 1917–1922, the RSFSR became the chief constituent of the [[Soviet Union]] (USSR) in December 1922.