Communist Party of the Soviet Union

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/communist-party-of-the-soviet-union

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the key founding figures?Vladimir Lenin (leader of the Bolshevik faction)
2. What is the internal governance principle?Democratic Centralism, emphasizing party unity after policy discussion
3. How did the Communist Party start?It began as the Bolshevik group inside the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, led by Vladimir Lenin, and after winning the 1917 revolution it became the main party of the new Soviet state.
4. What is "democratic centralism" in the party?It means that people inside the party could talk about ideas, but once a decision was made, everyone had to follow it and keep the party united.

Marxism-Leninism: A political and economic ideology derived from Marxist theory and Lenin's practical application of it.
Bolsheviks: The faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party that seized power in the 1917 October Revolution.
Democratic Centralism: A Leninist organizational principle requiring free discussion but strict unity in action after a decision.
Politburo: The principal policymaking committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.