The Bolshevik-Menshevik Divide In the early 1900s, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, unhappy with the poverty and war that plagued Russia, sought to rid the country of the czar, its absolute ruler. Unable to agree on tactics, the party split into two groups. The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, believed that Russia should be governed by a small group that would have complete power and would not tolerate dissent from its members. They favored immediate reform, and they viewed violence as an acceptable means of achieving this. In contrast, the Mensheviks, led by Julius Martov, felt that Russia should have a larger, more democratic government that would tolerate varying opinions. Unlike the Bolsheviks, they favored a gradual transition of power, and they preferred to avoid violent means of gaining control. Eventually, the Bolsheviks were victorious, seizing control in the October Revolution of 1917. What is the main, or central, idea of the passage?