Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A member of the liberal faction of the Social Democratic Party that struggled against the Bolsheviks before and during the Russian Revolution.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- proper noun A member of the
gradualist wing of the Russian Social Democratic Party during the years preceding the Russian Revolution.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a Russian member of the liberal minority group that advocated gradual reform and opposed the Bolsheviks before and during the Russian Revolution
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Someone called Menshevik shouldn’t be expected to be a fan of the Bolsheviks, after all.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Competing Explanations for the Oppressive Nature of Socialism 2010
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'Stalin,' recalls the Menshevik politician Nikolai Sukhanov in his memoirs of the Russian Revolution of 1917, 'gave me the impression ... of a grey blur which flickered obscurely and left no trace.
Rise of a Gangster Figes, Orlando 2007
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Menshevik: what you say is true as far as it goes — that the collectivization that killed millions through starvation occurred primarily under Stalin, but it was certainly the case that the Cheka and other organs of repression were established within a few months of the October Revolution.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Competing Explanations for the Oppressive Nature of Socialism 2010
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To be clear: I think Menshevik means “demonstrations” rather than “democrats.”
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Menshevik: That is, entire classes of people (and not just economic classes) were repressed REGARDLESS of any actual opposition to the regime.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Competing Explanations for the Oppressive Nature of Socialism 2010
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Menshevik [quoting Jeane Kirkpatrick]: Generally speaking, traditional autocrats tolerate social inequities, brutality, and poverty while revolutionary autocracies create them.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Competing Explanations for the Oppressive Nature of Socialism 2010
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Menshevik: Zuch, ANSWER has been quite prominent in Bay Area anti-war rallies.
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Menshevik: From time to time a truly bestial ruler can come to power in either type of autocracy – Idi Amin, Papa Doc Duvalier, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot are examples – but neither type regularly produces such moral monsters (though democracy regularly prevents their accession to power).
The Volokh Conspiracy » Competing Explanations for the Oppressive Nature of Socialism 2010
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Menshevik: Zuch has achieved troll status, personal insults being one of the hallmarks of trolldom.
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[Menshevik, quoting Jeane Kirkpatrick]: Generally speaking, traditional autocrats tolerate social inequities, brutality, and poverty while revolutionary autocracies create them.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Competing Explanations for the Oppressive Nature of Socialism 2010
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