Jewish socialist parties during the 1905 Russian Revolution

Abstract

This short study discusses archival material related to Jewish socialist parties during the 1905 Russian Revolution which is held by the Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius. Although these organisations were short-lived, the evidence they have left behind provides insight into their ideology, and their attempts to take advantage of the revolutionary situation and draw the allegiance of the Jewish masses. Archival material also indicates the extent to which their activities were monitored by the Tsarist authorities. By 1907, all these organisations had been effectively suppressed by the regime. Yet, in spite of their fleeting presence on the Jewish political scene in the Russian Empire, these parties carried import for the future.