Trudoviks

The Trudoviks (Trudoviki literally Labour, also referred to as Toilers or Labourists, full name "The Labour Group" Russian: Трудова́я гру́ппа, Trudovaya gruppa) were a moderate Labour party in early 20th century Russia. The Trudoviks were a breakaway Party of Socialist Revolutionaries (SR) faction, as they defied the SR's stance by standing in the 1st Duma.

This agrarian socialist party was one of hundreds of small workers' circles that sprang up around Russia in the aftermath of the 1905 Revolution. While the revolution did not remove the Tsar, it certainly curtailed his power — but not to the extent of the democratic, liberal society that the revolutionaries had hoped for. As a result, the party survived but remained small.

The Trudoviks are best known for winning seats in the State Duma, a national assembly created by Tsar Nicholas II in the aftermath of the 1905 Revolution. The seats they won were mainly in the 1st and 2nd assemblies, in 1906 and 1907 where they gained over 100 seats. Alexander Kerensky, later prime minister of Russia under the Provisional Government in 1917, was elected to the Fourth Duma as a Trudovik in 1912.

Sources

• Hildermeier, M., Die Sozialrevolutionäre Partei Russlands. Agrarsozialismus und Modernisierung im Zarenreich. Cologne, 1978.
• Idem, The Russian Socialist Revolutionary Party Before The First World War. New York, 2000.