Plekhanov, Georgi Valentinovich, << plih KHAH nof, geh AWR gih `vah` lehn TEE no vihch >> (1856-1918), was a leading advocate and interpreter of Marxist ideas in Russia during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Plekhanov, the youngest son of a minor noble, was born on Dec. 11, 1856, in Gudalovka, near Tambov, Russia. As a young man, he joined a revolutionary movement that wanted to establish socialism in Russia. In 1880, he fled to Switzerland to escape arrest for his political activities. There, he became a follower of Karl Marx, the German founder of Communism.
Plekhanov adapted Marx’s ideas to Russian conditions and projected a two-stage revolution to achieve a socialist state. In the first stage, the working and middle classes would defeat the Russian monarchy. In the second stage, the workers would overthrow the middle class and come to power.
In 1883, Plekhanov helped found the first Russian Marxist organization, the Emancipation of Labor group. This group led to the formation of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party in 1898. At its second convention in 1903, the party adopted a platform based on Plekhanov’s theory of a two-stage revolution.
Plekhanov disagreed with V.I. Lenin, another Russian socialist, on many political questions. Their differences came to a head during World War I (1914-1918). Plekhanov wanted Russia to remain in the war and help France and Britain to win. Lenin proposed to turn the war into a worldwide revolution. In 1917, Lenin and his followers seized power and established a Communist government in Russia. Plekhanov died on May 30, 1918.
