Socialist Revolutionary party Socialist Revolutionary party, in
Russian history, an agrarian party founded by various Populist
groups in 1901. Its program, adopted in 1906, called for the
overthrow of the autocracy, the establishment of a classless
society, self-determination for national minorities, and
socialization of the land, which was to be distributed among the
peasants on the basis of need. Viktor Chernov was a party
leader. A secret "combat organization" within the party arranged
political assassinations, notably that of V. K. Plehve (1904)
and Grand Duke Sergei (1905). Originally made up of students and
intellectuals, the party later gained support from the
peasantry. In 1917 some Socialist Revolutionaries participated
in the Petrograd soviet and in the provisional government. The
party won a majority in the short-lived constituent assembly
(Jan., 1918), which was disbanded by the Bolsheviks. By 1922 the
party was suppressed. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th
ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia U