They All Want to Change the World

In support of my fellow blogger Andra's opposition (here) to JED's assertion that "[The Bolsheviks] are almost like Mensheviks in that they waited for the perfect moment to start a revolution instead of forcing a revolution." (here): I have to agree with Andra on this one. Wasn't the thing that differentiated Mensheviks/Bolsheviks basically that the former thought the society would progress naturally toward Communism while the latter believed that a revolution could be ignited by a person/group of people/incident? The Mensheviks weren't waiting for a "perfect moment" during which they might assist Russia on its way to Communism. They thought that when Russia achieved a fully mature capitalist society it would (following traditional Marxism) begin to shift towards Communism. The Bolsheviks, on the other hand, insisted that the moment was NOW, that Russia was READY, and truly seized (and "encouraged" others to seize) their moment amidst the chaos and mass discontentment during WWI.