The Democratic Centralists were the most persistent and consistent left-wing opposition within the Bolshevik Party. The Decists were active from the Civil War, were a part of the defeated opposition of 1923, and were essential to bringing together the United Opposition of 1926 before they split to fight for a more left-wing platform. With Stalin’s rise to dominance, the Decists debated the nature of the new regime as Party democracy was more and more restricted and activists imprisoned.

While many of the Decists argued that the Bolshevik Party had transformed into a new exploiting class from the late-1920’s, they never abandoned the struggle to re-establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. This session will investigate the hidden history of the Decists’ fight for democracy in the Soviet State and the insightful debates they carried out with the other left-wing forces.