Revolutionary as a Career

Historians usually saw bureaucratization of the revolutionary party as beginning only upon its accession to power, disregarding the importance to revolutionary politics of material incentives and control over funding. Yet the case of the Bolshevik party demonstrates that bureaucratization began long before the Bolshevik victory, and that material resources were essential for maintaining discipline and increasing the party size. Indeed, a revolutionary became a “professional” who often received a competitive salary. It was for this reason that the Bolsheviks paid such attention to obtaining money.