The Trudoviks were a moderate Labour

Labour movement

The term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...

 party in early 20th Century Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. The Trudoviks were a breakaway Party of Socialist Revolutionaries (SR)

Socialist-Revolutionary Party

thumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...

 faction, as they defied the SR's stance by standing in the 1st Duma

Duma

A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...

.

This agrarian socialist party was one of hundreds of small workers' circles that sprang up around Russia in the aftermath of the 1905 Revolution. While the 1905 revolution did not remove the Tsar

Tsar

Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

, it certainly curtailed his power — but not to the extent of the democratic, liberal society which the Russian masses longed for. As a result, the party survived but remained small.

The Trudoviks are best known for winning seats in the State Duma, a national assembly created by Tsar Nicholas II in the aftermath of the 1905 Revolution. The seats they won were mainly in the 1st and 2nd assemblies, in 1906 and 1907 where they gained over 100 seats. Alexander Kerensky

Alexander Kerensky

Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets following the October Revolution...

, later prime minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

 of Russia under the Provisional Government

Russian Provisional Government

The Russian Provisional Government was the short-lived administrative body which sought to govern Russia immediately following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II . On September 14, the State Duma of the Russian Empire was officially dissolved by the newly created Directorate, and the country was...

 in 1917, was elected to the Fourth Duma as a Trudovik in 1912.

Sources

• Hildermeier, M., Die Sozialrevolutionäre Partei Russlands. Agrarsozialismus und Modernisierung im Zarenreich. Cologne, 1978.
• Idem, The Russian Socialist Revolutionary Party Before The First World War. New York, 2000.