RCP (b)

Abbreviation for the name of the ruling political party in Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union from 1918 to 1925 [Rossiiskaja kommunisticheskaja partija (b) – Russian Communist Party (b[olshevik])]. The party was founded in 1898 as the Russian Social-Democratic Workers Party (RSDRP). From 1912 to 1918, its name was RSDRP (b), with (b) standing for Bolshevik, as the party’s majority faction had been known since 1903. The party played a leading role in the October Revolution of 1917, which brought the Bolsheviks to power. In 1925, the name of the party was changed to VCP (b).