Bolshevik Centre

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The Bolshevik Centre was a small, secret group of Bolsheviks who led the organization from behind the scenes. It grew from the team that ran the newspaper Proletarian and handled the funds for revolutionary propaganda. After the party dissolved the Centre in February 1910, it continued to operate illegally. The Centre was led by a Finance Group made up of Vladimir Lenin, Leonid Krasin, and Alexander Bogdanov. Other members included Viktor Taratuta, Lev Kamenev, Virgil Shantser, Grigory Zinoviev, and V. A. Desnitsky. The group tried to unite party funds to strengthen the Bolsheviks, with Lenin often seen as leading the effort along with Taratuta, Manev, and Zinoviev. However, there were times when the Centre acted against Lenin’s wishes, notably in its handling of the newspapers Proletarian, Pravda, and the creation of a St. Petersburg newspaper.