The Bolsheviks - A History of the Russian Revolution

The bolsheviks had always been the minority party in february 19 17, they probably counted no more than a few hundred active party members. They were still not as big as the srs but this was absolutely nothing to sneeze at. As the months went by, disillusionment with the menshev and s r leadership of the soviets drove many former supporters into the waiting ranks of the bolsheviks. The kornelof affair rapidly accelerated those defections.