Bolshevist Russia or Bolshevik Russia is a common term for the Bolshevik side in the Russian Civil War, or more specifically the Russian government between the October Revolution (November 7, 1917) and the establishment of the Soviet Union (December 30, 1922). The official name of the country was the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. Strictly speaking, there was a brief interval between the October Revolution and the declaration of the RSFSR (and a longer interval to its first Constitution, in 1918). The term Bolshevist Russia is particularly useful in referring to the Bolshevik government of this period. Bolshevist Russia is distinguished from "Soviet Russia". While both terms are informal, the latter applies to a much wider historical frame, up to 1991. Also, strictly speaking, they differ geographically: in 1917-1922: the Bolsheviks controlled a much smaller territory than that of the future Soviet Union. Both terms, Bolshevist Russia and Soviet Russia are often indiscriminately used to refer to the whole Soviet Union, following its popular misidentification as "Russia".
