Iskra (newspaper) "Spark", the first all-Russian political Marxist illegal newspaper created by V. I. Lenin in 1900. According to the plan worked out by Lenin in exile (the village of Shushenskoye) in 1899–1900, the newspaper was supposed to help overcome the ideological confusion and organizational fragmentation, handicrafts that reigned in these years in activities of the Russian Social Democracy, to free Social Democracy from the dominance of opportunist elements (“Economists”, etc.), to give purposefulness to the spontaneous labor movement, to rally local Social Democratic organizations and groups on the principles of revolutionary Marxism. Lenin meant to make "I." the organizer of the revolutionary Marxist party of the working class of Russia, who could solve the historical tasks facing him. After the end of the exile (January 29, 1900), Lenin visited Ufa, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Syzran, Podolsk, Riga, Smolensk to establish contacts with the Social Democrats and familiarize them with the plan; In April 1900, he held the Pskov Conference (L. Martov, A. N. Potresov, P. B. Struve, and others), at which Lenin's Draft Declaration of the Editors of Iskra and Zarya was approved. After the meeting, Lenin did a great job of organizing a ubiquitous network of correspondents for the future newspaper. In July 1900, in Switzerland, Lenin began negotiations with group "Emancipation of Labor", together with which it was decided to publish a newspaper.
The editors included: V. I. Lenin, G. V. Plekhanov, L. Martov, P. B. Axelrod, V. I. Zasulich, A. N. Potresov. At first, I. G. Smidovich-Leman was the secretary, and from April 1901, N. K. Krupskaya. The inspirer and leader of the newspaper was Lenin; he wrote articles in "I." on the most important questions of building the party and the revolutionary movement (from 1900 to 1903 more than 50 of his articles were published in I.). Lenin determined the ideological and political direction of the newspaper, developed a plan for each of its issues, edited articles, found authors, and took care of transporting the newspaper to Russia.
The seat of the editorial office "I." Munich was elected. The first number "I." dated December 1900, it was typed and laid out in Leipzig by December 11 (24). From the middle of 1901 "I." published monthly, and since 1902 - every 2 weeks. On average, the circulation was 8 thousand copies, and some issues - up to 10 thousand. The foreign agents of the tsarist secret police attacked the trace of the newspaper, so in April 1902 the editors moved from Munich to London, and a year later - to Geneva. In addition to the newspaper, the editors of "I." published a magazine "Dawn", and also published over 50 books, pamphlets and proclamations in three years. Great help in organizing the publication of "I." the German Social Democrats K. Zetkin and A. Braun, the Polish revolutionary Yu. Markhlevsky, and the English Social Democrat K. Quelch.
For the help of the editors of "I." in Russia, 3 assistance groups were initially created: southern (in Poltava), northern (in Pskov), eastern (in Ufa). They received and distributed newspapers and other literature, collected money, sent correspondence, organized turnouts, established contacts with workers, individual Social Democrats, and various organizations. Then a strong point was created in Moscow; Iskra groups arose in Kyiv, Baku, Chisinau, and other cities. To Russia "I." (printed on thin paper) was transported: through the Scandinavian countries - to Arkhangelsk, through Königsberg to Kaunas, through Lviv to Kyiv, through Romania, Bulgaria to Odessa, through Alexandria to Kherson, through Marseille to Batumi, from Vienna through Tabriz (Tavriz) to Baku. Methods of transportation - in suitcases with a double bottom, in book bindings, in waterproof bags, in barrels that were dropped from steamers in Russian ports and then caught, etc.
3 underground printing houses were organized - in Chisinau, Uman and Baku (the so-called "Nina"), which reprinted individual issues of "I." and newspaper materials; circulation reached 10-12 thousand copies. The editors have established contact with almost 100 cities and settlements. Small Iskra groups arose in many cities of the country. The 44 issues of the newspaper, published before the 2nd Congress of the RSDLP, contain about 500 correspondence from workers from St. Petersburg, Moscow, the Central and Southern industrial regions of the country. The permanent sections in the newspaper were: "From the Party", "From Our Public Life", "Chronicle of the Labor Movement and Letters from Factories and Plants", "From the Village", "Foreign Review", "Mailbox".
"AND." was the spokesman for the revolutionary tasks of the new historical epoch. The epigraph of the newspaper was the words taken from the response of the Decembrists to A. S. Pushkin: “A flame will ignite from a spark.” "AND." diversified coverage of the internal life of Russia. The newspaper helped the workers, peasants, advanced intelligentsia to correctly understand the events taking place in the country, brought up the fighting, revolutionary spirit; became a platform for popular denunciations of the autocratic system. It defended revolutionary Marxist theory against opportunism (Bernsteinianism, "Economism"), persistently and consistently introduced socialist consciousness into the masses of the proletariat, waged a principled struggle against bourgeois liberalism and the petty-bourgeois ideology of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. "AND." paid serious attention to party work among peasants and soldiers; fought against nationalism, national strife, national oppression, colonialism; acted as a fiery preacher of the idea of the proletarian internationalism. "AND." supported and promoted advanced democratic culture, carried out the connection between the revolution and progressive literature. The newspaper devoted much attention to important events in international life, especially to the international workers' and national liberation movement.
All activities "I." was aimed at the struggle for the creation of a revolutionary party of the proletariat. Edition "I." after a sharp controversy between Lenin and Plekhanov, she worked out a Marxist program (published in June 1902) and a party charter. In January 1902, the Bureau of the Russian Iskra Organization was established in Samara. "AND." set the task of conquering the Social Democratic committees and organizations, which at that time numbered up to 50; became the ideological and organizational center of the Russian Marxists, the Russian labor movement. A network of agents developed around the newspaper, who distributed the newspaper throughout the country, sent correspondence to the editor, and organized Iskra groups. Agents of Iskra later formed the core of the Bolshevik Party. From the spring of 1902 "I." began preparations for the 2nd Congress of the RSDLP. The congress, held in the summer of 1903, in a special resolution noted the exceptional role of "I." in the struggle for the creation of the party, declared it the central organ of the RSDLP; elected the editors of Iskra, consisting of Lenin, Plekhanov and Martov. The latter insisted on keeping the 6 former editors and refused to work. 46‒51 issue "I." published under the editorship of Lenin and Plekhanov. On October 18 (31) Plekhanov, advocating peace with the opportunists, demanded that all former editors be co-opted into the editorial office. Lenin could not agree with the violation of the will of the congress and on October 19 (November 1) announced his withdrawal from the editorial board of I., No. 52 of I. published under the editorship of one Plekhanov. On November 13 (26), 1903, Plekhanov single-handedly co-opted into the editorial staff of I. all former editors. From the 53rd issue of "I." ceased to be a militant organ of revolutionary Marxism and became the newspaper of the Menshevik opportunists; The publication of the newspaper ceased in October 1905 at number 112. The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, created a newspaper in December 1904 "Forward", which revived the revolutionary traditions of "I." Lenin wrote: “In three years, 1900‒1903, Bolshevism spent the old Iskra and went out to fight Menshevism as an integral trend” (Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 19, p. 103). “... No other organization, except for the Iskra one,” said Lenin, “could, in our historical conditions, in Russia in 1900–1905, create such a Social Democratic Labor Party as has now been created” (ibid., vol. 16 , p. 103). Fight "I." for a new type of party was of vital importance for the creation of a truly revolutionary, Marxist proletarian party in Russia, for the entire international working-class movement. see also Bolshevik seal.
Publication: Iskra, No. 1–52, Dec. 1900 - Nov. 1903. Full text ed. and with preface. P. Lepeshinsky and will enter. Art. N, Krupskaya, v. 1–7, L., 1925–29.
Lit .: Lenin V.I., Draft statement of the editors of Iskra and Zarya, Poln. coll. soch., 5th ed., vol. 4; his own, How did the Iskra almost go out?, ibid.; his own, Statement of the Editorial Board of Iskra, ibid.; his, The Urgent Tasks of Our Movement, ibid.; his, Where to start?, ibid., vol. 5; Krupskaya N.K., Memories of Lenin, M., 1957; Volin M., Leninskaya Iskra (1900‒1903), M., 1964; Stepanov V. N., Lenin and the Russian organization "Iskra" 1900‒1903, M., 1968; History of the CPSU, vol. 1, M., 1964; Lenin's Iskra. On the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of the first issue, M., 1970 (bibl. p. 241–43).
M. I. Kuznetsov.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .
See what "Spark (newspaper)" is in other dictionaries:
- "ISKRA", the first Russian illegal Marxist newspaper, 11 (24) .12.1900 October 1905 (No. 112). No. 1 came out in Leipzig, with No. 2 in Munich, London, Geneva. The average circulation is 8 thousand copies. Contributed to the preparation of the Program and Charter of the party and ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary- Spark: Contents 1 Locality 2 Computers 3 Personalities 4 Enterprises 5 ... Wikipedia
NEWSPAPER. Some researchers associate the origin of this word with the name of a small silver coin (Gazetta), to which the Venetians paid in the Middle Ages for the first handwritten sheets with foreign information. In German G. Zeitung. According to… … Literary Encyclopedia
The first Russian illegal Marxist newspaper, 11 (24), 12/1900 October 1905 (. 112). . 1 came out in Leipzig, p. 2 in Munich, London, Geneva. The average circulation is 8 thousand copies. Contributed to the preparation of the Program and Charter of the party and the convocation of the 2nd ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
I Iskra Zakhary Yuryevich (died around 1730), one of the leaders of the right-bank Ukrainian Cossacks, a Cossack colonel (Kodatsky, then Korsunsky). In 1702 1704, together with the Cossack colonels Paliy, Samus and Abazin, he headed ... ...
spark- , s, f. 1. Translated. A glimpse, the beginning of something. // in title newspapers. ◘ Iskra, the first all-Russian political Marxist illegal newspaper created by V.I. Lenin. BES, 506. "Lenin sparks" (Pionerskaya gazeta, Leningrad). // in title… … Dictionary the language of the Soviets
printed periodical, which publishes materials about current events; the most important weapon political struggle, one of the main media in the system of mass media and propaganda. The main difference between G. and other types ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
This newspaper played an important role in the development of the revolutionary movement in Russia.
This rarity was preserved by our fellow countryman Abdraman Mamyrbaev, about whom there is a little material on the site. Provided for publication by the Mamyrbaev family.
Open Content in the Cloud
Below is an overview of the Iskra newspaper.
"Spark", the first all-Russian political Marxist illegal newspaper, created by V. I. Lenin in 1900.
According to the plan worked out by Lenin in exile (village of Shushenskoye) in 1899-1900, the newspaper was supposed to help overcome the ideological confusion and organizational fragmentation, cottage industry that reigned in these years in the activities of Russian Social Democracy, and free Social Democracy from the dominance of opportunist elements (“ economists”, etc.), to give purposefulness to the spontaneous labor movement, to rally the local social democratic organizations and groups on the principles of revolutionary Marxism. Lenin meant to make "I." the organizer of the revolutionary Marxist party of the working class of Russia, who could solve the historical tasks facing him. After the end of his exile (January 29, 1900), Lenin visited Ufa, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Syzran, Podolsk, Riga, Smolensk to establish contacts with the Social Democrats and familiarize them with the plan; In April 1900, he held the Pskov Conference (L. Martov, A. N. Potresov, P. B. Struve, and others), at which Lenin’s Draft Declaration of the Editorial Board of Iskra and Zarya was approved. After the meeting, Lenin did a great job of organizing a ubiquitous network of correspondents for the future newspaper. In July 1900, in Switzerland, Lenin began negotiations with group "Emancipation of Labor"
, together with which it was decided to publish a newspaper.
The editors included: V. I. Lenin, G. V. Plekhanov, L. Martov, P. B. Axelrod, V. I. Zasulich, A. N. Potresov. The secretary was at first I. G. Smidovich-Leman, and from April 1901 - N. K. Krupskaya. The inspirer and leader of the newspaper was Lenin; he wrote articles in "I." on the most important questions of building the party and the revolutionary movement (for 1900-03 more than 50 of his articles were published in I.). Lenin determined the ideological and political direction of the newspaper, developed a plan for each of its issues, edited articles, found authors, and took care of transporting the newspaper to Russia.
The seat of the editorial office "I." Munich was chosen. The first number "I." dated December 1900, it was typed and laid out in Leipzig by December 11 (24). From the middle of 1901 "I." published monthly, and since 1902 - every 2 weeks. On average, the circulation was 8 thousand copies, and some issues - up to 10 thousand. Foreign agents of the tsarist secret police attacked the trace of the newspaper, so in April 1902 the editors moved from Munich to London, and a year later - to Geneva. In addition to the newspaper, the editors of "I." published a magazine "Dawn", and also published over 50 books, pamphlets and proclamations in three years. Great help in organizing the publication of "I." the German Social Democrats K. Zetkin and A. Braun, the Polish revolutionary Yu. Markhlevsky, and the English Social Democrat K. Quelch.
For the help of the editors of "I." in Russia, 3 assistance groups were initially created: southern (in Poltava), northern (in Pskov), eastern (in Ufa). They received and distributed newspapers and other literature, collected money, sent correspondence, organized turnouts, established contacts with workers, individual Social Democrats, and various organizations. Then a strong point was created in Moscow; Iskra groups arose in Kyiv, Baku, Kishinev, and other cities. To Russia "I." (printed on thin paper) was transported: through the Scandinavian countries - to Arkhangelsk, through Königsberg to Kaunas, through Lviv to Kyiv, through Romania, Bulgaria to Odessa, through Alexandria to Kherson, through Marseille to Batumi, from Vienna through Tabriz (Tavriz) to Baku. Methods of transportation - in suitcases with a double bottom, in book bindings, in waterproof bags, in barrels that were dropped from steamers in Russian ports and then caught, etc.
3 underground printing houses were organized - in Chisinau, Uman and Baku (the so-called "Nina"), which reprinted individual issues of "I." and newspaper materials; circulation reached 10-12 thousand copies. The editors have established contact with almost 100 cities and towns. Small Iskra groups arose in many cities of the country. The 44 issues of the newspaper, published before the 2nd Congress of the RSDLP, contain about 500 correspondence from workers from St. Petersburg, Moscow, the Central and Southern industrial regions of the country. The permanent sections in the newspaper were: "From the Party", "From Our Public Life", "Chronicle of the Labor Movement and Letters from Factories and Plants", "From the Village", "Foreign Review", "Mailbox".
"AND." was the spokesman for the revolutionary tasks of the new historical era. The epigraph of the newspaper was the words taken from the response of the Decembrists to A. S. Pushkin: “A flame will ignite from a spark.” "AND." diversified coverage of the internal life of Russia. The newspaper helped the workers, peasants, advanced intelligentsia to correctly understand the events taking place in the country, brought up the fighting, revolutionary spirit; became a platform for popular denunciations of the autocratic system. It defended revolutionary Marxist theory against opportunism (Bernsteinianism, "Economism"), persistently and consistently introduced socialist consciousness into the masses of the proletariat, waged a principled struggle against bourgeois liberalism and the petty-bourgeois ideology of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. "AND." paid serious attention to party work among peasants and soldiers; fought against nationalism, national strife, national oppression, colonialism; acted as a fiery preacher of the idea of the proletarian internationalism . "AND." supported and promoted advanced democratic culture, carried out the connection between the revolution and progressive literature. The newspaper devoted much attention to important events in international life, especially to the international workers' and national liberation movement.
All activities "I." was aimed at the struggle for the creation of a revolutionary party of the proletariat. Edition "I." after a sharp controversy between Lenin and Plekhanov, she worked out a Marxist program (published in June 1902) and a party charter. In January 1902, the Bureau of the Russian Iskra Organization was established in Samara. "AND." set the task of conquering the Social Democratic committees and organizations, which at that time numbered up to 50; became the ideological and organizational center of the Russian Marxists, the Russian labor movement. A network of agents developed around the newspaper, who distributed the newspaper throughout the country, sent correspondence to the editor, and organized Iskra groups. Agents of Iskra later formed the core of the Bolshevik Party. From the spring of 1902 "I." began preparations for the 2nd Congress of the RSDLP. The congress, which took place in the summer of 1903, in a special resolution noted the exceptional role of "I." in the struggle for the creation of the party, declared it the central organ of the RSDLP; elected the editors of Iskra, consisting of Lenin, Plekhanov and Martov. The latter insisted on keeping the 6 former editors and refused to work. 46-51st issue "I." published under the editorship of Lenin and Plekhanov. On October 18 (31) Plekhanov, advocating peace with the opportunists, demanded that all former editors be co-opted into the editorial office. Lenin could not agree with the violation of the will of the congress and on October 19 (November 1) announced his withdrawal from the editorial board of I., No. 52 of I. published under the editorship of one Plekhanov. On November 13 (26), 1903, Plekhanov single-handedly co-opted into the editorial staff of I. all former editors. From the 53rd issue of "I." ceased to be a militant organ of revolutionary Marxism and became the newspaper of the Menshevik opportunists; The publication of the newspaper ceased in October 1905 at number 112. The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, created a newspaper in December 1904 "Forward", which revived the revolutionary traditions of "I." Lenin wrote: “In three years, 1900-1903, Bolshevism spent the old Iskra and went out to fight Menshevism as an integral trend” (Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 19, p. 103). “... No other organization, except for the Iskra one,” said Lenin, “could, in our historical conditions, in Russia in 1900-1905, create such a Social Democratic Labor Party, which has now been created” (ibid., vol. 16, p. .103). Fight "I." for a new type of party was of vital importance for the creation of a truly revolutionary, Marxist proletarian party in Russia, for the entire international labor movement.
Publication: Iskra, No. 1-52, Dec. 1900 - Nov. 1903. Full text ed. and with preface. P. Lepeshinsky and will enter. Art. N, Krupskaya, v. 1-7, L., 1925-29.
Lit.: Lenin, V.I., Draft statement by the editors of Iskra and Zarya, Poln. coll. soch., 5th ed., vol. 4; his own, How did the Iskra almost go out?, ibid.; his own, Statement of the Editorial Board of Iskra, ibid.; his, The Urgent Tasks of Our Movement, ibid.; his, Where to start?, ibid., vol. 5; Krupskaya N.K., Memories of Lenin, M., 1957; Volin M., Lenin's "Iskra" (1900-1903), M., 1964; Stepanov V.N., Lenin and the Russian organization "Iskra" 1900-1903, M., 1968; History of the CPSU, vol. 1, M., 1964; Lenin's Iskra. On the seventieth anniversary of the first issue, M., 1970 (bibl. p. 241-43).
M. I. Kuznetsov.
The most common view of Lenin's plan to create a party comes down to a retelling of the ideas of Ilyich, set out in his works "Where to start?" and "What to do?". The essence of this plan is to organize an all-Russian political Marxist newspaper, which will be a collective agitator, propagandist and organizer.
In fact, Lenin had TWO PLANS:
THE FIRST- concerned the organization of the process of creating the party.
BUT SECOND- this is the development of a model of the party, that is, a sketch or vision (with emphasis on the first syllable) of the party that he wanted to create - with certain goals, structure, principles of activity.
FIRST PLAN LENINA - the process of creating a party
- part 1. The Iskra newspaper as an agitator and propagandist
Idea and its developmentThe idea of creating a party newspaper, of course, was not Lenin's "discovery" or "invention". And A. Potresov, Y. Martov and other social democrats actively participated in the development of the plan for the creation of Iskra, which is called "Leninist".
From the history of the revolutionary political media, Chartist newspapers, K. Marx's New Rhine Gazette, and Jean-Paul Marat's Friend of the People are also known. One can recall the publishing activities of A.I. Herzen and his "Polar Star" and "The Bell", and in Russia as early as May 15, 1880, the Northern Union of Russian Workers published one issue of the first workers' newspaper "Working Dawn", and in 1885 Blagoev's group illegally published 2 issues of the newspaper "Worker".
The Social Democrats understood the importance of the newspaper. And Lenin too.
Lenin began his journey into big politics in the autumn of 1893, when he arrived in St. Petersburg and joined the Marxist circle of technology students (S.I. Radchenko, V.V. Starkov, P.K. Zaporozhets, G.M. Krzhizhanovsky, A. A. Vaneev, M. A. Silvin and others), in 1894 he began to conduct classes in working circles, soon became acquainted with more experienced and well-known Marxists - A. N. Potresov, P. B. Struve, M. I. Tugan - Baranovsky.
In December 1894, due to a delay on the eve of the holidays wages spontaneously began a "rebellion" at the Nevsky shipbuilding and mechanical plant (Semyannikovsky). The workers were smashed at the entrance office and the factory shop, and the windows in the factory buildings were smashed. Cossacks, police, gendarmes were called in to suppress the unrest. The workers' wages were paid the same evening.
Lenin (with the help of the Social Democrat worker I.V. Babushkin) wrote the text of a leaflet (leaflet) about these events, which was handwritten in several copies and distributed in the workshops of the plant.
The second leaflet, titled “What Port Workers Should Achieve,” was issued by a group of Social-Democrats. in February 1895 in connection with the strike in the New Port, caused by the arbitrary lengthening of the working day by the administration.The leaflets (leaflets) formulated the claims and demands of the workers, the leaflets were distributed, the demands of the workers of one plant became known to others, aroused sympathy, and also formed a positive attitude towards the authors and "publishers" of the leaflets.
At the beginning of 1895, Lenin was one of the participants in a meeting of members of social democratic groups from different cities of Russia, at which it was decided to establish direct ties with G. Plekhanov's Emancipation of Labor group. Two people were "commanded", but only Lenin was able to go. In April, he went to Switzerland, where he met with members of the Emancipation of Labor group G. Plekhanov, P. Axelrod, and then, having received letters of recommendation to prominent European socialists, he visited Paris, Berlin, spent several weeks on treatment in one of the sanatoriums in Switzerland and in September 1895 he returned to St. Petersburg, visiting Vilna, Moscow, Orekhovo-Zuevo along the way. One of the results of the trip was the establishment of ties with the Social-Democrats. emigrants who organized the illegal transportation of illegal literature across the border (From Berlin through Vilna to Russia).
It was also there (in Geneva) that Lenin's first quarrel with Plekhanov and Axelrod took place over the attitude towards the liberals, about which Lenin was told: "You turn your back on the liberals, and we turn our faces."Autumn 1895 after the arrival in St. Petersburg of Y. Martov (from exile in Vilna), who became the head of one of the Marxist circles, the Marxists of St. Petersburg decide to create a single organization. At first, two groups united - the Martov group and the "technologists" group, which also included Lenin. A meeting was held at the apartment of Stepan and Lyubov Radchenko, a leading center (Lenin, Zederbaum, Krzhizhanovsky, Starkov and Vaneev) was chosen, and the structure of the organization was outlined.
We agreed with the former Narodnaya Volya that they would be able to print in their underground printing house in Lakhta (a place not far from St. Petersburg).In November a strike breaks out (about 500 people) at the Thornton weaving factory in St. Petersburg. Before the start of the strike, a leaflet was issued outlining the demands of the textile workers, written by G. Krzhizhanovsky, and after the strike, another one written by Lenin.
The leaflets of those years (or as they were called "leaves") really represented ordinary sheets of paper in half, or even a third of an A4 sheet, on which the text was finely printed.
This is a flyer from 1895.The leaders of the united St. Petersburg Social Democratic groups decided to start issuing a newspaper and on December 8, 1895, having gathered at the apartment of N.K. For the first issue of the newspaper, Lenin wrote several notes (and one of them with the bright title "What are our ministers thinking about?").
A.A. Vaneev took one test copy with him, the second remained with N. Krupskaya. And on the night of December 8-9, the arrests began. Lawyer V.Lenin, student P.Zaporozhets, engineers G.Krzhizhanovsky and V.Starkov, workers N.Merkulov, V.Shelgunov, A.Vaneev were in the first wave of those arrested - 57 people in total.The leaders of the organization who remained at large (Radchenko, Martov, Lyakhovsky, Silvin, Dan) gave it a name - "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class" and managed to publish a leaflet about past arrests, but on the night of January 4-5, Martov, Lyakhovsky, Babushkin, Takhtarev and others were arrested. And then A. Potresov, S. Radchenko had to lead the "Union ..." - but also not for long.
In January 1896 The "Union of Struggle ..." printed the first issue of its newspaper "St. Petersburg Rabochiy Listok" - a circulation of several hundred copies on a mimeograph. By the first of May, the "Union of Struggle ..." issued a leaflet with a circulation of 2,000 copies, and soon - it began - strikes literally shook St. Petersburg, which also spread to Moscow.
At the end of May 1896 the textile workers went on strike - the reason was the refusal of the owners of the St. Petersburg manufacturers to give the workers the usual wages for the days of the “coronation celebrations”, which they were forced to “skip”.
At a secret meeting of representatives of the workers of the striking factories, which took place at the end of May in Yekateringof Park, the demands of the workers were formulated and, at the request of the representatives of the striking enterprises, they were published by the "Union of Struggle" in the form of a leaflet entitled: "What do the workers of the St. Petersburg paper spinning mills demand," which stated:
“We want our working day to last everywhere from 7:00 to 7:00. morning until 7 o'clock. pm, instead of the current 6 o'clock. morning until 8 o'clock. evenings.
So that lunchtime lasts an hour and a half, and thus the working day continues until 10 1/2 instead of 13.
To raise prices everywhere...
To sabbaths on Saturdays everywhere at the same time at 2 o'clock ...
To be fully paid for the coronation days”
The strikers were supported by the workers of the Nevsky, Putilov and other factories. Meetings of workers were held at factories and outside the city, 13 proclamations were issued by the "Union of Struggle ...". More than 30,000 textile workers took part in the strike.
Some demands of the workers were satisfied by the owners, some promised to consider, but the authorities did not forget to arrest about 1,000 people - instigators, instigators, organizers. And information about the strike got into the newspapers (including foreign ones) and caused a resonance in society.
By the way, in August 1896 30 more people were arrested (including N. Krupskaya), and in December and A. Potresov. In total, 251 people, including 170 workers, were arrested in the Union of Struggle case.
BUT in September 1896 The second issue of the newspaper "St. Petersburg Rabochiy Listok" was printed - already in a typographical way and not in Russia, but in Switzerland.
But the strikes went on and on. June 2, 1897 a law was issued on the reduction of the working day in factories and plants (during daytime work - up to 11 1/2 hours, and at night - up to 10 hours a day) and on the establishment of holiday rest.
Leaflets of the "Union of Struggle..." made the demands of the workers of one factory known to the workers of other enterprises and helped to generalize the disparate claims against the owners and make them the demands of the proletariat of many enterprises, to which it was already difficult not to react. And the strikes "hurried" the authorities with the adoption of the law.
In the leaflets of the "Union ...", in addition to the demands of the workers, there were also purely political slogans: "Workers of all countries, unite!", "The shameful chains of bondage will fall!"
And if the Social Democrats also had a newspaper, but a regular one ...
After the arrests, Lenin and his associates spent about a year in prison. While in prison, in 1896 Lenin wrote the pamphlet "On Strikes", the leaflet "To the Tsarist Government", began writing "The Development of Capitalism in Russia" and wrote "The Draft and Explanation of the Program of the Social Democratic Party" (with milk between the lines of some book , which he handed over to freedom) - Lenin's last work was probably "inspired" by G.V. Plekhanov, who wrote two draft programs of Russian social democracy.
In January 1897 those arrested in the case of the "Union of Struggle ..." were sent into exile under the open supervision of the police, most of them to Siberia (22 people). Before leaving, we spent several days at liberty and took pictures.
members of the St. Petersburg Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class
(photo taken in February 1897)
from left to right:
standing: A. L. Malchenko, P. K. Zaporozhets, A. A. Vaneev
sitting: V. V. Starkov, G. M. Krzhizhanovsky, V. I. Ulyanov, Yu. O. MartovIn Siberia (Lenin was in Shushenskoye, where he traveled on his own, that is, quite comfortably), Lenin was engaged in literary activity for a couple of years, some of his works were published both legally (with payment of a fee) and illegally. At the end of 1897, he wrote the pamphlet The Tasks of the Russian Social Democrats, which was published by the Emancipation of Labor group in Geneva.
In this work, Lenin writes about the tasks of propaganda, agitation directed primarily at the factory proletariat, as "the most susceptible to social democratic ideas, the most developed intellectually and politically" and characterizes the "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class" as "the germ of a revolutionary party", and ends with the call:
"So, get to work, comrades! Let's not waste precious time! The Russian Social-Democrats have a lot of work to do in satisfying the demands of the awakening proletariat, in organizing the working-class movement, in strengthening the revolutionary groups and their mutual connection, in supplying the workers with propaganda and agitational literature, to unite the workers' circles and Social-Democratic groups scattered all over Russia into a single Social-Democratic Labor Party!"
In Shushenskoye, he completed work on the book "The Development of Capitalism in Russia" and April 28, 1899 in the newspaper "Russian Vedomosti" an announcement is published about the release of the book: "Vladimir Ilyin. Development of capitalism in Russia. The process of formation of the internal market for large-scale industry. Price 2 rub. 50 kopecks, page 480”.
At the end of 1899 Lenin received an offer from the Central Committee of the Bund, which had gathered to resume the publication of Rabochaya Gazeta, to head the editorial board. Lenin agreed and sent several articles - "Our Program", "Our Immediate Task" and "The Urgent Question".
The time for release was approaching and Lenin was considering practical actions.
The closest listeners of Lenin's revolutionary and publishing plans during his exile were N.K. Krupskaya and G. Krzhizhanovsky (who recalled conversations with Ilyich during walks along the banks of the Yenisei). But Lenin discussed practical issues with A. Potresov and Yu. Martov (in letters). And Potresov, by the way, corresponded with Plekhanov.
They wrote about their ideas and plans in letters, of course, not openly, but conspiratorially - or with diluted milk. or lemon juice between the lines.
Why this trio became the initiator of the creation of the future Iskra?
They understood that "their own" regularly published newspaper was needed. You can, of course, publish articles in legal publications, but, firstly, you won’t especially sign them (censorship won’t allow it, and the workers don’t read it), and secondly, criticize P. Struve in a publication that he himself didn’t organize it will work out very well. The émigré Social-Democratic Rabocheye Dyelo will not agree to give pages for criticism of itself. And the "economists" and "legal Marxists" were Lenin's ideological opponents and rivals. Thirdly, the regularity of legal and illegal publications leaves much to be desired. And if you denounce the autocracy and generally fight it, then this must be done regularly, systematically and in an organized manner.
It's time to end the "handicraft". And this, by the way, is relevant not only for that time, but also for the present.
"Rabochaya Gazeta" as a publication was quite suitable, especially since all three could act as editors. Martov (from the time of exile in Vilna) had connections with the BUND, Potresov was well acquainted with Plekhanov and had experience in publishing. And Lenin, as a writer, was industrious, wrote well, and besides, he had good contacts with legal publications. In addition, it was Rabochaya Gazeta that was approved by the first party congress as the official party organ. So Lenin, Martov and Potresov agreed that after their release they would meet in Pskov and the three of them would continue to work. And on the way to Pskov, they will establish contacts with the Social Democrats and look for sponsors.
Companions:Julius Osipovich Martov(Zederbaum) was born in 1873, graduated from the gymnasium in St. Petersburg, studied at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the University. He was first arrested for distributing illegal literature already in 1892 - a second-year student was expelled from the university, sentenced to 5 months in prison and two years of exile in non-university cities of his own choice under open police supervision. He chose Vilna, where he participated in the creation of the BUND. In October 1895 he returned to St. Petersburg, where he initiated the creation and one of the leaders of the Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class, which united several Marxist circles. After the arrest of Lenin in December 1895, he headed the "Union of Struggle ...", after his arrest in January 1896 and a year in prison, he was exiled to Siberia, while he ended up in the northernmost point of the Yenisei province - Turukhansk. While in exile, he wrote several brochures and articles, translated the book of the German economist G. Herkner “The Labor Question in Western Europe(published in 1899). He was released in January 1900, but was able to leave Siberia only in March.
Alexander Nikolaevich Potresov Graduated from the natural faculty of St. Petersburg. university and additionally two law courses. He was well acquainted with G.V. Plekhanov and organized the legal (!!!) publication of two of his works - “On the Development of a Monistic View of History” (author - N. Beltov) and “Justification of Populism in the Works of Mr. Vorontsov (V.V.)” (author - A . Volgin). After the arrest of Lenin and Martov, he became one of the leaders of the "Union of Struggle ...", but was arrested in December 1896 and exiled to the city of Orlov, Vyatka province. It was thanks to Potresov that the second issue of the Union of Struggle newspaper was published. Released at the beginning of 1900. In Potresov's entourage, among the exiles were the future organizers of Iskra and the party - N. Bauman, F. Dan, V. Kozhevnikova, I. Smidovich, M. Leman, A. Kuznetsova. K. Zakharova, V. Vorovsky.
Lenin, after his release, visited St. Petersburg, where he met with V.I. Zasulich (from the Emancipation of Labor group), then at the end of February 1900 he arrived in Pskov. Potresov was already there.
The Ekaterinoslav Committee of the RSDLP, the Bund, and the foreign Union of Russian Social Democrats, meanwhile, planned not only to resume publication of the newspaper, but also to hold a second party congress in the spring of 1900 in Smolensk. Lenin even received a mandate to participate in the congress. However, neither the congress nor the publication of the newspaper could be started. The reason is simple - the police discovered an underground printing house, made more than a hundred arrests in Yekaterinoslav, Kharkov, Poltava, Kremenchug - as a result, the congress scheduled for May 6 and already technically prepared did not take place.
By the way, the party congress in those days was not a mass meeting of hundreds of delegates in concert hall with crowds of journalists, television cameras. This is a collection of several dozen people who make their way to the agreed meeting place, looking around to see if there are any gendarmes. And they are not sitting in a conference room with a podium and rows of chairs, but simply in some large room around a large table with a not very bright lamp, tea on the table, and many more smoking at the same time. Not at all solemnly parade, but very casual and not romantic.
After it became known that it was necessary to start all over again, final negotiations on publishing plans were held in Pskov, and C I. Radchenko (member of the St. Petersburg "Union of Struggle..." and one of its leaders) and the so-called "legal Marxists" - P. B. Struve (author of the Manifesto of the RSDLP) and M. I. Tugan-Baranovsky. By the way, the name of the newspaper - "Iskra" and the epigraph to it were proposed by A.N. Potresov.
Lenin, Martov, and especially Potresov did not consider "legal Marxists" to be their allies, but they did not make a fundamental break with them. And the reason was simple - to quarrel with the future "liberals" meant to "cut off" some of the potential sponsors for whom Struve was an authority. And if the Social Democrats themselves (the same Potresov) were able to allocate some funds for the new revolutionary newspaper, then the main sponsors of Iskra were, of course, not the proletarians, but people, let's say, not the poor. Struve and Tugan-Baranovsky themselves helped a little.
After Martov's arrival in Pskov, Lenin, Martov and Potresov confirmed the concluded "alliance" - that the three of them would carry out further activities in creating and publishing the newspaper. In fact, they founded the Iskra group, which later was one of the participants in many negotiations on the creation of the party.
In April Potresov went to Switzerland to begin negotiations with Plekhanov, while Martov traveled to the south of Russia (to establish contacts) and returned to Pskov on May 19. On the same day, together with Lenin, they went to Petersburg, where May 21st were arrested - it was impossible for exiles to come to the capital.
Lenin said: “They grabbed both elbows right, so there was no way to throw anything out of the pockets. And on the cab, two people held both elbows all the way.”
It is noteworthy that the police confiscated 1300 rubles sewn into the lining of the vest from Lenin (Lenin explained that this was part of the fee received for the published book - and this was not true, because in fact it was money collected for Iskra) and also all sorts of pieces of paper, one of which contained a list of secret connections abroad, made by a chemical method. But the gendarmes paid no attention to her.
Ten days in prison - and the young revolutionaries are free again.
Martov went to Poltava, and Lenin through Ufa, Smolensk, Nizhny Novgorod to Podolsk to his mother, and from there to Switzerland. On the way, he met with his comrades in exile and agreed on assistance to the newspaper, on correspondence, on ciphers in correspondence, and on assistance with financing.
Within a few months, thanks to the efforts of Lenin, Martov and Potresov, contacts were established with many cities and the strongholds of the newspaper were determined - "freelance correspondents", distributors, appearances, connections, passwords.
In July 1900, A. N. Potresov arrived in Switzerland, followed by V. I. Lenin, they met with members of the Emancipation of Labor group and agreed on the publication of the Iskra newspaper and the Zarya magazine, discussed the program and the tasks of the newspaper and magazine, the composition of potential employees, the composition of the editorial board, its location and other issues.
At the same time, there were first friction: it was difficult for the newly formed editorial board to agree on who would lead: Plekhanov is an authority, but the idea is not his, but the youth is active, but green ... Subsequently, Lenin even writes an article about how Iskra almost went out . But they still managed to find a compromise - six people entered the editorial office, and Plekhanov had two votes.
Who was cunning there, and who was stubborn - but what difference does it make to us? Agreed and okay.
Then Lenin, with recommendations from Plekhanov and Axelrod, left for Munich, where the editors settled (Lenin did not really want to work in direct contact with Plekhanov, and editing should be done where the publishing house is located). N. Krupskaya arrived in autumn.
The editors of Iskra included V. I. Lenin, G. V. Plekhanov, L. Martov, P. B. Axelrod, A. N. Potresov, and V. I. Zasulich. Three - from the Iskra group, three - from the Emancipation of Labor. The secretary of the editorial office was at first I. G. Smidovich-Leman, and then, from the spring of 1901, N. K. Krupskaya, who was also in charge of all Iskra's correspondence with Russian social democratic organizations.
Inna Smidovich- was arrested in August 1895 in the case of the "St. Petersburg Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class", exiled to the Vyatka province, escaped and since 1899 - in Switzerland. After the second congress, the RSDLP joined the Mensheviks, then the anarchists. After 1917, she was subjected to repressions and worked as a simple factory worker until her death in 1942.
Lev Deutsch- was born in 1855, since 1874 in the populist movement, arrested in 1876, arrested again in 1877, fled, emigrated in 1880, participated in the creation of the Emancipation of Labor group, was engaged in the publication of literature and illegal transportation across the border, in In 1884 he was arrested by the German authorities, extradited to Russia, sentenced to 13 years in hard labor (the term was reduced). in 1901 he fled to Munich via Vladivostok. He was engaged in publishing Iskra and transporting it to Russia, at the Second Congress he joined the Mensheviks, in 1906 he was arrested, exiled, fled ...
Nadezhda Krupskaya- was born in 1869 in St. Petersburg in a poor noble family (father - a lieutenant, mother - a governess), in 1890 she joined a Marxist circle, taught at a working school, in 1894 she met V. Ulyanov, participated in the work of the "Union of Struggle for liberation of the working class", in August 1896 she was arrested, after 7 months of imprisonment she was sent to the Ufa province, she came as a bride to Lenin in Shushenskoye, where they got married. In 1901 she left for Germany. In Iskra, she was engaged in correspondence with Iskra agents (including encryption), editing individual notes.
By 1900, both in Russia and abroad, there were already several dozen Marxist groups and circles. Some of them were engaged in publishing activities. However, their achievements were modest (there was not enough money, and the gendarmes interfered). They mainly published leaflets (leaflets), sometimes brochures, less often magazines (in fact, collections of articles).
It is worth noting that the emigrant Social Democracy (whose numbers had grown in comparison with 1883, when the first Marxist group "Emancipation of Labor" was created) experienced in 1898-1900. period of controversy and controversy. The emigrant Marxist youth, speaking in a modern way, slightly "ran into" the main Russian Marxist G.V. Plekhanov.
It is difficult to understand the relationship between numerous emigrant circles and groups - several people gather, take on a name, start work, then quarrel, "reformat" ...
On the initiative of the Emancipation of Labor group, the Union of Russian Social Democrats Abroad was founded in Geneva in 1894, and in 1898 it was recognized by the First Party Congress as the representative of the party abroad. The "Union ..." published 6 issues of the collections "Worker", 10 issues of the "Leaflet of the" Worker "", published several brochures (including the work of V. I. Lenin "Explanation of the Law on Fines" (1897), G. V. Plekhanov "A New Campaign Against Russian Social Democracy" (1897) and others).
However, the members of the "Union..." were critical of the Manifesto adopted at the First Party Congress, in turn, Plekhanov proposed to expel the supporters of "economism" Kuskova and Prokopovich from the "Union..." - the comrades-in-arms refused. And then Plekhanov at first refused to edit part of the publications of the Union, and at the second congress of the Union ... its founders from the Emancipation of Labor group separated from the Union ... and created an independent organization, Social-Democrat.
In the spring of 1899, the Soyuz... (already without Plekhanov) began publishing the journal Rabocheye Delo, which Lenin described as the main organ of Economism. The publishers, by the way, did not think so, and for the workers in the first place were economic issues, not political ones. What is there to hide.
So for Plekhanov, the proposal of Potresov and Lenin to start publishing a newspaper that would become the ideological center and organizational backbone of the party was attractive. Plekhanov and his colleagues received a regular printed rostrum.
But Lenin, Potresov, and a little later, Martov, who came to see them, gained their own benefit from cooperation with Plekhanov. In the person of Plekhanov, they received, firstly, an authoritative personality both in Russia and abroad (including in the international social democracy). And secondly, it was precisely thanks to Plekhanov that they managed to establish contacts with the German Social Democrats, who could help with the publication of the newspaper, which, as you know, is not an easy task.
And in 1900, hopes that "foreign countries will help us" began to be realized. The German Social Democrats Dietz, Lehman and Clara Zetkin assisted in the publication of the newspaper. The Polish revolutionary Yu. Markhlevsky and the English Social Democrat K. Kwelch helped in the publication of Iskra. The notorious Parvus also helped in the publication. » in a suitcase with a double bottom.
So those researchers who say that the October Revolution was financed by the Kaiser can start looking for "German money" as early as 1900. And at the same time English and Polish.
Of course, Lenin could have connected his activities with the already existing Rabochaye Dyelo, but there he would have been one of the editorial staff members, who, moreover, disagreed with the editors. We also note that Rabocheye Dyelo in Russia itself most likely enjoyed moderate influence (however, there is no way to really assess this, so it’s not worth making assumptions).
Lenin and Potresov agreed with Plekhanov to publish not only the newspaper Iskra, but also the magazine Zarya (moreover, latest edition Plekhanov was especially interested).
The attitude towards the initiative of Iskra to become the center of the unification of the Marxists of Russia caused an ambiguous reaction among the Marxists themselves in Russia (and among the Marxist émigrés as well): what kind of literary and political group is this that wants to unite everyone? After all, Lenin, Potresov and Martov themselves (the initiators of the creation of Iskra) did not have much experience in revolutionary activity, and besides, they had just returned from exile. There could also be doubts of a different kind: do they themselves understand Marxism correctly?
After all, perhaps the most important thing is that social democracy in Russia was in its infancy.
Not everyone believed that it was really time to create a proletarian party. Were the proletarians themselves prepared for this?
In Rabochy Dyelo (which was published by the Social-Democratic Union left abroad by Plekhanov), one of its editors, Krichevsky, wrote: “The Social Democratic Party does not grow on a “conspiratorial basis”, but only from below, from local organizations and associations ... Newspaper cannot create a party organization, on the contrary, the latter creates a newspaper.
And Martynov noted that "... if the Iskra plan had been carried out, it would have led to the complete eradication of the traces of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party that is taking shape in our country."On the other hand, to exchange experience, to unite disparate circles and groups, to improve and coordinate work, that is, it is really necessary to create a party, and not all Social Democrats had enough resources to publish their own newspapers and pamphlets (and often leaflets) locally.
So, probably, they could argue in Russia.
But before the first issue of Iskra appeared, one more attempt to call a party congress- it was carried out in September 1900 by the "Southern Worker", the BUND and the foreign Union of Social-Democrats. The attempt again turned out to be unsuccessful - only two delegates arrived from Russia - from Odessa and Kharkov.
At the end of September, at the Fifth International Socialist Congress of the Second International in Paris, the Russian delegation elected G. V. Plekhanov and B. N. Krichevsky as representatives of the RSDLP to the International Socialist Bureau. Plekhanov was a supporter of the speedy re-establishment of the party, Krichevsky was inclined to believe that there was no need to rush.
And the editors of Iskra-Zarya worked hard to launch the newspaper and the magazine - they prepared materials, edited them, naturally argued. And, of course, she solved technical issues - fonts, paper, money.
Editors of Iskra
G.V.Plekhanov, V.I.Lenin, Yu.O.Martov.
(the rest are conspiratorial)What was it in essence of the plan, which was developed during all these meetings, negotiations, pronouncements?
1. The newspaper must be published abroad, and delivered to Russia illegally. And the editors should also be based abroad.
2. A delivery and distribution network in Russia should be organized - the newspaper should be received all social democratic committees and regularly. So this needs to be done professionally. And that means we need professionals. But they must be able not only to deceive the gendarmes at the frontier, but also to convince the local Social-Democrats that they need the newspaper and that it is useful.
3. The newspaper must be all-Russian and political. And to be needed and interesting locally, it must contain local materials. If aiming at the creation of a party, then the newspaper should propagate this party line. And a political newspaper will be made not only by theoretical arguments, but also by "political denunciations" (Lenin's term).
4. There are few resources on the ground, and the gendarmes are persecuting. And here they offer a ready-made political publication - take it and distribute it. They also ask for correspondence. What's bad? There is no need to make your own local newspaper - to look for (or arrange) a printing house, fonts, as well as writers. Such publication will be convenient and profitable for local committees.
5. As the newspaper spreads, which will pursue a certain "political line" (in particular, expose "economists" and "legal Marxists"), it will be possible to establish not only literary and correspondent relations, but also provide organizational assistance to local committees - send them to the path of a decisive revolutionary struggle against the autocracy, and not only to win partial economic concessions.
6. Local committees that agree to elect Iskra as their media will simply be forced to go through the path of purging themselves of supporters of "economism" and recognize Iskra as their ideological leader, and its publishers as the real organizers of a real party congress of a real revolutionary party that has dissociated itself from all sorts of opportunistic imitations of Marxism.
7. After local support for the "Iskra" (Leninist) line has been secured, it will be possible to convene a congress.
8. The newspaper's "distributors" (Iskra's agents) must also be able to communicate with sponsors (let's call them that) and find sponsors.
Such an algorithm has been implemented. A network of "Iskra agents" was set up to smuggle the newspaper across the border, hand it over to local representatives, collect correspondence from the localities, talk to local leaders, assess the state of affairs, help local organizations in their work, and gradually achieve recognition of Iskra as the main social-democratic organ, and the "Iskrists" as the main organizers of the process of re-creating the party.
At the same time, during the first months of the newspaper's existence, the role of Lenin, and Martov and Potresov, was not advertised.
In the notice of the publication of the first issue of Iskra, its initiators were not mentioned at all. The text said that "we" (that is, some unnamed publishers of the newspaper) were going to pursue the line of genuine Marxism, that "we" were striving to resume the activities of the party created in 1898) and the most interesting:
"... We are promised - the cooperation of several prominent representatives of international social democracy, the closest participation of the "Emancipation of Labor" group (G.V. Plekhanova, P.B. Akselroda, V.I. Zasulich) and support from several organizations of the Russian Social -Democratic Labor Party, as well as individual groups of Russian Social Democrats.
Any political strategist will say that this is a wonderful technique - a reference to authority.
The work of Iskra agents was made easier: Look, they might say, what kind of people are going to revive the party! Plekhanov himself! Zasulich herself! And the real party! According to the precepts of Marx! And what are you doing here, want to sit in your social-democratic circle and engage in artisanal economic struggle?
The first publication, signed by the name Lenin, appeared only in December 1901 on the pages of the Zarya magazine.
Curious little things.
First. The Iskra newspaper was not free. Bridge Russian Social Democratic organizations bought out part of the circulation (although they did not always pay for the purchase).
Second. The creators of Iskra (and the party, by the way) had enough intelligence and literary ability to write serious articles on their own, without the help of any PR people or hired journalists. How many current party leaders have such abilities?...
And who to unite in the party?
First, it should be borne in mind that the social democratic groups in Russia, in general, at the beginning of the century, experienced far from better times. The reason is simple - damned autocracy. After all, it did not bear the spirit of the Social-Democratic ideas. And in relation to the workers who demanded something there, and in relation to the intelligentsia - the worker with a saber, the intellectual - with a whip ...
However, if not to joke and not to be ironic, then it is worth reading the REPORTS FROM THE LOCATIONS, which were received from the Social Democratic Committees to the congress and which talk about the real state of affairs among Russian Marxists in Russia - who were united by Marxist groups, committees and how and how they were doing.
Secondly, one must know that there is a difference between a Social-Democrat and a Social-Democrat.
Should everyone who both considers himself a Social-Democrat and calls himself a Social-Democrat be accepted into the Party? Lenin answered this question simply: DO NOT! There should be no place for opportunists in the party, Lenin thought so. Its formula is known - before uniting, it is necessary to disengage.
That is why Lenin considered himself a real Marxist, and some others not quite real, that is, opportunists?
And so I thought! - And why all the same? - And that's why! - answered Lenin and referred to the corresponding judgments of Marx-Engels. The classics, they say, said so and so on such and such an occasion, and I think the same. And such and such a comrade (Trotsky, Plekhanov, Martynov, Kautsky, Struve, Axelrod, Gorky, etc., etc.) expresses a different point of view on this issue, which means that he knows Marx poorly and does not quite understand himself. Marxist...
In fact, to refer to the opinion of the "classics", and even literary prolific - this is a dubious occupation. The "classics" said so many things!... It's another matter that the "classics" were able to think and once made on any occasion they did not pass off a comment as a scientific truth. But this is so, by the way.
But in the essays of undereducated students of current Russian universities with a degree in political science, as well as politicians who have grown out of them, there are still words that Lenin fought opportunists who perverted Marxism ... But in fact, it may be Lenin himself perverted?
A literate student should write at least like this: "with opportunists, according to Lenin" or "with opportunists, as Lenin called them."
But back to Iskra.
NEWSPAPER EDITION Chronologically and technologically it looked something like this:
In October 1900 A LEAF (leaflet) was issued, which announced the forthcoming publication of the Iskra newspaper. It said, in particular, that “... we stand for the consistent development of the ideas of Marx and Engels and resolutely reject those half-hearted, vague and opportunistic amendments that have now come into such fashion with the light hand of Ed. Bernstein, P. Struve and many others. But, discussing all questions from our definite point of view, we do not at all reject the polemics between comrades on the pages of our organ.
We provide the full text:
STATEMENT OF THE EDITORIAL OF "ISKRA"
EDITORIAL
Undertaking the publication of the political newspaper Iskra, we consider it necessary to say a few words about what we are striving for and how we understand our tasks.
We are living through an extremely important moment in the history of the Russian working-class movement and Russian Social-Democracy. Recent years have been characterized by an astonishingly rapid spread of Social Democratic ideas among our intelligentsia, and the movement of the industrial proletariat, which has arisen independently and is beginning to unite and fight against its oppressors, is beginning to greedily strive for socialism to meet this current of social thought. Circles of workers and Social-Democratic intellectuals are appearing everywhere, local propaganda leaflets are being distributed, the demand for Social-Democratic literature is growing, far outstripping supply, and intensified government persecution is unable to restrain this movement. Jails are packed to capacity, places of exile are overcrowded, almost every month one hears of "failures" in all parts of Russia, of the capture of transport vehicles, of the confiscation of literature and printing houses, but the movement is growing, capturing an ever larger area, penetrating deeper and deeper into the working class, everything attracts more public attention. And the entire economic development of Russia, the entire history of Russian social thought and the Russian revolutionary movement guarantee that the Social-Democratic working-class movement will grow in spite of all obstacles and will eventually overcome them.
But, on the other hand, the main feature of our movement, which is especially striking of late, is its fragmentation, its, so to speak, artisanal character: local circles arise and act independently of each other and even (which is especially important) independently of circles that operated and are still operating in the same centers; tradition is not established, there is no continuity, and local literature entirely reflects fragmentation and lack of connection with what has already been created by Russian social democracy.
The discrepancy between this fragmentation and the demands caused by the strength and breadth of the movement creates, in our opinion, a critical moment in its development. In the movement itself, the need to consolidate itself, to develop a definite physiognomy into an organization, is felt with irresistible force, and yet, among practically active Social-Democrats, the need for such a transition to a higher form of the movement is far from being recognized everywhere. In fairly wide circles, on the contrary, there is a wavering of thought, a fascination with the fashionable "criticism of Marxism" and "Bernsteinism", the spread of the views of the so-called "economic" direction and, inextricably linked with this, the desire to delay the movement at its lowest stage, the desire to move it to the second plan the task of forming a revolutionary party leading the struggle at the head of the entire people. That this kind of vacillation of thought is observed among Russian Social-Democrats, that narrow practicality, cut off from the theoretical elucidation of the movement as a whole, threatens to lead the movement onto a false road, is a fact; people who are directly familiar with the state of affairs in most of our organizations cannot doubt this. Yes, there are literary works confirming this: it is worth mentioning at least Credo, which has already provoked a completely legitimate protest, “A Separate Supplement to Rabochaya Mysl” ( September 1899), which so vividly expressed the trend that permeates the entire newspaper Rabochaya Mysl, or finally - the appeal of the St. Petersburg "Group for the Self-Emancipation of the Working Class", drawn up in the spirit of the same "economism". And Rabochy Dyelo’s assertion that Credo is nothing more than the opinion of individual individuals, that the direction of Rabocheya Mysl expresses only the confusion and tactlessness of its editorial, and not a particular trend in the very course of the Russian working-class movement, is completely false.
And side by side with this, in the works of writers whom the reading public, with more or less justification, has hitherto regarded as prominent representatives of "legal" Marxism, there is more and more a turn towards views approaching bourgeois apologetics. The result of all this is that confusion and anarchy, thanks to which the ex-Marxist, or rather ex-socialist Bernstein, listing his successes, could declare in print, without encountering objections, that the majority of the Social Democrats active in Russia consists of his followers.
We do not want to exaggerate the danger of the situation, but it would be immeasurably more harmful to turn a blind eye to it; that is why we wholeheartedly welcome the decision of the Emancipation of Labor group to resume its literary activity and to begin a systematic struggle against attempts to distort and vulgarize Social-Democratism.
The practical conclusion from all this is this: we Russian Social-Democrats must unite and direct all our efforts towards the formation of a strong party fighting under the united banner of revolutionary Social-Democracy. It was precisely this task that had already been outlined by the congress of 1898, which formed the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party and published its Manifesto.
We recognize ourselves as members of this party, we fully share the main ideas of the Manifesto and attach great importance to it as an open statement of its goals. Therefore, for us, as members of the Party, the question of our immediate and immediate task is posed in this way: what plan of action must we adopt in order to achieve the most permanent renewal of the Party?
The usual answer to this question is that it is necessary to re-select the central office and entrust it with the renewal of the Party's organ. But in the period of confusion we are experiencing, such a simple path would hardly be expedient.
To create and consolidate a party means to create and consolidate an association of all Russian Social-Democrats, and, for the reasons indicated above, such an association cannot be decreed, it cannot be introduced solely by the decision of some, say, meeting of Representatives, it must be worked out. It is necessary to develop, firstly, a strong ideological unification, excluding that discord and confusion, which - let's be frank! - reigns among the Russian Social Democrats at the present time; it is necessary to consolidate this ideological association with a party program. It is necessary, secondly, to develop an organization dedicated specifically to relations between all centers of the movement, the delivery of complete and timely information about the movement, and the correct supply of periodicals to all parts of Russia. Only when such an organization has been worked out, when the Russian socialist post office has been created, will the party obtain a stable existence and become a real fact, and consequently a powerful political force. It is to the first half of this task, i.e., to the development of a common, principled literature capable of ideologically uniting revolutionary Social-Democracy, that we intend to devote our efforts, seeing in this the vital need of the modern movement and an essential preparatory step towards the restoration of the activity of the Party.
As we have already said, an ideological unification of the Russian Social Democrats still needs to be worked out, which, in our opinion, requires an open and comprehensive discussion of the main questions of principle and tactics raised by modern "economists", Bernsteinians and "critics". Before uniting, and in order to unite, we must first definitively delimit ourselves. Otherwise, our unification would be only a fiction, covering up the existing confusion and hindering its radical elimination. It is understandable, therefore, that we do not intend to make our body a mere repository of diverse views. We will conduct it, on the contrary, in the spirit of a strictly defined direction. This trend can be expressed in a word: Marxism, and there is hardly any need for us to add that we stand for the consistent development of the ideas of Marx and Engels and resolutely reject those half-hearted, vague and opportunistic corrections which have now come into such fashion with the light hand of Ed. Bernstein, P. Struve and many others. But in discussing all questions from our definite point of view, we by no means reject the polemics between comrades on the pages of our organ. Open polemic before all Russian Social-Democrats and class-conscious workers is necessary and desirable in order to ascertain the depth of the existing differences, for a comprehensive discussion of controversial questions, for combating extremes, into which not only representatives of different views, but even representatives of different localities or different “professions” inevitably fall into. » revolutionary movement. We even consider, as already noted above, one of the shortcomings of the modern movement is the absence of open polemics between obviously divergent views, the desire to keep under wraps differences concerning very serious issues.
We will not enumerate in detail those issues and topics that are included in the program of our body, because this program itself follows from general concept about what a political newspaper published under the given conditions should be.
To the best of our ability, we will strive to ensure that all Russian comrades look at our publication as their own body, to which each group would report all information about the movement, with which it would share its experience, its views, its requests for literature, her assessment of the Social Democratic publications, would share, in a word, everything that she brings into the movement and what she takes out of it. Only on such a condition will it be possible to create a truly all-Russian Social-Democratic body. Only such an organ is capable of leading the movement onto the broad path of political struggle. “Push the boundaries and broaden the content of our propagandistic, agitational and organizational activities”—these words of P. B. Axelrod must become the slogan determining the activities of the Russian Social Democrats in the near future—and we are accepting this slogan into the program of our organ.
We address our appeal not only to socialists and class-conscious workers. We also call on all those who are oppressed and crushed by the modern political system, we offer them the pages of our publications to expose all the infamies of the Russian autocracy.
Anyone who understands Social-Democracy as an organization exclusively serving the spontaneous struggle of the proletariat can be content only with local agitation and "purely workers'" literature. This is not how we understand Social Democracy: we understand it as a revolutionary party directed against absolutism and inextricably linked with the labor movement. Only the proletariat organized in such a party, this most revolutionary class modern Russia, will be able to fulfill the historical task that rests on it: to unite under its banner all the democratic elements of the country and to complete the stubborn struggle of a number of lost generations with the final triumph over the hated regime.
The newspaper will be published in the amount of about 1-2 printed sheets per issue.
The release date, in view of the conditions of the Russian illegal press, is not determined in advance.
We are promised - the cooperation of several prominent representatives of international social democracy, the close participation of the Emancipation of Labor group (G. V. Plekhanova, P. B. Akselroda, V. I. Zasulich) and support from several organizations of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party , as well as individual groups of Russian social democrats.The statement about the beginning of the publication of the newspaper is clear and precise. Well written. And reasonable.
November and December 1900 were months when Lenin had to directly master a new business for him - publishing. Fonts, money, compositors, typography - of course, they helped him. But all the same - to collect materials, edit them, cut them down to a certain volume, control the layout. In addition, Iskra is an illegal publication and has complete freedom of speech, but Zarya, which they decided to publish legally ... The publisher Dietz insisted that it should not even contain references to the illegal Iskra.
How about arranging delivery? And keep the conspiracy?!
In one of his letters to V. Nogin, Lenin wrote:
"... I was told the name of the Petersburger who made (in the provinces and rather deaf) a proposal to publish a translation of Kautsky. I'm afraid to entrust the name to the post office - however, I will give it to you in this way. Write the name, patronymic (in the Russian way) and the surname of Alexei and mark all 23 letters with numbers in their order.Then the surname of this Petersburger will be composed of the letters: 6th, 22nd, 11th, 22nd (instead of it, read the next letter in the alphabet), 5th, 10th and 13th."In general, secrecy in the work of the revolutionaries was necessary condition but their skill was not enough. They wrote in letters using ciphers, but ... the police opened the letters, often deciphered the ciphers and found out connections, appearances, and so on. And then she made arrests.
Here is the snippet above. If you are a gendarme and you know who Nogin is, will it be difficult for you to figure out this very Alexei?
In addition, the cipher system sometimes changed in this way: in a letter it was reported that from such and such a date a literary work was changing, which must be used for encryption and decryption. And it was written in a cipher already known to the police. And thus the police learned the key to new system encryption. and deciphered all the messages written in a new cipher.
Of course, a special aspect of the publication of Iskra is its funding. It was difficult with the first numbers. These were mostly sponsorship donations. A.A. Kalmykova gave 2,000 rubles for the first issue of Iskra (she participated in the "People's Volunteer movement, helped the Emancipation of Labor group", was also familiar with "legal Marxists, and was professionally engaged in bookselling"), allocated the same amount "from her own" Potresov, Potresov's acquaintance Zhukovsky allocated 1,000 rubles, and gave Struve "little things" in return. He helped with his own means, for example, P.B. Akselrod, who, in addition to revolutionary activities, was engaged in the production of kefir and quite successfully. And in subsequent years financial assistance rendered the most different people- and Savva Morozov, and A.M. Gorky.
Of course, it may seem strange, if not wild, that the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, helped the revolutionaries. However, the revolutionaries fought primarily against autocracy, and an educated (at least slightly) capitalist himself understood that autocracy is a relic of the past that should be eliminated. Well, at least modernize.
In addition, many educated people were aware of their "moral duty" to the "humiliated and offended." And the real intention to improve the situation of both the peasants and the workers was expressed not so much by the autocrats as by these same revolutionaries.
What did the revolutionaries live on in exile? Lenin, for example, received money from his mother, in addition, he had fees. It should also be noted that social-democratic publications were sold quite legally and officially abroad. The members of the editorial board and some party workers, the same "agents of Iskra," also received their salaries. But some of the revolutionaries had to earn extra money, for example, as a porter at the station.
In subsequent years, finances in the party became easier, including due to several successful "expropriations" (in fact, bank robberies), donations from "sympathizers" abroad and other sources.
First number"Iskra" came out in December 1900, it was typed and typeset in Leipzig by December 11 (24), subsequent issues were published in Munich; since April 1902 the Iskra was published in London and since the spring of 1903 in Geneva.
The first issue of Iskra published an editorial (printed without a signature, but Lenin was the author):
"The Urgent Tasks of Our Movement"
Russian Social-Democracy has repeatedly declared that the immediate political task of the Russian Labor Party must be the overthrow of the autocracy, the conquest of political freedom. This was stated more than 15 years ago by representatives of Russian Social-Democracy, members of the Emancipation of Labor group, and two and a half years ago by representatives of Russian Social-Democratic organizations that formed the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party in the spring of 1898. But, in spite of these repeated statements, the question of the political tasks of the Social Democracy in Russia is again on the agenda at the present time. Many members of our movement express doubts about the correctness of said decision question. They say that the economic struggle is of paramount importance, they relegate the political tasks of the proletariat to the background, they narrow and limit these tasks, they even declare that the talk about the formation of an independent workers’ party in Russia is simply a repetition of other people’s words, that the workers should wage one economic struggle, leaving politics intellectuals in alliance with the liberals. This latest declaration of the new creed (the notorious “Credo”) amounts directly to the recognition of the Russian proletariat as underage and to the complete denial of the Social-Democratic program. But Rabochaya Mysl (especially in the Separate Supplement) expressed itself essentially in the same sense. Russian Social-Democracy is going through a period of hesitation, a period of doubts, reaching the point of self-denial. On the one hand, the working-class movement breaks away from socialism: the workers are helped to carry on the economic struggle, but they are not at all explained, or insufficiently explained, the socialist aims and political tasks of the entire movement as a whole. On the other hand, socialism is breaking away from the working-class movement: the Russian socialists are again beginning to say more and more that the struggle against the government must be waged by the intelligentsia alone, for the workers limit themselves to the economic struggle alone.
Circumstances of three sorts, in our opinion, prepared the ground for these sad phenomena. Firstly, at the beginning of their activity, the Russian Social Democrats limited themselves to one circle propaganda work. Turning to agitation among the masses, we could not always refrain from falling into the other extreme. Secondly, at the beginning of our activity, we very often had to defend our right to exist in the struggle against the Narodnaya Volya, who understood by “politics” an activity divorced from the labor movement, who narrowed politics down to a mere conspiratorial struggle. Rejecting such a policy, the Social Democrats went to extremes, relegating politics in general to the background. Thirdly, acting in isolation in small local workers' circles, the Social Democrats did not pay enough attention to the need to organize a revolutionary party that would unite all the activities of local groups and make it possible to properly organize revolutionary work. And the predominance of scattered work is naturally connected with the predominance of economic struggle.
All these circumstances gave rise to a passion for one side of the movement. The “economic” trend (insofar as one can speak here of a “trend”) has created attempts to elevate this narrowness into a special theory, attempts to use for this purpose the fashionable Bernsteinism, the fashionable “criticism of Marxism”, which carries out the old bourgeois ideas under a new flag. Only these attempts gave rise to the danger of weakening the ties between the Russian working-class movement and the Russian Social-Democracy, as the foremost fighter for political freedom. And the most urgent task of our movement is to strengthen this connection.
Social Democracy is the union of the working-class movement with socialism, its task is not to passively serve the working-class movement at each of its individual stages, but to represent the interests of the entire movement as a whole, to indicate to this movement its ultimate goal, its political tasks, and to safeguard its political and ideological independence. Cut off from Social Democracy, the working-class movement becomes petty and inevitably falls into bourgeoisness: in waging one economic struggle, the working class loses its political independence, becomes the tail of other parties, betrays the great precept: “The emancipation of the workers must be the work of the workers themselves”*. In all countries there was a period when the working-class movement and socialism existed separately from each other and followed a special path - and in all countries such isolation led to the weakness of socialism and the working-class movement; in all countries only the union of socialism with the working-class movement created a solid foundation for both. But in each country this combination of socialism with the working-class movement was worked out historically, worked out in a special way, depending on the conditions of the place and time. In Russia, the necessity of uniting socialism and the working-class movement was theoretically proclaimed long ago, but in practice this unity is being worked out only at the present time. The process of this elaboration is a very difficult process, and there is nothing particularly surprising in the fact that it is accompanied by various hesitations and doubts.
What is the lesson for us from the past? The history of all Russian socialism has led to the fact that its most urgent task has been to fight against the autocratic government, to win political freedom; our socialist movement concentrated, so to speak, on the struggle against the autocracy. On the other hand, history has shown that in Russia the isolation of socialist thought from the leading representatives of the working classes is much greater than in other countries, and that in the face of such isolation the Russian revolutionary movement is doomed to impotence. From this follows of itself the task which Russian Social Democracy is called upon to carry out: to instill socialist ideas and political self-consciousness into the mass of the proletariat and to organize a revolutionary party inextricably linked with the spontaneous working-class movement. Much has already been done in this respect by Russian Social-Democracy; but more remains to be done. With the growth of the movement, the field of activity for Social Democracy becomes ever wider, the work becomes more and more versatile, an increasing number of leaders of the movement concentrate their forces on the implementation of various particular tasks that are put forward by the daily needs of propaganda and agitation. This phenomenon is completely legitimate and inevitable, but it makes you turn Special attention to ensure that the particular tasks of activity and individual methods of struggle are not elevated into something self-sufficient, so that preparatory work was not raised to the level of the main and only work.
To promote the political development and political organization of the working class is our main and fundamental task. Anyone who relegates this task to the background, who does not subordinate all particular tasks and individual methods of struggle to it, is embarking on the wrong path and causing serious harm to the movement. It is pushed back, firstly, by those who call on the revolutionaries to fight the government with the forces of individual conspiratorial circles cut off from the labor movement. This task is postponed, secondly, by those who narrow down the content and scope of political propaganda, agitation and organization, who consider it possible and appropriate to treat the workers to “politics” only at exceptional moments of their lives, only on solemn occasions, who too carefully exchange the political struggle against the autocracy to demand individual concessions from the autocracy, and does not care enough to elevate these demands for individual concessions into a systematic and irrevocable struggle of the revolutionary workers' party against the autocracy.
“Organize!” the newspaper Rabochaya Mysl repeats to the workers in various tones, all the supporters of the “economic” trend repeat. And we, of course, wholly subscribe to this cry, but we will certainly add to it: organize not only in mutual aid societies, strike funds and workers' circles, but also in political party organize for a decisive struggle against the autocratic government and against the whole of capitalist society. Without such an organization the proletariat is incapable of rising to a conscious class struggle, without such an organization the labor movement is doomed to impotence, and the working class alone will never succeed in fulfilling the great historical task that lies upon it: to liberate itself and the entire Russian people from his political and economic slavery. Not a single class in history has achieved dominance if it did not put forward its political leaders, its advanced representatives, capable of organizing and leading the movement. And the Russian working class has already shown that it is capable of nominating such people: the widespread struggle of the Russian workers for 5-6 recent years showed what a mass of revolutionary forces lurks in the working class, how the most desperate government persecution does not reduce, but increases the number of workers striving for socialism, for political consciousness and for political struggle. The congress of our comrades in 1898 correctly set the task, and did not repeat other people's words, did not express only the enthusiasm of the "intellectuals" ... And we must resolutely take up the fulfillment of these tasks, putting the question of the program, organization and tactics of the party in the queue. As we look at the main provisions of our program, we have already said, but to develop these provisions in detail here, of course, is not the place. We intend to devote a number of articles to organizational questions in the coming issues. These are some of our most painful questions. In this respect we are far behind the old leaders of the Russian revolutionary movement; we must directly admit this shortcoming and direct our efforts towards working out a more conspiratorial presentation of the matter, towards systematic propaganda of the rules for conducting a case, methods of swindling the gendarmes and bypassing the police networks. It is necessary to prepare people who devote not only free evenings to the revolution, but their whole lives, it is necessary to prepare an organization so large that it would be possible to carry out a strict division of labor between various types our work. Finally, as regards questions of tactics, we shall confine ourselves here to the following: Social-Democracy does not tie its own hands, does not restrict its activity to some one preconceived plan or method of political struggle—it recognizes all means of struggle, as long as they correspond available forces of the party and made it possible to achieve the greatest results achievable under the given conditions. With a strong organized party, a single strike can turn into a political demonstration, into a political victory over the government. With a strong organized party, an uprising in a particular locality can develop into a victorious revolution. We must remember that fighting the government for individual demands, winning individual concessions, these are only petty skirmishes with the enemy, these are small skirmishes at outposts, and the decisive battle is yet to come. Before us stands in all its strength the enemy fortress, from which clouds of cannonballs and bullets shower us, carrying away the best fighters. We must take this fortress, and we will take it if we unite all the forces of the awakening proletariat with all the forces of the Russian revolutionaries into one party, to which everything that is alive and honest in Russia will be drawn. And only then will the great prophecy of the Russian revolutionary worker Pyotr Alekseev be fulfilled: “The muscular arm of millions of working people will rise, and the yoke of despotism, protected by soldier bayonets, will shatter into dust!” **
* Lenin cites the main provision of the "General Rules of the International Association of Workers" (I International), written by K. Marx.
** Pyotr Alekseev's speech was first published in 1877 in London in the Vperyod! magazine. Since then, it has been repeatedly republished illegally and enjoyed wide popularity among the workers of Russia.
Lenin's article was widely circulated in Russia, it was read not only in the Iskra newspaper, it was published by local social democratic organizations in the form of a separate pamphlet. The Siberian Social Democratic Union printed it in five thousand copies. It was also printed in Rzhev; it was distributed in Saratov, Tambov, Nizhny Novgorod, Ufa and other cities. The article was especially successful among the workers.
“I showed Iskra to many comrades and the whole number was worn out, but it is expensive,” the weaver wrote to the newspaper ... “This is about our business, about the whole Russian business, which you cannot evaluate with a penny and you cannot determine for hours; when you read it, then it is clear why the gendarmes and the police are afraid of us, the workers and those intellectuals whom we follow. Indeed, they are terrible to both the king and the masters, and to everyone, and not just the master's pockets. Of course, I am a simple worker and not at all that developed, but I really feel where the truth is, I know what the workers need. The working people can now easily catch fire, everything is already smoldering below, all that is needed is a spark, and there will be a fire. Oh, how true it is said that a spark will ignite a flame! ... Previously, every strike was an event, but now everyone sees that one strike is nothing, now freedom must be sought, taken by the chest. Now everyone, both the old man and the little one, everyone would read, but here is our grief - there is no book. Last Sunday I gathered eleven people and read: “Where to start?”, so we did not disperse until the night. How everything is rightly said, how everything has been reached.
I. V. Babushkin from Orekhovo-Zuev wrote:
"Iskra" is read in great demand among us, and how much is delivered, everything is in use. Thanks to her, a strong uplift is felt among the workers. There is especially much talk about the article on the peasant question in the no. 3, so they demand to deliver this number.
N. K. Krupskaya also reports on the popularity of Iskra in a letter to P. B. Axelrod dated October 23, 1901:
“They write from Nizhny Novgorod that Iskra is enjoying great success among the workers... Then there was a letter from the south. They write that the demand (in Kyiv, Kharkov, Yekaterinoslav) for literature is enormous. “The workers both read and understand Iskra. This is written by a man who had previously stated that Iskra was inaccessible to the workers.
In one of the cities on the Volga Iskra is read by a circle of workers of 40 people. They treat the Iskra with terribly fervently.The first issue was published in December 1900, but "arrived" in Russia only in January.
In December 1900, P.B. Struve appeared in Munich with a proposal to start a third edition, which would be published in parallel with Iskra and Dawn - Modern Review. This proposal was interesting - after all, Struve is a person with connections, authority and financial capabilities (which is important). And definitely smart. And also a writer. Struve, and Tugan-Baranovsky, and the entire editorial staff of Iskra were to be on the editorial board. Lenin knew Struve personally, published with his help in legal publications, Struve sent literature to Lenin in Shushenskoye, Lenin discussed with Struve the plan for publishing a newspaper shortly after his release.
With the help of Struve, the "Iskrovites" hoped to regularly receive materials from Russia and insisted on obtaining the right to their free use, as well as some funding, but they wanted Obozrenie to appear no more often than Zarya. However, Struve wanted for the "Review" the same periodicity as the "Iskra". Agreement on joint activities was prepared at the insistence of Plekhanov and even signed, despite the objections of Lenin, who in his letters to Plekhanov did not call Struve anything other than "Judas".
Of course, a new edition (with Struve's possibilities) would be distributed more widely, but it could weaken the influence of Iskra. However, their audience was generally assumed to be different: Iskra was for the proletariat, Obozrenie was more likely for the educated (the intelligentsia and the bourgeoisie). And Zarya is a publication with theoretical articles for a very few.So the "business plan" of revolutionary propaganda loomed literate. However, taking into account the size and literacy (in the literal sense of the word) of the audience segments, which of these publications would become, in modern terms, "hits" or leaders public opinion?
In a letter to Plekhanov in January 1901, Lenin wrote:
“I have just received a letter, dear G.V., having just returned from the “final” conversation with Judas. The matter is well coordinated, and I am terribly dissatisfied with how smoothly it is. I hasten to write to you so as not to lose the freshness of the impression.
As for the “democratic opposition,” Judas did not argue: he is not a romantic, and you cannot intimidate him with words. But as for Point 7 (recycling material for Iskra, material coming to Sovremennoye Obozreniye), he deftly bypassed ours, which are all, and P. B. at compris (including - ed. note), stood up for him, against me. He, Judas - you see - expected Iskra to be more popular, more "working", he finds that free disposal (use - ed. note) the material that comes to Sovremenny Obozreniye may create competition... It requires that the utilization of the material for Iskra be possible only by agreement with a representative of Sovremenny Obozreniye—an agreement lapses only if it is impossible to communicate with this representative—a condition obviously very rare, for Jude directly says that he assumes either the presence of a representative im Auslande (“no more than 12 hours from Munich”), or the most accurate correspondence. He would like to issue five sheets a month - that is, about 200,000 letters - just as many as there are in two sheets of Iskra. It is difficult to doubt that he will be able to deliver so much material, for he is a wealthy person, who writes a lot, and who has good connections. The point is clear: the competition is directed not so much against Zarya as against Iskra: the same predominance of political material, the same newspaper character - a review of current events, short articles (Judas, with very sure tact, attaches great importance to the frequent publication of thin books with small articles)..."And in March 1901, Lenin wrote to P.B. Axelrod:
"... The calf (Judas) is also nice: a letter came from his friend (= supposed source of money = goldene Wanze) ("golden bug"; golden bag (pseudonym of D. Zhukovsky) - ed.), very angry, that I’m sending 200 (two hundred!) Rubles to Sovremennoe Obozreniye and keep in mind, they say, that it’s not for yours, but for this enterprise. We are all indignant, and it was decided: 1) not to publish statements about the coalition, 2) to send an ultimatum to the calf and "friend" that either stable financing of our enterprise, or we refuse ...
Well, aren't we, aren't we fooled again by Judas??
One consolation: Iskra No. 2 arrived safely in Russia, it is a success, correspondence is plentiful. In Russia, the devil knows what is going on: demonstrations in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kharkov, Kazan, Moscow under martial law (they took, by the way, my younger sister and even my son-in-law, who never participated in anything!), massacres, overcrowding of prisons and etc."
Joint publishing activities with Struve were first prevented by the publisher Dietz, who did not agree to print materials mentioning Iskra, and then Lenin nevertheless convinced Plekhanov of the inexpediency of cooperation with Struve.
During 1901, Iskra slowly overcame difficulties and launched agitation and propaganda in Russia.
Some quotes from Lenin's letters:
"Collect money. We are now brought almost to the point of beggary, and for us getting a large amount is a matter of life." (Lenin - F. Danu)
"We are sending a loan of 100 marks to the Berlin group. It is desirable that money for the transport of suitcases be collected on the spot and this expense would be removed from Iskra. Get money for this by all means, because our cash desk is very cramped." (Lenin - Vecheslov)
“Now about the Zurich-Latvians. I don’t know if you heard that the transport settled with their help failed completely: 3000 Iskra (No. 1) was taken by the police, who also captured the smuggler. Then one of them wrote to us, asking for more money for the trip We replied that we still couldn’t give this way - we didn’t dare before our organization, but if he undertakes to specially transport 1 pood (as he undertook in a conversation with me), then let him stop by "(Lenin - Axelrod)
"Send in clippings from Russian newspapers. Wouldn't it also be possible to supply the editors of Iskra with Russian magazines after they have been read in Berlin? If possible, let us know which magazines we can count on (we have some, but not many). (Lenin - Vecheslov)
“Our affairs are not very good. Finances are at seams, Russia gives almost nothing. Transportation is still completely unorganized and random. All our “tactics” under such conditions should be entirely aimed at ensuring that 1) collected in Russia on behalf of "Iskra" money should be directed here as fully as possible, reducing local expenses to a minimum "a; 2) to spend money almost exclusively on transportation, because for acceptance we already have relatively very cheap, not burdensome agents in Pskov and Poltava. "(Lenin - Bauman)
"The group that publishes and edits Iskra and Zarya addresses you as a person who participated with us in one of the first Marxist publishing enterprises, who always sympathized political activity Social Democracy, with a request to provide financial support to the cause.
At present, the fate of the whole business largely depends on this support, because the entire initial fund was spent on staging, and in order for the enterprise to pay off, at least another year of work is needed at full speed. In the spring of last year (1900) one of us was talking to a friend of yours (whom you probably now see often) and who also expressed confidence that you would not refuse to help. We hoped that with your connections you could collect a substantial sum at a time, but our organization, of course, also needs periodic contributions. "(Lenin - R.E. Klasson)"Now about 125 rubles. We have already repeatedly got into a mess with loans to foreign organizations: we distributed tons of money, and the result is negligible, almost zero. Therefore, we are very afraid to pay in advance. Further: the urgency of delivering a small amount (at least 1/2 pood in month) than the delivery of 10-20 poods in 3-4 months, because the monthly publication and delivery of Iskra is in the foreground for us. So far we live almost on the same suitcases. So, discuss in more detail whether the offer is reliable, from which organization it comes what type of transport, can we bring our own person there for control and participation, and then let us know.If you agree to take the sample without payment in advance, then dispose of it yourself. and discuss all the data. (Lenin - Lepeshinsky and Krasikov)
"The doctor should settle on the border, for example, in Polangen (we have connections with the non-Russian side in those places, we also have our own warehouse), study the local conditions (there you should know the languages Latvian and German, but maybe you can manage like this ), try to find a plausible occupation for yourself (they assure that you can live there in private practice), put yourself on good terms with small local ranks and accustom them to frequent border crossings.The border is crossed there not with a passport, but with a Grenzkarte (its term is 28 days). With such a frequent transition, it will be possible to carry (on the body or in a suitcase according to our method, for which you need a small suitcase for medical instruments) little by little, several pounds of literature. It is especially important for us that they be transferred regularly and often, even if very If a person undertakes to arrange this and work himself, transfer it himself, then we will give him money for a trip and accommodation for one or two months, until he looks around. (Lenin to the Iskra Assistance Group)
"Regarding the eastern coast of the Black Sea, look for ways by all means. Especially lean on French steamers - we hope to find a way to them from here." (Lenin - Galperin)
Now we have received news from Nikolai (= Ernst) that 4 1/2 poods have been transported from him and lie in a safe place; this is the first. The second is that he always has the opportunity to cross the border to our man along with the smuggler, and that such people are needed. So, this is the offer we are making to you: go immediately to the place, go with one of your passports to Nikolai in Memel, find out everything from him, then cross the border using the Grenzkarte (border certificate - ed.) or with a smuggler, take a lying to this side (i.e., in Russia) literature and deliver it everywhere. Obviously, for the success of the case, one more person from the Russian side is needed to help Nicholas and to control him, always ready to secretly cross the border, mainly busy with receiving literature on the Russian side and taking it to Pskov, Smolensk, Vilna, Poltava. (Lenin - Bauman).
"For the experiment, we will send you one of these days to address K ... matrices in cover. Open more carefully, do all the experiments and tell us the results as soon as possible. The "universal apparatus for stereotypy", necessary for casting from matrices, costs about 300 marks, but you can "We don't know if it can be freely purchased in Russia. Tell me what format your machine has? Can it be printed in the format of our Iskra? In general, send at least some sample of your work as soon as possible."
If your technique is well established, try to publish at least one issue of Iskra in its entirety as soon as possible (if it is difficult to publish it in 8 pages, which is No. 6, then publish at least number 5 - it is in 4 pages). It would be extremely important for us to have a copy of the Russian edition of Iskra by the congress here, that is, in a month (maximum 1 1/2).
From what period is 800 rubles considered in debt? Our cash register is now bad, and this debt will be covered only if your equipment actually produces at least three to five thousand copies of Iskra (4-8 pages) per month. But if you succeed, then, of course, there will be income. "(Lenin - Galperin)
"Where did they send the received parcels? Why send to E. (Egypt - ed.) 5 pounds? We do not dare to send more than 1-2 pounds for the first time, it would be better if it costs more. Is it possible to designate in E. "Bucher" (books - ed.). How long will it take for delivery? It is very important. Write the addresses, separating the words, otherwise you won’t understand where the name is, where the city and the street are. "(Lenin - Goldman)
"... Number seven ("Sparks" - ed.) came out, and, of course, it has already been sent to you. In the eighth there is Ryazanov's article "The Tsar's Tavern" (on the wine monopoly), then an article on a new law (June 8) on the allotment of land to the nobles in Siberia is proposed.
In the public chronicle there is a message about the congress of liberals, about the outrages in the treatment of exiles in Siberia, about the deep excitement of such backwaters as Kursk, about the revolt of seminarians and high school students. Then we received a very interesting article by one worker - a reply to Dadonov, who had scolded the Ivanovo-Voznesensk workers in Russkoye Bogatstvo. The article is very good, they say (I haven't read it yet), so we don't know which is better: Iskra or Zarya. In No. 8 of Iskra there is a letter from Danevich from France.And in Zarya there is still no foreign review! Yes, and the internal is unlikely to be. Trouble! And this "Dawn" swells. Now there are 6 sheets yes + 4 (Plekhanov's "Critique") + 2 (he is also against Bernstein) + 2 (Nevzorov + Alexei) + 2-3 (Velika Dmitrievna and Starover) ... But I am completely stuck with the agrarian question.
Well, maybe see you soon.
I shake my hand firmly. Your Petrov"
In 1901, Lenin had to think not only about the struggle against the autocracy, the economists, the liberals. But the newspaper was slowly “rising”, getting stronger, delivery issues were settled, it became better with funding, and already in 1902, Lenin, in a letter to Plekhanov, reported sending 200 francs and asked if it was enough?
A lot of attention was paid in the newspaper to emerging competitors - primarily the Socialist-Revolutionary Party or "Socialist-Revolutionaries" (do not confuse with the Just Russia party, whose members are sometimes also called "Socialist-Revolutionaries"). In addition to the Socialist-Revolutionaries, liberals also appeared on the political arena (as they were called in Iskra) - in Geneva, P.B. party of constitutional democrats.
Of course, the "Economists" who believed that the time had not yet come for the proletarian party, and the Socialist-Revolutionaries and liberals, "Iskra" criticized, and exposed, and ridiculed.
Criticized primarily by Plekhanov. Exposed, of course, Lenin.
And Martov ridiculed, who turned out to be also a poet and under the pseudonym Narciss Tuporylov published in the first issue of the Zarya magazine a caustic poem "Anthem of the Newest Russian Socialism", which could be sung to the tune of "Varshavyanka":
Anthem of the latest Russian socialism
Dreadful clouds hung over us
Dark forces hit us on the scruff of the neck,
Slave backs are scarred
Whipping furiously barbaric whip.
But, rubbing the sinful body,
Thinking concretely, let's look at the case:
The whip, after all, it will be worn out, let's say to the people,
In a hundred years you will be free.Slow step
Timid zigzag
Hush ahead
Working people.Our gray worker craves a penny,
Should we call him to freedom?
Our companions dim eyes
The glow of blood should not be embarrassing.
In a crazy battle they will die without a trace
Those who are carried away by the radiance of ideas,
Their death will echo victoriously
Laughter contemptuous sober people.without getting carried away,
adapting
Hush ahead
Working people!In our fight autocrat crown
We will not touch with a rebellious hand,
Thrones drenched in people's blood
Someday they will collapse on their own.
Do not deceive us with higher politics
You demagogues of the working masses,
Don't talk about your communism
We believe ... in the power of auxiliary cash desks.When possible
But be careful
Walk forward
working people!In 1901 Iskra was published monthly from the middle of the year, and since 1902 every 2 weeks. On average, the circulation was 8 thousand copies, and some issues - up to 10-12 thousand copies. The number of copies sent to Russia was estimated not in "pieces" (in a suitcase with a double bottom), but in poods (1 pood - 16 kilograms).
The 44 issues of the newspaper published before the Second Congress of the RSDLP contained about 500 correspondence from workers from St. Petersburg, Moscow, and the central and southern industrial regions of the country.
Iskra published dozens of articles by Lenin, Martov, Plekhanov, Parvus and other authors (among them, by the way, was L. Trotsky, whom Lenin proposed to include in the editorial staff).
How successful was the "Iskra" agitation and propaganda?
Sociological surveys on this issue were not conducted.
But life itself pushed the workers (and not only workers) to politicization.From correspondence with Art. Tikhoretskaya:
“The Cossacks, with naked swords and whips, crashed into a lying pile of people, crushing them with their hooves and hacking right and left. The workers tried to defend themselves with their bare hands, but it was all in vain: at the site of the slaughter, a mass of severed parts of the body remained, a bunch of wounded. Several volleys were fired into the fleeing crowd. 5 killed, 17 seriously wounded. Two were killed like this: one worker was carrying two buckets of water home on a yoke: a Cossack took aim at the unfortunate man and killed him on the spot, and then his wife, who ran out to save her husband. Then the robbery began ... One woman tried to defend her property: they cut her stomach with a saber. “The Cossacks raged like animals, broke into the houses of workers, beat everyone - children, women, old people. Women and girls were raped, property was robbed. In one apartment, a child was found on the floor, nailed with a dagger.”
From correspondence from Taganrog:
“The head of the Taganrog district Kadnikov, together with his assistant, is engaged in trading operations. He buys tens of thousands of poods of coal from the mines, and as a boss (italics mine. P.L.), he gets a discount of 2-3 kopecks. from a pood against the market price of coal, and this coal is sold to the factories of the district entrusted to it at a price of two kopecks above the market price. “Police officials subordinate to the head of the district - assessors, warders, sergeants, etc., are already doing much easier: they receive a salary from factories and mines every month and sign for receiving it, and it’s already easier to deal with them; they are paid and they are told approximately the following: look, do not cause any difficulties to the mine, do not make dirty linen from the hut, otherwise I will deprive the salary and inform the head of the district - he will remove you ”
from correspondence from Petersburg:
“The hours are agonizingly long when you have to stand in front of an empty vise. You can't leave; it is impossible to sit down: the master uses every pretext to pull to the calculation. The worker feels as if he has done something wrong to the foreman. He does not look the master in the eyes, he knows that he is no longer needed, that he is powerless, that the master can, as he pleases, mock him. Prices are going down: you won’t earn even half of your previous pay ... And it’s even more difficult for factory workers: a rotten thread breaks, your chest aches from smelly dust, and you earn 8-6 rubles a month, sometimes four, sometimes even less. They eat only “lenten” tea with black bread - it’s good if you can brighten up this food that doesn’t go into your mouth with onions. But even here, behind the gates, ragged weavers stand in heaps, waiting for the master to ask him, as a favor, at least some kind of work. The emaciated girls ask their former comrades "for Christ's sake", with envy following them with their eyes to the gates of the factory.
From correspondence with the Urals:
“For the first time, the acute crisis experienced by the Urals, which reduces the wages of a worker to a starvation level of 7-9 kopecks ... and throws hundreds and thousands of workers into the streets at the disposal of starvation, poses an agonizingly persistent question for every worker - what to do? What to do?
Economic terror, the old means of struggle of the Ural workers, is now, of course, being used on a larger scale - almost every week you hear that arson, a bullet, dynamite or a bomb have been set in motion at one plant or another ... But the working masses are beginning to to realize that by this struggle of individuals against individual manifestations of oppression, she cannot improve her situation in any way, just as the Alapaev peasants and workers did not get rid of hunger by their solitary attack on factory property.
To act not alone or in scattered groups, but all together, amicably and in solidarity - this is the first lesson that the workers of the Urals have learned from unemployment and the crisis.
But what to do? Ask? And the workers make requests to all those in power, starting with the petty police authorities, as in the Nizhne-Saldinsk plant, and ending with ... the bishop, as in Verkhne-Ufaleysky. Dark, vain hopes! Flashes like the last hope, ancient, from the time of serfdom, the hope for the tsar himself ... And after the police and the administration, after the factory management and the archpriest, the workers of the Sorin district send a telegram to the tsar, complaining about a reduction of 20 ° / o in wages, demanding "bread and work".
Time passes, the hungry army of the unemployed grows, diseases and deaths grow (there were 13,800 patients with infectious diseases alone in Perm province; in Ufa province 56% of children die); the specter of starvation rises before the weary worker... But there is still no help from anywhere, from no one, neither from the king of heaven, nor from the king of the earth...
And painfully long way a conviction is developed in the consciousness of the worker, spontaneously or under the influence of ideas spreading in unknown ways: “If the king of heaven and earth cannot help us, then it remains for us to think about ourselves.
Do not ask, but demand! Don't complain, fight! And to fight not by strikes - at the Mikhailovsky Plant, the workers went on strike, but the management closed the plant, and the workers dispersed, who went where in search of work ...
There is no need for economic struggle. We need a revolution"This is an excerpt from a letter from a Ural worker Kiselyov sentenced to hard labor, published in Iskra.
Stormy events took place on November 2-25 (November 15-December 8), 1902 in Rostov - a general strike, in which several thousand workers participated. The reason for the speech was the calculation of wages for the workers of the boiler shop. The rest of the workers supported the striking boiler workers; on November 4, 4,000 people did not come to work. The strike soon became general, the demands of the workers began to be generalized: a 9-hour working day, an increase in wages by 25-30%, and the dismissal of individual employees of the administration. Soldiers and Cossacks were unable to suppress the strike, and additional forces were introduced into the city, which used weapons.
On January 1, 1903, Iskra published a proclamation "To the Citizens of All Russia", issued by the Rostov Committee of the RSDLP, which, in particular, stated:
“The struggle of the workers is hard and selfless, it is accompanied by many casualties and defeats, but every day brings us closer to victory, more and more facts appear that testify to the strength of the revolutionary energy hiding in the bowels of their mass ... A whirlwind of events that swept through for several days southeast of Russia, showed the awakening of the working class, the strength of the class solidarity and political consciousness developed in it ... The movement immediately took on a clearly political character; thousands of workers, hitherto weakly affected by propaganda, were convinced with their own eyes of the true significance of the autocratic system and painfully palpably felt the urgency of political freedom... in order to reinforce their significance and show the solidarity of the entire working class of Russia.
Let the fire that has broken out on the Don flare up with a formidable flame, let the demonstrations thunder in response to the volleys of guns, let the groans of the victims be covered by the thunder of protest, let everywhere, just as unanimously as in Rostov, pass the death sentence on the autocracy oppressing the country!
Down with autocracy!
Long live the coming revolution!”
According to Lenin, "Iskra" successfully performed the functions of agitation and propaganda among the workers, "awakening the political discontent of the population of Russia."
Of course, the Socialist-Revolutionaries, the liberals, and the autocrat himself also contributed to the "awakening of discontent".
Well, what did it cost Nicholas II to limit the working day to at least 9 hours? No, I didn't want to.
Iskra agitated and propagandized, and its numerous agents performed the function of organizer.
For beginners: breeding a broiler at home Boiled water for broilers
Only lovers will survive
Features of advertising aimed at children
retouching old photos in photoshop retouching old photos
What is an NPO: decoding, definition of goals, types of activities Does a non-profit organization have the right