Lenin Collected Works:
Volume 9

Preface by Progress Publishers

Volume 9 contains works written by V. I. Lenin in the second half (June-November) of 1905.

The volume includes the historic Two Tactics ol Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution in which Lenin gave a classical criticism of the Mensheviks' tactics and a masterly exposition of the Bolsheviks' tactics, and enriched Marxism with a new theory of revolution. Chapter II of the epilogue to the book is published in toto for the first time after the manuscript, part of which was found in 1940.

The volume includes the following articles: “While the Proletariat Is Doing the Fighting the Bourgeoisie Is Stealing Towards Power”, “The Boycott of the Bulygin Duma, and Insurrection”, “In the Wake of the Monarchist Bourgeoisie, or in the Van of the Revolutionary Proletariat and Peasantry?", “Playing at Parliamentarianism”, “From the Defensive to the Offensive”. In these articles Lenin defends the revolutionary tactics of the working class, gives advice on preparations for an insurrection, and exposes the false “democratism” of the liberal bourgeoisie and the conciliatory tactics of the Mensheviks.

In the articles “Social-Democracy's Attitude Towards the Peasant Movement”, “Socialism and the Peasantry”, and “Petty-Bourgeois and Proletarian Socialism”, Lenin sets forth and explains the Bolsheviks' strategic plan of struggle to make the bourgeois-democratic revolution develop into a socialist, revolution.

The articles “The Political Strike and the Street Fighting in Moscow”, “The Lessons of the Moscow Events”, “The All-Russia Political Strike”, and “The First Victory of the Revolution”, all deal with the October political general strike.

Lenin's “Preface to the Pamphlet Workers on the Split in the Party”, “On the Question of Party Unity”, and several others are directed against the Mensheviks' acts of schism.

The following works, included in the Collected Works for the first time, are published in this volume: “Concluding Paragraph to the Article 'The Paris Commune and the Tasks of the Democratic Dictatorship'", “Original Variant of the Preface to the Pamphlet Workers on the Split in the Party”, “Note on a Resolution of the Conference of R.S.D.L.P. Organisations Abroad”, “Editorial Epilogue to the Article 'The Third Congress on Trial Before the Caucasian Mensheviks"', “Note on P. Nikolayev's Pamphlet The Revolution in Russia”, “On the Current Moment”, “On the So-Called Armenian Social-Democratic Workers' Organisation”, “The Struggle of the Proletariat”, “The Youth Abroad and the Russian Revolution”, “Notes on 'The British Labour Movement and the Trade Union Congress'", “Insert to V. Kalinin's Article 'The Peasant Congress'", and the article “Between Two Battles”. In the last-named article Lenin sums up the results of the political general strike of October 1905 and calls upon the Russian proletariat to rally its forces for the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy by means of an insurrection of the whole people.