Volume Seventeen of Lenin's works covers the period December 1910 to April 1912.
The principal contents of the volume are writings reflecting the struggle for the Party, against the liquidators and their accomplices—renegades from the revolution.
In the articles “The State of Affairs in the Party", “Those Who Would Liquidate Us (Re: Mr. Potresov and V. Bazaroy)", “The Social Structure of State Power, the Prospects and Liquidationism", “Wreckers of the Party in the Role of 'Wreckers of Legends'", “A Conversation Between a Legalist and an Opponent of Liquidationism", “A Liberal Labour Party Manifesto", “From the Camp of the Stolypin `Labour' Party”, Lenin uncovers the ideological roots and essence of liquidationism and exposes the liquidators' systematic wrecking of the work of the leading Party bodies.
The article “The New Faction of Conciliators, or the Virtuous” shows the unprincipled shifts of the conciliators to the side of the liquidators.
In the articles “The Cadets and the Octobrists", “First Exposure of Cadet Negotiations with the Cabinet” “Political Parties in the Five Years of the Third Duma", “The Bloc of the Cadets with the Progressists and Its Significance”, Lenin illustrates the class nature of the party of counter revolutionary liberalism—the Cadet Party.
The elections to the Fourth State Duma are dealt with in “The Election Campaign and the Election Platform", “The Campaign for the Elections to the Fourth Duma", "Fundamental Problems of the Election Campaign".
A considerable part of the volume is taken up by documents which throw light on the significance of the Prague Party Conference which expelled Menshevik liquidators from the Party, a fact that played an outstanding role in preserving and strengthening the revolutionary party of the proletariat. These documents include the article on “The Climax of the Party Crisis", “Draft Resolution on Liquidationism and the Group of Liquidators", the resolutions of the Prague Conference, “Report to the International Socialist Bureau on the All-Russia Conference of the RSDLP", the pamphlet “The Anonymous Writer in Vorwärts and the State of Affairs in the RSDLP", “A Letter to Huysmans, Secretary of the International Socialist Bureau".
Lenin's famous article “Certain Features of the Historical Development of Marxism” is included in this volume.
In this edition two letters to the Russian Collegium of the CC of the RSDLP (1910-11) are included in the Collect ed Works for the first time. In these letters Lenin shows how the liquidators, otzovists, Vperyod group, and Trotskyites wrecked the work of the Party, and puts forward the task of uniting Party forces in the struggle for the restoration of the Party. The following are also included in Lenin's Collected Works for the first time: the note “Judas Trotsky's Blush of Shame"; materials relating to the June Meeting of the members of the CC in 1911: “Letter to the Meeting of the CC Members of the RSDLP Abroad”, “Summary (Plan) for Report by Three Bolshevik Members of the CC to a Private Meeting of Nine Members of the Central Committee", “Draft Resolution Defining Terms of Reference"; the articles “The Social-Democratic Group in the Second Duma", “Agency of the Liberal Bourgeoisie "; documents of the meeting of the Bolshevik groups abroad: “Draft Resolution on the Report 'State of Affairs in the Party'", “Resolution on the Russian Organising Commission for the Convening of a Conference"; the documents of the Prague Conference: draft resolutions on the constitution of the Conference, on the tasks of the Party in the present situation, on the tasks of Social-Democrats in the struggle against the famine, “The Election Platform of the RSDLP", letter “To the Editorial Board of Zvezda", and the article “Put Your Cards on the Table".
