Volume Twelve contains Lenin's writings for the period January-June 1907.
A number of the works included in this volume deal with the revolutionary tactics of the RSDLP at the time of the Second State Duma election campaignâthe defence of the Left bloc and the struggle against the Menshevik policy of collaboration with the Constitutional-Democrats (the Cadets). Among these writings are: âThe Social-Democratic Election Campaign in St. Petersburgâ, âHow To Vote in the St. Petersburg Elections (Who Benefits from the Fables About the Black-Hundred Danger?)", âThe Second Duma and the Second Revolutionary Waveâ, âOn the Tactics of Opportunismâ, âThe Bolsheviks and the Petty Bourgeoisieâ, 'The Elections to the Duma and the Tactics of the Russian Social-Democratsâ, âThe Imminent Dissolution of the Duma and Questions of Tacticsâ, and others.
There are also documents and articles by Lenin on preparations for the Fifth Congress of the RSDLP and the reports and speeches he made at the Congressâ"Draft Resolutions for the Fifth Congress of the RSDLP", the articles âThe Platform of Revolutionary Social-Democracyâ, âReport to the Fifth Congress of the RSDLP on the St. Petersburg Split and the Institution of the Party Tribunal Ensuing Therefromâ, âSpeech on the Attitude Towards Bourgeois Partiesâ, and other speeches.
Lenin's âReport to the Conference of the St. Petersburg Organisation on the Question of the Duma Campaign and Duma Tacticsâ, and the articles âWhat the Splitters Have To Say About the Coming Splitâ, âReorganisation and the End of the Split in St. Petersburgâ, provide a picture of his struggle for an ideological consolidation of the St. Peters burg organisation of the RSDLP on Bolshevik principles.
Lenin's âPreface to the Russian Translation of Karl Marx's Letters to Dr. Kugelmannâ and his âPreface to the Russian Translation of Letters by Johannes Becker, Joseph Dietzgen, Frederick Engels, Karl Marx, and Others to Fried- rich Sorge and Othersâ, show the theoretical and political significance of the Marx and Engels correspondence, part of which was first published in a Russian translation in 1907.
This volume also contains two of Lenin's articles on the agrarian questionâ"Draft for a Speech on the Agrarian Question in the Second State Dumaâ and âThe Agrarian Question and the Forces of the Revolutionâ.
The articles âOn the Report of the Moscow District of St. Petersburg Concerning the Elections to the Second Dumaâ, âA Note on the Resolution of the Estonian Social- Democratsâ, âThe First Important Stepâ, to be found in this volume, are included in V. I. Lenin's Collected Works for the first time. In the last-named article Lenin criticises the opportunist behaviour of the Menshevik deputies to the Second Duma.
