Volume 16 contains works written by V. I. Lenin in the period from September 1909 to December 1910.
The volume consists mainly of articles and documents devoted to the struggle for the Party and its revolutionary principles, against the two kinds of opportunism in the Party: the liquidators, the âdirect opponents of the Partyâ, and the otzovists, the âhidden enemies of the Partyâ, as well as against the conciliators, who served as a screen for both kinds of opportunists.
The articles âThe Liquidators Exposedâ, âMethods of the Liquidators and Party Tasks of the Bolsheviksâ, âGolos Sotsial-Demokrata and Cherevaninâ, and âGolos (Voice) of the Liquidators Against the Party" are devoted to the struggle against liquidationism âthe agency of the liberal bourgeoisie in the Party.
The articles âThe Faction of Supporters of Otzovism and God-buildingâ, âA Word to the Bolsheviks of St. Petersburgâ, âA Shameful Fiascoâ and âThe Vperyod Factionâ, are directed against otzovism and ultimatumism.
The work âNotes of a Publicistâ gives an appraisal of the decisions of the plenary session of the CC of the RSDLP in January 1910 and an account of the struggle at the plenary session against the liquidators, Trotskyists and conciliators.
The articles âThe Eleventh Session of the International Socialist Bureauâ, âThe Question of Co-operative Societies at the International Socialist Congress in Copenhagenâ, âTwo Worldsâ, and âDifferences in the European Labour Movementâ are directed against opportunism in the European labour movement, against the treacherous policy of the leaders of the Second International.
The articles âThe Historical Meaning of the Inner-Party Struggle in Russiaâ and âStrike Statistics in Russiaâ are devoted to a study of the experience of the Revolution of 1905-07.
Included in this volume are eight documents published in the Collected Works for the first time: âTo Pupils of the Capri Schoolâ, which reveals the anti-Party activity of the Capri school; âIdeological Decay and Disunity Among Russian Social-Democratsâ; âThe Vperyod Groupâ; âAnnouncement on the Publication of Rabochaya Gazetaâ; âAn Open Letter to All Pro-Party Social-Democratsâ with an exposition of the inner-Party situation after the January plenum of the CC of the RSDLP in 1910; and two statements to the Central Committee of the RSDLP Like the majority of the works in this volume, these documents are devoted to the struggle for the Party, the struggle on two fronts.
Among the newly included articles is a large work of Lenin's, âThe Capitalist System of Modern Agricultureâ, written at the end of 1910. The manuscript of this work has not yet been found in its entirety. The end of the article with the signature V. Ilyin, as well as the end of Chapter I and the beginning of Chapter II, which were absent when the work was published in 1932, have now been found, and therefore Chapters I, II and VII are now published in full for the first time.
