Volume Nineteen contains the works of Lenin written between March and December 1913, in the period of the new upsurge of the revolutionary movement in Russia. The greater part of the volume consists of articles published in the Bolshevik legal pressâin the newspapers Pravda and Nash Put and the magazine Prosveshcheniye.
In the articles âThe Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism ", âTwenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Death of Joseph Dietzgen ", âLiberal and Marxist Conceptions of the Class Struggleâ and âThe Marx-Engels Correspondenceâ, Lenin expounded and developed some basic problems of Marxist theory.
The articles âThe National Programme of the RSDLP ", âThe Working Class and the National Questionâ and others elaborate and substantiate the Bolshevik programme on the national question.
An important place in the volume is occupied by articles against the Menshevik liquidators, Trotskyists, Bundists1 and Socialist-Revolutionaries,2 all of which deal with ques tions of the struggle to consolidate the Bolshevik Party and the unity of the working class; among them are âCon troversial Issuesâ, âWorking-Class Unityâ, âHas Pravda Given Proof of Bundist Separatism? ", âThere's a Trudovik for Youâ and the resolutions of the âSummerâ Joint Confer ence of the Central Committee of the RSDLP and Party officials held at Poronin.
In âMay Day Action by the Revolutionary Proletariatâ, âThe Results of Strikes in 1912 as Compared with Those of the Pastâ, âThe Role of Social Estates and Classes in the Liberation Movement ", âLiberals as Defenders of the Fourth Duma," Lenin dealt with the political crisis that was maturing in Russia on a nationâwide scale, showed tho leading role of the proletariat in the growing revolutionary movement and exposed the counter-revolutionary liberal bourgeoisie.
The articles âIs the Condition of the Peasants Improving or Worsening?", âThe Land Question and the Rural Poorâ and âThe Agrarian Question and the Present Situation in Russiaâ expose the impoverishment and ruin of tIme greater part of the peasantry as a result of Stolypin 's agrarian policy and confront the Bolshevik Party and the working class with the task of drawing the peasantry into an active strug gle against the autocracy.
The volume includes documents that characterise Lenin 's leadership of the Bolshevik group in the Fourth State Du maâthe draft speeches âThe Question of Ministry of Edu cation Policyâ, âThe Question of the (General) Agrarian Policy of the Present Governmentâ, the articles âThe Duma 'Seven'", âMaterial on the Conflict within the Social-Democratic Duma Group", and others.
There is also a group of articlesâ"Civilised Barbarismâ, âA Great Technical Achievementâ, âArmaments and Capi talismâ, âWho Stands to Gain?" âThe Awakening of Asiaâ, âExposure of the British Opportunists "âdevoted to world economics and politics. Lenin cited facts in these articles showing the decay of capitalism, the growth of armaments, the preparations for a world war and the awakening of the colonial peoples and criticised the growing opportunism in the international working-class movement.
Nine of the documents published in this volume appeared for the first time in the fourth Russian edition of the Collected Works. In his report on âContemporary Russia and the Working-Class Movementâ and in the articles âConversa tionâ, âFor the Attention of Luch and Pravda Readersâ, âA Discreditable Roleâ, âThe Working-Class Masses and the Working-Class Intelligentsiaâ and âThe Question of Bureau Decisionsâ, Lenin exposed the liquidators, who strove to destroy the illegal Social-Democratic Party, as out-and-out traitors to the working class. The article âThe Split in the Russian Social-Democratic Duma Groupâ was written by Lenin for the international socialist press in reply to the slander about time Bolshevik Party that was being spread by time liquidators and Trotskyists. In the articles âThe 'Oil Hunger' âand âAn Incorrect Appraisal (Luch on Maklakov)" Lenin revealed the counter-revolutionary role of the Russian bourgeoisie and showed that they, in alliance with the feudal landowners, were hampering Russia's economic development.
