V. I. Lenin

The Third Congress of the R.S.D.L.P.

APRIL 12–27 (APRIL 25–MAY 10), 1905

19

RESOLUTION ON THE ATTITUDE
TO THE PEASANT MOVEMENT

1) Whereas the currently growing peasant movement, though spontaneous and
politically unconscious, is nonetheless inevitably directed against the
existing political order and against all the remnants of the serf-owning
system in general;

2) Whereas it is one of the tasks of Social-Democracy to support every
revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order;

3) Whereas, in view of the aforesaid, the Social-Democrats must strive to purge
the revolutionary-democratic content of the peasant movement of all manner of
reactionary admixtures, developing the peasants’ revolutionary class-consciousness, and consistently putting through their democratic demands;

4) Whereas the Social-Democratic Party, as the party of the proletariat, must in
all cases and under all circumstances work steadfastly for the independent
organisation of the rural proletariat and clarify for this class the
irreconcilable antagonisms between its interests and those of the peasant
bourgeoisie; —The Third Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party
instructs all Party organisations a)to carry on propaganda among broad sections of the people explaining that
Social-Democracy sets itself the task of giving the most vigorous support to all
revolutionary measures of the peasantry capable of improving its condition,
including the confiscation of landlord, government, church, monastery and crown
lands;

b)as a practical slogan for agitation among the peasantry and as a means of
instilling the utmost political consciousness into the peasant movement, to urge
the necessity for the immediate organisation of revolutionary peasant
committees, with the aim of carrying through all revolutionary-democratic
reforms in order to release the peasantry from the tyranny of the police, the
officials and the landlords; c)with the aim of disorganising the autocracy and maintaining the revolutionary
onslaught against it, to urge the peasantry and the rural proletariat to engage
in all possible political demonstrations, collectively refuse to pay duties and
taxes, to perform military service or obey the decrees and orders of the
government and its agents; d)to strive for the independent organisation of the rural proletariat, for its
integration with the urban proletariat under the banner of the
Social-Democratic Party, and for the election of its representatives to the
peasant committees.

| Motioned on April 20 (May 3) | Printed from the original |
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| Published in 1905 in the book Trety ocherednoi syezd R.S.D.R.P. Polny tekst protokolov , Central Committee publication, Geneva | |