V. I.

Lenin

The Social-Democrats and the Duma Elections

The Social-Democrats and the Elections in St. Petersburg

The conference of the St. Petersburg Social-Democratic organisation adopted a
resolution not to enter into a bloc with the Cadets, but to propose an agreement
with the Trudoviks and the Socialist-Revolutionaries. The Mensheviks made a
number of protests on formal grounds and, being in a minority, walked out of the
conference.

The liberal newspapers have already made a lot of noise about this event. They
predict a split in the Social-Democratic Party, and hasten to draw a number of
political conclusions. In view of this it is extremely important for every
class-conscious worker to understand what is really taking place in the
Social-Democratic organisation in St. Petersburg and what attitude to adopt
towards this.

We propose, therefore, to examine the main questions that arise in connection
with this event, namely: (1) the composition of the conference; (2) the
immediate reason why the Mensheviks walked out of the conference—the
attempt of the Central Committee to divide the conference into two parts, one
for the city and one for the gubernia; and (3) the significance of the whole event , especially in view of the election campaign now proceeding in
St. Petersburg.

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