V. I.

Lenin

Preface to the Third Edition of the Pamphlet The Tasks of the Russian Social-Democrats

Thethird edition of this pamphlet appears at a moment in the development of the
revolution in Russia which differs considerably from 1897, when it was written,
and from 1902, when its second edition appeared. It need hardly be said that the
pamphlet gives only a general outline of the tasks of Social-Democracy as a
whole, and not a concrete exposition of the present-day tasks that stem from
the present state of the working-class and revolutionary movements, and also
from the state of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The present-day
tasks of our Party are dealt with in my pamphlet Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution (Geneva, 1905). A comparison
of the two pamphlets will enable the reader to judge whether the author’s views
on the general tasks of Social-Democracy and the special tasks of the given
moment have been developing with consistency. That such a comparison is not
useless is shown, incidentally, by the recent crude sally made by Mr. Struve,
leader of our liberal-monarchist bourgeoisie, who in Osvobozhdeniye
accuses revolutionary Social-Democracy (as represented by the Third Congress of
the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party) of presenting the question of an
insurrection in a manner befitting seditionists and revolutionaries in the
abstract. We have already stated in Proletary (No. 9, “Revolution
Teaches”) that a simple comparison of The Tasks of the Russian Social-Democrats (1897), What Is To Be Done? (1902), and
Proletary (1905) will refute the accusation of the
Osvobozhdeniye gentry, and will show the connection between the development of Social-Democratic views on an
insurrection and the development of the revolutionary movement in
Russia. The Osvobozhdeniye accusation is merely a crude
opportunist sally on the part of the supporters of a liberal monarchy, who
are trying to cover up their betrayal of the revolution, their betrayal of
the people’s interests, and their desire to strike a bargain with the
tsarist government.

N. Lenin

August1905

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