V. I. Lenin

The Fifth Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. {1}

April 30–May 19 ( May 13–June 1), 1907

1

SPEECH AGAINST THE PROPOSAL TO CLOSE THE DEBATE ON THE QUESTION OF THE
CONGRESS AGENDA {2}

MAY 1 (14)

Iobject most strongly against the closure of the debate. You cannot
decide questions of principle mechanically by a simple vote.

| First published in 1909 in the book Londonsky syezd R.S.D.R.P. ( sostoyavshiisya v 1907 godu ). Polny tekst protokolov (London Congress of the R.S.D.L.P., 1907. Full Text of the Proceedings), Central Committee publication, Paris | |
| --- | --- |
| Printed from the text of the book | |

2

SPEECH IN DEFENCE OF THE NAME-TICKET VOTE
METHOD {3}

MAY 2 (15)

Togetherwith the representative of the Latvian delegation,
we insist on the preservation of the name-ticket voting procedure used
until today. It is the most democratic, saves time and ensures
clarity. There can be no question at all of rigging. Those who propose a
roll-call vote merely wish to drag things out, thereby making name-ticket
voting impossible.

| First published in 1909 in the book Londonsky syezd R.S.D.R.P. ( sostoyavshiisya v 1907 godu ). Polny tekst protokolov , Central Committee publication, Paris | |
| --- | --- |
| Printed from the text of the book | |

3

SPEECHES FROM THE CHAIR AT THE SIXTH SITTING OF THE CONGRESS

MAY 3 (16)

1

Ipropose a vote of thanks to the representatives of the
British Social-Democratic Federation for their help in arranging the
Congress. ( Applause .)

2

Ipropose that we discuss the order of the items:
C.C. report, report by the Duma group, and attitude to bourgeois parties
and the Duma.

Aunanimous decision has been taken by the representatives of all
groups to arrange the other items in the following order:

5)labour congress, 6) trade unions and the Party, 7) unorganised
action, 8) unemployment, the crisis and the lock-outs, 9) organisational
questions, 10) Stuttgart Congress, 11) work in the army, 12) miscellanea.

| First published in 1909 in the book Londonsky syezd R.S.D.R.P. ( sostoyavshiisya a 1907 godu ). Polny tekst protokolov , Central Committee publication, Paris | |
| --- | --- |
| Printed from the text of the book | |

4

OBJECTION TO LIEBER’S AMENDMENT TO THE BOLSHEVIK RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE
CONGRESS ON THE ATTITUDE TO BOURGEOIS
PARTIES {4}

MAY 15 (28)

Lieberis wrong. This shows up the worth of Lieber’s amendments. His is
a schoolboy statement, and it is characteristic of his lack of principle.

| First published in 1909 in the book Londonsky syezd R.S.D.R P. ( sostoyavshiisya v 1907 godu ). Polny tekst protokolov , Central Committee publication, Paris | |
| --- | --- |
| Printed, from the text of the book | |

5

SPEECH ON DESIGNATING THE
CONGRESS {5}

MAY 19 (JUNE 1)

Iam surprised that the Mensheviks are afraid to call this the Fifth
Congress. Do they think that our history is any sort of secret?

| First published in 1909 in the book Londonsky syezd R.S.D.R.P. ( sostoyavshiisya v 1907 godu ). Polny tekst protokolov , Central Committee publication, Paris | |
| --- | --- |
| Printed from the text of the book | |

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Notes:
{1}
The Fifth Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. was held in London from
April 30 to May 19 (May 13 to June 1), 1907. It was attended by 336
delegates representing more than 147,000 members: 105 Bolsheviks,
97 Mensheviks, 57 Bundists, 44 Polish Social-Democrats, 29 members of the
Social-Democracy of the Latvian Territory, and 4 “non-faction”
delegates. The large industrial centres were represented by Bolsheviks. The
St. Petersburg Party organisation sent 12 Bolsheviks of its 17 delegates;
the Moscow City and Moscow District, 16 out of 19; the Urals, 19;
Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Vladimir, Kostroma District, Bryansk, Kazan and
Krasnoyarsk, Bolsheviks only. Lenin was a delegate to the Congress from the
Upper

Kama organisation. At the Congress there was a well-knit group of
Bolsheviks led by Lenin, among them A. S. Bubnov, I. F. Dubrovinsky,
M. N. Lyadov, V. P. Nogin, M. N. Pokrovsky, K. N. Samoilova,
S. G. Shahumyan, J. V. Stalin, A. M. Stopani, I. A. Teodorovich,
M. G. Tskhakaya, K. Y. Voroshilov, and Y. M. Yaroslavsky. Maxim Gorky
attended the Congress with voice only. Following a long and sharp debate
the Congress adopt ed this agenda: 1) Report of the Central Committee. 2)
Report of the Duma group and its set-up. 3) Attitude to the bourgeois
parties. 4) The Duma. 5) “Labour congress” and non-Party labour
organisations. 6) Trade unions and the Party. 7) Partisan action. 8)
Unemployment, economic crisis and lockouts. 9) Organisational
questions. 10) International Congress at Stuttgart (May Day,
militarism). 11) Work in the army. 12) Miscellaneous. In view of the work
of the Congress being protracted, the questions of unemployment, of the
economic crisis and the lockouts, and the International Congress at
Stuttgart were taken off the agenda.

Leninwas elected to the presidium of the Congress and chaired the 6th,
7th, 14th, 15th, 27th, 34th and 35th sittings; he gave the report and
delivered the summing-up speech on the key item of the agenda—the
attitude to the bourgeois parties; he also spoke on the C.C. report on its
work, the report on the Duma group activity, for inclusion in the agenda of
the general theoretical questions of the principles underlying the Party’s
tactics in the bourgeois revolution, against the Mensheviks, the Bundists
and Trotsky (see present edition, Vol. 12, pp. 437–88).

Atthe Congress the Bolsheviks were supported by the delegates of the
Social-Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania and the
Social-Democrats of the Latvian Territory. Having rallied them on a
revolutionary platform, the Bolsheviks secured a majority and a victory for
the revolutionary Marxist line. The Congress adopted Bolshevik resolutions
on all major questions. It amended the Party Rules, eliminating the
two-centre arrangement (election of the C.C. and the C.O. by the
congress). Under the amended Rules, only the C.C. was elected, while the
C.O. was to be appointed by the C.C. and was to work under its control. The
Rules provided for periodical Party conferences to discuss the most
important aspects of Party life.

Tothe Central Committee were elected five Bolsheviks, four Mensheviks,
two Polish Social-Democrats and one Latvian Social-Democrat; ten
Bolsheviks, seven Mensheviks, three Polish and two Latvian Social-Democrats
were elected alternate members. Among the Bolsheviks elected to the C.C. as
full and alternate members were V. I. Lenin, I. F. Dubrovinsky,
F. E. Dzerzhinsky, L. B. Krasin, J. Marchlewski, V. P. Nogin and
L. Tyszka. Three more persons were subsequently nominated for the C.C.: two
from the Bund and one from the Latvian Social-Democrats.

Asthe C.C. leadership could not be reliable, for it consisted of
representatives of different trends (those of the non-Russian
Social-Democratic organisations frequently vacillated between the
Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks), a Bolshevik Centre headed by Lenin was elected at a sitting of the Bolshevik group towards the end of
the Congress. It included the Editorial Board of the newspaper
Proletary .

The Fifth Congress marked a triumph for Bolshevism in the working-class
movement of Russia. Its decisions summed up the victory of Bolshevism over
the opportunist, Menshevik wing of the Party during the
bourgeois-democratic revolution. The Bolshevik tactics was approved as the
common one for the whole Party.

p. 197

{2}
Lenin spoke at the third sitting. Following the adoption of the first
two items of the agenda, 1. Report of the Central Committee, and 2. Report
of the Duma group and its set-up, the Bundist Zeltser (B. N. Grosser)
joined Lieber in motioning that there should be no debate on the general
theoretical questions of principle, motioned for inclusion in the agenda
(items 3, 4 and 5 of the Bolshevik draft agenda—the aggravation of the
economic struggle and the current situation, the class tasks of the
proletariat at the present stage, and the attitude to the bourgeois
parties). The Bundist Vinitsky (V. D. Medem) who was in the chair motioned
a closure of the debate.

After Lenin’s speech at the following, fourth, sitting, the debate on
the inclusion of the general theoretical questions in the agenda was
continued. At the fifth sitting on May 2 (15), the item “On the Attitude
to the Bourgeois Parties” was included in the agenda.

p. 197

{3}
Point 4 of the regulations adopted by the Congress provided for a
name-ticket vote only when at least 20 delegates demanded one. Lenin spoke
in connection with the fact that a proposal had been made to the presidium
of the Congress to have the roll-call vote without tickets. By 3 votes to 2
the presidium came out against the tickets, but in view of the differences
that arose, the question was referred to the Congress. A majority (144)
were in favour of the name-ticket vote.

p. 197

{4}
Lieber’s amendment opened the attack by the Menshevik Bundist
opportunist section of the Congress against the Bolshevik resolution on the
attitude to the bourgeois parties, which had been adopted as a
basis. Lieber motioned the deletion of the first part of the theoretical
resolution: “At present, Social-Democracy is most insistently faced with
the task of determining the class content of the various non-proletarian
parties, of taking account of the present interrelation of classes and
accordingly of defining its attitude to the other parties”. Lieber’s
amendment was reject ed by the Congress. For the amendments to the
resolution on “The Attitude Towards Bourgeois Patties”, see present
edition, Vol. 12, pp. 500–05.

p. 198

{5}
Lenin is replying to F. I. Dan, who objected to designating the
Congress as the Fifth, as the Bolsheviks had proposed, on the plea that it
was an effort to fix the factional dissentions. Actually, however, the
Mensheviks and the Bundists had ignored the Third, Bolshevik, Congress. The Congress adopted the proposal of the Bundist
Shanin (L. G. Shapiro) to designate it as the “London Congress of the
R.S.D.L.P.”

p. 199