V. I.

Lenin

1910

188

To:   AN UNIDENTIFIED ADDRESSEE

22/I. 1910

Dear Sir, I am very well aware of the scientific character of the dictionary and
would gladly give you all the information you wish concerning the history
of Social-Democracy in Russia. But at the moment, unfortunately, I could
not possibly write a brief essay on the history of
Social-Democracy. [2]

There is some good information up to 1904 in the report to the
Amsterdam International Congress of 1904—Lidin, [M.] Explanatory Material Bearing on the Crisis in Russian Social-Democracy (Geneva)
[1904] and several articles by different authors in Neue Zeit .

In August 1910 an international congress will be held in
Copenhagen. Presumably the official report of our Party (Social-Democratic
Labour Party of Russia) will appear within a few months.

There have been two major trends in the S.D. movement in
1903–09—“Mensheviks” and “Bolsheviks”. In Neue Zeit you
will find articles by representatives of both trends.

Bibliography: Cherevanin (Menshevik), reviews in Vorwärts
and Leipziger Volkszeitung . [3] Trotsky, middle position (Vermittlerstellung)
( Russland in Revolution , 1910).

I myself belong to the “Bolshevik” trend.

[ There are] articles by Trotsky in German also in Kampf
(Austrian S.D.
review). [4]

Please excuse me for not being able to give you a systematic essay.

Respectfully yours, Vl. Ulyanov

Lenin [1]

4. Rue Marie Rose. 4. Paris. XIV.

---
Notes:
[1]
The word “Lenin” was added later in pencil.— Ed .

[2]
Who asked Lenin to write an essay on the history of Social-Democracy in
Russia has not been established. It may have been the editor of
“ Schulthers’ Europäischer Geschichts-Kalender ”.

[3]
Leipziger Volkszeitung —a Social-Democratic daily published
from 1894 to 1933. For a number of years it was edited by Franz Mehring and
Rosa Luxemburg and was the organ of the Left Social-Democrats. From 1917 to
1922 it was the organ of the German Independents, and after 1922, of the
Right-wing Social-Democrats.

[4]
Der Kampf —a monthly, organ of the Austrian Social-Democrats,
published in Vienna from 1907 to 1934. Its orientation was opportunist,
Centrist, camouflaged with Left phraseology.