Political freedoms of the RSDRP. RSDLP and other parties of the early twentieth century

CONTENT: RSDLP and other parties at the beginning of the twentieth century RSDLP program: democratic - concentration of supreme power in the hands of a legislative unicameral parliament of representatives of the people, universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot, broad local self-government, inviolability of person and home, freedom of speech, press , meetings, conscience, strikes and unions, freedom of movement and trade; ;

RSDLP and other parties at the beginning of the twentieth century

RSDLP program:

democratic - concentration of supreme power in the hands of a legislative unicameral parliament of representatives of the people, universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot, broad local self-government, inviolability of person and home, freedom of speech, press, assembly, conscience, strikes and unions, freedom of movement and crafts; ;

on the national issue - the right of nations to self-determination, regional self-government of localities distinguished by special living conditions and the composition of the population, equality of nations, the right to receive education in their native language, the introduction of the native language on an equal basis with the state language in all institutions;

on the labor issue - an 8-hour working day, state insurance of workers for old age and disability, prohibition of overtime work, fines and payments in kind, labor protection for women and prohibition of child labor under 16 years of age;

on the agrarian issue - the abolition of redemption and quitrent payments, the establishment of peasant committees for the return of plots, the return to the peasants of the sums taken from them in the form of redemption and quitrent payments. For these purposes, it was proposed to confiscate monastic and church property, appanages, cabinets and those belonging to the royal "family estates, and also introduce taxation of landowners.

When discussing the program at the congress, heated discussions were held on issues of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the right of “nations” to self-determination, and the alliance of the working class with the peasantry. Nevertheless, 50 votes were cast for the adoption of the program in Iskra’s version.

Of the organizational issues of the congress, the most important were the adoption of the Charter of the RSDLP, which determined the organizational forms and principles of building the party, and the election of its governing bodies. |

On the question of the principles of party building, three positions were debated: autonomous, federal structure and

based on centralism. Having ultimately agreed “on the idea of centralism, the congress delegates nevertheless understood it differently. This was evidenced by the polemics on § 1 of the RSDRG charter on membership in the party, which led to a split in the Iskraists themselves.

Two formulations of it were discussed. According to Lenin, anyone who recognized its program and supported the party both with material means and with personal participation in the work of one of the party organizations was considered a member of the RSDLP. But according to Martov’s wording, “anyone who accepted its program, supported it financially and provided it with regular personal assistance under the leadership of one of the party organizations could be a member of the party. This wording of § 1 of the charter was supported by 28 votes against 22 with 1 abstention.

the formal discrepancy between the formulations was minor. But in fact, in the disputes about them there were deep and fundamental differences that boiled down to what the party should be. This essentially became the basis for the split among the Social Democrats. ;

“Solid” Iskraists believed that Martov’s formulation opened the doors to the party to everyone, without requiring party discipline or participation in the work of the organization. The model of the party according to Lenin assumed that “in conditions of illegal activity, strict centralism is necessary, unquestioning implementation of the directives of the leadership from top to bottom. It was with the help of an over-centralized party that Lenin and his like-minded people hoped to realize the idea of a socialist revolution, which had become for them a kind of end in itself.

“Soft” Iskrists, focusing on the examples of Western European social democracy, saw in Lenin’s position the danger of extreme radicalism. They believed that the party should be legal, mass, and include everyone who wants to help the cause of the liberation of the working class.

At the end of the congress, elections of governing bodies took place. Before this, 7 anti-Iskraists left him, which provided the “solid” Iskra-ists with a strong majority. Teach-

Considering the conditions of existence of the opposition party in Russia, it was decided to elect two bodies: the Central Committee (it was supposed to be “located in Russia) and the editorial board of the Central Body (abroad). Their activities were to be coordinated by the Party Council, which included 2 people each from the Central Organ and the Central Committee and a chairman appointed by the congress.

With the election of the editorial board of Iskra, the congress finally split." From here came the division into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks (although it was based on more fundamental differences). Lenin's supporters, who received a majority in the voting on the composition of the Central Organ, began to be called Bolsheviks, Martov's supporters - Mensheviks .2

Thus, the Second Congress recreated the RSDLP, and its Program and Charter were adopted. However, at the same time, within the framework of a formally single party, actually two parties arose - the Bolsheviks, radical social democrats, unconditionally defending Marx’s ideas about class struggle, socialist revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat, and the Mensheviks, moderate social democrats, alternating revolutionism with reformism and standing closer to Western -European social democratic traditions. Despite some unconditional attempts to unite them, this state of affairs in the Social Democratic movement actually existed until the stormy revolutionary events of 1917.

“Lenin proposed Plekhanov, Martov and himself to the editorial board. Martov insisted on including other old editors - Axelrod, Zasulich and Potresov - and after voting he refused to join the Central Organ.

2 After the Second Congress, the split between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks deepened. In September 1903, without formally breaking with the party, the Mensheviks created the Minority Bureau and seized the leadership of Iskra (Lenin left its editorial board). In August 1&04, the Bolsheviks created their central organization - the Bureau of Majority Committees, and later the central body - the newspaper “Forward.”

§ 3. Socialist Revolutionary Party and its program.

In the 90s of the 19th century, the populist movement experienced a deep ideological, political and organizational crisis. Most of the Yarodniks, having lost faith in their previous work and realizing its futility, abandoned the revolutionary struggle against the autocracy and switched to the position of liberalism and reformism. This happened against the backdrop of a progressive process of destruction of the traditional patriarchal structure of the Russian village and noticeable differentiation within the peasantry.

And only a few illegal populist groups and circles firmly declared loyalty to the ideals and traditions of “Narodnaya Volya” - the “Group of Narodnaya Volya”, which took shape in 1892 in St. Petersburg, and the “South Russian Group of Narodnaya Volya” in Kiev. A little later, the “Group of Old Narodnaya Volya” (Paris) was formed abroad.

“The first organization that called itself “socialist-revolutionaries” was an emigrant group - the “Union of Russian Socialists-Revolutionaries”. Following this, the “Northern Union of Socialist-Revolutionaries” (1896) and the “Southern Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries” arose in 1897 year.

By using the name “socialist-revolutionaries,” the neo-People’s Volunteers wanted to emphasize their difference from the Social Democrats and disassociate themselves from liberal people-peopleism.

The “Northern Union of Socialist-Revolutionaries” in 1896 adopted the “Basic Provisions of the Program of the Socialists-Revolutionaries,” which declared solidarity with the “Narodnaya Volya” program. The “Union” considered propaganda and agitation as preparatory measures for a social revolution, and terror as a way to realize its tasks and goals. Systematic terror, this document said,

will stop only after the overthrow of the autocracy and the achievement of full political freedom.

The “Union” established contacts with other foreign populist groups and in January 1901 began publishing the newspaper “Revolutionary Russia”. Already at that time, the neo-Narodnaya Volya began terrorist activities. Thus, in February 1901, P. V. Karpovich, expelled from the university, mortally wounded the Minister of Education N. P. Bogolgepov for ordering 183 Kyiv students to become soldiers. When arrested, he called himself a socialist revolutionary.

The most ardent supporters of terror were united by the “Workers' Party for the Political Liberation of Russia,” formed in Minsk in 1899. She had her own groups in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinoslavl, Bialystok, Zhitomir, Dvinsk and Berdichev. Its leader was G. A. Gershuni. In 1900, it was crushed by the police, and the remaining members of the party a little later joined the united party of Socialist Revolutionaries.

The Agrarian Socialist League (1900) stood entirely on the platform of populist socialism. In its program, the peasantry was declared to be the class most receptive to revolutionary propaganda, and Russia was opposed to the West. The League paid its main attention to disseminating agrarian-socialist ideas among the peasants. ,

At the end of 1901, the leaders of the Northern Union of Socialist Revolutionaries went abroad to meet with representatives of the Southern Party of Socialist Revolutionaries and the Agrarian Socialist League. As a result of the negotiations, as reported in January 1902 in the third issue of Revolutionary Russia, an agreement was reached on the creation of a single party of Socialist Revolutionaries (AKP, abbreviated as Socialist Revolutionaries).

The origins of this party were such prominent representatives of the populist movement as M. Nathanson, E. Bresh-ko-Breshkovskaya, M. Gots, V. Chernev and others. The Social Revolutionaries viewed themselves as one of the detachments of the world socialist movement.

Until the end of 1905, the Socialist Revolutionary Party existed without an officially adopted Program and Charter. Its activities were carried out in two directions: firstly, agitation and propaganda work among the population, and secondly, the organization and conduct of terrorist attacks against government officials and the official bureaucracy.

Even during negotiations on the creation of a single party of socialist revolutionaries, G. Gershuni began to create a special “combat organization” (BO) for these purposes. 0;n and became its first official leader (then BO was headed by E. Azef).

The AKP Program and Charter were adopted at the end of December 1905. In accordance with the Charter, the party was built

on a territorial principle based on centralized leadership (the Central Committee was given the right to dissolve local committees) and strict subordination to party discipline.

The leadership of the party in the period between congresses, convened at least once a year, was carried out by the Party Council, which included 5 members of the Central Committee, representatives of all regional committees, as well as representatives of the Moscow and St. Petersburg committees.

The program of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, general democratic in nature, was in the future oriented toward socialist goals. It indicated that the existence

autocracy came into conflict with the needs of the economic, socio-political and cultural development of the country. And therefore, its destruction and the establishment of a democratic republic is the immediate and urgent task, a necessary condition for resolving social issues and “an extremely important factor in international progress.” At the same time, it was emphasized that “the whole burden of

of the struggle with the autocracy falls “and the proletariat, the working peasantry and the revolutionary socialist intelligentsia.”

The following strategic goals were also proclaimed in the Program:

mental, political and economic emancipation of the working class; the destruction of private ownership of the means of production and the division of society into classes; systematic organization of universal labor for the benefit of all; the elimination of all forms of violence and exploitation of man by man, the establishment in society of the principles of equality and fraternity, regardless of “gender, race, religion, etc.

In order to “implement their tasks and goals, the Socialist-Revolutionaries recognized the need to establish, if necessary, a temporary revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. The possibility of nationalizing the means of production in industry was also recognized, subject to the creation of guarantees of the independence of the working class from the ruling bureaucracy. The Socialist-Revolutionaries spoke out strongly against both state capitalism , and state socialism, for the planned organization of social production and labor.

In the political sphere, the demands of the Socialist-Revolutionaries coincided with similar demands of the Social Democrats: freedom of conscience, speech, press, meetings and unions, freedom of movement, choice of occupation and collective refusal to work (freedom to strike), inviolability of person and home, universal equal suffrage for every citizen at least 20 years of age, without distinction of gender, religion or nationality. "

1 Program of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. See: First

storm. History of the fatherland in novels, stories, documents. Century XX. M., 1990, p. 440.

Demands such as election, replacement and jurisdiction of all officials, the destruction of the standing army and its replacement with a people's militia were also put forward."

Like the Social Democrats, the Socialist Revolutionaries defended the idea of autocracy of the people, that is, the idea of concentrating all “supreme state power in the hands of a legislative assembly made up of representatives of the people and forming one chamber.

The Social Democrats demanded practically the same thing as the Social Democrats on the labor issue. True, they lacked the precision and clarity of presentation inherent in the Social Democrats.

There was a coincidence of demands on the national issue. The only difference was that the Social Revolutionaries advocated the establishment of federal relations between nations.

The agrarian part of the Socialist Revolutionary program was distinguished by its originality “and differed very significantly from the program demands of other parties, including the Social Democrats. They defended the so-called idea of socialization of all privately owned lands, i.e. “the idea of withdrawing these lands from circulation and circulation, liquidation of private property and land.

The specific demands of the Socialist Revolutionaries were aimed at the implementation of this basic idea: the conversion of all land without ransom into the public domain; transfer of land to communities and local governments; the equalizing principle of its distribution to ensure consumer norms without the use of hired labor; development of all kinds of public services to provide peasants with various and free assistance, etc. 2.

"See: First assault... M., >1990” p. 441.

2 Program of the Socialist-Grevolutionary Party. See: First assault. History of the fatherland in novels, stories, documents. M., 1990, a 449.

The agrarian program of the Socialist Revolutionaries was based on their deep belief in the uniqueness of Russia, its special path to socialism. And they considered the socialization of the land as a socialist measure that corresponded to the traditional views of the Russian peasantry.

The similarity of the programs of the Social Democrats and the Socialist Revolutionaries in many respects, including the definition of immediate tasks and strategic goals, was the objective basis for their close interaction and cooperation.

However, from the very beginning, relations between the two socialist parties were extremely difficult. Party leaders were unable to rise above personal ambitions and overcome mutual intolerance and intransigence.

Even at the Second Congress of the RSDLP, the Social Democrats determined the official line regarding their political opponents. There, the resolution “On Socialist Revolutionaries” was adopted, which was distinguished by its extremely harsh judgments and assessments. It, for example, indicated that the “socialist-revolutionaries” are “nothing more than a bourgeois-democratic faction, the fundamental attitude towards which on the part of the Social Democracy cannot be other than “the liberal representatives of the bourgeoisie in general.” Their activities were regarded as harmful not only for the political development of the proletariat, but also “for the general democratic struggle against absolutism.”

The Social Democrats spoke out against any unification with the Socialist Revolutionaries, allowing only the possibility of private agreements in individual cases of the fight against tsarism.

A negative attitude towards socialist-revolutionaries led to a split not only among socialists, but also cast doubt on the general possibility of creating a single general democratic movement "V Russia.

"CPSU in resolutions... T.I.M." 1970. p. 73-74.

§ 4. Organizational formation of the liberal-bourgeois opposition.

The socio-economic and political situation in the country at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries contributed to the growth of opposition movements that, to a greater or lesser extent, questioned the existing political regime. The liberal movement was the most prominent among them.

Liberalism as a special ideological and political movement in opposition to autocracy arose in Russia in the middle of the 19th century. In its ideological and political content, it was a bourgeois phenomenon and objectively reflected the capitalist path of development of the country. The social composition of this movement was heterogeneous: liberal-minded landowners, liberal-monarchist bourgeoisie, bourgeois intelligentsia.

Moderate liberals were mostly zemstvo activists. The starting point of zemstvo liberalism were the unfinished reforms of the 60s XIX century, and also the desire to expand the scope of activities of local governments.

Despite the fact that the zemstvo election system gave a clear advantage to representatives of the privileged classes^; opposition grew steadily among them. Even the most law-abiding representatives of zemstvos in the provinces were outraged that the central government was so sharply limiting their local role. It was formed as a response against the inertia of the autocracy, the omnipotence and conservatism of the tsarist bureaucracy, and against deviations from the reform course of Alexander II. The terrible famine of 1891 further strengthened the opposition sentiments of the liberals."

The main manifestation of zemstvo liberalism until the mid-90s of the 19th century was the submission of various kinds of addresses and petitions on the need to convene a Zemsky Sobor, reform the State Council and introduce representatives from provincial zemstvos into it, expand local government bodies and establish bourgeois freedoms in Russia - freedom of speech , press, conscience, abolition of class privileges, etc.

Radical representatives of zemstvos, in search of new means of influencing the government, even resorted to illegal political activities, convening secret meetings of their supporters.

The government's policy of limiting the rights of zemstvos in the 80s dealt a significant blow to the zemstvo-liberal movement, but it did not disappear completely.

By the beginning of the 90s, two currents emerged in the liberal movement: radical (constitutional), led by one of the leaders of the Tver zemstvo, I. I. Petrunkevich, and moderate, led by the chairman of the Moscow provincial government, D. N. Shipov. An attempt to influence Nicholas II using traditional methods, through giving him a special address during the coronation celebrations, did not bring the desired result. The tsar's first public speech (January 17, 1895), in which he called the calls of liberals “meaningless dreams,” caused even greater discontent among liberal circles of society.

The Tsar's speech pushed forward the process of unification of liberal forces that had already begun. An important milestone on this path was the unification in 1899 of a large group of zemstvo liberals of various orientations into the semi-legal “Conversation” circle. The activities of this circle were manifested in the publication of works on agrarian problems, on the basic principles of self-government, on the constitutions of other countries, that is, works that were supposed to acquaint readers with the ideological platform of liberalism. Until 1904, these works appeared not as publications, “Conversations,” but only as personal publications of its individual members, since there were police restrictions associated with the activities of zemstvo institutions. However, the most important thing was not the publication of these works, but the fact that “Conversation” was, although the most primitive, but still an organization that made it possible for representatives of the public to communicate in almost all provinces.

“Conversation” was not a political party with a specific political program and did not consciously strive for this. The members of the circle were representatives of the re-

Dovoy of the Russian public, who belonged to a variety of political movements: Kokoshkin and Shakhovsky - left liberals, Khomyakov, Shipov, Stakhovich - Slavophiles who dreamed of restoring a monarchy free from bureaucratic perversions. The main condition for membership in “Beseda” was dedication in practice to the principles of self-government, that is, specific work in zemstvo institutions. The Conversation did not intend to engage in abstract theories and general reasoning. In the activities of this organization there was not a trace of demagogy, the hunt for popularity; here it was about the benefit of the people, and not about the will of the people.

It should be noted that at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, the social base of the liberal movement was constantly expanding due to representatives of the service intelligentsia, teachers, doctors, teachers, agronomists, engineers, etc. The intelligentsia became a “third force” and began to form into a special social group, potentially “ready to follow democratic calls, because she considered her current social and political situation unsatisfactory.

The emerging professional associations and cultural associations played the same role for this more radically minded part of the population as the zemstvos, which united representatives of moderate circles. For example, the Committee for the Development of Culture, the Society for a Free Economy and others made it possible for liberals to get to know each other, to understand that in terms of numbers and intellectual potential they now constitute a significant force. Thus, a network of political organizations was gradually formed that had an absolutely legal basis. The main goal of these organizations was to reform the political system in Russia and a mandatory transition to a constitutional system.

Liberals of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, while remaining in monarchical positions, nevertheless resolutely opposed Russian absolutism and condemned all manifestations of arbitrariness and violence by the authorities.

In 1902, after long preparatory work near Stuttgart (Germany), a group of former “legal

Marxists”, headed by P.B. Struve, began to publish the magazine “Osvobozhdenie”, around which representatives of the bourgeois intelligentsia united.

The magazine on its pages (79 issues were published) propagated the ideas of evolutionary reform of the country in the direction of creating a constitutional system and truly providing the people with the entire complex of civil rights and political freedoms.

The editorial office of the magazine “Osvobozhdenie” has become one of the centers of unification of domestic and foreign intelligentsia. The publication of this magazine played an important role in the consolidation of liberal forces and preparation for the formation of a bourgeois political party.

In November 1903, the “Union of Zemstvo Constitutionalists” was created from the most radically minded Zemstvo citizens under the leadership of the Dolgoruky brothers and D.I. Shakhovsky. The purpose of this organization is to prepare an appeal to the tsar with a petition for the introduction of a constitution, as well as to organize and convene zemstvo congresses. “Later, members of this organization joined the Cadets Party, and the right wing became the core of the Octobrists.

In the fall of 1903, a meeting of supporters of the Liberation magazine was held in Switzerland, which was attended by 20 people who arrived from Russia. Ten of them belonged to zemstvo circles, and the rest were representatives of the intelligentsia.

At this meeting, an agreement was reached to unite around the magazine “Osvobozhdenie” all the leading representatives of the bourgeoisie, nobility, zemstvo, and various intelligentsia into a single political union.

In January 1904, at the Founding Congress, the creation of the “Union of Liberation” was announced, which completed the consolidation of liberal forces and came close to the formation of bourgeois political parties. The leadership of the Union included prominent public figures and scientists - historian P. Milyukov, philosophers S. Bulgakov and N. Berdyaev, members of zemstvos P. Dolgorukov and I. Petrunkevich, lawyer V. Maklakov and P. Struve, etc.

At the congress, the Charter and Program of the Union were adopted. This organization was built on a territorial principle, as a federation of self-governing regional, professional and other unions. The union implied both collective and individual membership. The governing body between congresses was the Union Council of 10 people. I. Petrunkevich became the Chairman of the Union, and N. Annensky became the Deputy. Its left wing also included former socialists from among the “economists” - E. Kuskova and S. Prokopovich, as well as A. Peshekhonov and others.

The program of the “Union of Liberation” was much more radical than the program of the liberal nobility. The Union considered the main and immediate goal of its activities to be a radical transformation of the Russian state system on the basis of political freedom and democracy. The talk was about creating a constitutional monarchy of the English type in the country. This was evidenced by one of the requirements of the program - the creation of an elected body of popular representation, vested with full legislative power.

The demands of the Union in the political sphere were of a general democratic nature; they largely coincided with the demands of the socialist-revolutionaries and social democrats. This includes the equality of all citizens before the law, inviolability of person and home, freedom of movement, all political freedoms, etc. The requirements were similar in the sphere of labor legislation.

The Union program stated that in the field of labor issues it is necessary, first of all, to create favorable conditions for the collective initiative of workers:

the right to strike, freedom for professional societies and unions. In addition, demands were put forward such as the introduction of an 8-hour working day, the abolition of overtime work, labor protection for women and children, and the introduction of state insurance for workers in case of illness, old age and disability.”< "труду.

The program provided for a broad agrarian reform. The political liberation of Russia, the Program emphasized, should complete the liberation of the peasants on the basis of the transfer of land by farmers. For this purpose, it was envisaged: the transfer to landless and land-poor peasants of state, appanage and cabinet lands, and where they do not exist - privately owned ones with payment of compensation to the owners of these lands; education

state fund for organizing, with the help of the state, the resettlement of peasants to these lands.

The Union's demands on the national issue were as follows: equality and cultural self-determination of the peoples inhabiting Russia; broad local and regional self-government throughout Russia; broad regional self-government in Poland and Lithuania; restoration of the Finnish constitution and its special state status; use of the native language in schools and local institutions." 1

The similarity of the basic demands of liberals and socialists: in the political sphere and on the labor issue meant that there was an objective basis for the cooperation of these political forces. However, the relationship between them from the very beginning was difficult, especially with the radical left part of the Marxists.

The Social Democrats were frightened by the liberals' orientation towards a constitutional monarchy. Liberals, on the other hand, did not share the rigid views of the radical left of the socialists on armed methods of struggle, on the socialist revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat. Mutual suspicion, intolerance and intransigence undermined the “opportunities for constructive dialogue and cooperation.

"Program of the Union of Liberation. See: Book “The First Assault. Manifesto of Scholitic Forces.” M., “1990, Fr. 461-465.

Social Democrats, in the resolution “On the attitude towards liberals,” adopted at the Second Congress of the party, wrote that social democracy must support the bourgeoisie, since it is revolutionary or only oppositional in its struggle against tsarism. But it is obliged to expose to the proletariat the limitations and insufficiency of the liberation movement of the bourgeoisie wherever this limitation and insufficiency appears. It was proposed that workers should pay special attention to the anti-revolutionary nature of the direction expressed by P. Struve.

Recognizing the possibility of temporary agreements with liberal or liberal-democratic movements, the Social Democrats put forward obviously impossible conditions. For example; a clear and unambiguous statement that in their struggle against the autocratic government they are taking “the side of Russian social democracy,” etc. 2

Speaking about Russian liberalism in general, we should note the diversity of its political spectrum. At various stages, it combined the directions of conservative, moderate and radical. Common to liberalism was an orientation toward the Western path of development, but while preserving the foundations of the old system. For all its inconsistency, the liberal movement exerted noticeable pressure on tsarism and could, under favorable circumstances, turn Russia onto the path of constitutional reforms. However, supporters of the Western path of development had too little social support in the country, and even in subsequent periods of revolutionary upheaval, the liberals were unable to find a sufficient number of their adherents.

d At the congress, two resolutions were adopted - by Starover (A. Potreov) and G. Plekhanov, which received “an equal number of votes.”

2 CPSU in resolutions... M„ 1970, vol. 1, p. 72.

Program of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP)

(The program was adopted at the Second Congress of the RSDLP, which was held in July - August 1903, first in Brussels, then in London.)

The development of exchange has established such a close connection between all the peoples of the civilized world that the great liberation movement of the proletariat should have become, and has long since become, international.

Considering itself one of the detachments of the world army of the proletariat, Russian Social Democracy pursues the same ultimate goal to which the Social Democrats of all other countries strive.

This ultimate goal is determined by the character of modern bourgeois society and the course of its development.

The main feature of such a society is commodity production on the basis of capitalist production relations, in which the most important and significant part of the means of production and circulation of goods belongs to a small class of people, while the vast majority of the population consists of proletarians and semi-proletarians, forced by their economic situation to constantly or periodically sell your labor, i.e. become mercenaries for the capitalists, and with their labor create income for the upper classes of society.

The area of dominance of capitalist production relations is expanding more and more as the constant improvement of technology, increasing the economic importance of large enterprises, leads to the displacement of small independent producers, turning some of them into proletarians, narrowing the role of others in socio-economic life and in some places placing them in more or less complete, more or less obvious, more or less severe dependence on capital. The same technological progress also gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to increasingly use female and child labor in the production and circulation of goods. And since, on the other hand, it leads to a relative decrease in the need of entrepreneurs for the living labor of workers, the demand for labor necessarily lags behind its supply, as a result of which the dependence of hired labor on capital increases and the level of its exploitation increases.

This state of affairs within bourgeois countries and their constantly intensifying mutual rivalry on the world market make it more and more difficult to sell goods produced in ever-increasing quantities. Overproduction, manifested in more or less acute industrial crises, followed by more or less long periods of industrial stagnation, is an inevitable consequence of the development of productive forces in bourgeois society. Crises and periods of industrial stagnation, in turn, further ruin small producers, further increase the dependence of wage labor on capital, and even more quickly lead to a relative and sometimes absolute deterioration in the position of the working class.

Thus, the improvement of technology, which means an increase in labor productivity and an increase in social wealth, causes in bourgeois society an increase in social inequality, an increase in the distance between the haves and have-nots and an increase in the insecurity of existence, unemployment and various kinds of deprivation for ever wider sections of the working masses.

But as all these contradictions inherent in bourgeois society grow and develop, the dissatisfaction of the working and exploited masses with the existing order of things also grows, the number and unity of the proletarians grows, and their struggle with their exploiters intensifies. At the same time, the improvement of technology, concentrating the means of production and circulation and socializing the labor process in capitalist enterprises, more and more quickly creates the material possibility of replacing capitalist production relations with socialist ones, i.e. that social revolution, which represents the ultimate goal of all the activities of international social democracy, as a conscious exponent of the class movement of the proletariat.

By replacing private ownership of the means of production and circulation with public property and introducing a planned organization of the social production process to ensure the well-being and all-round development of all members of society, the social revolution of the proletariat will destroy the division of society into classes and thereby liberate all oppressed humanity, since it will put an end to all types of exploitation of one part of society is different.

A necessary condition for this social revolution is the dictatorship of the proletariat, i.e. the conquest by the proletariat of such political power that will allow it to suppress all resistance of the exploiters.

Setting itself the task of making the proletariat capable of fulfilling its great historical mission, international social democracy organizes it into an independent political party opposed to all bourgeois parties, directs all manifestations of its class struggle, exposes to it the irreconcilable opposition of the interests of the exploiters to the interests of the exploited and clarifies to it the historical significance and necessary conditions for the upcoming social revolution. At the same time, it reveals to the rest of the working and exploited masses the hopelessness of its position in capitalist society and the need for a social revolution in the interests of its own liberation from the oppression of capital. The party of the working class, Social Democracy, calls into its ranks all sections of the working and exploited population, as they move to the point of view of the proletariat.

On the way to their common final goal, conditioned by the dominance of the capitalist mode of production throughout the civilized world, social democrats in different countries are forced to set themselves different immediate tasks, both because this method is not developed to the same degree everywhere, and because its development in different countries take place in different socio-political situations.

In Russia, where capitalism has already become the dominant mode of production, there are still very numerous remnants of our old, pre-capitalist order, which was based on the enslavement of the working masses to the landowners, the state or the head of state. By greatly hindering economic progress, these remnants do not allow the comprehensive development of the class struggle of the proletariat, contribute to the preservation and strengthening of the most barbaric forms of exploitation of the multimillion-dollar peasantry by the state and the propertied classes, and keep the entire people in darkness and without rights.

The most significant of all these survivals and the most powerful bulwark of all this barbarism is the tsarist autocracy. By its very nature it is hostile to any social movement and cannot but be the worst opponent of all the liberation aspirations of the proletariat.

Therefore, the RSDLP sets its immediate political task to overthrow the tsarist autocracy and replace it with a democratic republic, the constitution of which would ensure:

1. Autocracy of the people, i.e. the concentration of all supreme state power in the hands of a legislative assembly composed of representatives of the people and forming one chamber.

2. Universal, equal and direct suffrage in elections both to the legislative assembly and to all local bodies of self-government for all citizens over twenty years of age; secret ballot in elections; the right of every voter to be elected to all representative institutions; biennial parliaments; salaries of people's representatives.

3. Broad local self-government; regional self-government for those areas that have special living conditions and population composition.

4. Inviolability of person and home.

5. Unlimited freedom of conscience, speech, press, assembly, strikes and unions.

6. Freedom of movement and trade.

7. Abolition of classes and complete equality of all citizens regardless of gender, religion, race and nationality.

8. The right of the population to receive education in their native language, ensured by the creation of the necessary schools for this at the expense of the state and self-government bodies; the right of every citizen to speak in his native language at meetings; introduction of the native language on an equal basis with the state language in all local public and government institutions.

9. The right to self-determination belongs to all nations that make up the state.

10. The right of every person to prosecute every official before a jury in the usual manner.

11. Election of judges by the people.

12. Replacement of the standing army with the general arming of the people.

13. Separation of church from state and school from church.

14. Free and compulsory general and vocational education for all children of both sexes up to 16 years of age; supplying poor children with food, clothing and educational materials at the expense of the state.

As the main condition for the democratization of our state economy, the RSDLP demands: the abolition of all indirect taxes and the establishment of a progressive tax on income and inheritance.

In the interests of protecting the working class from physical and moral degeneration, as well as in the interests of developing its ability to fight for liberation, the party demands:

1. Limitation of the working day to eight hours a day for all hired workers.

2. Establishment by law of weekly rest, continuously lasting at least 42 hours, for hired workers of both sexes in all sectors of the national economy.

3. Complete ban on overtime work.

4. Prohibition of night work (from 9 pm to 6 am) in all sectors of the national economy, with the exception of those where it is absolutely necessary for technical reasons approved by workers' organizations.

5. Prohibitions for entrepreneurs to use the labor of children of school age (up to 16 years old) and limiting the working time of adolescents (16-18 years old) to six hours.

6. Prohibition of female labor in those sectors where it is harmful to the female body; exempting women from work for four weeks before and six weeks after giving birth, with wages maintained at the usual rate during this time.

7. Establishment of nurseries for infants and young children at all plants, factories and other enterprises where women work; releasing women breastfeeding from work no less than every three hours for a period of at least half an hour.

8. State insurance of workers in case of old age and complete or partial loss of ability to work at the expense of a special fund compiled by a special tax on capitalists.

9. Prohibition of payment of wages in goods; establishing a weekly deadline for payment in cash for all contracts for hiring workers without exception and issuing wages during working hours.

10. Prohibitions for entrepreneurs to make cash deductions from wages, for whatever reason and for whatever purpose they are made (fines, rejection, etc.).

11. The appointment of a sufficient number of factory inspectors in all sectors of the national economy and the extension of factory inspection supervision to all enterprises that use hired labor, not excluding state-owned ones (the work of domestic servants is also included in the scope of this supervision); appointment of inspectors in those industries where female labor is used; participation of representatives elected by workers and paid by the state in supervising the implementation of factory laws, as well as the preparation of prices, acceptance and rejection of materials and work results.

12. Supervision of local government bodies, with the participation of workers elected, over the sanitary condition of living quarters allocated to workers by entrepreneurs, as well as over the internal regulations of these premises and the conditions for their rental, in order to protect hired workers from the interference of entrepreneurs in life and their activities as individuals and citizens.

13. Institutions of properly organized sanitary supervision in all enterprises that use hired labor, with complete independence of the entire medical and sanitary organization from entrepreneurs; free medical care for workers at the expense of entrepreneurs, with maintenance of pay during illness.

14. Establishing criminal liability of employers for violation of labor protection laws.

15. Establishment of fishing vessels in all sectors of the national economy, composed equally of representatives from workers and entrepreneurs.

16. Imposing on local governments the responsibility to establish intermediary offices for hiring local and foreign workers (labor exchanges) in all sectors of production, with the participation of representatives from workers’ organizations in their management.

In order to eliminate the remnants of the serfdom, which weigh heavily on the peasants, and in the interests of the free development of class struggle in the countryside, the party demands first of all:

1. Abolition of redemption and quitrent payments, as well as all duties currently falling on the peasantry as a tax-paying class.

2. Abolition of all laws restricting the peasant's control over his land.

3. Return to peasants of amounts taken from them in the form of redemption and quitrent payments; for this purpose, confiscation of monastic and church properties, as well as appanage, cabinet and property estates belonging to persons of the royal family, as well as imposition of a special tax on the lands of landowners-nobles who took advantage of the redemption loan; turning the amounts obtained in this way into a special people's fund for the cultural and charitable needs of rural communities.

4. Establishment of peasant committees: a) for the return to rural societies (through expropriation or, if the lands changed hands, redemption by the state at the expense of large noble landholdings) of those lands that were cut off from the peasants during the abolition of serfdom and serve in the hands of the landowners as an instrument for their enslavement; b) to transfer into the ownership of peasants in the Caucasus those lands that they use as temporarily obligated people, khizans, etc.; c) to eliminate the remnants of serfdom that survived in the Urals, Altai, Western Territory and other regions of the state.

5. Granting the courts the right to reduce exorbitantly high rents and invalidate transactions that are enslaving in nature.

Striving to achieve its immediate goals, the RSDLP supports any opposition and revolutionary movement directed against the existing social and political order in Russia, while resolutely rejecting all those reform projects that are associated with any expansion or strengthening of the police and bureaucratic guardianship over the working classes.

For its part, the RSDLP is firmly convinced that the complete, consistent and lasting implementation of these political and social transformations is achievable only through overthrow of the autocracy and convening constituent assembly freely chosen by all the people.

History of Russia Munchaev Shamil Magomedovich

No. 8 Program of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP)

Program of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP)

The development of exchange has established such a close connection between all the great peoples of the civilized world that the great liberation movement of the proletariat had to become, and has long since become, international.

Considering itself one of the detachments of the world army of the proletariat, Russian Social Democracy pursues the same ultimate goal to which the Social Democrats of all other countries strive.

Therefore, the RSDLP sets its immediate political task to overthrow the tsarist autocracy and replace it with a democratic republic, the constitution of which would ensure:

1. Autocracy of the people, i.e. the concentration of all supreme state power in the hands of a legislative assembly composed of representatives of the people and forming one chamber.

3. Broad local self-government; regional self-government for those areas that have special living conditions and population composition.

4. Inviolability of person and home.

5. Unlimited freedom of conscience, speech, press, assembly, strikes and unions.

6. Freedom of movement and trade.

7. Abolition of classes and complete equality of all citizens regardless of gender, religion, race and nationality.

9. The right to self-determination belongs to all nations that make up the state.

10. The right of every person to prosecute every official before a jury in the usual manner.

11. Election of judges by the people.

12. Replacement of the standing army with the general arming of the people.

13. Separation of church from state and school from church.

As the main condition for the democratization of our state economy, the RSDLP demands: the abolition of all indirect taxes and establishing a progressive tax on income and inheritance.

In the interests of protecting the working class from physical and moral degeneration, as well as in the interests of developing its ability to fight for liberation, the party demands:

1. Limitation of the working day to eight hours a day for all hired workers.

2. Establishment by law of weekly rest, continuously lasting at least 42 hours, for hired workers of both sexes in all sectors of the national economy.

3. Complete ban on overtime work.

5. Prohibitions for entrepreneurs to use the labor of children of school age (up to 16 years old) and limiting the working time of adolescents (16–18 years old) to six hours.

8. State insurance of workers in case of old age and complete or partial loss of ability to work at the expense of a special fund compiled by a special tax on capitalists.

9. Prohibition of payment of wages in goods; establishing a weekly deadline for payment in cash for all contracts for hiring workers without exception and issuing wages during working hours.

10. Prohibitions for entrepreneurs to make cash deductions from wages, for whatever reason and for whatever purpose they are made (fines, rejection, etc.).

12. Supervision of local self-government bodies, with the participation of workers elected, over the sanitary condition of living quarters allocated to workers by entrepreneurs, as well as over the internal regulations of these premises and the conditions for their rental, in order to protect hired workers from interference of entrepreneurs in the life and activities them as individuals and citizens.

14. Establishing criminal liability of employers for violation of labor protection laws.

15. Establishment of fishing vessels in all sectors of the national economy, composed equally of representatives from workers and entrepreneurs.

1. Abolition of redemption and quitrent payments, as well as all duties currently falling on the peasantry as a tax-paying class.

2. Abolition of all laws restricting the peasant's control over his land.

4. Establishment of peasant committees: a) for the return to rural communities (through expropriation or, in the case of land changing hands, redemption by the state at the expense of large noble landholdings) of those lands that were cut off from the peasants during the abolition of serfdom and serve in the hands of landowners as an instrument for their enslavement; b) to transfer into the ownership of peasants in the Caucasus those lands that they use as temporary debtors, khizans, etc.; c) to eliminate the remnants of serfdom that survived in the Urals, Altai, Western Territory and other regions of the state.

5. Granting the courts the right to reduce exorbitantly high rents and invalidate transactions that are enslaving in nature.

For its part, the RSDLP is firmly convinced that the complete, consistent and lasting implementation of these political and social transformations is achievable only by overthrowing the autocracy and convening a constituent assembly freely elected by all the people.

author Commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks

From the book A Short Course in the History of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) author Commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks

4. Lenin’s struggle against populism and “legal Marxism.” Lenin's idea of the union of the working class and peasantry. I Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. Although Plekhanov dealt the main blow to the populist system of views already in the 80s, however, in

From the book A Short Course in the History of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) author Commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks

CHAPTER II FORMATION OF THE RUSSIAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC WORKERS PARTY. THE APPEARANCE OF BOLSHEVIK AND MENSHEVIK FRACTIONS WITHIN THE PARTY (1901-1904) 1. The rise of the revolutionary movement in Russia in 1901-1904. At the end of the 19th century, an industrial crisis broke out in Europe. A crisis

From the book A Short Course in the History of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) author Commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks

3. II Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. Adoption of the program and charter and creation of a single party. Disagreements at the congress and the emergence of two currents in the party: Bolshevik and Menshevik. Thus, the victory of Leninist principles and successful struggle

From the book Complete Works. Volume 8. September 1903 - September 1904 author Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

From the Central Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (86) Heartily welcoming the wonderful initiative of the “Group of Initiators” to create a “Library and Archive under the Central Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party”, we earnestly request

From the book Complete Works. Volume 10. March-June 1905 author Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

Notice of the Third Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party Comrade workers! The Third Congress of the RSDLP recently took place, which should open a new era in the history of our Social Democratic labor movement. Russia is experiencing a great historical

From the book Complete Works. Volume 7. September 1902 - September 1903 author Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

The program of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, proposed by the newspaper Iskra together with the magazine Zarya We have already said what a program is, why it is needed, why only the Social Democratic Party comes forward with a definite, clear program.

From the book Complete Works. Volume 6. January-August 1902 author Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

Draft program of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party [A]I. Commodity production in Russia is developing more and more rapidly, and the capitalist mode of production is gaining more and more complete dominance in it.II. Continuous improvement of technology leads to

From the book Complete Works. Volume 9. July 1904 - March 1905 author Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

Notice of the formation of the organizing committee and the convening of the Third Regular Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (53) The severe crisis experienced by our party for the past year and a half, since the Second Congress, has led to the inevitable and long ago

From the book Complete Works. Volume 11. July-October 1905 author Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

Jena Congress of the German Social Democratic Labor Party (119) The congresses of the German Social Democrats have long acquired significance for events that go far beyond the boundaries of the German labor movement. German Social Democracy is ahead of everyone in its

From the book Complete Works. Volume 13. May-September 1906 author Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

The union of the Bund with the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party The 7th Congress of the Bund, an organization of Jewish Social-Democrats, recently took place. workers of Russia. The total number of members of the Bund reaches, according to the reports of this congress, 33,000 in 257 organizations. Representation at the congress was

From the book Complete Works. Volume 17. March 1908 - June 1909 author Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

From the book Complete Works. Volume 15. February-June 1907 author Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

Regarding the protocols of the November military-combat conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (157), No. 20 of the “People's Duma” (dated April 3 of this year) published: “The Central Committee of the RSDLP addressed the party organizations with the following letter: “The other day out of print book,

From the book Complete Works. Volume 25. March-July 1914 author Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

Workers' response to the formation of the Russian Social-Democratic labor faction in the State Duma (146) It is clear that the open struggle with the liquidators should have flared up especially strongly and brightly in connection with the formation of an independent Russian Social-Democratic Party. working

PROGRAM
Russian Social Democratic Labor Party,
adopted at the second party congress

Considering itself one of the detachments of the world army of the proletariat, Russian Social Democracy pursues the same ultimate goal to which the Social Democrats of all other countries strive.

This ultimate goal is determined by the character of modern bourgeois society and the course of its development.

The main feature of such a society is commodity production on the basis of capitalist production relations, in which the most important and significant part of the means of production and circulation of goods belongs to a small class of people, while the vast majority of the population consists of proletarians and semi-proletarians, forced by their economic situation to constantly or periodically sell your labor power, that is, become mercenaries to the capitalists and create income for the upper classes of society with your labor.

The same technological progress also gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to increasingly use female and child labor in the production and circulation of goods. And since, on the other hand, it leads to a relative decrease in the need of entrepreneurs for the living labor of workers, the demand for labor necessarily lags behind its supply, as a result of which the dependence of hired labor on capital increases and the level of its exploitation increases.

This state of affairs within bourgeois countries and their constantly intensifying mutual rivalry on the world market make it more and more difficult to sell goods produced in ever-increasing quantities. Overproduction, which manifests itself in more or less long periods of industrial stagnation, is an inevitable consequence of the development of productive forces in bourgeois society. Crises and periods of industrial stagnation, in turn, further ruin small producers, further increase the dependence of wage labor on capital, and even more quickly lead to a relative and sometimes absolute deterioration in the position of the working class.

Thus, the improvement of technology, which means an increase in labor productivity and an increase in social wealth, causes in bourgeois society an increase in social inequality, an increase in the distance between the haves and have-nots, and an increase in the insecurity of existence, unemployment and various kinds of deprivation for ever wider sections of the working masses.

But as all these contradictions inherent in bourgeois society grow and develop, the dissatisfaction of the working and exploited masses with the existing order of things also grows, the number and unity of the proletarians grows, and their struggle with their exploiters intensifies. At the same time, the improvement of technology, concentrating the means of production and circulation and socializing the labor process in capitalist enterprises, is increasingly creating the material possibility of replacing capitalist production relations with socialist ones, that is, that social revolution, which represents the ultimate goal of all international social activity. democracy, as a conscious exponent of the class movement of the proletariat.

A necessary condition for this social revolution is the dictatorship of the proletariat, that is, the conquest by the proletariat of such political power that will allow it to suppress all resistance of the exploiters.

Setting itself the task of making the proletariat capable of fulfilling its great historical mission, international social democracy organizes it into an independent political party opposed to all bourgeois parties, directs all manifestations of the class struggle, exposes to it the irreconcilable opposition of the interests of the exploiters to the interests of the exploited and clarifies to it the historical significance and necessary conditions of the upcoming social revolution. At the same time, it reveals to the rest of the working and exploited masses the hopelessness of its position in capitalist society and the need for a social revolution in the interests of its own liberation from the oppression of capital. The party of the working class, Social Democracy, calls into its ranks all sections of the working and exploited population, as they move to the point of view of the proletariat.

In Russia, where capitalism has already become the dominant mode of production, there are still very numerous remnants of our old pre-capitalist order, which was based on the enslavement of the working masses to the landowner, the state or the head of state. By greatly hindering economic progress, these remnants do not allow the full development of the class struggle of the proletariat, contribute to the preservation and intensification of the most barbaric forms of exploitation of the multimillion-dollar peasantry by the state and the propertied classes, and keep the entire people in darkness and without rights.

Therefore, the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party sets its immediate political task to overthrow the tsarist autocracy and replace it with a democratic republic, the constitution of which would ensure:

1) Autocracy of the people, i.e. the concentration of all supreme state power in the hands of a legislative assembly composed of representatives of the people and forming one chamber;

2) Universal, equal and direct suffrage in elections both to the legislative assembly and to all local bodies of self-government for all citizens over 20 years of age; secret ballot in elections; the right of every voter to be elected to all representative institutions; biennial parliaments; salaries to people's representatives;

3) Broad local self-government; regional self-government for those areas that are different. special living conditions and composition of the population;

4) Inviolability of person and home;

5) Unlimited freedom of conscience, speech, press, meetings, strikes and unions;

6) Freedom of movement and trade;

7) Abolition of classes and complete equality of all citizens regardless of gender, religion, race and nationality;

8) The right of the population to receive education in their native language, ensured by the creation of the necessary schools for this at the expense of the state and self-government bodies; the rights of every citizen will be explained in their native language and at meetings; introduction of the native language on an equal basis with the state language in all local public and government institutions;

9) The right to self-determination belongs to all nations that make up the state;

10) The right of every person to prosecute every official before a jury in the usual manner;

11) Election of judges by the people;

12) Replacement of the standing army with the general arming of the people;

13) Separation of church from state and school from church;

14) Free and compulsory general and vocational education for all children of both sexes up to 16 years of age; supplying poor children with food, clothing and educational materials at the expense of the state.

As the main condition for the democratization of our state economy, the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party demands: the abolition of all indirect taxes and the establishment of a progressive tax on income and inheritance.

In the interests of protecting the working class from physical and moral degeneration, as well as in the interests of developing its ability to fight for liberation, the party demands:

1. Limitation of the working day to eight hours a day for all hired workers;

2. Establishment by law of weekly rest, continuously lasting at least 42 hours, for hired workers of both sexes in all sectors of the national economy;

3. Complete prohibition of overtime work;

5. Prohibitions for entrepreneurs to use the labor of children of school age (up to 16 years old) and limiting the working time of adolescents (16-18 years old) to 6 hours;

6. Prohibition of female labor in those sectors where it is harmful to the female body; exemption of women from work for 4 weeks and up to 6 weeks after childbirth, while maintaining wages at the usual rate for all this time;

8. State insurance of workers in case of old age and complete or partial loss of ability to work at the expense of a special fund compiled by a special tax on capitalists;

9. Prohibiting the payment of wages in goods; establishing a weekly deadline for payment in cash for all contracts for the employment of workers without exception and the payment of earnings during working hours;

10. Prohibitions for entrepreneurs to make cash deductions from wages, for whatever reason and for whatever purpose they are made (fines, rejection, etc.);

11. The appointment of a sufficient number of factory inspectors in all sectors of the national economy and the extension of factory inspection supervision to all enterprises that use hired labor, not excluding state-owned ones (the work of domestic servants is also included in the scope of this supervision); appointment of inspectors in those industries. where women's labor is used; participation of representatives elected by workers and paid by the state in supervising the implementation of factory laws, as well as the preparation of prices, acceptance and rejection of materials and work results;

12. Supervision of local government bodies, with the participation of workers elected, over the sanitary condition of living quarters allocated to workers by entrepreneurs, as well as over the internal regulations of these premises and the conditions for their rental, in order to protect hired workers from interference by entrepreneurs in the life and their activities as individuals and citizens;

13. Institutions of properly organized sanitary supervision in all enterprises using hired labor; with complete independence of the entire medical and sanitary organization from entrepreneurs, free medical care for workers at the expense of entrepreneurs, with maintenance of maintenance during illness;

14. Establishing criminal liability of employers for violation of labor protection laws;

15. Establishment of fishing vessels in all sectors of the national economy, composed equally of representatives from workers and entrepreneurs;

16. Imposing on local governments the responsibility to establish intermediary offices for hiring local and foreign workers (labor exchanges) in all sectors of production with the participation of representatives from workers’ organizations in their management;

1. Abolition of redemption and quitrent payments, as well as all duties currently falling on the peasantry as a tax-paying class;

2. Abolition of all laws restricting the peasant’s control over his land;

3. Returns peasants sums of money taken from them in the form of redemption and quitrent payments; for this purpose, confiscation of monastic and church properties, as well as appanage, cabinet and property estates belonging to persons of the royal family, as well as imposition of a special tax on the lands of landowners-nobles who took advantage of the redemption loan; turning the amounts obtained in this way into a special people's fund for the cultural and charitable needs of rural societies;

4. Establishment of peasant committees: a) for the return to rural communities (through expropriation or, if the lands changed hands, redemption by the state at the expense of large noble landholdings) of those lands that were cut off from the peasants during the abolition of serfdom and serve in the hands of landowners as an instrument for their enslavement; b) to transfer into the ownership of peasants in the Caucasus those lands that they use as temporarily obligated ones, khizans, etc.; c) to eliminate the remnants of serfdom that survived in the Urals, Altai, Western Territory and other regions of the state;

5. Granting the courts the right to reduce exorbitantly high rents and invalidate transactions that are enslaving in nature.

Striving to achieve its immediate goals, the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party supports every opposition and revolutionary movement directed against the existing social and political order in Russia; resolutely rejecting at the same time all those reform projects that are associated with any expansion or strengthening of police and bureaucratic guardianship over the working classes.

For its part, the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party is firmly convinced that the complete, consistent and lasting implementation of these political and social transformations is achievable only by overthrowing the autocracy and convening constituent assembly freely chosen by all the people.

The text of the program is given according to the edition

Second regular congress
Ross. Soc-Dem. Workers' Party
Full text of the protocols.

Printing house of the Party, Geneve, Coulonvreniere. 27