revolutionary-minded intelligentsia . Marxism could spread only by defeating it .
The Emancipation of Labour Group ( ELG ) formed by Plekhanov was the first Marxist group in Russia . It had done a tremendous work to disseminate Marxist ideas in Russia . Plekhanov had done lot of ideological work to expose Narodism in the light of Marxism .
The Social Democrats in the early period were in the form of groups and circles . They had no or scant connections with the mass working class movement . As Lenin said , the Social Democratic Movement , at the time , was “ like an infant still unborn but already developing in its mother ’ s womb , the Social Democratic Movement was in the process of foetal development .”
Plekhanov and ELG led by him were based on the ideology of Marxism . But they failed to realise that the proletariat must lead the peasants in revolution and it can lead the revolution against tsardom to victory only by developing a stable alliance with the peasants .
Lenin was just 20 years old when he entered the political scene as a Marxist . He encountered the arrests , exiles and other forms of repression at his tender age . Through his work , he became popular as a Marxist intellectual , organiser and leader . The need of the time was to lay a basis for a Proletarian Party . Lenin ’ s Struggle for the Proletarian Party
For Lenin , it was a three-pronged struggle . i ) carry on the struggle against the petty bourgeois ideology and politics as well as against all wrong and incorrect ideas paraded in the name of Marxism ; ii ) Study the concrete conditions as well as revolutionary experiences and develop the strategy , tactics for revolution and iii ) Build the party of Proletariat capable of leading the democratic and socialist revolutions to victory . Lenin ’ s struggle in these spheres was interrelated , inseparable and influenced each other .
In 1895 , Lenin amalgamated 20 Marxist circles and formed a League of Struggle for the Emancipation of Working Class . This brought a serious turn in the working class movement . Lenin guided the League not to confine to a few intellectuals but to go extensively among the workers and move them into class and political struggles . The League had , in reality , moved the millions into struggles . In no time , the League had emerged as an important force in the Russian political life . It combined the economic and political struggles against tsardom . The League became a first body that brought a fusion between socialism and working class movement . It made an extensive socialist propaganda . Inspired by the work of the League , many organisations had come up in different places and under various names . Lenin said , the League of Struggle was “ the first real rudiment of a revolutionary party which was backed by the working class-movement ”. 4
The legal Marxists advocated the subordination of working class movement to the interests of bourgeoisie on an absurd plea that the working class was not “ cultured enough ”. Lenin had rejected it . He asserted : i ) all the Marxists must unite into a single party ; ii ) the proletariat must unite with the peasantry and rally other toiling people and the world proletariat to advance the strugg le for Socialism and Communism .
Some in Russia argued that the bourgeois must lead the democratic revolution as , in essence , it was a Bourgeois Revolution . Lenin had strongly opposed this view . He criticised this view basing on Marxism , concrete analysis of concrete conditions of Russia ; the experiences of revolutions , including the French Revolution of 1871 . He proved that the Bourgeois had lost the interest and capacity to lead a Democratic Revolution and it betrays its own self . Therefore , it is suicidal to leave the leadership of democratic revolution to bourgeois . It only results in the failure of this revolution . Lenin asserted that the proletariat must and can lead this revolution consistently , thoroughly and to victory and firmly advance it to a Socialist Revolution .
Likewise , what sort of party was needed in Russia was an exceptionally serious question . Should it be a loose , hotchpotch , free lancing , debating and friendship society like party that works , at best , for some reforms and so weak to collapse at the knock by the enemy and bend before the sops or tantrums thrown by the enemy ; OR a party based on Marxism , a well knit , well disciplined party based the principles of Democratic Centralism , a party which is fully dedicated to the task of forging a stable alliance with the peasants and uniting with other revolutionary classes ; a party which is prepared to and capable enough to utilise all the opportunities , swims against all difficulties and adapts itself to all situations and keeping itself always linked with the masses of people . Lenin has done a stupendous ideological and political work to clarify the issues , fight wrong ideas and remove ideological confusions in the working class movement .
During 1901-04 , Russia was in the thick of a revolutionary turmoil . In the face of severe economic crisis , closures of thousands of factories threw lakhs of workers out of jobs . The slogan “ down with tsarism ” reverberated everywhere . On May Day in 1901 , the workers fought pitched battles in the streets with the tsarist army with stones and iron rods . The tsarist repression against workers evoked not fear but widest sympathy for the striking workers among the people . The workers and peasants moved into action in several places . Railway workers plunged into strikes in thousands . Several workers died in firings . Yet ,
Class Struggle