Biography of Stalin - 3 Molotov

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One remarkably bold enterprise of the Caucasian Union of the R.S.D.L.P., and an outstanding example of the Bolshevik technique of nderground work, was the Avlabar secret printing press, hich functioned in Tiflis from November 1903 to April 1906. On this press were printed Lenin's The Revo- lutionary-Democratic Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the Peasantry and To the Rural Poor, Stalin's Briefly About the Disagreements in the Party 9 Two Clashes and other pamphlets, the Party program and rules, and scores of leaflets, many of which were written by Stalin. On it, too, were printed the news- papers Proletarians Brdzola and Proletarians Brdzo*

Us Purtseli. Books, pamphlets, newspapers and leaf- lets were published in three languages and were 

printed in several thousands of copies, A most important weapon in the defence of the principles of Bolshevism in the Caucasus and in the propagation and development of Lenin's ideas was the newspaper Proletarians Brdzola, edited by Stalin, the organ of the Caucasian Union of the R.S.D.L.P, and a worthy successor of Brdzola. For its size and its quality as a Bolshevik newspaper, Proletarians Brdzola was second only to Proletary y the Central Organ of the Party, edited by Lenin. Practically every issue carried articles by Lenin, reprinted from the Proletary. Many highly important articles were written by Stalin. In them he stands forth as a talent- ed controversialist, one of the Party's ablest writers and theoreticians, a political leader of the proletar- iat, and a faithful follower of Lenin. In his articles and pamphlets, Stalin worked out a number of the- oretical and political problems. He disclosed the ideological fallacies of the anti-Bolshevik trends and factions, their opportunism and treachery. Every blow at the enemy struck with telling effect. Lenin paid glowing tribute to Proletarians Brdzola, to its Marxian consistency and high literary merit, Lenin's most appreciative disciple and the most consistent champion of his ideas, Stalin played a dominant part in the ideological discomfiture of Menshevism in the Caucasus, and in the defence of the ideological, organizational and tactical princi- les of the Marxist party. His writings of that period are a model of consistency in the advocacy of Lenin's views, and are distinguished for their theoretical penelration and uncompromising hostility to oppor- tunism. 

His pamphlet Briefly About the Disagreements in the Party, his two "Letters From Kutais" and his article "Reply to a 'Social-Democrat' " are a vigor- ous defence of the ideological principles of the Marxist party. 

The "Letters from Kutais" (September-October 1904) contain a trenchant criticism of Plekhanov's articles in the new Iskra taking issue with Lenin's What Is To Be Done? Stalin consistently defends Lenin's views on the question of spontaneity and consciousness in the labour movement. He writes: 

"The conclusion (practical deduction) to be drawn from this is as follows: we must raise the proletariat to the level of consciousness of its true class interests, of consciousness of the Socialist ideal, but not break this ideal up into small change, or adjust it to the spontaneous movement. Lenin has laid down the theoretical basis on which this prac- tical deduction is bunt. It is enough to accept this theoretical premise to prevent any opportunism from getting anywhere near you. Herein lies the signifi- cance of Lenin's idea. I call it Lenin's, because no- body in Russian literature has expressed it with such clarity as Lenin has done."* 

Briefly About the Disagreements in the Party (written at the beginning of 1905 and published il-legally in May of that year) was an outstanding contribution to Bolshevik thought. It had a close kinship with Lenin's historic work What Is To Be Done?, whose inspired ideas it vigorously upheld and elaborated. 

Dilating on Lenin's ideas, Stalin in this pamphlet argues the supreme importance of Socialist con-sciousness to the labour movement. At the same time he warns against one-sidedly exaggerating the impor- tance of ideas and forgetting the conditions of eco- nomic development and the role of the labour move- ment. Can it be said, Stalin asks, that Socialism is everything and the labour movement nothing? "Of course not! Only idealists say that. Some day, in the very distant future, economic development will inevi- tably lead the working class to the social revolu- tion, and, consequently, compel it to break off all connection with bourgeois ideology. The only point is tihat this path is a very long and painful one."** 

* J. Stalin, Collected Works, Russ. ed., Vol. I, p. 58, Moscow, 1946. 

** Ibid., p. 105. 

Having profoundly argued the question of the rela- tion between the spontaneous labour movement and Socialist consciousness from all aspects and angles, Stalin in his pamphlet sums up the views of the Lenin wing of the Social-Democracy on the ques- tion as follows: 

"What is scientific Socialism without the labour movement"? A compass which, if left unused, can only grow rusty and then has to be thrown overboard. 

"What is the labour movement without Social- ism? A ship without a compass which will reach the other shore in any case, but would reach it much sooner and with less danger if it had a compass, 

"Combine the two and you will get a splendid vessel, which will speed straight towards the other shore and reach its haven unharmed. 

. "Combine the labour movement with Socialism and you will get a Social-Democratic movement which will speed straight towards the 'promised laftd.' "* 

The whole history of the working-class struggle in Russia has strikingly confirmed this important theoretical conclusion- of Stalin's. In the pamphlet in question Stalin subjected the opportunist theory of spontaneity to withering criticism and gave a rea- soned explanation of the role and significance of a revolutionary party and of revolutionary theory for the working class. 

* J. Stalin, Collected Works, Russ, ed,, Vol. I, pp, 1Q?-103, Moscow, 1946. 

"The labour movement," wrote Stalin, "must be linked up with Socialism; practical activities and theoretical thought must merge into one and there- by lend the spontaneous labour movement a Social-Democratic character. . . . Our duty, the duty of Social-Democracy is to divert the spontaneous la- bour movement from the trade union path to the Social-Democratic path. Our duty is to introduce So- cialist consciousness* into this movement and unite the progressive forces of the working class in one centralized party. Our task is always to be at the head of the movement and tirelessly combat all those foes or 'friends' who hinder the accom- plishment of this task/ 1 ** 

Stalin's writings met with Lenin's wholehearted approval. Reviewing in the Proletary (No. 22), the Central Organ of the Party, Stalin's "Reply to a So- cial-Democrat," which appeared in the Proletarians Brdzola in August 1905, Lenin noted the "excellent formulation of the famous question of the 'introduc- tion of consciousness from without.' " 

Stalin wrote a number of articles in support of Lenin's line at the Second Congress and after. In an article entitled "The Proletarian Class and the Pro- letarian Party" (Proleiariatis Brdzola, No. *8, Janu- ary 1, 1905), dealing with the first paragraph of the 

* Which was worked out by Marx and Engels. 

< ** J. Stalin, Collected Works, Russ, ed,, Vol t I, pp. 

J05-106, Moscow, 1946, r 

Party Rules, he upheld the organizational principles of the Party as laid down in Lenin's doctrine of the party, explaining and enlarging upon Lenin's ideas. 

This article was a defence of the organizational principles of Bolshevism as propounded by Lenin in his famous book One Step Forward, Two Steps Back. 

"Up till now," Stalin wrote, "our Party has re- sembled a hospitable patriarchal family, ready to take in all who sympathize. But now that our Party has become a centralized organization, it has thrown bff its patriarchal aspect and has become in all re- spects like a fortress, the gates of which are opened only to those who are worthy. And this is of great importance to us. At a time when the autocracy is trying to corrupt the class consciousness of the pro- letariat with 'trade-unionism,' nationalism, clerical- ism and the like, and when, on the other hand, the liberal intelligentsia is persistently striving to kill the political independence of the proletariat and to impose its tutelage upon it at such a time we must be extremely vigilant and never forget that our Party is a fortress, the gates of which are opened only to those who have been tested."* 

* J. Slalin, Collected Works, Russ. ed., Vol. I, p. 67, 

Moscow 1046. 

The article "The Social-Democratic View of the National Question" (Proletariatis Brdzola, No. 7, September 1, 1904) is a brilliant commentary on the national program of the R.S.D.L.P. Stalin sets forth and explains the theory and program of the Party on the national question, subjects the opportunist principle of dividing the proletariat into national sections to devastating criticism, and consistently advocates the internationalist type of proletarian class organization. Stalin here reveals himself as" an out- standing authority on the national question, a the- oretician with a perfect mastery of the Marxist dia- lectical method. He foreshadows the ideas which he subsequently de^loped in his Marxism and the Na- tional Question. 

In the first Russian Revolution Stalin from the very outset resolutely advocated and practised Lenin's strategy and tactics, his idea of the hegem- ony of the proletariat in the revolution. 

Of the Liberals, who were out, not for revolution, but for reconciliation with the tsar, Stalin had writ- 

ten on the eve of January 9, 1905: "Yes, gentlemen, vain are your efforts ! The Rus.si.nn revolution is inev- itable. It is as inevitable as the rising of the sun! 

Can you prevent the sun from rising? The main force in this revolution is the urban and rural pro- letariat, its banner-bearer is the Social-Democratic Labour Party, and not you, Messieurs Liberals I"* 

Ibid., p. 78. 

With equal vigour, Stalin supported Lenin's idea of armed insurrection as the means of overthrowing the autocracy and establishing a republic. The ne- cessity for armed insurrection is exhaustively dem- 

onstrated in his writings of 1905-07. "The salva- tion of the people lies in ia victorious uprising of the 

people themselves," he says. Like Lenin, he attached the highest importance to proper technical training for insurrection, the formation of fighting squads, the procurement of arms, and so forth. "It is the technical guidance and organizational preparation of the all-Russian insurrection that constitute the new tasks with which life has confronted the proletariat," he wrote.* Stalin himself gave day-to-day guidance to the Bolshevik organizations in Transcaucasia in preparing for armed insurrection. 

Stalin explained and developed Lenin's idea of a provisional revolutionary government. The forma-

tion of such a government, he argued, should be the natural outcome of a victorious armed insurrection of the people. Since it is the proletariat and the peas- antry that will triumph in the insurrection, the pro- visional revolutionary government must be the spokesman of their aspirations and interests. Such a government must be a revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry. Only the dic- tatorship of these revolutionary classes can curb and suppress the sinister forces of reaction, arm the people, carry out the minimum program of the R.S.D.L.P., and consolidate and consummate the vic- tory of the revolution. 

* J. Stalin, Collected Works, Russ. cd.. Vol. I, p. 133. 

Moscow, 1946. 

"If the advanced proletariat is the leader of the revolution," Stalin wrote, "and if it must take an active part in- organizing the insurrection then it is self-evident that we cannot wash our hands of the provisional revolutionary government and remain outside, that we must achieve political power in con- junction with the peasantry and go into the provi- sional government:* the leader of the revolutionary street must also be the leader of the revolution's gov- ernment."** 

** J. Stalin, Collected Works, Buss, ed., Vol. I, p. 258- 259, Moscow, 1946.

In the fight against the numerous foes of the Bol- shevik Party and the working class, Stalin consist- ently advocated and elaborated Lenin's theory of the revolution and his tactical plan. It was the supreme merit of this plan that it was adapted in a most re- markable degree to the realities of the situation in Russia, that it rallied broad masses of the peo- ple to the fight iand inspired them with confidence in victory, that it advanced the revolution. 

The Caucasian Committee indefatigably propa- gated the decisions of the Third Party Congress and 

summoned the workers and peasants to armed in- * Here we are not dealing with the principles underlying the question. 

Stalin's leaflets of the year 1905 are a model of the propaganda of Bolshevik ideas among the masses. In his "Armed Insurrection and Our Tac- tics," "The Provisional Revolutionary Government and Social-Democracy," "Reaction Is Growing" and other articles, he castigated the Menshevik teadcrs and insistently urged the necessity for armed insur- rection. 

The general strike of October 1905 demonstrated the might and strength of the proletarian movement 

and impelled the mortally terrified tsar to issue his Manifesto of October 17. Unslinting .in its promises of popular liberties, this Manifesto was nothing but a fraud on the masses, a stratagem designed to secure a breathing space in which the tsar might fool the gullible, gain time and marshal his forces for a blow at the revolution. The Bolsheviks warned the masses that the Manifesto was a trap. The October Manifesto found Stalin in Tiflis, in the heat of the fight for Lenin's tactical plan and for the Bolshevik slogans in the revolution. That very same day, addressing a meeting of workers, Slalin said: 

"What do we need in order to really win? We need three things: first arms, second arms, third arms and arms again!"* 

* History of the C.P.S.U.(B.), p. 81, Moscow, 1945.

Insisting that the victory of the revolution de- manded a nation-wide armed insurrection, Stalin, in  a leaflet headed "Citizens!" issued by the Tiflis Com- mittee of the Caucasian Union of the R.S.D.L.P. which he wrote in October 1905, said: 

"The general political strike now raging which is of dimensions unprecedented and unexampled not only in the history of Russia but in the history of the whole world may, perhaps, end today without developing into a nation-wide uprising, but tomor- row it will shake the country again with even great- er force and develop into that great armed uprising which must settle the age-long contest between the Russian people and the tsarist autocracy and smash the head of this despicable monster. ... A nation-wide armed uprising such is the supreme task that to- day confronts the proletariat of Russia, and is im- peratively demanding execution!"* * J. Stalin, Collected Works, Russ. ed., Vol. I, p. 186, Moscow, 1946

Stalin's revolutionary activities in Transcaucasia at this period were immense. Under his guidance the 

Fourth Bolshevik Conference of the Caucasian Union of the R.S.D.L.P. (November 1905) passed a resolu- tion calling for more energetic preparation for armed insurrection; it appealed for a boycott of the tsarist Duma and for the extension and consolida- tion of the revolutionary organizations of the work- ers and peasants the Soviets of Workers' Deputies, the strike committee and the revolutionary peasant committees. Stalin exposed and denounced the Mensheviks as opponents of the revolution and of armed insurrection. He worked assiduously to pre- pare the workers for the decisive engagement with the autocracy. The flames of revolution swept all over Transcaucasia. Special mention of the activities of the Bolshevik organizations in Transcaucasia was made at the Third Congress of the Party, in the res- olution on "The Events in the Caucasus," moved by Lenin, which referred to these organizations as "the most militant in our Party" and called upon the whole Party to lend them the utmost support. 

In December 1905, Stalin attended the first All- Russian Bolshevik Conference in Tammerfors (Fin-

land), as a delegate from the Transcaucasian Bol- sheviks. It was here that Lenin and Stalin first met. 

Stalin worked with Lenin on the political (drafting) committee of the Conference, to which he was elect- ed, as one of the prominent leaders of the Party. With the defeat of the December uprising, the tide of revolution gradually began to ebb. The con- flict between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks flared up afresh with the preparations for the Fourth Con- gress of the R.S.D.L.P. Anarcho-syndicalist elements came to the fore; they were particularly conspicuous in Tiflis. Stalin continued to lead the struggle against all anti-proletarian trends in Transcaucasia. Stalin took an active part in the Fourth Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. (Stockholm, April 1906), where, together with Lenin, he upheld the Bolshevik line in the revolution against the Mensheviks. Stalin put the question squarely: 

"Either the hegemony of the proletariat, or the hegemony of the democratic bourgeoisie that is how the question stands in the Party, that is where we differ."*

 * J. Stalin, Collected Works, Russ. ed., Vol. I, p. 240, Moscow, 1946. 

Shortly after the Congress, Stalin wrote a pam- phlet entitled The Present Situation and the Unity Congress of the Workers' Party, in which he analysed the lessons of the December armed uprising, justified the Bolshevik line in the revolution and summed up the results of the Fourth Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. 

After the Congress Stalin returned to Transcau- casia, where he continued his uncompromising fight against Menshevism and other anti-proletarian trends. He directed the Akhali Tskhovreba (New Life), 

Akhali Droyeba (New Age) 9 Chveni Tskhovreba (Our Life) and Dro (Time), Bolshevik newspapers pub- lished legally in the Georgian language. 

It was at this period that Stalin wrote the remarkable series of articles under the title "Anarch- ism or Socialism," in connection with the activities of anarchists of the Kropotkin school in Transcaucasia, With the ebb of the revolution and the rising tide of reaction, the Party was called upon to defend the theoretical foundations of Bolshevism. In 1909 Lenin published his masterly work, Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, in which he thoroughly exposed the backsliders from Marxian theory and vindicat- ed the theoretical foundations of the Bolshevik Party.

Biography of Stalin- 4- Molotov