STALIN'S NEWSPAPER "BRDZOLA"

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All-Union Society for Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge

P. A. SATYUKOV

STALIN'S NEWSPAPER "BRDZOLA"

Transcript of a public lecture delivered at the Society's Central Lecture Hall in Moscow, 1952

In September 1901, the first issue of the illegal newspaper “Brdzola” (“Struggle”), an organ of revolutionary Georgian Marxists, created on the initiative of I.V. Stalin was published in Baku.  

The first Marxist newspaper in the Georgian language "Brdzola" was published nine months after the start of publication of the first all-Russian Marxist newspaper "Iskra" founded by V. I. Lenin. Created and directed by Comrade Stalin, Brdzola was the best Marxist newspaper in Russia after Iskra. Stalin's "Brdzola" was entirely on the position of "Iskra" and made its guiding principle the idea of ​​the newspaper "Iskra" to create a revolutionary Marxist party - a party of a new type - on the basis of extensive political agitation and propaganda of revolutionary Marxism.

The emergence of Lenin's Iskra and Stalin's Brdzola, their consistent and persistent struggle for the Leninist plan of building a Marxist party, for uniting socialists with the workers' movement, marked an important historical stage on the path to the creation of the Bolshevik Party.

Lenin's Iskra and Stalin's Brdzola raised high the banner of creative Marxism and launched a merciless struggle against "Economism" and international opportunism, against all and sundry trends hostile to Marxism. They consistently implemented the principle of proletarian internationalism, uniting and rallying the working people of all kinds around the Marxist party of the working class, around the banner of the proletarian revolution.

Iskra and Brdzola played an outstanding role in the struggle for a new type of party, the party of social revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat, the heroic party of Lenin and Stalin.

More than half a century ago, in the struggle for a party of a new type, a great ideological community of two revolutionary geniuses, founders and leaders of the Bolshevik Party, V.I. Lenin and I.V. Stalin, arose, which had an enormous impact on the entire subsequent course of social development.

The pages of Iskra and Brdzola forever imprint a number of famous works by V. I. Lenin and I. V. Stalin, who armed the party and the proletariat in the struggle against tsarism and capitalism. The pages of the first printed organs of the party reflect the heroic struggle of Lenin and Stalin for the organization of a truly revolutionary Marxist party, which led the Russian proletariat to the world-historic victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution, which opened a new era in the history of mankind - the era of the triumph of communism, the era of Lenin -Stalin.

Lenin's Iskra and Stalin's Brdzola entered the arena of political struggle under new historical conditions, when pre-monopoly capitalism turned into monopoly capitalism, and the era of imperialism began; when the center of the international revolutionary movement moved from Western Europe to Russia, which became the focal point of the contradictions of imperialism. “... Russia,” Comrade Stalin points out, “was more pregnant with revolution than any other country, and only she was in a position to resolve these contradictions in a revolutionary way.”

Throughout the course of social development, history has placed before the Russian proletariat the most revolutionary task of all, the immediate tasks of the proletariat of any other country - the destruction of the most powerful bulwark not only of European, but also of Asiatic reaction.

As early as 1882, the great founders of scientific communism, Marx, and Engels, in their preface to the Russian edition of the Communist Manifesto, pointed out that "Russia is the vanguard of the revolutionary movement in Europe." Describing the historical situation at the beginning of the 20th century, the great successor of the cause of Marx and Engels, V. I. Lenin, prophetically predicted for the Russian proletariat a leading, vanguard role in the international revolutionary movement, in the struggle for the triumph of socialism.

“History has now set before us the immediate task,” wrote V. I. Lenin in his famous book What Is to Be Done?, “which is the most revolutionary of all the immediate tasks of the proletariat of any other country.” The accomplishment of this task, the destruction of the most powerful bulwark of not only European but also (we may now say) Asiatic reaction, would make the Russian proletariat the vanguard of the international revolutionary proletariat. And we have the right to expect that we will achieve this honorary title ... ".

The brilliant leader of the revolution, V. I. Lenin not only determined this immediate and most responsible task of the Russian proletariat, but also comprehensively developed and substantiated the strategy and tactics of the revolutionary struggle of the Russian working class to overthrow tsarism, the landlords and the bourgeoisie. Pointing to the approach in Russia of a people's revolution, the first revolution under imperialism, Lenin concluded that this revolution could win only under the leadership of a militant Marxist party of the proletariat, a party of a new type. Lenin considered the creation of such a party to be the primary task of the Russian Social Democrats.

"...Give us an organization of revolutionaries," wrote Lenin during this period, "and we will turn Russia over!".

Starting from the first steps of his revolutionary activity, V. I. Lenin devoted all his strength to the creation of a Marxist workers' party. He waged a merciless struggle against populism, which is hostile to Marxism, and completes the ideological destruction of populism. Lenin's struggle against "legal Marxism" was also of great importance, whose ideologists discarded the most important thing from Marx's teaching - the doctrine of the proletarian revolution, of the dictatorship of the proletariat. In 1895, Lenin united all the Marxist circles that existed in St. Petersburg into the "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class", which was the first serious germ of a revolutionary proletarian party based on the workers' movement. Under the leadership of Lenin, the St. Petersburg Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class, for the first time in Russia, began to unite the struggle for socialism with the labor movement. Following the example of the St. Petersburg Union of Struggle, workers' circles were uniting into similar unions in other cities of Russia.

The struggle for the formation of a Marxist party in Russia was at that time the main task, on the solution of which the fate of the revolutionary movement depended. The rise of the labor movement, the growth of the revolution in Russia urgently demanded the creation of a single centralized Social Democratic Labor Party capable of ensuring that the working class fulfill its historical mission of overthrowing tsarism and destroying the bourgeois-landowner system. Meanwhile, the condition of the local organs of the party, local committees, groups, and circles was so unenviable, and their organizational disunity and ideological discord were so great, that the task of creating such a party presented enormous difficulties.

These difficulties consisted not only in the fact that he came to build the party, the axis was under the fire of cruel repressions of tsarism, but also in the fact that the "economists" and their followers stood in the way of the formation of a single centralized Marxist party, who were the main opponents of the creation of the party, justified and sang in every possible way the ideological and organizational confusion.

 "In order to create a single political party of the proletariat," says Stalin's "Brief Course in the History of the CPSU(b)," it was first of all necessary to smash the "economists."

Starting to solve the world-historical task, Lenin developed an ingenious plan for building a Marxist party, which indicated that the first step in the struggle for the formation of a political party of the working class should be the creation of an all-Russian political newspaper that would conduct propaganda and agitation for the views of the revolutionary Social Democracy would become a tribune for political denunciations, educate strong political organizations, and ideologically rally the party.

This plan of his, comprehensively developed during the period of Siberian exile, V. I. Lenin outlined in the wonderful articles "Our Program", "Our Immediate Task", "The Urgent Question", written in 1899 for the "Working Newspaper".

In the article "Our Immediate Task" Lenin pointed out that in the struggle for the creation of a Marxist workers' party, the most urgent task is the organization of "a party organ that is properly published and closely connected with all local groups." This plan was further developed in V. I. Lenin's replaced article "Where to Begin?", published in Iskra No. 4, and in the classic work What Is to Be Done? The victory of this plan, as Comrade Stalin points out, laid the foundation for that united and tempered Communist Party, the equal of which the world did not  knows.

In his classic work On the Foundations of Leninism, Comrade Stalin assesses the significance of Lenin's plan for creating a Marxist party with the help of an all-Russian illegal political newspaper  in the following way: when handicraft and centrism were corroding the party from top to bottom, when ideological confusion was a characteristic feature of the inner life of the party, during this period the main link and the main task in the chain of links and in the chain of tasks that faced the party at that time was the creation of an all-Russian illegal newspaper (Iskra) ). Why? Because only through an all-Russian illegal newspaper could it be possible, under the current conditions, to create a ripe core of the party, capable of linking together innumerable circles and organizations, preparing the conditions for ideological and tactical unity, and thus laying the foundation for the formation of a real party.

The great merit of the Iskra newspaper created by Lenin, the first issue of which appeared in December 1900, lies primarily in the fact that it consistently defended the fundamental interests of the working class, victoriously fought against the opportunism of the "economists" in the name of the principles of revolutionary social democrats and thereby prepared the ideological and organizational unity of the Marxist party.

This task of gigantic importance and complexity was successfully accomplished in a short historical period because the creator and direct leader of the Iskra was Lenin, the brilliant theoretician of Marxism, the greatest leader of the proletarian revolution.

Iskra was the petrel of the first Russian revolution. Its pages were imbued with the spirit of the revolutionary proletarian struggle. Lenin's Iskra, like a calling alarm, raised the forces of the revolutionary proletariat of Russia, organized and rallied them into a single militant party, prepared the party for the decisive assault on the hated tsarism, for the victory of the people's revolution.

“Before us,” wrote Lenin in the program article of the first issue of Iskra, “the enemy fortress stands in all its strength, from which clouds of cannonballs and bullets shower us, carrying away the best fighters. We must take this fortress, and we will take it if we unite all the forces of the awakening proletariat with all the forces of the Russian revolutionaries into one party, to which everything that is alive and honest in Russia will be drawn.

And only then will the great prophecy of the Russian revolutionary worker Pyotr Alekseev be fulfilled: “The muscular arm of millions of working people will rise, and the yoke of despotism, protected by soldier bayonets, will shatter into dust!”

The passionate appeal of Lenin's Iskra to the revolutionary struggle found a lively response in all corners of Russia. All the advanced revolutionary forces of the country rallied around the Iskra and fought to carry out the Marxist ideas propagated by it. The Leninist-Iskra organizations that arose in many regions of Russia grew and became tempered in a resolute and uncompromising struggle against opportunism, for the formation of a single Marxist revolutionary party of the working class.

The founder and leader of the Leninist-Iskra organization in the Trans Caucasus was Lenin's closest comrade-in-arms, the leader of the working class, Comrade Stalin. In 1896-1897 he headed the Marxist circles at the Tiflis Seminary. In August 1898, Comrade Stalin formally joined the Tiflis organization of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. Comrade Stalin was doing a great job of propagating Marxism in circles, taking part in illegal workers' meetings, writing leaflets, and organizing strikes.

The first Georgian social-democratic organization "Mesame-dasi", which played a well-known positive role in the spread of Marxism in 1893-1898, was not politically homogeneous. The majority of the Mesame-dasi group stood on the positions of "legal Marxism" and leaned towards bourgeois nationalism.

Comrade Stalin, together with his comrades-in-arms Vladimir Ketskhoveli and Alexander Tsulukidze, constituted the leading nucleus of the revolutionary Marxist minority of the Mesame-dasi, which became the embryo of revolutionary Social Democracy in Georgia.

In the years 1898-1900, under the leadership of Comrade Stalin, the central Social Democratic group of the Tiflis organization was formed, which carried out a tremendous amount of work to create an illegal Social Democratic party organization. Lenin's "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class" was the model that the Tiflis revolutionary Social Democrats invariably followed in their work led by Comrade Stalin. The revolutionary minority of the "Mesame-dasi" launched a struggle against the opportunist majority, which leaned towards "economism", shied away from revolutionary methods, and opposed the "street" political struggle against the autocracy.

The revolutionary minority of the Mesame-Dasi, headed by Comrade Stalin, was waging a fierce and uncompromising struggle against the opportunists, for the implementation of new tactics, the tactics of mass political agitation. The advanced workers of Tiflis support the revolutionary Social Democrats.

Enormous assistance, as noted by L.P. Beria, in the work of propagating revolution, revolutionizing Marxism, and creating a social democratic organization to comrades Stalin, Tsulukidze, Ketskhoveli and others, was provided by the revolutionary Social Democrats who were in Tiflis, exiled from Russia: Viktor Kurnatovsky, Iva, n Luzin, G. Franceschi, I. Kogan, Rodzevich, M. Kalinin, S. Alliluev, I. Le, Vashkevich, N. Kaza, Renko, Anna Krasnova and others.

The social-democratic movement in Transcaucasia, in the person of the leaders of the Stalinist group "Mesame-dasi", received excellent organizers and courageous leaders who implemented the Leninist principle of combining socialism with the labor movement, carried out extensive agitation among the masses, organized strikes, political strikes and demonstrations against tsarism.

The revolutionary minority of the Mesame-dasi, headed by Comrade Stalin, attaching great importance to the illegal press in propagating and spreading revolutionary Marxism, political agitation against the autocracy and capitalism, in organizing the political struggle of the working class, in building a truly proletarian Marxist party, put forward the task creation of an illegal Marxist newspaper. The opportunist majority of the Mesamedasi, headed by N. Zhordania, took a completely different position on this most important question, denying the need for an illegal newspaper.

The opportunist essence of the majority of the Mesame-Dasi was clearly manifested in their opposition to the creation of an illegal Marxist newspaper, in their demand to recognize the publications authorized by the tsarist government as the newspaper Kvali (Furrow) and the magazine Moambe (Vestnik”), who served as the mouthpiece of the “legal Marxists”, were the spokesmen for the ideas of the liberal-nationalist direction.

At the beginning of 1901, Comrade Stalin's closest associate, Lada Ketskhoveli, with the help of the leading group of Tiflis Social Democrats, organized an underground printing house in Baku, known in the history of our party under the name "Nina". In September 1901, the publication of the first issue of the Brdzola newspaper created on the initiative of Comrade Stalin, which had not only local, but also all-party significance.

Comrade Stalin warmly supported Lenin's ideas propagated by Iskra; he seen in Lenin the creator of a real Marxist party, leader, and teacher.

“Familiarity with Lenin’s revolutionary activity from the end of the 90s and especially after 1901, after the publication of Iskra,” said Comrade Stalin, “led me to the conviction that we have an extraordinary person in the face of Lenin.

He was not then in my eyes a simple leader of the party, he was its actual creator, for he alone understood the inner essence and urgent needs of our party. When I compared him with the rest of the leaders of our party, it seemed to me for a while that Lenin's cohorts - Plekhanov, Martov, Axelrod and others - stood head and shoulders below Lenin, that Lenin, in comparison with them, was not just one of the leaders, but a leader of the highest type, a mountain eagle who does not know fear in the struggle and boldly leads the party forward along the unexplored paths of the Russian revolutionary movement.

Endlessly believing in Lenin's revolutionary genius, Comrade Stalin followed Lenin's path and became his closest colleague and friend. Thus began the great ideological commonwealth of the two geniuses of the revolution - Lenin and Stalin, who together laid the foundation of the Bolshevik Party, tempered it in the fire of revolutionary battles, armed the party and the working class with Marxist theory.

V. I. Lenin and J. V. Stalin in the struggle for the Marxist party of the working class assigned the most important role to general political illegal newspapers. Having created the first Marxist newspapers Iskra and Brdzola, Lenin and Stalin turned them into a powerful political and organizational weapon in the struggle for a new type of party. Defining the role and tasks of the all-Russian political newspaper in the creation of the party, Lenin in the article "Where to start?" emphasized that "the newspaper is not only a collective propagandist, a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer."

Lenin considered the ideological unification of all revolutionary forces on the basis of Marxist theory to be the most important task of the Iskra.

“Before uniting, and in order to unite,” said a statement written by V. I. Lenin to the editors of Iskra, “we must first decisively and definitely disengage. Otherwise, our unification would be only a fiction, covering up the existing confusion and hindering its radical elimination.

It is understandable, therefore, that we do not intend to make our body a mere repository of diverse views. We will conduct it, on the contrary, in the spirit of a strictly defined direction.

This trend can be expressed in a word: Marxism, and there is hardly any need for us to add that we stand for the consistent development of the ideas of Marx and Engels and resolutely reject those half-hearted, vague, and opportunistic corrections which have now come into such fashion with the light hand of Ed. Bernstein, P. Struve, and many others.

Comrade Stalin, in the program article "From the Editor" in the first issue of "Brdzola", comprehensively substantiated the most important tasks of the newspaper in propagating and defending the ideas of Marxism and revolutionary principles and methods of struggle.

“If we,” wrote Comrade Stalin in the article “From the Editorial Board,” “measure every movement with this yardstick, we will be free from all sorts of Bernsteinian nonsense. Thus, the Georgian Social-Democratic newspaper must give a clear answer to all questions connected with the workers' movement, clarify questions of principle, explain theoretically the role of the working class in the struggle, and "illuminate with the light of scientific socialism every phenomenon that the worker encounters."

Through the newspapers Iskra and Brdzola, the great strategists of the revolution, Lenin and Stalin persistently created a militant leading core of the Marxist party, united numerous circles, and organizations on the basis of Marxism, fought handicrafts (crude-amateurs) and ideological confusion, mercilessly exposed the "economists" and international opportunists, worked out ideological foundations laid the foundation for the revolutionary Marxist party.

Just as the founders of scientific communism, Marx and Engels, in a great ideological community, created scientific socialism and organized the international proletarian movement, their brilliant successors and successors Lenin and Stalin, over the course of many years of revolutionary struggle, jointly creatively developed Marxism, enriched it with new provisions and conclusions in new historical conditions, created the most revolutionary proletarian party, built the world's first socialist state, organized, ideologically armed and tempered in class battles the proletariat of all countries, the great army of the international revolutionary movement.

The half-century that has passed since the first Marxist newspapers in Russia, Lenin's Iskra and Stalin's Brdzola, were published, has been marked by world-historic victories of Marxism-Leninism. The Soviet people, the fighters for the cause of democracy and socialism in all countries, proudly survey the glorious path of the revolutionary struggle over the past half century, the path of the heroic party of Lenin and Stalin, which won world-historic victories in the struggle for communism.

The first issue of the newspaper "Brdzola" opened with a program article "From the editorial board", written by I. V. Stalin. This article gave a classic definition of the role of the press in the revolutionary movement, in the struggle for the creation of a Marxist workers' party. Comrade Stalin gave a profound analysis of the development of the revolutionary movement in the country, substantiated the necessity of publishing an illegal Marxist newspaper, the first Georgian free newspaper Brdzola.

“The social democratic movement has not left a single corner of the country untouched. That corner of Russia that we call the Caucasus did not escape it, and together with the Caucasus, our Georgia did not escape it either.

The social democratic movement in Georgia was a recent phenomenon, it was only a few years old, more precisely, the foundations of this movement were laid only in 1896. As everywhere in our country, the work did not go beyond the framework of conspiracy.

Agitation and broad propaganda in the form that we have seen of late were impossible, and, willy-nilly, all forces were concentrated in a few circles. Now this period has passed, social democratic ideas have spread among the masses of the workers, and the work has also gone beyond its narrow conspiratorial framework, embracing a significant part of the workers.

An open struggle began. The struggle brought to the attention of the first workers many such questions, which had hitherto been in the shadows and which had little need of explanation. First of all, the question arose with all force: what means do we have to develop the struggle on a wider scale? In words, the answer to this question is very simple and easy. In fact, it turns out completely different.”

With amazing skill, Comrade Stalin characterized in a few lines an entire stage in the development of the revolutionary movement, drawing attention to the most important, most urgent questions that were then put forward by the course of the revolutionary struggle. In answering the question posed in the article, Comrade Stalin pointed out that the main means for the organized Social-Democratic movement is extensive propaganda and agitation of revolutionary ideas.

At the same time, he showed the exceptional difficulties that the revolutionaries encountered in carrying out propaganda and agitation: classes in circles with the help of books and pamphlets became impossible, first of all due to police conditions, and then also as a result of the very setting of the case. Agitation weakened at the first arrests. Communication with the workers and frequent visits to them became impossible, and meanwhile the worker expected clarification of many topical questions.

Thus, in the course of analyzing the conditions created in the revolutionary movement, Comrade Stalin led the reader to the conclusion that only a periodical illegal political publication would make it possible to successfully solve the problems of the revolutionary struggle at a new stage.

“In the Georgian labor movement,” the article pointed out, “the moment has already come when the periodical is becoming one of the main means of revolutionary work.”

Comrade Stalin emphasized with exceptional force that such important tasks can only be carried out by an illegal revolutionary press organ. Explaining that a legal newspaper cannot be a spokesman for the interests of the worker, Comrade Stalin gave a devastating criticism of the procedures that existed at that time to control legal newspapers that were allowed by the tsarist government.

“A government that 'takes care' of the workers,” the article pointed out, “does very well with legal newspapers. A whole bunch of officials, called censors, are assigned to these newspapers, and they deliberately follow them, resorting to red ink and scissors, if at least a ray of truth breaks through the crack ...Under such conditions, of course, the newspaper cannot be properly placed, and the worker would search in vain on its pages, at least between the lines, for information and a correct assessment of his case.

Comrade Stalin showed that the Georgian periodical was an urgent need of the Social Democratic movement, and he comprehensively substantiated the role of the illegal Marxist newspaper in the development of the revolutionary movement. “... The newspaper, as an organ of the Social Democrats,” the article says, “should lead the working-class movement, show it the way, protect it from mistakes. In a word, the primary duty of a newspaper is to stand as close as possible to the working masses, to be able to constantly influence them, to be conscious and guide their center.

In determining the role of the newspaper as the leading center of the labor movement, Comrade Stalin proceeded from Lenin's brilliant plan for building a Marxist party in Russia, a plan that indicated that the starting point in building a Marxist party should be an illegal political newspaper, which was called upon to unite the dispersed local organizations in single party.

Stalin's "Brdzola" played an outstanding role in the creation of a single Social Democratic Labor Party in Georgia and Transcaucasia. Following Lenin's Iskra, Brdzola develops and resolutely defends proletarian internationalism as the most important principle in building a Marxist revolutionary party. “...

The Georgian Social Democratic Movement,” Comrade Stalin wrote, “does not represent an isolated, only Georgian labor movement with its own program, it goes hand in hand with the entire Russian movement and, therefore, is subordinate to the Russian Social Democratic Party - hence it is clear that the Georgian Social-Democratic newspaper should be only a local organ, covering mainly local issues and reflecting the local movement. But behind this answer lies a difficulty which we cannot avoid and which we will inevitably encounter. We're talking about difficulties with respect to language. While the Central Committee of the Russian Social-Democratic Party has the opportunity, with the help of a general party newspaper, to explain all general questions, leaving its district committees to cover only local issues, the Georgian newspaper finds itself in a difficult position as regards content.

The Georgian newspaper should simultaneously play the role of an all-party and regional, local organ. Since the majority of Georgian working-readers cannot freely use a Russian newspaper, the leaders of the Georgian newspaper have no right to leave without coverage all those questions that are discussed and should be discussed by the all-Party Russian newspaper. Thus, the Georgian newspaper was obliged to acquaint the reader with all fundamental theoretical and practical issues. At the same time, it was obliged to lead the local movement and properly cover every event, not leaving a single fact unexplained and answering all the questions that the local workers cry out. A Georgian newspaper must bind and unite the Georgian and Russian struggling workers. The newspaper should inform readers about all the phenomena of interest to them from local, Russian, and foreign life.

The Transcaucasian Party organizations, led by JV Stalin, successfully solved the problem of uniting the workers of various nationalities in a single international Marxist Party.

Lenin repeatedly cited the Transcaucasian organization of the party as an example of proletarian internationalism.

In a letter to A. M. Gorky in 1913, V. I. Lenin wrote: “In our country and in the Caucasus, Social-Democrats; Georgians + Armenians + Tatars + Russians worked together, in a single Social-Democratic organization for over ten years. This is not a phrase, but a proletarian solution to the national question. The Only solution".

In the programmatic article "From the Editors," Comrade Stalin gave an exhaustive description of the content and direction of "Brdzola," emphasizing that the newspaper must, above all, focus primarily on the struggling workers.

Developing Lenin's idea of the hegemony of the proletariat in the revolutionary movement, Comrade Stalin wrote: "... in Russia and in general everywhere only the revolutionary proletariat is called upon by history to liberate mankind and give happiness to the world."

Of great importance for the correct organization of the illegal Marxist newspaper was Comrade Stalin's instruction that the party newspaper should pay attention to every revolutionary movement, even if it took place outside the workers' movement.

The newspaper, Comrade Stalin pointed out, was called upon to explain every social phenomenon and thereby influence everyone who fights for freedom. Consistently implementing this most important principle in their work, "Brdzola" and other Marxist printed organs widely covered the life and struggle of the working peasantry, the democratic movement developing in the country against despotism and arbitrariness of tsarism.

When creating the first Georgian illegal Marxist newspaper, Comrade Stalin emphasized that it should be a representative of the Russian Social Democratic Party and inform readers in a timely manner about all those tactical views that the Russian revolutionary Social Democracy adheres to. The party newspaper was regarded as a militant organ of internationalist education, organization and rallying of the working people around the Marxist Labor Party. Comrade Stalin wrote at the time that the newspaper “should inform readers about how workers live in other countries, what and how they are doing to improve their situation, and promptly call on Georgian workers to take to the field of struggle. At the same time, the newspaper must not leave a single social movement unaccounted for and without social-democratic criticism.

These Stalinist instructions on the organizing and mobilizing role of the newspaper in the revolutionary struggle, on the development of principled criticism, determined the combatant, militant direction of Brdzola, laid the foundation for its glorious traditions of consistent struggle for the unswerving implementation of the Leninist line of principle in the ranks of the Social Democrats.

Following the example of Lenin's Iskra, Stalin's Brdzola from the first days of its existence built all its work on the basis of strengthening ties with working-class readers in every possible way, drawing them into the revolutionary struggle, rallying them around the Marxist Labor Party.

“We call on all Georgian fighting social democrats,” wrote Comrade Stalin in the program article of the first issue of Brdzola, “to take an ardent part in the fate of Brdzola, to render every possible assistance in its publication and distribution, and thereby turn the first free Georgian newspaper Brdzola" into a weapon of revolutionary struggle".

This Stalinist call was found hot with the clique cf. eat the advanced workers. With the active support of the masses, the newspaper became a powerful instrument of revolutionary struggle. The Leninist-Stalinist ideas of struggle for a new type of party became the banner, the guiding star of the Brdzola newspaper.

Of exceptional importance in the defense and implementation of Lenin's plan for building a Marxist party in Russia was Comrade Stalin's article "The Russian Social Democratic Party and Its Immediate Tasks", published in No. 2-3 of the Brdzola newspaper (November-December 1901).

 In this article, which is a remarkable example of creative Marxism, Comrade Stalin brilliantly elucidates the history of the rise of scientific socialism, exposes the opportunists' adoration of the spontaneous working-class movement, defends the need to unite scientific socialism with the working-class movement, points to the leading role of the working class in the democratic movement and justifies the need to organize an independent political party of the proletariat.

In the pages of Brdzola, Comrade Stalin gave a masterful characterization of the development of the Social-Democratic movement in the Caucasus, Russia, and Western Europe, subjected to annihilating criticism opportunistically hostile speeches to Marxism, and ravaged Lenin's propositions on building a militant revolutionary proletarian party in Russia.

Mercilessly exposing "Economism" hostile to Marxism, its opportunist admiration for spontaneity, glorification of handicrafts (crude-amateurs) and circles, Comrade Stalin called for concentrating all forces on building a Marxist proletarian party capable of fighting for the ultimate goals of the working class, leading the struggle for the victory of the proletarian revolution, for dictatorship the proletariat.

“... As long as political power,” Comrade Stalin pointed out, “does not pass into the hands of the proletariat (the dictatorship of the proletariat), it is impossible to change the existing system, it is impossible to liberate the workers immediately.”

JV Stalin brilliantly foresaw the impending people's revolution in Russia. At the end of 1901, he prophetically wrote that another 2-3 years would pass, and the specter of a people's revolution would rise before the autocratic power.

The revolution was coming. It had to be led, it had to be led by the proletariat. Comrade Stalin urged us to follow events vigilantly, quickly use the lessons of these events and skillfully adapt Social Democratic tactics to changing conditions.

“... Social Democracy needs a strong and closely united organization,” Comrade Stalin pointed out, “namely, the organization of the party, which will be valued not only by name, but also by its basic principles and tactical views. Our task is to work on the creation of such a strong party, which will be armed with firm principles and indestructible conspiracy.” Stalin. Works, vol. 1, p. 28.

In a merciless struggle against "economism" and international opportunism, Lenin and Stalin built a revolutionary Marxist party, worked out its program and tactics, propagated this program and tactics on the pages of Iskra and Brdzola.

Determining the immediate tasks of the party of the proletariat in the struggle against the autocracy in the conditions of the impending revolution, Comrade Stalin pointed out the need to unite and direct towards a single goal the movement of various democratic elements of society who opposed the despotic oppression of the autocracy, rising to the struggle for the conquest of political freedom.

Determining the immediate tasks of the party of the proletariat in the struggle against the autocracy in the conditions of the impending revolution, Comrade Stalin pointed out the need to unite and direct towards a single goal the movement of various democratic elements of society who opposed the despotic oppression of the autocracy, rising to the struggle for the conquest of political freedom. In the Stalinist articles published in Brdzola, the tsarist regime, hated by the people, was exposed, under whose yoke the workers and the constantly starving peasantry, the petty urban people groaned, the oppressed nations groaned.

Having drawn a picture of the lack of rights of the working people, the oppressed peoples in tsarist Russia, Comrade Stalin gave a clear perspective of the revolutionary struggle against the hated autocracy, indicated those forces that would lead the country to freedom and happiness: “Only the working class and the people in general, who in the struggle have nothing to lose except their chains only they represent a real revolutionary force.

And the experience of Russia, although it is still poor, confirms this old truth, which the history of all revolutionary movements teaches us.

The working class - the most revolutionary class in society - was called upon to head the democratic movement, to win victory in the struggle against the autocracy, to liberate all the oppressed.

Comrade Stalin taught the working class to be vigilant towards the bourgeoisie, which, as the experience of history has shown, knows how to appropriate the fruits obtained not by its victory, knows how to rake in heat with the wrong hands. By uniting all the best, advanced forces of the working class into Leninist-Iskra organizations, the newspaper Brdzola persistently prepared the working class, the broad masses of the working people for decisive revolutionary battles.

Defending Lenin's idea of ​​the hegemony of the proletariat in the democratic revolution, Comrade Stalin wrote that the proletariat would only be able to realize the leading role in the revolution if it was guided by the revolutionary theory of Marxism, if it organized itself into an independent political party.

Characterizing the development of the international revolutionary movement, Comrade Stalin wrote in Brdzola:

“Many storms, many bloody streams swept over Western Europe in order to destroy the oppression of the majority by the minority, but the grief still remained un-dispelled, the wounds were just as sharp, and the torment was more and more unbearable every day.”

The weakness of the revolutionary movement of the past, Comrade Stalin pointed out, was that it did not have a scientific program, that the socialists were not in possession of the scientific laws of social development, that they had to wander blindly for a long time in the desert of utopian socialism, cut off from life, from the growing working-class movement. Only scientific socialism, created by Marx and Engels, stresses Comrade Stalin, gave a clear program to the international revolutionary movement of the proletariat, armed it with powerful theoretical weapons.

With great inspiration, Comrade Stalin revealed the world-historical significance of Marxism, its overwhelming superiority over the theories of utopian socialism, which remained mere theories that passed by the working masses, and shows how, in the course of the revolutionary struggle, the “great thought proclaimed by the in the middle of the last century through the lips of the brilliant Karl Marx:

"The emancipation of the working class can only be the work of the working class itself...Proletarians of all countries, unite!"

From these words, it became clear that, now even for the "blind", obvious, true, that the realization of the socialist ideal requires the initiative of the workers and their unification into an organized force, regardless of nationality and country.

It was necessary to substantiate this truth - this was superbly done by Marx and his friend Engels - in order to lay a solid foundation for a powerful social democratic party, which today, like an inexorable rock, stands above the European bourgeois system, threatening it with destruction and building a socialist system on its ruins.  This Stalinist foresight was brilliantly confirmed by the entire course of historical development.

 The revolutionary Marxist party, the Bolshevik Party, created by Lenin and Stalin, led the most revolutionary Russian proletariat, led it to accomplish the socialist revolution, which crushed the bourgeois system, established the dictatorship of the proletariat in one-sixth of the world, ensured the world-historic victory of socialism in our country and is now leading the Soviet people along the path of the successful building of communism.

Together with Lenin's Iskra, Stalin's Brdzola laid the foundation for a new type of press - the battle, the Shevnst press, which is the sharpest and most powerful weapon of the Lenin-Stalin party in the struggle for communism.

Lenin's Iskra in December 1901 warmly welcomed the publication of Stalin's newspaper Brdzola as an event of great political importance. In an article devoted to the centenary of the annexation of Georgia to Russia, Lenin's Iskra, reporting on the wide scope of revolutionary work in the Caucasus, wrote:

 “... the most important thing was that the local workers' organization marked the centenary with the publication of the first revolutionary Georgian periodical called Boryba.

Lenin's Iskra has repeatedly noted the great work of the revolutionary Social-Democrats of Transcaucasia in the field of printed propaganda and agitation. “... The Local Committee of Pargia,” wrote Iskra 1B, No. 25, “did within a few months an enormous amount of organizational and propaganda work. There appeared - in Georgian - a newspaper ("Struggle") and several translated brochures. Beautifully written proclamations came out in Russian, Georgian and Armenian, and filled all the quarters of Tiflis.

A great deal of work on the creation and production of "Brdzola" was carried out by the closest associate of Comrade Stalin - Vladimir (Lado) Ketskhoveli.

Fulfilling the instructions of the Tiflis leading group of the RSDLP and Comrade Stalin, V. Z. Ketskhoveli organized in Baku the first Baku committee of the RSDLP of the Leninist-spark direction and created in 1901 a large illegal printing house, known as Nina, in which Brdzola was printed and Lenin's Iskra.

“The publication of illegal literature,” pointed out Comrade. L.P. Beria, - it required exceptional courage, energy, perseverance, and a lot of strength. Lado Ketskhoveli, living in a printing house, devoted himself entirely to this business. For a whole month Lado worked almost around the clock, without straightening his back. He systematically received articles and other materials for the Brdzola newspaper from Comrade Stalin and other members of the Tiflis leading Social Democratic group. Lado wrote a number of articles himself, simultaneously acting as an editor, proofreader, compositor, and printer, lovingly leading this complex and risky business.

The publication of the first issue of Stalin's newspaper "Brdzola" marked a new stage in the revolutionary proletarian movement in the Caucasus, which developed under the leadership of the Leninist-Iskra organizations created by Comrade Stalin. The program articles written by Comrade Stalin gave exhaustive answers to the most important questions of the Russian and international revolutionary movement, armed the workers with an understanding of the tasks of the struggle for the creation of a Marxist party, and revealed the prospects for the development of revolutionary events in the Caucasus, in Russia and other countries.

The very name of the newspaper - "Brdzola" ("Struggle") - sounded like a passionate call that raised the workers and all working people to fight against the hated tsarism, against the oppression of the capitalists and landowners, a call to fight for political freedom, for the victory of the people's revolution in Russia.

The idea of ​​fighting for freedom, for the happiness of the people, is clearly expressed in Brdzola's appeal to its readers, published in the first issue of the newspaper.

In this short note, signed "Worker", entitled "Take and Taste," it was indicated that the newspaper was dedicated to fearless heroes, selfless fighters for the truth, hard-hearted brave men, faithful and suffering comrades for the truth.

The militant appeal of Stalin's "Brdzola" deeply agitated working-class readers, aroused in them an indomitable will to revolutionary struggle.

When creating Iskra, Lenin pointed out that it should become a platform for political denunciations. Together with Iskra, Stalin's Brdzola was such a militant tribune for political denunciations.

Lenin's Iskra and Stalin's Brdzola laid the foundation for militant Bolshevik journalism, which mercilessly smashes all and sundry enemies of the working people and inspires the masses of the people to the revolutionary struggle for socialism. Each issue of Stalin's Brdzola contained leading articles defining the main tasks of the proletariat and its revolutionary party in the struggle for the victory of the revolution, as well as a wealth of material on the development of the revolutionary movement in the Transcaucasia and in Russia.

In total, four issues of Brdzola were published, with issues 2-3 being combined. No. 1 of "Brdzola" was published in September, combined No. 2-3 - in November - December 1901, and No. 4 - in December 1902 goals.

In the first issue of Brdzola, along with Comrade Stalin's program article "From the Editor", were published: the article "Political Struggle", which described the development of the political struggle in Russia; an extensive chronicle containing an overview of the strike movement in Georgia; "Letter to the Georgian workers" on the occasion of the centenary of the annexation of Georgia to Russia.

In the section "Russia" a detailed review of the chair movement in the country was given; information was printed about the support of the Russian workers' revolutionary movement by the international socialist committee.

"Brdzola" published poems and songs, ardently supported the young revolutionary poetry, used it as a weapon of revolutionary education and organization of the masses.

It is noteworthy that in the very first issue of Brdzola, the popular revolutionary song Varshavyanka was published in a poetic translation into Georgian.

No. 2-3 of the Brdzola newspaper, published in November-December 1901, opened with I. V. Stalin's program article "The Russian Social-Democratic Party and Its Immediate Tasks."

In the same issue of the newspaper, a detailed review was published on the topic: "The labor movement in the Caucasus in 1899-1901."

The article “Pharoism, hypocrisy and “heartfelt care”” exposed the vile policy of the tsarist government, which tried to create police Zubatov organizations in the fight against the revolutionary labor movement.

The remarkable pamphlet "The Russian Emperor in France" exposed the conspiracy of the Russian tsar with the bourgeois government of France, a conspiracy aimed at fighting against the revolutionary movement and preparing a war for new conquests and subjugation of peoples.

The article "Nationalism and Socialism" expounded the views of the Marxists on the national question, revealed the reactionary essence of bourgeois nationalism, and defended the principles of proletarian internationalism.

In the "Party Life" section, the newspaper covered the activities of local Leninist-Iskra organizations, and also informed about the work of the Social Democratic organizations in Russia.

The permanent section of Brdzola was the Rossiya section, which published detailed reviews that vividly painted a picture of the growth of the revolutionary movement in the country.

The newspaper convincingly showed the leading role of the working class in the growing revolutionary movement, promoted the ideas of proletarian internationalism, armed readers with Marxist theory and tactics, putting into practice a Marxist assessment of current events, answering questions that agitated the workers.

The next, No. 4 "Brdzola" was published only a year later - in December 1902. During this year, the revolutionary working-class movement in the Caucasus, led by the Leninist-Iskra organizations, has made tremendous progress.

In November 1901, Comrade Stalin, on behalf of the Tiflis Committee, moved to one of the largest industrial centers of the Transcaucasus, the city of Batum, and launched great revolutionary work here.

He established contacts with advanced workers, creates Social Democratic circles, personally leads a number of circles, establishes an illegal printing press, writes fiery leaflets, prints, and distributes them, leads the struggle of workers at the Rothschild and Mantashev factories, organizes revolutionary propaganda and agitation.

In December 1901, Comrade Stalin held a conference of representatives of the social-democratic circles of Batum, founded the Batumi Committee of the RSDLP, led the workers' strikes.

Under the direct leadership of Comrade Stalin, the famous political demonstration of the Batumi workers on March 9, 1902, was prepared and carried out, which was an outstanding example of combining a strike with a political demonstration.

The growth of the revolutionary movement in the Transcaucasus, the militant actions of the Batum workers cause concern to the tsarist government, which hastened to take repressive police measures against the leaders of the revolutionary organizations.

In April 1902, Comrade Stalin was arrested, imprisoned first in Batumi, then in Kutaisi prison, and in the fall of 1903 they were deported to Eastern Siberia for three years.

In 1902, the revolutionary movement gained wide scope in Baku, where the work of the Leninist-Iskra organizations was directly directed by Comrade Stalin's faithful companion Vladimir Ketsoveli.

After a long search, the tsarist bloodhounds managed to establish that the underground revolutionary printing house that printed "Brdzola" and reprinted "Iskra" was located in Baku.

In September 1902, Vladimir Ketskhoveli was arrested and thrown into a Baku prison, then transferred to the Metekhi prison, where he was brutally murdered by police satraps on August 17, 1903.

Despite political repressions, the revolutionary working-class movement in Transcaucasia grew, expanded, and strengthened.

Comrade Stalin, while in prison, established and maintained contacts with Social Democratic organizations, directed their work, writes leaflets, and conducted political work among the prisoners.

At the end of 1902, the Leninist-Iskra organizations of Transcaucasia succeeded in re-establishing the work of an underground printing house and organizing the production of illegal literature and No. 4 of the Brdzola newspaper.

This issue of "Brdzola" vividly demonstrated the growth of the revolutionary working-class movement in the Caucasus, the strengthening of the newspaper's ties with the Leninist-Iskra organizations in many industrial centers and rural areas.

No. 4 of Brdzola published: an editorial entitled "Struggle", an editorial article "Social Democratic Struggle", in the "Correspondence" section - materials from Tiflis, Baku, Guria, Rostov-on-Don, "Internal Review" , a letter from Tiflis on the topic “How we will fight against terror”, sharply condemning the adventurism of supporters of individual terror, a note under the heading “From Batu, we received the following dispatch”, a short editorial address to readers.

"Brdzola" waged a purposeful and persistent struggle for the creation of a Marxist party, for the strengthening of the Leninist-Iskra organizations and vividly responded to every manifestation of protest against the arbitrariness of the autocracy.

All articles, correspondence, letters, poems published on the pages of Brdzola were imbued with the spirit of the revolutionary class struggle, instilled hatred for the worst enemies of the working people: tsarism, capitalists, landowners, and their henchmen - agents of the bourgeoisie in the labor movement.

"Brdzola" tore off the mask from the enemies of the working people, exposed their maneuvers, instilled in the masses of working people confidence in their strength, and showed them the path of struggle.

Comrade Stalin's program articles "From the Editor" and "The Russian Social-Democratic Party and Its Immediate Tasks" are brilliant examples of militant party journalism.

ruthlessly crushing the enemies of the working people, rousing the masses to the revolutionary struggle.

The newspaper Brdzola, directed by Comrade Stalin, was a mighty weapon of revolutionary struggle, a smashing sword of the fighting proletariat.

Remarkable examples of journalism are the articles of Comrade Stalin's closest associate, Vladimir Ketskhoveli. In a proclamation he wrote, published in No. 1 of Brdzola, it was said:

“... We see a radiant future that is not given by the grace of the government; we want once again to acquaint society with our innermost thoughts on this subject, to oppose our conscious "I" to any corrupting force and once and for all to make it clear to arrogant vanity that its insignificance, its emptiness, moral impotence, mental squalor, shameless deceit - this is power only temporary, built on bayonets, which is threatened with corruption and decay.

... The worker begins to realize his position, his class interests, he sees under the mask the ugly face of the enemy and, in order to defeat him, sharpens his sword; this sword is the united strength of the workers. This force is not afraid of sharp bayonets, the atrocities of embittered policemen, the heartless, insidious tyranny of gendarmes, the gold of manufacturers, the ranks, and epaulettes of government agents.

The crown of the united physical strength of the workers is moral strength, the great ideals of the future illuminate its path, and it firmly, unshakably destroys the injustices of life, crushes the meanness of the surrounding meanness, paving the way for love and peace.

Can national enmity take place at this time?

The Georgian worker is exploited together with the Russian and the Armenian, tormented, suffers, suffocates in the realm of violence with his hands tied, chained to a soulless machine, the product of which goes entirely to its owner, and the worker gets leftovers, leftovers from the table, allowing him to pull the martyr's tong.

On one side, the worker; on the other, the owner of the instruments of production; on one side - poverty, on the other - wealth and luxury. The first creates wealth, while he himself languishes in poverty; the second - for nothing, without the expenditure of labor, appropriates this wealth and amuses itself with feasts in palaces. The groans of numerous people, a semi-animal existence in dirty and musty cellars.

The article-proclamation ended with a militant call for the unification of all the forces of the proletariat in the struggle against tsarism:

“So let us unite, friends, let us unite, workers of all countries, for the victory over today's vile government!!! .. » .

On the pages of Brdzola, its readers found the richest material about revolutionary uprisings in Tiflis, Baku, Batum and many other cities and regions of the Caucasus, about the struggle of the workers of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Kharkov, Nizhny Novgorod, Riga, Yekaterinoslav, Rostov-on- Don, about peasant uprisings in Guria and Gori district, in Poltava and Kharkov provinces.

Exposing the wild arbitrariness of the autocracy, "Brdzola" expresses an angry protest against the surrender of students to the soldiers and the shooting of a student demonstration, it stigmatizes tsarism and the "Holy Synod" that persecuted Leo Tolstoy.

Brdzola raises its voice in defense of the great Russian writer, calling Leo Tolstoy the pride of Russian and world literature.

The newspaper covers in detail the demonstration of protest against the expulsion by the tsarist authorities of the proletarian writer Maxim Gorky from Nizhny Novgorod and vigorously supports this Protest.

The article "Political Struggle", published in the first issue of Brdzola, explained the leading role of the proletariat in the revolutionary movement, its ability to lead the revolutionary movement among the peasantry and students.

Giving a devastating characterization of Russian tsarism, the newspaper exposes its policy, which is hostile to the people.

The tsarist government, the article said, is furiously persecuting everyone, does not hesitate to send students into soldiers, close universities, ban magazines and newspapers, arrest the best professors, expel favorite writers, it will not hesitate to exterminate innocent people in the streets, as it did on March 4 in St. Petersburg and April 22 in Tiflis will not hesitate to fill countless prisons with working people.

The newspaper angrily denounced those who preached the legend of the invincibility of tsarism.

In nature, everything flows, everything changes - one system collapses and another is established. The autocracy will also perish, the newspaper wrote.

But it will perish not of its own accord, not from its own weakness and not by virtue of natural development—the autocracy will be crushed, must be crushed by the revolutionary onslaught.

Calling for a revolutionary struggle against the autocracy, Brdzola stressed that this struggle could be successful only if the revolutionary proletariat played the leading role, under the influence of its Marxist party.

The newspaper pointed out that in Russia the main force was the united might of the revolutionary proletariat.

Brdzola declared that the proletariat was the staunch force that must crush the autocracy; the Social-Democratic Party must declare a mortal struggle against the autocracy. Social Democracy, relying on the rest of the elements of society, which are crushed by absolutism, relying on their direct and indirect assistance, will storm, and the strong walls of Russian despotism will crumble to the ground.

In the review of the strike movement in Georgia, published in the first issue of the newspaper, it was noted that “Tiflis has never seen such a movement as this year. The remarkable strike of last year's railroad workers had not yet ended when new strikes followed one another. The working-class movement reached its highest point and on April 22 action broke out in the street.

Further, the May Day demonstration in Tiflis, which took place on April 22, 1901, was described in detail, its enormous significance for the development of the revolutionary movement in the Caucasus.

This demonstration was prepared by Comrade Stalin and took place under his leadership.

Lenin's Iskra gave a high political assessment of this demonstration. “The event that took place on Sunday, April 22 (O.S. style) in Tiflis,” wrote Iskra, “is historically significant for the entire Caucasus: from that day on, an open revolutionary movement begins in the Caucasus.”

"Brdzola" described in detail the preparations for the May Day holiday in Tiflis, while showing the great importance of wide agitation and distribution among the workers of proclamations in Georgian and Russian, which contained an appeal to celebrate their May Day holiday on April 22.

The stormy scope of the revolutionary movement caused a commotion in the camp of the enemies. “How thunder struck the government on April 22,” Brdzola wrote.

The tsarist government resorted to the most vile measures against the labor movement. On June 29, 1901, it announced the introduction of "reinforced security" in Tiflis and Baku from September 4, 1901.

Exposing and denouncing the policy of brutal repressions of tsarism against the labor movement in the Caucasus, the newspaper told its readers about the bold revolutionary struggle of the workers.

The first issue of "Brdzola" tells about the plight of the workers of the Tiflis printing houses, the Mir factory, about the strikes of the workers of these enterprises, about their struggle against brutal exploitation.

The article "The Labor Movement in the Caucasus in 1899-1901", published in No. 2-3 of "Brdzola", contains a thorough coverage of the scope of the revolutionary struggle of the Caucasian workers in that period.

The article begins with a very expressive and eloquent comparative data on the growth of participants in May-day meetings in the Caucasus over the past three years.

The article says: “An amazing event took place in our country in two or three years.

April 19, 1899 seventy workers secretly gathered outside the city with a red flag and swore to each other: let us unite, join all our brothers, and boldly begin the fight against our common enemy - the bourgeoisie and the government.

A year later, again on April 19, the number of workers increased to four or five hundred. They again gathered outside the city with a red flag and swore even more strongly to each other in brotherhood, unity, vowed to selflessly fight the enemy.

A year later, on April 22, 1901, the number of workers increased from 400-500 to 2,000.

It was already a whole army! They no longer hide behind the city, they act on the square in the very center of the city with the same red flag in their hands and, calling the enemy to battle, shout loudly, publicly: “Long live political freedom! Down with tyrants! Long live the eight-hour day!” etc.

What audacity! The young workers' organization, which has only two or three years of existence, calls on the battlefield the government, organizations that have been strengthening for centuries! .. » .

Noting the organization and suspense of the workers of the Kavkaz in the strike struggle, citing as an example the strike of the railroad workers, after which strikes broke out at many enterprises in the Caucasus, the newspaper again emphasizes the great importance of the May Day demonstration of 1901 for the development of the revolutionary movement in Caucasus.

After the open political demonstration in Tiflis on April 22, 1901, the newspaper writes, the tsarist government introduced the so-called "strong guard" in Tiflis and Baku.

But none of the brutal repressions of the tsarist autocracy were able to stop the growth of the working-class movement.

“In this way, by the way, the hope of the government, which it placed on enhanced security, did not come true: this “guard” had just been introduced, and, as if on purpose, for this occasion, our first revolutionary body was filled with the government as a “gift” Brdzola" ("Struggle")". The revolutionary working-class movement and the strike struggle in the Caucasus intensified even more.

The review of the labor movement in the Caucasus ends with a fiery greeting to the heroic revolutionary fighters:

“Congratulations, brothers, congratulations from the bottom of our hearts with such courage, with such heroism ...

Don't forget that you are not alone! All the working people of Russia are fighting with you. And so, friends, let us extend our hand to our Russian brethren, hand in hand go on the attack against the enemy and unanimously proclaim:

"Long live political freedom!"

"Down with tyranny!"

"Brdzola" consistently carried out the task set before it by comrade Stalin, to stand as close as possible to the working masses, to be able to influence them, to be their conscious and guiding center.

Broadly covering the working-class movement in the Caucasus and Russia as a whole, the newspaper pointed the way to the revolutionary struggle, putting forward the struggle against the tsarist government as the main task.

In the article "The Social-Democratic Struggle" the paper explains that this struggle can only be crowned with victory under the banner of revolutionary Social-Democracy.

In "Brdzola" it was explained that the revolutionary social democrats are conscious fighters with a definite and clear program, which is worked out and based on scientific principles, that they set themselves the goal of freeing not just one class from slavery but strive for the liberation of all humanity.

The article reproduced the remarkable words of Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto: “To the same extent that the exploitation of one individual by another is destroyed, the exploitation of one nation by another will also be destroyed. Together with the antagonism of classes within nations, the hostile relations of nations among themselves will also fall.

The Social Democratic Party of Georgian Workers, it was pointed out later in the article, is one of the detachments of the Social Democratic organization of Russia, it constitutes the political party of the Georgian proletariat, explaining to the working people the irreconcilable contradictions between the capitalists and the workers, explains the significance of the coming social revolution and organizes the workers for its implementation. .

On the pages of "Brdzola" the peasant movement in Transcaucasia was widely covered, materials were published on the plight of the peasantry in Georgia and throughout Russia.

Calling on the peasants to actively fight against the landowners and the tsarist autocracy, the newspaper explained to the peasants that their liberation from the yoke of the landowners and tsarism could be crowned with success only if they united with the working class, capable of fulfilling the role of leader of the peasantry and all working people in the upcoming democratic revolution.

No. 4 of Brdzola contains materials characterizing the wide scope of the peasant uprisings against the landowners, the revolutionary struggle of the peasants in the Kharkov and Poltava provinces, and the active struggle of the Georgian peasants in the Gori district.

In the "Letter from Guria" the newspaper exposed the atrocities of the landowners and gendarmes, their cruel reprisals against the peasants of one of the villages of Guria, who opposed the arbitrariness of the landlords and royal satraps. When all the peasants of this village rose up in defense of a group of advanced peasants arrested by the police, the gendarmerie arrested 190 peasants and staged a public flogging of them in front of the entire population. This cruel reprisal, as the letter says, did not frighten the peasants; it gave rise to even greater hatred for the landowner and the tsarist ruler and aroused determination to fight.

"Brdzola" was a tireless fighter for the implementation of the ideas of proletarians and internationalism, for the unification of the struggling proletarians of all nationalities in a single revolutionary Marxist party.

Mercilessly exposing bourgeois nationalism, Brdzola pointed out that the democratic program of the proletariat fully included the interests of the oppressed nationalities, national freedom, that the nations could follow the proletariat in the struggle for democracy with full confidence.

Using specific examples and facts of the workers' movement in the Caucasus, "Brdzola" showed the unity of the revolutionary struggling workers Georgians, Russians, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, emphasizing that this unity is the key to the success of the revolutionary struggle.

Promoting the ideas of proletarian internationalism. "Brdzola" paid special attention to strengthening friendship with the great Russian people, with the most revolutionary Russian working class.

In an article by the polled department of the Rossiya newspaper. Describing the situation in the country, "Brdzola" in Nos. 2-3 wrote that social life, civic feelings have awakened in the Russian people and the autocracy is no longer able to suppress these feelings.

 The newspaper emphasized that the Russian people were more boldly entering the arena of struggle and irrevocably advancing towards achieving their goal - the overthrow of the autocracy.

The article said that the working-class movement, hitherto aimed only at satisfying its daily interests, had now expanded, and was heading straight towards the conquest of the democratic system, that the Russian worker had firmly resolved to support every movement directed against the existing system.

Referring to the same theme in the "Internal Review", "Brdzola" in December 1902 wrote that the revolutionary movement in Russia is gradually growing and strengthening, developing, and turning into a mighty stream that breaks and destroys all obstacles.

In all corners of Russia, Brdzola said, a red banner of protest was raised against the tsarist government, capitalists, and big landowners.

This review was concluded by the newspaper with the famous words of the worker Pyotr Aleksev, with which the leading article written by Lenin in the first issue of the Iskra newspaper ended, that the day is not far off when the muscular hand of the worker will rise and break into dust the yoke of despotism, protected by soldier bayonets. 

The voice of "Brdzola" was heard in all regions of the Caucasus and far beyond its borders.

The passionate appeal of "Brdzola" to the revolutionary struggle found a warm response in the hearts of the workers and peasants, in the hearts of all who groaned under the yoke of tsarism. Georgian and Russian, Azerbaijani, and Armenian workers considered Brdzola their native newspaper.

How warmly the workers greeted the publication of the first Georgian free newspaper Brdzola is vividly described in his memoirs by the old Georgian worker G. Ninua.

The old Georgian worker G. Ninua vividly tells in his memoirs how warmly the workers met the publication of the first Georgian free newspaper Brdzola.

“The first issue of the Georgian revolutionary newspaper Brdzola was delivered from Baku in the autumn of 1901,” writes Comrade Ninua. “We met the newspaper with great satisfaction because I read everything in it was very different from ordinary legal newspapers. And the headline itself - "Brdzola" ("Struggle") - clearly expressed the direction of the newspaper, what it called on the workers to.

It was correctly noted in the editorial article that "Brdzola" is the first Georgian free newspaper. In those days, free speech could only be born underground.

Long before the appearance of Brdzola, Comrade Stalin spoke to us about the revolutionary press, about the need to create it.

And we waited, we knew that somewhere this military weapon was being forged in secret... The publication of the Brdzola newspaper helped a lot. 

Even before the publication of the Brdzola newspaper, we often asked our propagandists questions about how the workers live and fight in Russia and abroad. We followed every step of the Russian proletariat, as if waiting for a signal from it. And when walkouts, strikes, demonstrations began in St. Petersburg, Moscow, or other cities of Russia, we rejoiced at this and quickly responded and supported our brothers.

The revolutionary newspaper helped us a lot in this respect, introducing us in detail to the Russian movement.

In 1901 a copy of Lenin's Iskra reached the Caucasus. But they were few. The thoughts and ideas of Iskra were retold to the workers by agitators. And even then, it became clear to us that Iskra and Brdzola were leading the workers along the same path, towards the same cherished goal.

The first copies of Brdzola were brought to us by Vano Sturua. The newspaper was also delivered by other dependable comrades, for example, underground printer Georgy Lelashvili. The railroad also helped...

Copies of "Iskra" and "Brdzola" we carefully kept, distributed with great care ... I distributed the newspaper among the workers of the main railway workshops, where I myself worked as a foundry.

Sometimes, after work, we would gather in our little rooms in small groups and read loudly and distinctly the precious lines of our newspaper.

We didn't know then that a worker could write for a newspaper. Stalin's "Brdzola" appealed to us, pointing out the need for assistance to the newspaper on the part of the readers themselves.

After that, Brdzola became even closer and dearer to us.”

The workers and peasants saw in "Brdzola" their true friend, the defender of the people's interests, the leader in the struggle for the supply and happiness of the people. The pages of "Brdzola" systematically published letters from its readers, telling about the labor movement in Tiflis, Baku, Batum, and other industrial regions of Transcaucasia. Readers warmly welcomed their native "Brdzola".

“Greetings to you, comrade soldiers,” says a letter from Tiflis, published in the fourth issue of Brdzola.

Greetings, defenders of the disenfranchised part of humanity, Greetings to you and your bold call to fight.

Startled by the wide popularity of Brdzola among the workers, peasants and soldiers, the tsarist authorities made every effort to destroy the first revolutionary Marxist newspaper in Transcaucasia. Already on September 30, 1901, a few days after the publication of the first issue of Brdzola, the Tiflis governor wrote in his report to the head of the Tiflis province, gendarme department:

“At the same time, I have the honor to forward to Your Excellency, at your discretion, one copy No. 1 of the Brdzola newspaper in Georgian and the appeals “Comrade Soldiers”, “On the occasion of the centennial anniversary” and “Comrades” in Russian and Georgian languages, found by two lower ranks of the 14th Georgian Grenadier Regiment on maneuvers during an overnight stay at Koda and in the assembly, turning and foundry workshops of the main workshops of the Zakavian, Kazakh railways.

The gendarmerie department repeatedly reported to the authorities about the widespread distribution of "Brdzola" among the working people. 

By its bold and resolute struggle against the hated tsarism, against the oppression of the capitalists and landowners, "Brdzola" won the ardent love of the broad masses of workers and working people.

“You are one, one of many,

What you say about the truth

And our oppressed people

You raise and invigorate.

"Brdzola", be a calling trumpet,

 Dispel the darkness of the night around,

 Raise the enslaved

and humiliated people.

These lines of the poem dedicated to "Brdzola" and printed on its pages remarkably expressed the feelings of working readers who called "Brdzola" the star of their native country.

Workers and peasants warmly responded to the call of "Brdzola", which called them to the revolutionary struggle, rallied around it and actively collaborated on its pages.

Defending and carrying out the Leninist plan to build a militant Marxist party of the proletariat, the Stalinist "Brdzola" consistently and resolutely fought against the opportunist trend in the ranks of the Russian and Transcaucasian Social Democratic organizations and defended the theoretical foundations of revolutionary Marxism. It played an outstanding role in the creation of the Leninist-Iskra organizations in Transcaucasia.

In March 1903, the first congress of Caucasian social democratic organizations took place, at which the Caucasian Union of the RSDLP was formalized. By decision of this congress, the newspaper “Brdzola” is merged with the newspaper “Proletariat”, published in Armenian, into a single body “Proletariatis Brdzola” (“Struggle of the Proletariat”).

The newspaper "Proletariatis Brdzola", published in Georgian, Armenian, and Russian, was the long-lived successor to "Brdzola". On its pages are published the famous articles of Comrade Stalin "How does the Social Democracy understand the national question?", "The class of proletarians and the party of proletarians", "Armed uprising and our tactics", "An answer to the Social Democrat" and other works in which the followers of Lenin's ideas of struggle for a new type of Marxist party were developed, and the ideological, organizational, and tactical foundations of the Marxist party were worked out.

From the Leninist Iskra and the Stalinist Brdzola, the press of the Bolshevik Party, the press of the communist and workers' parties of all countries, traces its genealogy.

On the great example of the revolutionary activity of the Bolshevik party, on the brilliant works of Lenin and Stalin, on the outstanding examples of Lenin-Stalin journalism, numerous cadres of the communist and workers' parties, the communist and workers' press, are and will continue to learn, leading a tireless struggle for the triumph of Marxism -Leninism, for the great cause of peace, democracy, and socialism.

More than half a century has passed since the publication of the Stalinist newspaper Brdzola. During this period, Marxism-Leninism won world-historic victories. The great cause begun in the period of Iskra and Brdzola by the brilliant leaders of the revolution, V. I. Lenin, and I. V. Stalin, triumphed.

Comrade Stalin, characterizing the historical significance of the Leninist Iskra, points out:

 “... from the Iskra lit by Lenin, the flame of a great revolutionary fire subsequently flared up, which burned to the ground the noble-landlord tsarist monarchy and bourgeois power.”

Together with Lenin's Iskra, this flame of the great revolutionary conflagration was fanned by the militant newspaper, Stalin's Brdzola.

Under the leadership of the party of Lenin-Stalin, the Great October Socialist Revolution won in our country, which opened a new era in the history of mankind, the first socialist society in the world was built, and the construction of communism is being successfully carried out.

Under the banner of Lenin-Stalin, the working people of the people's democracies are successfully advancing along the path of building socialism. The Chinese people, under the leadership of their glorious Communist Party, created the People's Republic of China and are now successfully building a new life. Under the great and invincible banner of Marxism-Leninism, the struggle of the working people of all countries for peace, democracy and socialism is expanding.

“... Great energy is born only for a great goal,” Comrade Stalin wrote more than fifty years ago in the Brdzola newspaper.

The Bolshevik Party, created by Lenin and Stalin, inspired, and organizes the Soviet people and directs their great energy towards building communism.