Published:
Speeches and draft resolutions moved on January 17(30), 1904; first published in 1929 in Lenin Miscellany X.
Published in the pamphlet The Fight for a Congress, by N. Shakhov, Geneva, 1904.
Speeches and the draft resolution on convening the Third Party Congress published according to the text of the Council Minutes.
Draft resolutions published according to the manuscript.
Source:
Lenin
Collected Works,
publisher??,
pubdate??,
Moscow,
Volume 7,
pages 145-187.
Translated: Fineberg Abraham
Transcription\Markup:
R. Cymbala
Copyleft:
V. I. Lenin Internet Archive (www.marxists.org)
© 2002
Permission is granted to copy and/or distribute this document under the
terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
[1] The Party Council session held in Geneva on January 15-17 (28-30), 1904, was “called on the initiative of the representatives of the Central Organ to discuss measures for harmonising the activities of the Central Committee and Central Organ in the publication of Party literature” (Lenin Miscellany X, p. 181). It was attended by Lenin, Leugnik, Plekhanov, Axelrod, and Martov.
On Lenin’s proposal, the Council resolved to include in the agenda and discuss as the first item the question of measures to restore peace in the Party. On January 15 (28) Lenin, on behalf of the Central Committee, moved a resolution on this question (pp. 147-49 of this volume). When the debate showed that the Mensheviks would not agree to this resolution, Lenin and Lengnik proposed, on January 16 (29), another resolution on restoring peace in the Party, which the Council adopted by three votes (Lenin, Lengnik, and Plekhanov) to two (Martov and Axelrod). However, instead of then practically discussing what must be done to restore peace, the Council, over Lenin’s protest, proceeded to vote Plekhanov’s resolu tion,which demanded co-optation of Mensheviks to the Central Com mittee. By the votes of Plekhanov, Martov, and Axeirod, this resolu tion was passed. Thereupon the Central Committee representatives (Lenin and Leugnik) recorded on January 17(30) a dissenting opinion which censured Plekhanov’s resolution as ignoring the will of the majority of the Second Party Congress. The text of the dissenting opinion (pp. 150-53 of this volume) was drawn up by Lenin.
After the Mensheviks frustrated every effort to establish peace in the Party, Lenin moved a resolution on convening the Third Party Congress, as the only way out of the situation (p. 154 of this volume). By the votes of Plekhanov, Martov, and Axeirod this resolution was rejected and Martov’s resolution against a congress was passed. Concerning the publication of Party literature no agree ment was reached either. Rejecting the resolutions moved on this subject by Lenin (p. 155 of this volume), the Council adopted resolutions which endorsed the factional, disruptive activities of the Menshevik editorial board of Iskra.
The Council session of January 1904 made it plain that with Plekhanov’s defection to the Mensheviks the Council had become an instrument of the Mensheviks’ fight against the Party.
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