Lenin’s treatise criticizing the Mensheviks’ opportunism on organizational issues and clarifying the principles of Bolshevik organization. The Second Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party was held from July to August 1903. The congress adopted a unified program and constitution, also established a central leadership organ. At this meeting, due to sharp differences in organizational principles, the Bolsheviks (i.e., the majority) led by Lenin and the Mensheviks (i.e., the minority) led by Julius Martov were formed. After the meeting, with the support of Plekhanov, Mensheviks usurped the leadership of the editorial department of the Iskra making it an instrument against Lenin and Bolsheviks. It concentrated on attacking the party’s organizational principles advocated by Lenin and tried to make the party return to a state of disorganization. Lenin used the phrase “one step forward, two steps back” to describe the serious crisis in the party at that time. Crushing the economist clique, the convening of the Second Congress, and the adoption of the party program were steps forward. The adoption of the first article of Martov’s party constitution and the usurpation of the Iskra was two steps back. To effectively respond to the crisis in the party, Lenin wrote this work based on studying the minutes and resolutions, the speeches of each delegate, the various documents of the political factions, the Central Committee and the General Committee of the party that emerged from the Second Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party, which were published in January 1904. He made a detailed analysis of the evolution of differences at the Second Congress, reasons for the formation of factions, and the development of the struggle after the Second Congress. He criticized the opportunism of the Mensheviks on the organizational issues, clarified the correct organizational principles of the Bolsheviks, and expounded the theory of the proletarian political party. This book was published in Geneva in May 1904 and later included in Vol. 1 of the Collection of Twelve Years published in 1907. The Chinese translation is included in Vol. 8 of the second edition of Complete Works of Lenin…
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