description One Step Forward, Two Steps Back Overview
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back is a 1904 political pamphlet by Vladimir Lenin analyzing the internal crisis and split within the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). The work documents the events of the party's Second Congress, where disagreements over party organization led to the division between the Bolshevik and Menshevik factions. The pamphlet defends Lenin's vision of a disciplined, centralized revolutionary party.
help One Step Forward, Two Steps Back FAQ
Who wrote the political pamphlet One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?
The political pamphlet was written by Vladimir Lenin in 1904. It serves as his definitive account of the internal crisis within the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party.
What political split is detailed in One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?
The pamphlet outlines the party split that occurred during the Second Party Congress between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Lenin uses the text to fiercely defend his vision for a highly disciplined vanguard party.
Why did Lenin choose the title One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?
He chose the title to describe the procedural outcomes of the party congress, where they took one step forward by officially forming the party, but two steps back by yielding to opportunism. The phrase became a famous idiom for political regression.
Where was One Step Forward, Two Steps Back originally published?
The pamphlet was originally published in Geneva, Switzerland, where Lenin was living in exile. It was first distributed among Russian revolutionaries abroad in mid-1904.
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