Book: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Overview
"One Step Forward, Two Steps Back" (1904) is Lenin’s detailed, polemical account of the split that emerged at the Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party in 1903. It reconstructs debates, vote counts, and procedural battles to argue that the party had advanced by adopting a centralized, disciplined structure, yet immediately retreated when a looser, more conciliatory current regained influence. The book defends a conception of a revolutionary party suited to clandestine struggle under tsarism: unified in program, tightly organized, and capable of decisive action.

Historical Context
Lenin writes against the backdrop of autocratic repression and the recent consolidation of Marxist circles under the banner of Iskra, the newspaper that had campaigned for party unity. The Second Congress was convened to adopt a program and rules and to set up central bodies. Delegates represented diverse tendencies: Iskra-ists advocating centralization, Economists favoring spontaneity and trade-union demands, the Jewish Bund pressing for federal autonomy, and various regional committees. The congress’s task was not only theoretical codification but the practical construction of an underground organization that could coordinate nationwide activity.

The Organizational Question
At the heart of the book lies a dispute over party membership and organization. Lenin insists that a party member must accept the program, pay dues, and belong to one of the party’s organizations. Martov’s rival formula defines a member as someone who accepts the program and supports the party under the direction of one of its organizations. To Lenin, the latter blurs the line between active organizers and peripheral sympathizers, reintroducing the old circle mentality. He contends that professional revolutionaries, centralized leadership, and strict discipline are indispensable under illegality, and he frames these demands as democratic centralism: wide discussion and election of leading bodies, followed by unity in action. He rejects federalist notions, particularly the Bund’s claim to represent Jewish workers as a separate, autonomous organization within the party, arguing that such arrangements fragment class unity.

The Split and Its Causes
Lenin narrates the ebb and flow of majorities at the congress in granular detail. An Iskra majority initially carries crucial points: the party program, tighter rules, and the creation of two central organs, a Central Committee and a Central Organ (the editorial board of Iskra). A sharp quarrel erupts over the size and composition of the editorial board. Lenin favors a compact team capable of coherent direction; Martov defends restoring the larger, precongress lineup. After walkouts and shifting alliances, a momentary "majority" forms around Lenin’s positions, giving rise to the labels Bolsheviks (majority) and Mensheviks (minority). Soon after, Plekhanov aligns with Martov, enabling the Mensheviks to seize editorial control and influence in the committees. For Lenin, this reversal, two steps back, reflects not merely personal disputes but an underlying tendency toward opportunism: vagueness in membership, indulgence of circles, and resistance to centralized authority portrayed as bureaucratism.

Method, Polemic, and Stakes
The book is both an archive and a manifesto. Lenin cites congress minutes, roll calls, and textual nuances to show that key issues turned on concrete rules, not abstract slogans. He answers charges of authoritarianism by arguing that centralism is compatible with inner-party democracy and is dictated by police conditions, while loose federalism and ambiguous membership norms disable practical leadership. His polemics are relentless, branding opponents’ organizational preferences as symptomatic of broader political drift.

Significance
"One Step Forward, Two Steps Back" crystallizes the organizational doctrine that would define Bolshevism: a disciplined party of committed members, elected leadership with real authority, and the subordination of factional interests to congress decisions. Beyond recounting a single congress, it advances a theory of how a workers’ party should be built to confront an entrenched state, laying intellectual groundwork for the later trajectory of the Russian socialist movement.