Emancipation of Labour (russian: Освобождение труда) was the first
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n
Marxist group. It was founded in exile by
Georgi Plekhanov,
Vasily Ignatov,
Vera Zasulich
Vera Ivanovna Zasulich (russian: link=no, Ве́ра Ива́новна Засу́лич; – 8 May 1919) was a Russian socialist activist, Menshevik writer and revolutionary.
Radical beginnings
Zasulich was born in Mikhaylovka, in the Smol ...
,
Leo Deutsch, and
Pavel Axelrod
Pavel Borisovich Axelrod (russian: Па́вел Бори́сович Аксельро́д; 25 August 1850 – 16 April 1928) was an early Russian Marxist revolutionary. Along with Georgi Plekhanov, Vera Zasulich, and Leo Deutsch, he was one ...
, at
Geneva
, neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier
, website = https://www.geneve.ch/
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...
(Switzerland) in 1883. Deutsch left the group in 1884 when he was arrested and sent to Siberia and
Sergei Ingerman joined in 1888. The group published the first
Russian language translations of many works by
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
and distributed them. It became the major adversary to the
Narodniks
The Narodniks (russian: народники, ) were a politically conscious movement of the Russian intelligentsia in the 1860s and 1870s, some of whom became involved in revolutionary agitation against tsarism. Their ideology, known as Narodism, ...
on the left wing of politics in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
.
Two drafts (1883 and 1885) of a program for the Russian
Social Democrats
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
, written by Plekhanov, were also published by the group, marking an important step to what would become the building of the
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). At the first congress of the
Second International
The Second International (1889–1916) was an organisation of socialist and labour parties, formed on 14 July 1889 at two simultaneous Paris meetings in which delegations from twenty countries participated. The Second International continued th ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
(1889) onwards, the group represented the RSDLP.
Within Russia itself, Emancipation of Labour influenced a separate group, the
(Союз борьбы за освобождение рабочего класса), formed by
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
and others at
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in 1895. Lenin later wrote that Emancipation of Labour "laid the theoretical foundations for the Social-Democratic movement and took the first step towards the working-class movement in Russia."
Emancipation of Labour announced its dissolution during the
Second Congress of the RSDLP
The 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was held during July 30–August 23 (July 17–August 10, O.S.) 1903, starting in Brussels, Belgium (until August 6) and ending in London. Probably as a result of diplomatic pressure ...
, in August 1903.
References
Marxists.org Glossary of Organisations
1883 establishments in the Russian Empire
1903 establishments in the Russian Empire
Defunct organizations based in Russia
Labour parties
Marxism
Organizations established in 1883
Organizations disestablished in 1903
Political parties in the Russian Empire
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
Socialist organizations in Russia
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