What the "Friends of the People" Are and How They Fight the Social-Democrats

What it is

This pamphlet, dated September 1894, was one of Vladimir Lenin's earliest major writings, printed illegally by a provincial group of social-democrats. It responds to attacks on Marxism published in the journal Russkoye Bogatstvo by writers such as N. Mikhailovsky and S. Krivenko.

Why it matters

The pamphlet shows the young Lenin, still in his early twenties, sharpening his arguments against the Narodniks ('Friends of the People'), who believed Russia could reach socialism without capitalist development. This early ideological battle helped define the Marxist position Lenin would build on for the rest of his career.

Look closer

• What does the fact that this was printed illegally tell you about the risks of political writing in Tsarist Russia?
• Why might a young, largely unknown writer choose to attack well-established critics so directly?
• Look at the title page — what does its plain, no-frills design suggest about how and where it was produced?