It was written in June and July 1905, while the
Russian Revolution of 1905 was taking place. The work sets out the fundamental differences that emerged between the
Bolsheviks and the
Mensheviks. At the Third Congress of the
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, held in London, the Mensheviks did not take part, preferring to hold their own conference. Lenin explains the decisions taken at the Congress, and at the same time examines the political positions taken by
Julius Martov and his companions at the Menshevik conference held in Geneva, criticizing them in order to reveal the line to follow in order to assume the leadership of a class-conscious proletariat. Lenin's revolutionary theory is the theory of "uninterrupted revolution" (analogous to the
Trotskyist theory of "
permanent revolution"): "From the democratic revolution we will immediately begin, to the extent of our strength, the strength of the class-conscious and organized proletariat, to pass to the socialist revolution. We are for the uninterrupted revolution. We will not stop halfway." == Content ==