The First Congress of the R.S.D.L.P.

The First Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. was held secretly in Minsk on March 13 to 15, 1898(O.S.). This Congress was proposed by the St. Petersburg League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class led by Lenin. The participants included one representative each from the League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, and Yekaterinoslav; two representatives from the group of the Kiev region organized around Rabochaya Gazeta, and three representatives from Jewish Bund, making a total of nine delegates. Due to the breakdown of the organization in Petersburg and other places by the police, the preparations for this congress were mainly carried out by the Social-Democratic organization in Kiev. The Congress adopted the decision to merge the local struggle associations and the Bund into a unified Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party. The Congress elected a Central Committee consisting of Stepan Radchenko, a leader of the Saint Petersburg League, Boris Eidelman from Rabochaya Gazeta and Arkadi Kremer, a Jewish Bund leader.

Congress issued the “Manifesto” of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party. The “Manifesto” stated that the Russian proletariat would free itself from the shackles of the dictatorship and continue the struggle against capitalism and the bourgeoisie with greater perseverance until the victory of socialism. Union of Russian Social-Democrats Abroad was declared as the Party's representative organ abroad. The Congress approved the Rabochaya Gazeta as the official organ of the Party. The Congress did not produce a party program or a party constitution, nor did it form a unified leadership of the Central Committee. After the meeting, most of the delegates and members of the Central Committee were arrested by the Tsarist police because of that the Party's organizational ties were severely damaged and in fact a unified Party could not be established. Although this Congress did not formulate a unified party programme, party constitution, clear tactics of the party, although the “Manifesto” issued by the Congress was unsatisfactory in many respects —for example, the “Manifesto” evaded the task of the proletariat in seizing power, as well as did not mention the question of proletarian leadership at all, and evaded the question of allies of the proletariat in the struggle against the Tsarism and against the bourgeoisie nevertheless it proclaimed the establishment of the party, declared the historical mission of the proletariat, set forth the task of fighting for political freedom, and laid the foundation for the unity of the proletarians of all nationalities in Russia.