Profile Major Works Resources

Georgy Valentinovich Plekhanov, 1856-1918.


The "father of Russian Marxism", Georgy Plekhanov directed most of his writings against the Russian "populist" movement to which he once belonged.  Plekhanov insisted that, in principle, in semi-feudal societies such as the Russian, the first revolution would of necessity have to be a "capitalist" one.   However,  he noted that bourgeoisie was too weak to bring it about and thus it fell upon the proletariat to conduct "both" revolutions.  However, Plekhanov condemned the methods of Lenin and the Bolsheviks soon after 1917.   

In theoretical terms, Plekhanov's 1894 treatise was perhaps one of the first to identify, or at least emphasize, the Hegelian element in Marxian theory -- it is to Plekhanov to whom we owe the term "dialetical materialism" -- which he saw as a way of "unifying" the various aspects of Marxian theory and thus prevent the intrusion of "foreign" philosophy, as Bernstein and the revisionists had attempted.

 

  


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Major Works of Georgy Plekhanov

  • Socialism and the Political Struggle, 1883 [mia]
  • Programme of the Social-Democratic Emancipation of Labour Group, 1884 [mia]
  • Our Differences, 1885.[mia]
  • Second Draft Programme of The Russian Social-Democrat, 1887 [mia]
  • Chego khotiat sozialy demoktraty?, 1888 [bk]
  • A New Champion of Autocracy, or Mr. L. Tikhomirov's grief, 1889 [mia]
  • Speech at Paris Congress, 1889 (Jul)  [mia]
  • Ezhegodnyĭ vsemirnyi prazdnik rabochykh, 1891 [bk]
  • "For the Sixtieth Anniversary of Hegel’s Death", 1891 [mia]
  • Beiträge zur Geschichte des Materialismus (wr.1893) 1896 [bk] [1903 2nd ed], [English trans, Essays on the History of Materialism mia]
  • The Bourgeois days gone by", 1893, Le Socialiste [mia]
  • N.G. Tschernischewsky: eine literar-historische Studie, 1894 [bk]
  • K voprosu o razvitii monisticheskago vzgliada na istoriiu, 1894 [bk, hth] [1906 2nd ed] [mv][English 1947 trans. The Development of the Monist View of History, mia]
  • The Bourgeois Revolution, the political birth of capitalism, 1895 [mia]
  • Anarchismus und Sozialismus, 1894 [bk] [English trans. Anarchism and Socialism, mia]
  • "The Materialist Conception of History", from Essays in Historical Materialism, 1897 [mia] [Russian 1906, p.307]
  • Belinsky and Rational Reality, 1897 [bk], [mia]
  • "The Philosophical and Social Views of Karl Marx" (speech c.1897-98) [mia]
  • "The Initial Phases of the Class Struggle", 1898, pub. in Russian 1900 ed. of Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto [mia]
  • "On the Role of the Individual in History", 1898, Nauchnoye Obrozhniye [mia]
  • "On the alleged crisis in Marxism" (lecture), 1898, [mia]
  • 1898 Neue Zeit (Jul) [English trans. "Bernsetein and Materialism", mia] [Russian 1906 p.154]
  • 1898, Sächsische Arbeiterzeitung (Oct) "[English trans. "What should we thank him for? An open letter to Karl Kautsky", mia]
  • 1898 Neue Zeit (Oct) [English trans. "Conrad Schmidt versus Marx and Engels", mia] [Russian 1906, p.167]
  • 1899 Neue Zeit (Feb) [English trans. "Materialism or Kantianism?", mia] [Russian 1906, p.185]
  • "Reply to Questionnaire", 1899, La Petite republique socialiste [mia]
  • "Historical Materialism and the Arts", 1899 [mia]
  • "A Critique of Our Critics: Part I: Mr. P. Struve in the role of critic of the Marxist theory of social development", 1899, Zarya [1906 repr], [English trans: mia]
  • "Cant Against Kant, or Herr Bernstein’s Will and Testament", 1901, Zarya (Aug) [1906 repr. p.127] [English trans. mia]
  • "Preface" to 1902 ed. of Engels's Socialism [mia]
  • Na dva fronta, 1905 [bk] [English trans. "On Two Fronts"]
  • "Predislovie" to Russian 1905 ed. of Engels's Ludwig Feuerbach [bk], [English trans. "Preface",  mia]
  • "French Drama and Painting of the 18th Century", 1905 [mia]
  • "Letter on Socialism and Internationalism", 1905 Social Democrat (Oct) [mia]
  • Sochinenia G.V. Plekhanova, v.1 (1878-1884), 1905 [bk]
  • "Eshche raz materializmi", 1906, in Kritika nash kritikov, p.229  [English trans. "Materialism Yet Again", mia]
  • Kritika nash kritikov, 1906 [bk, cont]
  • "On A. Pannekoek's Pamphlet", 1907, Sovremennaya Zhizn [mia]
  • "Reply to Questionnaire", 1907, Mercure de France  [mia]
  • "Joseph Dietzgen", 1907, Sovremenny Mir [mia]
  • Muy y oni, 1907 [bk] [English trans "Us and Them"]
  • Osnovnitie vuprosi na Marksizma, 1908 [bk] [Engl. trans. Fundamental Problems of Marxism, 1908. [mia]
  • "Materialismus Militans: Reply to Mr Bogdanov", 1908 Golos Sotsial-Demokrata [mia]
  • "On Franz Lütgenau’s Book", 1908, Sovremenny Mir [mia]
  • "Henrik Ibsen", 1908, Neue Zeit (Jul) [1908 bk] [English trans. "Ibsen, Petty Bourgeois Revolutionist",  [mia]
  • "Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of the Death of Karl Marx" (wr. 1908, pub. 1933) [mia]
  • "Henri Bergson", 1909, Sovremenny Mir [mia]
  • "On V. Shulyiatikov's book", 1909, Sovremenny Mir [mia]
  • "On M. Guyau's book", 1909, Sovremenny Mir  [mia]
  • "On the so-called religious seekings in Russia" 1909, Sovremenny Mir  [mia]
  • "On Mr. Windeland's book" 1910,  Sovremenny Mir [mia]
  • "On the study of philosophy", 1910, Dnevnik Sotsial Demokrata  [mia]
  • "Cowardly idealism", 1910 [mia]
  • "Skepticism in philosophy" 1911,  Sovremenny Mir [mia]
  • "On Mr. Heinrich Rickert's book" 1911,  Sovremenny Mir [mia]
  • "On Mr. Emile Boutroux's book" 1911,  Sovremenny Mir [mia]
  • Art and Social Life, 1912. [mia]
  • "Utopian Socialism in the Nineteenth Century", 1913, in History of Western Literature in the 19th Century, vol. 2 [mia]
  • "From Idealism to Materialism", 1916,  in History of Western Literature in the 19th Century, vol. 4 [mia]
  • "Preface", 1916, to Abram Deborin, Introduction to Philosophy of Dialectical Materialism  [mia]
  • La Social-Démocratie et la Guerre, 1916
  • "Dialectic and Logic" [mia]

 


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