Early XX century. In Russia the revolutionary movement at the head of which there was a working class grew. Strikes at factories and plants multiplied, peasants rose against landowners, student youth worried.
Abroad, Lenin dealt with issues related to the publication of the newspaper, which was a very difficult matter. They had to find a room for printing, buy a Russian font, think over and create a system of secret delivery of the future newspaper to Russia, etc. Here are the members of the editorial Board, settled in Munich: VI Lenin, GV Plekhanov, VI Zasulich, Pb Axelrod, Martov, an Potresov. Since April, 1901 N. K. Krupskaya became the Secretary of edition. The ideological leader of "Iskra" - so called the first all-Russian illegal political newspaper-was Lenin. He developed a plan for each issue, edited articles, found authors, corresponded with correspondents, dealt with financial issues, provided a regular edition of "Iskra".
In Munich in 1900-1901 V. I. Lenin lived in the house 53A (nowadays N 46) on Kaiser-Strasse street , at first illegally, without the passport, under a surname Meyer, and then on someone else's passport written out on a name of the Bulgarian doctor Jordan Jordanov.
For conspiratorial reasons, he sent letters from here to Russia via Prague, using the address of the Czech social Democrat F. Modracek. Great help in the preparation of the publication of Newspapers was assisted by V. I. Lenin, a prominent activist of the German and international working-class movement Clara Zetkin, the German social-Democrat A. Braun, a Polish revolutionary Yuri Marchlewski.
The first issue of Iskra was printed in December 1900 in Leipzig at 48 Russenstrasse, in the printing house of the German social Democrat G. Rau, publisher of a small working-class sports newspaper. From the second issue "Iskra" was printed in Munich in the printing house of M. Ernst on the street Zenefelderstrasse, 4.
In N4 "Sparks" published the article "where to start?", in which Lenin defined the role of the all-Russian political newspaper in the implementation of the plan to create a new type of Marxist party in Russia. "The newspaper," Lenin wrote, " is not only a collective propagandist and collective agitator, but also a collective organizer." This provision became the guiding principle for all subsequent Marxist press. The editorial office of Iskra also published the scientific and political journal Zarya. For the first time under the pseudonym Lenin the beginning (chapters (- IV) of his work "the Agrarian question and the critiques of Marx "was published in the double - 2-3-issue of the journal.
In total, Lenin had more than 160 aliases, to which he resorted for reasons of conspiracy.
In his articles V. I. Lenin denounced the reactionary policy of tsarist Russia, smashed the liberal bourgeoisie, tore the masks off nationalists, anarchists and social revolutionaries, and sharply criticized the opportunism of the Russian "economists." In total, "Iskra" published about 60 Lenin's articles.
On Lenin's initiative and under his leadership, Iskra assistance groups and a network of Its agents are emerging in Russia and abroad. Professional revolutionaries-I. V. Babushkin, N. E. Bauman, R. S. Zemlyachka, M. I. Kalinin, G. M. Krzhizhanovsky and others - were agents of Iskra. Despite constant harassment by gendarmes and detectives, they were selfless and dangerous work: sent to the newspaper materials, ensured the delivery of "Iskra" across the border to Russia, organized a fundraiser to maintain the newspaper, etc.
From April 1902 to April 1903, Lenin lived with N. K. Krupskaya in London, where the publication of the newspaper from Munich was moved. The editorial office of Iskra was located at No. 37A, Clerkenville green, in the premises of the English social democratic weekly, justice. Here, in the printing of this newspaper, "Iskra" was printed.
V. I. Lenin and N. K. Krupskaya settled in the English capital under the name of Richter first in furnished rooms, and then rented two small rooms in a house near the British Museum, in the library of which Vladimir Ilyich worked a lot. Lenin attended meetings and rallies, studied the English labor movement, improved his knowledge of the English language.
"Iskra" was sent to Russia in different ways: through London, Stockholm, Geneva, Marseille, Vienna, Prague, Varna and some other cities in Europe. German, Austrian, Czech, Swedish and Bulgarian social Democrats actively helped in this. Here are the things with which "Iskra" was delivered to Russia: a suitcase with a double bottom, a vest of a special cut, a roll of paper, children's cubes. The newspaper was also reprinted in underground printing houses located in Russia.
In the creation of the revolutionary party of the working class of Russia an important place belonged to the work of Lenin "What to do? Urgent issues of our movement". The first edition of the book was published in March 1902 in Stuttgart and was secretly delivered to Russia. It was found during searches and arrests in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Odessa and other cities. The book was translated into the languages of the peoples of the Soviet Union and foreign countries. In this work Lenin exposes international opportunism and its manifestation in Russia in the person of Russian "economists". It laid the foundations of the doctrine of the Marxist party as the leading and directing force in the workers ' movement and the transformation of society, comprehensively justified the plan of building a combat, revolutionary party. "Give us an organization of revolutionaries - and we will turn Russia!"- wrote VI Lenin in his book.
In No. 44 of Iskra, Lenin, in his article "the national question in our programme", substantiates the national programme of the revolutionary social-democracy of Russia. And in March and April 1903, in London, he wrote a popular pamphlet, "To the rural poor," explaining to the peasants what the revolutionary social Democrat party wanted and why the peasant poor should go with the workers.
Paying great attention to the propaganda of the agrarian program of the party, Lenin repeatedly made reports and abstracts on this topic in Paris, Lausanne, Geneva, Bern, Zurich, London and Liege. In February 1903, at The Russian higher school of social Sciences in Paris, V. I. Lenin delivered four lectures on "Marxist views on the agrarian question in Europe and in Russia."
In the spring of 1903, the publication of Iskra was moved to Geneva. V. I. Lenin and N. K. Krupskaya moved here from London. They rented a small house in the suburbs, in the working-class village of Sesheron. Vladimir Ilyich often met here with Russian revolutionaries who came abroad after escaping from exile or prison, talked with them for a long time, tried to provide them with all possible assistance. In the evenings, comrades gathered in Lenin's apartment and sang revolutionary and folk songs - "Internationale", "Marseillaise", "Varshavyanka", "Tortured by heavy bondage" and others. Together with all sang and Vladimir Ilyich, who loved song.
V. I. Lenin continued to edit the "Spark". It was printed in the" Printing house of the Geneva workers", which was located on the street.Coulouvreniere, 27.
In the pamphlet "a Letter to a comrade about our organizational tasks" (written in September 1902) V. I. Lenin explained in detail the principles of building a revolutionary party designed to lead the working class to the conquest of political power.