Vpered!

(Forward!), the name of two Russian publications, a journal and a newspaper, edited by P. L. Lavrov and published abroad during the 1870’s; organs of the Lavrov orientation in the revolutionary Narodnik (Populist) movement. The journal Vpered!, an irregularly published review, first appeared in Zurich Aug. 1 (13), 1873, and then from 1874 to 1877 came out in London. There were five issues of 2,000 copies each. The journal carried theoretical articles, published material on political life in Russia under the rubric “What’s Happening in the Homeland?” and informed Russian revolutionaries about the international workers’ movement in the section “Chronicle of the Workers’ Movement.” The newspaper Vpered! was published every two weeks in London during 1875-76; there were 48 issues with a circulation of 2,000 in 1875 and 3,000 in 1876.

The views expressed in the Vpered! publications were different from other currents in the revolutionary Narodnik movement primarily in that they advocated propaganda among the people as the tactic of revolutionary struggle. They were popular in various Russian revolutionary circles. The conciliatory position of Vpered! in the struggle between Marxists and the followers of Bakunin in the First International was criticized by F. Engels. Some of the articles in Vpered! received the approval of K. Marx and F. Engels.