Rabochaia Gazeta

Rabochaia Gazeta

 

(Workers’ Newspaper), an illegal organ of the People’s Will (Narodnaia Volia) organization. Three issues came out: on Dec. 15, 1880, and Jan. 27, 1881, in St. Petersburg and on Dec. 8, 1881, in Moscow. The first two issues were edited by A. I. Zheliabov. The circulation varied from 600 to 1,000 copies. Oriented toward workers, Rabochaia gazeta published articles and news items on the difficult conditions of the workers.


Rabochaia Gazeta

 

(Workers’ Newspaper). (1) An illegal Social Democratic newspaper published in Kiev in 1897. Two issues came out: no. 1, on Aug. 22 (Sept. 3), and no. 2, on Dec. 20 (Jan. 1, 1898), dated November for reasons of secrecy. The editors included B. L. Eidel’man, P. L. Tuchapskii, and N. A. Vigdorchik.

The Social Democrats grouped around Rabochaia gazeta maintained contact with the Liberation of Labor group and the St. Petersburg League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class. They also helped prepare for the convocation of the first party congress. In March 1898, the First Congress of the RSDLP recognized Rabochaia gazeta as the official party organ. The publication of the newspaper ceased on Mar. 10 (22), 1898, since the Central Committee members elected at the congress were arrested and the printing press was destroyed. The third issue, which was ready for the compositor, was seized by the police.

REFERENCES

Pervyi s”ezd RSDRP, Mart 1898 g.: Dokumenty i materialy. Moscow, 1958.
Bol’shevistskaia pechat’: Sb. materialov, fasc. 1. Moscow, 1959.
Polevoi, Iu. Z. lz istorii rabochei pechati. Moscow, 1962.
(2) An illegal Bolshevik newspaper published in Paris from Oct. 30 (Nov. 12), 1910, to July 30 (Aug. 12), 1912; nine issues came out. The newspaper was founded on the initiative of V. I. Lenin, who was also its editor.
The decision to found Rabochaia gazeta was made in August 1910 at a conference of Bolsheviks and Proparty Mensheviks attending the Eighth International Socialist Congress in Copenhagen. The conference was attended by Lenin, G. V. Plek-hanov, A. M. Kollontai, A. V. Lunacharskii, N. G. Poletaev, and I. P. Pokrovskii. Contributors to the newspaper included S. I. Gopner, P. A. Dzhaparidze, N. A. Semashko, and S. G. Shaumian. Rabochaia gazeta printed 15 articles by Lenin. N. K. Krupskaia was the secretary of the editorial board; M. Gorky aided the newspaper financially. The circulation reached 6,000 copies. The Sixth (Prague) All-Russian Conference of the RSDLP (1912) singled out in a special decision the newspaper’s role in defending the party and party spirit and recognized the newspaper as the official organ of the Central Committee of the RSDLP.

REFERENCE

Bol’shevistskaia pechat’: Kratkie ocherki istorii, 1894–1917. Moscow, 1962.
(3) A daily mass newspaper, an organ of the Central Committee of the ACP(B), published in Moscow from Mar. 1, 1922, through Jan. 29, 1932. The newspaper was called Rabochii from nos. 1 through 97. Rabochaia gazeta helped implement the party’s policy of mobilizing the working class of the USSR to carry out the tasks of socialist construction and to further the shock-worker movement and socialist emulation. It also contributed to the development of the worker and peasant correspondents’ movement and the factory and plant press.