What Is to Be Done?

"What Is to Be Done?," written by Vladimir Lenin in 1902, is a foundational political work advocating for the formation of a dedicated Marxist party to elevate the political consciousness of the working class beyond mere economic struggles. Lenin argues that workers naturally develop only a "trade-union consciousness" and that true socialist theory arises from the insights of revolutionary intellectuals. This tract played a significant role in the split of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party into the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks, emphasizing the need for organized political action to spread Marxist principles.