Page "Georgi Plekhanov" Paragraph 14

It was during this period that Plekhanov began to write and publish the first of his important political works, including the pamphlet Socialism and Political Struggle ( 1883 ) and the full-length book Our Differences ( 1885 ) These works first expressed the Marxist position for a Russian audience and delineated the points of departure of the Marxists from the Populist movement.

In the latter book, Plekhanov emphasized that capitalism had begun to establish itself in Russia, primarily in the textile industry but also in agriculture, and that a working class was beginning to emerge in peasant Russia.

It was this expanding working class that would ultimately and inevitably bring about socialist change in Russia, Plekhanov argued.