What Is to Be Done?

E75713

book non-fiction work political pamphlet

"What Is to Be Done?" is a 1902 political pamphlet by Vladimir Lenin that outlines his theory of a vanguard party and revolutionary organization for leading the proletariat.

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All labels observed (6)

Label	Occurrences
What Is to Be Done? canonical	7
Lenin’s pamphlet "What Is To Be Done?"	2
Lenin’s "What Is To Be Done?"	1
What Is To Be Done?	1
What Is to Be Done? Burning Questions of Our Movement	1
Что делать? (Chto delat’?)	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T604428 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: What Is to Be Done?
Context triple: [Vladimir Lenin, notableWork, What Is to Be Done?]

A. Permanent Revolution
Permanent Revolution is a seminal Marxist theory text by Leon Trotsky that argues socialist revolutions in less-developed countries must become continuous and international to succeed.
B. The Conquest of Bread
The Conquest of Bread is a foundational anarchist-communist text by Peter Kropotkin that advocates for a decentralized, cooperative society based on mutual aid and the abolition of private property.
C. Reform or Revolution
Reform or Revolution is a seminal 1899 pamphlet by Rosa Luxemburg that critiques revisionist socialism and defends the necessity of revolutionary struggle over gradual reform within capitalism.
D. Le Coup d’État permanent
Le Coup d’État permanent is a political essay by François Mitterrand that sharply criticizes France’s Fifth Republic and the presidential power structure established by Charles de Gaulle.
E. October: Ten Days That Shook the World
"October: Ten Days That Shook the World" is a 1928 Soviet silent historical film by Sergei Eisenstein that dramatizes the events of the 1917 October Revolution using his pioneering montage techniques.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: What Is to Be Done?
Target entity description: "What Is to Be Done?" is a 1902 political pamphlet by Vladimir Lenin that outlines his theory of a vanguard party and revolutionary organization for leading the proletariat.

A. Permanent Revolution
Permanent Revolution is a seminal Marxist theory text by Leon Trotsky that argues socialist revolutions in less-developed countries must become continuous and international to succeed.
B. The Conquest of Bread
The Conquest of Bread is a foundational anarchist-communist text by Peter Kropotkin that advocates for a decentralized, cooperative society based on mutual aid and the abolition of private property.
C. Reform or Revolution
Reform or Revolution is a seminal 1899 pamphlet by Rosa Luxemburg that critiques revisionist socialism and defends the necessity of revolutionary struggle over gradual reform within capitalism.
D. Le Coup d’État permanent
Le Coup d’État permanent is a political essay by François Mitterrand that sharply criticizes France’s Fifth Republic and the presidential power structure established by Charles de Gaulle.
E. October: Ten Days That Shook the World
"October: Ten Days That Shook the World" is a 1928 Soviet silent historical film by Sergei Eisenstein that dramatizes the events of the 1917 October Revolution using his pioneering montage techniques.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	book ⓘ non-fiction work ⓘ political pamphlet ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	What Is to Be Done? Burning Questions of Our Movement ⓘ linked to: What Is to Be Done?
author	Vladimir Lenin ⓘ
centralClaim	A centralized, disciplined party is necessary to lead the proletariat ⓘ Socialist consciousness must be brought to workers from outside the spontaneous trade-union struggle ⓘ The working class needs a vanguard party to achieve socialist revolution ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	Russian Empire ⓘ
criticizes	Economism in the Russian socialist movement ⓘ spontaneity in workers’ movements ⓘ trade-unionism as a sufficient form of struggle ⓘ
genre	Marxist theory ⓘ political theory ⓘ
historicalContext	pre-revolutionary Russia ⓘ struggle within the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party ⓘ
impact	became a foundational text for communist party organization ⓘ helped define the organizational principles of the Bolshevik faction ⓘ
influenced	20th-century revolutionary movements ⓘ Bolshevik Party organization ⓘ linked to: Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks) Communist parties worldwide ⓘ Leninism as a political doctrine ⓘ concept of democratic centralism ⓘ
influencedBy	Economism (Russian socialist current) ⓘ Friedrich Engels ⓘ Karl Marx ⓘ Russian Social Democratic Labour Party debates ⓘ linked to: 1st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
mainSubject	class consciousness ⓘ democratic centralism ⓘ linked to: Central Committee party discipline ⓘ proletarian revolution ⓘ revolutionary organization ⓘ role of intellectuals in the workers’ movement ⓘ vanguard party ⓘ
movement	Russian Social Democratic movement ⓘ linked to: Russian revolutionary movement
notableQuote	The history of all countries shows that the working class, exclusively by its own effort, is able to develop only trade-union consciousness ⓘ Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement ⓘ
originalLanguage	Russian ⓘ
originalTitle	Что делать? (Chto delat’?) ⓘ linked to: What Is to Be Done?
politicalOrientation	Leninism ⓘ Marxism ⓘ
proposes	centralized party press ⓘ professional revolutionaries as core party members ⓘ strict party membership criteria ⓘ
publicationYear	1902 ⓘ
relatedConcept	democratic centralism ⓘ party of a new type ⓘ vanguardism ⓘ
relatedWork	One Step Forward, Two Steps Back ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (13)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Vladimir Lenin → notableWork → What Is to Be Done? ⓘ

Leninism → codifiedIn → What Is to Be Done? ⓘ

What Is to Be Done? → alsoKnownAs → What Is to Be Done? Burning Questions of Our Movement ⓘ