Engels emphasizes that revolutionaries must avoid all “official appointments” and headquarters within existing parties, since this would deprive them of independence and draw them into a whirlpool of compromises. Only in this way can they preserve the ability to offer uncompromising criticism of all sides and remain genuinely revolutionary, rather than mere rhetorical cheerleaders.
Marx, on the other hand, advises German communists to finally free themselves from “isolation” by establishing local reading circles, distributing cheap pamphlets, and setting up a regular system of correspondence and funding. Such work allows comrades to clarify their ideas, coordinate strategy, and more effectively oppose bourgeois interests - without risking that an early or failed public petition will expose their weakness and exhaust their limited resources.
Lenin’s correspondence with Russian Social-Democrats, following the same logic, recommends founding an all-Russian political newspaper (to be understood as a unified media and communication apparatus) before even considering a mass uprising. In his view, the newspaper is simultaneously a "collective propagandist," a "collective agitator," and a "collective organizer": not merely a physical product on paper, but an organ of collective communication that, through regular printing and distribution, forces the creation of a network of local agents. These agents remain in constant contact with the editorial line, monitor political developments, and exchange information. This network becomes the core of the party - capable of planned agitation, training new cadres, and adapting tactics for everything from student demonstrations to supporting peasant uprisings.
The essence of all three approaches is maintaining the independence of individuals and establishing lasting, connected channels of communication: an independent press (as an organ of collective communication), reading circles, and correspondence. Only once these foundations are laid can a mass movement become effective. Only when political workers are first organized in an autonomous environment, equipped with reliable channels for exchanging ideas, coordinating tactics, and education - in other words, organized into a system of the press, associations, and circles - can the movement avoid being caught unprepared by events and transcend the anxiety of spontaneous, dispersed action.
[1] Marx
Post too long. Click here to view the full text.