Cooperation between Podolsk social-democrats аnd newspaper «The Pravda» (1908-1912)

The work throws light on the cooperation of the Podolsk Social-Democrats with the editorial board of the nonaffiliated newspaper of the RSDLP «The Pravda», whose leading member of the editorial board was L. Trotsky, in the period 1908-1912. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity and systematics. Methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, historical-genetic, historical-comparative, historical-typological, and problem-chronological were used. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that for the first time, the authors investigated the issue of cooperation of the Social-Democrats of a separate region with the editorial board of the nonaffiliated newspaper «The Pravda». The reports of local organizations about their activities to the editorial board with the intelligence data of the secret field police about the situation of the RSDLP organizations in 1908-1912 were compared in detail. Conclusions. The activities of the Social-Democrats on the territory of Podillya contributed to the active growth of industrial enterprises in the region and the increase in the number of workers who formed the social basis of the revolutionary movement in the Russian Empire. The nationwide political processes that occurred within the Romanov Empire reflected the position of the political movement in the Podolsk province. It was found that the nonaffiliated newspaper «The Pravda» (1908-1912) established close ties with the social-democratic organizations in the region and helped to resume their work. It was reflected on its pages. In the conditions of inter-factional struggle of the RSDLP, the articles published in the newspaper testified to the support of the Podolsk Social-Democrats for the idea of the unity of the party, the joint action for workers’ rights in the empire. With the cancellation of the publication of the newspaper «The Pravda» in 1912, the Podolsk unity lost the opportunity to act in a consolidated manner and remain a powerful force that would influence the social life of the region.