A Study of Lenin’s Thought on the Construction of the Proletarian Party’s Grassroots Organizations

Whether the Party’s grassroots organizations can be built into strong fighting fortresses is a major issue concerning the life and death of the proletarian party, an issue that has always been highly valued by the Marxist classical writers. From the very beginning of leading the establishment of the Bolshevik Party, Lenin placed the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations in a very important position, putting forward a series of important thoughts and adopting a series of important measures concerning all aspects and the entire process of grassroots organization construction. At the same time, Lenin waged an unremitting struggle against erroneous views that neglected the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations, resolutely criticized the erroneous propositions of the Mensheviks on organization, such as “autonomism,” “denial of Party discipline,” and “blurring the boundaries of Party organizations,” and put forward the organizational principles of the proletarian party, establishing solid grassroots organizations, thereby laying a solid political and organizational foundation for the victory of the October Revolution. After the victory of the October Revolution, the Bolshevik Party became the ruling party, and the Party’s grassroots organizations shouldered new missions and tasks, facing new situations and problems; the important role of grassroots organization construction in the ruling party became even more prominent. Lenin timely put forward thoughts and measures for the construction of the ruling party’s grassroots organizations, profoundly expounded on the status and role of grassroots organizations, and made an overall deployment for the political construction, ideological construction, and work style construction of grassroots organizations, forming a systematic and complete Marxist thought on the construction of the ruling party’s grassroots organizations.

能否把党的基层组织建设成坚强的战斗堡垒，是关系无产阶级政党生死存亡的重大问题，这个问题历来受到马克思主义经典作家的高度重视。列宁从领导建立布尔什维克党开始，就把党的基层组织建设放到十分重要的地位，围绕党的基层组织建设的各个方面和整个过程提出了一系列重要思想，采取了一系列重要举措。同时，列宁同忽视党的基层组织建设的错误观点进行了坚持不懈的斗争，对孟什维克在组织上“自治制”“否定党的纪律”“模糊党组织的界限”等错误主张进行了坚决批判，提出了无产阶级政党的组织原则,建立了牢固的基层组织，为取得十月革命胜利奠定了坚实的政治和组织基础。十月革命胜利后，布尔什维克党成为执政党，党的基层组织担负新的使命和任务，面临新的形势和问题，执政党基层组织建设的重要作用更加突出。列宁适时提出执政党基层组织建设的思想和举措，对党的基层组织的地位作用作了深刻阐述，对党的基层组织的政治建设、思想建设、作风建设作出了整体部署，形成了系统而完整的马克思主义执政党基层组织建设的思想。

I. The Grassroots Organizations of the Proletarian Party Are the Foundation of All the Party’s Strength

一、无产阶级政党的基层组织是党的全部力量的基础

Building an organizational system that connects the upper and lower levels and is systematic and rigorous, and basing the Party’s strength on grassroots organizations, is a fundamental principle of the proletarian party. The organizational structure of the world’s first proletarian party, the Communist League, established under the leadership of Marx and Engels, consisted of “branches, districts, central districts, the Central Committee, and the Congress.” [1]1 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, *Manifesto of the Communist Party*, Chapter 4: “Position of the Communists in Relation to the Various Existing Opposition Parties.” The Communist League (1847–1852) was the first international communist organization founded by Marx and Engels. They believed that the Party’s grassroots organizations should fully play the role of the leading core in their relations with other social organizations, “making every one of its branches the center and core of workers’ associations,” [2]2 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, “Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League” (March 1850). and “being responsible for the conduct of the members it accepts.” [3]3 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, “Rules of the Communist League” (1847), Article 2. Lenin inherited and developed the party-building theory of Marx and Engels, combined it with the practice of the Bolshevik Party’s own construction and its leadership of revolution and construction, and developed the thought on the construction of Marxist party grassroots organizations to a new stage. From the very beginning of leading the creation of the Bolshevik Party, Lenin established the Party’s organizational principle, requiring that Party members must join one of the Party’s organizations, which laid a solid foundation for the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations. In the practice of leading the Bolshevik Party in the revolution, Lenin waged an unremitting struggle against opportunist factions and various erroneous ideas that denied the Party’s organizational principles and undermined the Party’s grassroots organizations, establishing Party grassroots organizations that adhered to the Party’s nature and were flexible in form, thereby expanding the Party’s influence. Against the backdrop of the victory of the October Revolution and the Bolshevik Party becoming the ruling party, Lenin placed even greater emphasis on the indispensable and important status of the Party’s grassroots organizations. He actively recruited Party members to expand the Party’s organizations while continuously purging unqualified members, purifying the Party’s grassroots organizations, expanding the influence of Party organizations, and enabling the Party’s grassroots organizations to play the important roles of fighting fortresses, bridges and bonds, and vanguard models. During this period, Lenin’s scientific analysis and profound exposition on the status and role of the Party’s grassroots organizations laid a deep ideological and theoretical foundation for strengthening the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations.

构建上下贯通、系统严密的组织系统，把党的力量奠定在基层组织，是无产阶级政党的基本原则。马克思、恩格斯领导建立的世界第一个无产阶级政党——共产主义者同盟的组织机构，就是由“支部、区部、总区部、中央委员会以及代表大会”构成的。他们认为，共产党的基层组织在与其他社会组织的关系上应充分发挥领导核心作用，“使自己的每一个支部都成为工人协会的中心和核心”,并“对接受的会员的品行负责”。列宁继承和发展了马克思、恩格斯的建党理论，结合布尔什维克党自身建设和领导革命、建设的实践，把马克思主义政党的基层组织建设思想发展到新的阶段。从领导创建布尔什维克党开始，列宁就确立了党的组织原则，要求党员必须加入党的一个组织，这奠定了党的基层组织建设的深厚基础。在率领布尔什维克党领导革命的实践中，列宁同否定党的组织原则、破坏党的基层组织的机会主义派别和各种错误思想进行了坚持不懈的斗争，建立起坚持党的性质、形式灵活多样的党的基层组织，扩大了党的影响。在取得十月革命胜利、布尔什维克党成为执政党的背景下，列宁更加重视党的基层组织的不可或缺的重要地位，既积极吸收党员以扩大党的组织，又不断清除不合格党员，纯洁了党的基层组织，扩大了党组织的影响力，发挥了党的基层组织作为战斗堡垒、桥梁纽带、先锋模范的重要作用。这期间，列宁关于党的基层组织的地位作用的科学分析和深刻论述，为加强党的基层组织建设奠定了深厚的思想理论基础。

(1) The Party’s Grassroots Organizations Are the Cells of the Party

(一)党的基层组织是党的细胞

The proletarian party is an organizational system composed of advanced elements; the formation and consolidation of its cohesion and combat effectiveness rely on a complete organizational system that integrates the upper and lower levels. The Party’s central organization is the leading core and command center of the Party. The Party’s strategic decisions and work deployments can only be transformed into concrete actions and achieve practical results through the active and effective work of grassroots organizations. In this regard, Lenin likened the Party’s grassroots organizations to the systematic and complete cells of the organization, pointing out that the health and soundness of the cells play a fundamental role in the unity, solidarity, and strength of the Party. Lenin expounded on the cellular status and role of grassroots organizations from the perspective of the Party’s organizational system. First, the proletarian party is the sum total of cells. Lenin refuted Pavel Axelrod’s erroneous view of confusing organized and unorganized elements within the Party, proposing that “the Party should be the sum total of organizations,” [4]4 V. I. Lenin, *One Step Forward, Two Steps Back* (1904), in *Collected Works*, Vol. 8, p. 252. This work was a polemic against the Mensheviks’ organizational opportunism. and that it “should be composed of many different organizations (in the narrow sense of the word).” [5]5 Ibid. Here, he likened the Party to a whole systematically and organically composed of different cells, that is, the sum total of cells. In Lenin’s view, whether the Party has a high degree of organization concerns the life and death of the Party, just as a living organism would lose its life if separated from its cells. Therefore, every member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party must join one of the Party’s organizations. Second, grassroots organizations are the “basic organizational cells of the Party.” To better play the role of the Party’s grassroots organizations, it is necessary to give full play to the leading core role of the Party’s central organization and also to the foundational role of grassroots organizations, making them truly the basic organizational cells of the Party. This requires that Party organizations at all levels truly implement the principle of democratic centralism, so that the Party’s cells are full of vitality and the Party’s advanced nature and combat effectiveness are maintained. Finally, grassroots organizations, as cells, will continuously grow and change with the expansion of the Party’s ranks and the development of the revolutionary cause. As the revolutionary situation changes and develops, the Party’s grassroots organizations, like cells, are constantly optimizing and reorganizing to adapt to the environment of revolution and construction and to meet the new needs of the Party’s work tasks. Lenin advocated that, based on the revolutionary struggle situation and the development of the Party’s organizations, Party branches should be formed on the basis of groups, following the principles of simplified forms and focusing on quality, to create “broader” Party branches. [6]6 V. I. Lenin, “The Tasks of the Youth Leagues” (1920), in *Collected Works*, Vol. 31, p. 283.

无产阶级政党是由先进分子构成的组织体系，其凝聚力、战斗力的形成与巩固得益于上下结合的完整的组织体系。党的中央组织是党的领导核心和指挥中心，党的战略决策和工作部署只有通过基层组织积极有效的工作，才能转化成具体的行动，取得实际的效果。对此，列宁把党的基层组织比喻为组织的系统而完整的细胞，指出细胞的健康和健全对党的团结统一和坚强有力起到基础性的作用。列宁从党的组织体系的角度阐述了基层组织的细胞地位与作用。首先，无产阶级政党是细胞的总和。列宁驳斥了帕·波·阿克雪里罗得关于把有组织的分子和无组织的分子在党内混淆起来的错误观点，提出“党应当是组织的总和”,它“应当是由许多不同的组织(从该词的狭义来说)组成的”。在这里，他把党比喻为由不同的细胞系统地、有机地组成起来的一个整体，即细胞的总和。在列宁看来，党是否具有高度的组织性，关系党的生死存亡，犹如生物若离开细胞就会丧失生命一样。因此，俄国社会民主工党的每个党员必须参加党的一个组织。其次，基层组织是“党的基本组织细胞”。要更好地发挥党的基层组织的作用，必须既发挥党的中央组织的领导核心作用，也要发挥基层组织的基础作用，使之真正成为党的基本组织细胞。这就要求党的各级组织真正贯彻民主集中制原则，使党的细胞充满生机活力，保持党的先进性和战斗力。最后，作为细胞的基层组织将随着党的队伍壮大和革命事业发展不断成长变化。随着革命形势的变化发展，党的基层组织犹如细胞也在不断地优化组合，以适应革命和建设的环境，适应党的工作任务的新需要。列宁主张根据革命斗争形势和党的组织发展状况，按照简化形式、注重质量的原则在小组的基础上形成“更广泛些”的党支部。

(2) The Party’s Grassroots Organizations Are the Bridge Connecting the Party with the Masses

(二)党的基层组织是党联系群众的桥梁

The communist cause pursued by the proletarian party is a great cause of the vast majority of people working for the interests of the vast majority. Close ties with the masses are an important condition for awakening the masses’ consciousness, winning their support, relying on their strength, and thereby achieving their liberation. Grassroots organizations exist and operate among the masses, understand the masses best, and are most easily understood by the masses; they are the bridge and bond connecting the Party closely with the masses. On the one hand, the goals and pursuits of the proletarian party need to be centrally embodied through close ties with the masses. Lenin pointed out: “A party is a bridge connecting the minority in the working class with the other working masses. If this minority cannot lead the masses, cannot closely connect with the masses... it is not a party and has no value.” [7]7 V. I. Lenin, “The Party and the Working Class” (1914), in *Collected Works*, Vol. 20, p. 308. The proletarian party adheres to dialectical materialism and historical materialism, advocates the “mass view of history,” [8]8 “Mass view of history” (群众史观) is a Chinese Marxist term emphasizing the masses as the creators of history, derived from historical materialism. and emphasizes uniting and mobilizing the masses to participate in the great struggle for their own liberation, thereby forming a vigorous revolutionary situation. Because the Party’s grassroots organizations are closest to the masses, the proletarian party must “establish Party branches in all work departments... maintain ‘close ties with the masses.’” [9]9 V. I. Lenin, “The Immediate Tasks of the Soviet Government” (1918), in *Collected Works*, Vol. 27, p. 248. On the other hand, the Party’s grassroots organizations are the organizations that closely connect with the masses. The Bolshevik Party emphasized: “The branch is the organization that connects the local workers and peasant masses with the leading bodies of the Party,” [10]10 *History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks): Short Course* (1938), Chapter 6, Section 4. and is the bridge connecting higher-level bodies with the local worker and peasant masses. Therefore, it must do a good job of conveying instructions from above and reporting situations from below, and promptly feed back the demands of the masses to higher-level bodies. Lenin led by example, relying on the Party’s grassroots organizations in various localities to maintain close ties with the masses, reading their letters, and listening to their voices, thereby winning their trust. At the end of 1920, “Ivan Petrovich Turunen, the secretary of the Party organization in Bakury Township, brought and handed over to Lenin a complaint from the Communist Party members of Bakury Township against the counter-revolutionary actions of the local authorities.” [11]11 This anecdote is cited from Soviet historical sources on Lenin’s correspondence with local Party organizations. Lenin responded through the Party’s grassroots organization, issuing instructions that stopped the erroneous actions of certain local food workers, gaining the understanding and support of the masses, and enabling the Party’s grassroots organizations to play the role of a “transfer station” for feedback on the mood and conditions of the masses.

无产阶级政党所从事的共产主义事业是绝大多数人的为绝大多数人谋利益的伟大事业，密切联系群众是唤醒群众觉悟、争取群众支持、依靠群众力量进而实现群众解放的重要条件。基层组织存在和活动于群众之间，最了解群众，也最易于被群众所了解，是党密切联系群众的桥梁和纽带。一方面，无产阶级政党的目标追求需要通过密切联系群众来集中体现。列宁指出：“政党即工人阶级中的少数联系其他工人群众的桥梁。如果这个少数不会领导群众，不会紧密地联系群众……它也不是党，也没有任何价值。”无产阶级政党坚持辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义，主张“群众史观”,强调团结和动员人民群众参加争取自身解放的伟大斗争，以形成蓬勃发展的革命态势。由于党的基层组织离群众最近，所以无产阶级政党必须“在一切工作部门建立党支部……保持‘同群众的密切联系’”。另一方面，党的基层组织是密切联系群众的组织。布尔什维克党强调：“支部是把当地工人和农民群众同党的领导机关联系起来的组织”,是上级机关联系当地工农群众的桥梁，因此要做好上传下达，并把人民群众的诉求及时向上级机关反馈。列宁身体力行，依托党在各地的基层组织与人民群众保持密切的联系，阅读群众的来信，倾听群众的声音，因而赢得了群众的信赖。1920年底，“巴库雷乡党组织书记伊万·彼得罗维奇·土鲁年带来并向列宁转交了巴库雷乡共产党员对地方政权的反革命行为的控诉”。列宁通过党的基层组织回信作出指示，制止了某些地方粮食工作人员的错误行为，得到了群众的理解和支持，使党的基层组织发挥了反馈群众情绪状况的“中转站”作用。

(3) The Party’s Grassroots Organizations Are the Fighting Fortresses of the Party in Social Grassroots Organizations

(三)党的基层组织是党在社会基层组织中的战斗堡垒

The Party’s grassroots organizations must closely focus on the Party’s central work in each period, do a good job of propagating the Party’s policies and organizing and mobilizing, so that the Party’s leadership is embodied in the implementation of various policy resolutions by the Party’s grassroots organizations. During the period of the Stolypin reaction [12]12 The Stolypin reaction refers to the period of political repression in the Russian Empire following the 1905 Revolution, named after Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin (1906–1911), during which revolutionary organizations were suppressed and many Bolshevik leaders were exiled or forced underground., the revolution was at a low ebb, and almost all local Party organizations were subjected to brutal suppression. Within the Party, there emerged liquidationism, which advocated abolishing the secret Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, and recallism, which advocated recalling the Duma [13]13 The Duma was the elected legislative assembly established in the Russian Empire after the 1905 Revolution; the Bolsheviks debated whether to participate in it as a legal platform for revolutionary work. faction and rejecting the use of all legal forms. Lenin conducted a profound critique of the erroneous ideological trends on the Party’s organizational question, advocating both consolidating and defending the secret organization and vigorously developing semi-legal and legal organizations. He proposed that, in order to closely connect with the masses and consolidate revolutionary forces, “every branch … should become a ‘stronghold for agitation, propaganda, and practical organizational work among the masses.’” After the victory of the October Revolution, facing foreign armed intervention and domestic White Guard [14]14 The White Guards were anti-Bolshevik military forces that fought against the Red Army during the Russian Civil War (1917–1922), composed of monarchists, liberals, and other opponents of the Soviet government. rebellions, the Red Army led by the Bolshevik Party still displayed a spirit of daring to sacrifice and daring to win, precisely “because in the Red Army there were Communist Party branches, which played a huge role in propaganda and agitation,” “alongside every military commander there was a Party political commissar … in every unit many Communist Party branches were established, and every headquarters became a center for propaganda and agitation.” The ideological and political education of the Party organizations enabled the Red Army to “know why they were fighting and why they were sacrificing themselves,” and the role of the Party branches in the Red Army as battle fortresses was fully brought into play. To achieve victory in the socialist revolution, it was necessary to actively bring into play the role of the Party’s grassroots organizations, “to carry out communist work continuously and unremittingly in the trade unions, cooperatives, and other mass workers’ organizations. Communist Party branches must be established within these organizations,” so that grassroots Party organizations play the role of battle fortresses, Party members play the vanguard and exemplary role, and unite and mobilize various social organizations and the masses to participate in the great cause of consolidating Soviet power and building socialism. Practice verified the important role of the Party’s grassroots organizations and raised the tasks and requirements for strengthening the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations.

党的基层组织要紧紧围绕党在每个时期的中心工作，做好党的政策宣传、组织动员工作，使党的领导体现在党的基层组织对各项政策决议的贯彻落实上。斯托雷平反动时期，革命处于低潮，几乎所有地方党组织都遭到残酷镇压，党内出现了主张取消秘密的俄国社会民主工党的取消主义和主张召回杜马党团、拒绝利用一切合法形式的召回主义。列宁对党的组织问题上的错误思潮进行了深刻批判，主张既要巩固和捍卫秘密组织，又要大力发展半合法组织和合法组织，提出为了密切联系群众，凝聚革命力量，“每个支部……都应当成为‘在群众中进行鼓动工作、宣传工作和实际组织工作的据点’”。十月革命胜利后，面对外国武装干涉和国内白卫分子叛乱，布尔什维克党领导的红军仍表现出敢于牺牲、敢于胜利的精神，就是“因为在红军中有共产党支部，它们起了巨大的宣传鼓动作用”,“每一个军事指挥官身旁都有一个党员政治委员……每个部队都建立了许多共产党支部，每个司令部都变成了宣传鼓动的中心”,党组织的思想政治教育使红军“知道为什么而战，为什么而牺牲”,红军中党支部的战斗堡垒作用得到充分发挥。为了取得社会主义革命的胜利，必须积极发挥党的基层组织的作用，“在工会、合作社以及其他群众性的工人组织中不断地坚持不懈地进行共产主义的工作。必须在这些组织内部建立共产党支部”,使基层党组织发挥战斗堡垒作用，党员发挥先锋模范作用，团结和动员各种社会组织和人民群众参与到巩固苏维埃政权、建设社会主义的伟大事业。实践验证了党的基层组织的重要作用，提出了加强党的基层组织建设的任务和要求。

II. Maintaining centralized and unified leadership and raising theoretical quality are the core of the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations

二、维护集中统一领导和提高理论素质是党的基层组织建设的核心

The foundation of the Party’s political unity and ideological consistency lies at the grassroots level. In their own construction, the grassroots organizations of the proletarian party must adhere to the dominant position of politics and the leading position of ideology and theory, taking the maintenance of the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee and the continuous strengthening of ideological and theoretical arming as the core requirements of the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations. The proletarian party is a political organization; political nature is its essential attribute, and strengthening the dominant position of political construction is an inevitable requirement for the construction of the proletarian party. Lenin believed: “If a class does not view the question correctly from a political perspective, it cannot maintain its rule.” The core of the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations is the Party’s political construction, revolving around the Party’s central work, implementing the Party’s political line, propagating the Party’s political propositions, and mobilizing the masses to participate in the great cause led by the Party. Lenin attached great importance to the Party’s ideological construction, proposing that “only a party guided by advanced theory can fulfill the role of an advanced fighter.” The ideological and theoretical construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations occupies a leading position because ideology and theory are the soul; the Party’s ideological and theoretical construction plays the role of strengthening the foundation, consolidating the core, and gathering the soul for all aspects of the Party’s construction.

党的政治统一和思想一致，基础在基层。无产阶级政党的基层组织在自身建设中，必须坚持政治的主导地位和思想理论的先行地位，把维护党中央集中统一领导和不断加强思想理论武装作为党的基层组织建设的核心要求。无产阶级政党是政治组织，政治性是其本质属性，强化政治建设的主导地位是无产阶级政党建设的必然要求。列宁认为：“一个阶级如果不从政治上正确地看问题，就不能维持它的统治。”党的基层组织建设的核心是党的政治建设，围绕党的中心工作，贯彻党的政治路线，宣传党的政治主张，动员群众参加到党所领导的伟大事业中来。列宁高度重视党的思想建设，提出“只有以先进理论为指南的党，才能实现先进战士的作用”。党的基层组织思想理论建设处于先行地位，是因为思想理论是灵魂，党的思想理论建设对党的各方面建设发挥强基固本、凝心铸魂的作用。

(I) The Party’s grassroots organizations must uphold the authority of the Party Central Committee and centralized and unified leadership

(一)党的基层组织必须维护党中央权威和集中统一领导

The task of political construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations is to bring into play the political function of the Party’s grassroots organizations, so that the organizational function serves the political function, better implements the Party’s political line, and the core is to uphold the authority of the Party Central Committee and centralized and unified leadership. On the one hand, the Party’s grassroots organizations must implement the various resolutions of the Party Central Committee. In the early period of the founding of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, the Party was pervaded by a serious circle mentality [15]15 “Circle mentality” (kruzhkovshchina) refers to the fragmented, localized, and amateurish organizational practices of early Russian Marxist circles, which Lenin criticized as incompatible with a centralized, disciplined revolutionary party., was in a state of disorganization, and worked in a handicraft manner. To change this situation, it was necessary to adopt centralism and uphold Party spirit; the Party’s grassroots organizations had to implement the resolutions of the Party Central Committee and uphold the authority of the Party Central Committee. After the Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party [16]16 The Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, held in 1903 in Brussels and London, was where the split between the Bolsheviks (led by Lenin) and the Mensheviks occurred over organizational principles, including the definition of Party membership and the degree of centralization., due to serious differences on the organizational question, the Mensheviks, disregarding the provisions of the Party Constitution, refused to implement the resolutions of the Congress, refused to obey the decisions of the Central Committee, and advocated that “what the Party needs is not centralism, but anarchistic ‘autonomy,’ giving individuals and each Party organization the right not to implement the Party’s resolutions.” The Mensheviks’ views seriously damaged the implementation of the Party’s resolutions in the Party’s grassroots organizations, potentially rendering the Party’s resolutions a dead letter at the grassroots level. Lenin profoundly pointed out: “Since the Second Congress, the Party has been torn apart, and now this situation is even more serious: the tactics of the minority have severely weakened the Party. It is doing its utmost to undermine the authority of the Central Committee.” The Mensheviks’ opportunism on the organizational question was resolutely opposed and refuted by the overwhelming majority of local committee members. After the Party delegates conveyed the spirit of the Congress to local organizations, “of the 18 organizations that expressed their opinions before the end of 1903, 14 organizations condemned the Mensheviks’ actions.” On the other hand, the Party’s grassroots organizations must abide by the Party Constitution. Lenin attached great importance to the status of the Party Constitution in Party building and its role in upholding the authority of the Party Central Committee. He pointed out: “Organization first of all means drawing up a constitution,” the Party Constitution is “the general resolution on the forms and norms of Party organization,” it is formulated, amended, and passed by the Party’s National Congress, and has the highest authority. For the proletarian party to achieve unified goals and unified action, it must strictly abide by the Party Constitution. Lenin not only demanded that “all members obey the Party Constitution,” but also proposed that “all resolutions of the Central Committee must be implemented by Party organizations at all levels.” The Party’s grassroots organizations are both members of the “all” and the basic components of Party organizations at all levels. Requiring organizations at all levels and every Party member to strictly abide by the provisions of the Party Constitution clarified the obligation of grassroots organizations to implement all resolutions of the Central Committee, effectively maintaining the Party’s unity and solidarity.

党的基层组织政治建设的任务是发挥党的基层组织的政治功能，使组织功能服务于政治功能，更好地贯彻党的政治路线，核心是维护党中央权威和集中统一领导。一方面，党的基层组织必须贯彻党中央的各项决议。俄国社会民主工党成立初期，党内弥漫着严重的小组习气，状态涣散，采取手工业方式工作。要改变这种现状，必须采取集中制和坚持党性，党的基层组织必须贯彻党中央的决议，维护党中央的权威。俄国社会民主工党二大后，由于在组织问题上的严重分歧，孟什维克不顾党章的规定，拒绝履行大会的决议，拒绝服从中央委员会的决定，主张“党内不是需要集中制，而是需要无政府主义的‘自治制’,使各个人和各个党组织都有权不执行党的决议”。孟什维克的观点严重损害了党的决议在党的基层组织的贯彻落实，有可能会使党的决议在基层沦为一纸空文。列宁深刻指出：“从第二次代表大会以来，党被搞得四分五裂了，现在这种情况更严重了：少数派的策略严重地削弱了党。它竭力破坏中央委员会的威信。”孟什维克在组织问题上的机会主义，遭到绝大多数地方委员的坚决反对和驳斥。在党代表向地方组织传达大会精神后，“在1903年底以前发表了意见的18个组织中，有14个组织谴责了孟什维克的行为”。另一方面，党的基层组织必须遵守党章。列宁高度重视党章在党的建设中的地位及其对维护党中央权威的作用。他指出：“组织首先就是制定章程”,党章是“党组织的形式和准则的总的决议”,是党的全国代表大会制定修改表决通过的，具有最高的权威，无产阶级政党要实现统一的目标，统一的行动，必须严格遵守党章。列宁不仅要求“全体服从党章”,而且提出“中央委员会的一切决议，各级党组织都必须执行”。党的基层组织既是“全体”的成员，也是各级党组织的基本组成部分。要求各级组织和每名党员严格遵守党章各条规定，明确了基层组织贯彻执行中央委员会一切决议的义务，有效地维护了党的团结统一。

(II) The Party’s grassroots organizations must arm the minds of Party members with scientific theory

(二)党的基层组织必须用科学的理论武装党员的头脑

“Without unity in ideology, unity in organization is meaningless.” The construction of grassroots Party organizations must both “shape the form” and, more importantly, “forge the soul.” The core of ideological construction in grassroots Party organizations is to arm the minds of Party members with Marxism through practical and effective means. On the one hand, “the proletarian party is a revolutionary, advanced party, standing at the forefront of ideological and cultural development, mastering the objective laws of cultural development,” and is a genuine force capable of educating and guiding Party members and the masses; on the other hand, “the workers, by themselves, cannot possibly develop Social-Democratic consciousness. This consciousness can only be brought to them from without.” Without the armament of scientific theory, it is impossible to uphold the correct direction of struggle. First, go deep into the grassroots to actively carry out theoretical propaganda, unifying the thinking of Party members and the masses. After the October Revolution, Lenin went deep among the workers, peasants, the Red Army, and all sectors of society, “speaking at conferences of factory branch representatives, at conferences of factory committee representatives… addressing the Communists mobilized to the front,” and through theoretical lectures to grassroots Party members, enhanced their correct understanding and grasp of the severe situation facing Soviet Russia and the various policies and resolutions promulgated by the Party. Using Party branches as a base, carrying out theoretical propaganda among the masses and discussing the decrees, decisions, and directives issued by the Soviet government helped arm and educate the masses theoretically, enhancing the determination and perseverance of Party members and the masses in overcoming difficulties. Second, attach importance to the publication of Marxist newspapers, periodicals, and books, providing teaching materials for the theoretical education of grassroots organizations. In Russia, which was relatively backward economically and culturally and where various schools of thought contended, diverse erroneous trends of thought posed a great threat to Marxism and had a serious impact on Party members and the masses. Criticizing and resisting various erroneous trends of thought was an important task facing the construction of grassroots Party organizations. Lenin resolutely criticized and waged an unremitting struggle against erroneous trends of thought, innovating and developing Marxism, and supporting and helping Party organizations at all levels to carry out active ideological struggle. During the particularly difficult period of revolutionary struggle, Lenin and the Bolshevik Party overcame various difficulties to publish newspapers such as *Iskra*, *Vpered*, and *Proletary*, as well as Marxist theoretical works, and through grassroots organizations, secretly transported newspapers published abroad, as well as Party resolutions, leaflets, and pamphlets, into the country to actively carry out ideological and theoretical propaganda. “Under conditions of extreme secrecy, the Bolsheviks organized various branch systems for political education. Usually, Party lessons were conducted in some form within the branches.” During the New Economic Policy period, Lenin personally presided over the publication of Marxist books, organized the compilation of Marxist textbooks, and oversaw the translation and publication of classic Marxist works, creating favorable conditions for grassroots Party organizations and the broad masses of Party members to study Marxism. Finally, Party branches must take the propaganda of Marxism and the enhancement of Party members’ political cultivation as an important task. The specific national conditions led to a low cultural level among many Party members, so it was necessary to continuously improve the political literacy and theoretical cultivation of the broad masses of Party members. Grassroots Party organizations are at the forefront of ideological and theoretical education for Party members. The Tenth Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) [17]17 The Tenth Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was held in March 1921. It is best known for adopting the New Economic Policy and for the resolution “On Party Unity,” which banned factions within the Party. required Party branches to “regularly hold open branch meetings to propagate the ideas of communism,” and “to adopt all measures within the branch’s capacity to eliminate the phenomenon of lack of political knowledge among Party members, ensuring that every Party member receives Party education.” Under Lenin’s guidance, grassroots Party organizations, through study formats such as report meetings, seminars, and work reports, enhanced the Marxist theoretical cultivation and political consciousness of the broad masses of Party members, strengthened their ability to distinguish between genuine and false Marxism, and effectively resisted the influence of various erroneous trends of thought.

“没有思想上的统一，组织上的统一是没有意义的。”党的基层组织建设既要“塑形”,更要“铸魂”。党的基层组织思想建设的核心是通过切实有效的方式用马克思主义武装党员的头脑。一方面，“无产阶级政党是革命的、先进的政党，处于思想文化发展的最前沿，掌握文化发展的客观规律”,是能够教育引领党员和群众的真正力量；另一方面，“工人本来也不可能有社会民主主义的意识。这种意识只能从外面灌输进去”。没有科学理论的武装就不能坚持正确的斗争方向。首先，深入基层积极开展理论宣传，统一党员群众思想。十月革命后，列宁深入工人、农民、红军和社会各方面，“在各工厂支部代表会议上、在工厂委员会代表会议上发表了演说……给动员上前线的共产党员讲了话”,通过对基层党员的理论宣讲，提高了党员对苏维埃俄国面临的严峻形势以及党颁布的各项政策、决议的正确认识和把握。以党支部为基础，开展对群众的理论宣讲，讨论苏维埃政府颁布的法令、决定、指示，有助于使群众得到理论的武装和教育，提升党员群众克服困难的决心和毅力。其次，重视马克思主义报刊书籍的出版，为基层组织的理论教育提供教材。在经济文化比较落后、思想流派纷呈的俄国，各种错误思潮对马克思主义构成极大威胁，对党员和群众造成严重影响。批判和抵制各种错误思潮，是党的基层组织建设面临的重要任务。列宁对错误思潮进行了坚决批判、开展了不懈斗争，创新和发展了马克思主义，支持和帮助了党的各级组织开展积极的思想斗争。在革命斗争特别艰苦的时期，列宁和布尔什维克党克服各种困难出版《火星报》《前进报》《无产者报》等报刊，出版马克思主义理论著作，通过基层组织把在国外出版的报纸，以及党的决议、传单和小册子等秘密运到国内，积极开展思想理论宣传。“在极端秘密的条件下，布尔什维克多方组织进行政治教育的分支系统。通常是在支部里以某种形式进行党课学习。”新经济政策时期，列宁亲自主持马克思主义书籍的出版，组织编写马克思主义教科书，编译出版马克思主义经典著作，为党的基层组织和广大党员学习马克思主义创造了有利的条件。最后，党支部要把宣传马克思主义、提升党员政治修养作为重要任务。特定的国情导致许多党员的文化水平较低，因此必须不断提高广大党员的政治素养和理论修养。党的基层组织处于党员思想理论教育的前沿。俄共(布)第十次代表大会要求党支部“经常举行公开的支部大会以宣传共产党的思想”,“采取支部能够做到的一切办法来消除党员中缺乏政治常识的现象，注意使每个党员都受到党的教育”。在列宁的指导下，党的基层组织通过报告会、讨论会、工作报告等学习形式提升了广大党员的马克思主义理论修养和政治觉悟，增强了其辨别真假马克思主义的能力，有效抵制了各种错误思潮的影响。

III. Improving the Organizational System and Maintaining Advancedness and Purity Are the Keys to the Construction of Grassroots Party Organizations

三、健全组织体系和保持先进纯洁是党的基层组织建设的关键

A strong and effective grassroots organization must have a sound organizational system and always maintain the Party’s advancedness and purity. This is the key link in the construction of grassroots organizations of the proletarian party, and democratic centralism is an important guarantee for the soundness and effectiveness of this key link. In the process of leading the construction of the Bolshevik Party, Lenin established the principle of democratic centralism to guide and regulate the construction of grassroots Party organizations, enabling them to continuously grow stronger. The Party rules of the Bolshevik Party led by Lenin clearly stipulated: “All Party organizations are established on the principle of democratic centralism.” This required that grassroots Party organizations be produced through democratic elections, both adhering to the subordination of the minority to the majority and maintaining the centralized and unified leadership of the Party, so as to enhance the cohesion and combat effectiveness of grassroots Party organizations. Lenin insisted on the comprehensive coverage of grassroots Party organizations in all spheres of society, continuously improving the quality of Party members, so that the grassroots Party organization system would be rigorous and maintain advancedness and purity.

坚强有力的基层组织必须具有健全的组织体系和始终保持党的先进性和纯洁性，这是无产阶级政党基层组织建设的关键环节，民主集中制是这一关键环节健全有力的重要保证。列宁在领导布尔什维克党建设的过程中创立了民主集中制原则，用以指导和规范党的基层组织建设，使党的基层组织不断壮大。列宁领导的布尔什维克党的章程明确规定：“党的一切组织是按民主集中制原则建立起来的。”这就要求党的基层组织通过民主选举产生，既坚持少数服从多数，又维护党的集中统一领导，以增强党的基层组织的凝聚力和战斗力。列宁坚持党的基层组织在社会各领域的全面覆盖，不断提高党员的质量，以使党的基层组织系统严密，并保持先进和纯洁。

(I) Building Grassroots Party Organizations According to the Requirements of Categorized Construction and Comprehensive Coverage

(一)按照分类建设、全面覆盖的要求建设党的基层组织

Lenin attached great importance to the issue of comprehensive coverage of Party branches at the grassroots level. At the Second Congress of the Communist International, he emphasized the importance of democratic centralism, demanding that grassroots Party organizations be established in all organizations, associations, and groups of the proletariat and the exploited working masses. Party branches were to be established not only in socio-political organizations but also in social organizations such as “trade unions, military, cooperative, educational, sports, etc.” This fully reflected the breadth, diversity, and close connection with the masses in the establishment of grassroots Party organizations. First, “establish rural Party branches.” The October Revolution was won through armed insurrection in the central cities; the Party had a relatively strong social foundation in the cities, but “in the countryside, Bolshevik branches were almost entirely non-existent.” Therefore, Lenin placed great importance on establishing rural grassroots Party organizations and demanded their active promotion. He proposed not only establishing grassroots organizations for peasant self-education and self-organization, such as “Committees of Poor Peasants,” but also actively developing Party members to consolidate the Party’s grassroots organizations in the countryside, thereby breaking free from the influence of the rural bourgeoisie and the interests of small property owners. Summarizing the experience of the Bolshevik Party, Lenin admonished the parties of the Communist International: “Establishing rural Soviets requires long-term preparatory work, the method of which is to establish Communist Party branches.” The main work of establishing Party branches in the countryside was to propagate communism, laying the foundation for establishing Soviets in the countryside. Second, establish Party branches in the cities. The Bolshevik Party’s grassroots organizations in the cities had long been in a state of secrecy, facing many difficulties in organizational construction, with an imperfect organizational system and insufficiently realized functions of Party organizations. Lenin demanded the “establishment of Communist Party branches” in various forms of workers’ organizations, “so that the Party can exercise constant leadership over the entire workers’ movement…”. Finally, “establish Communist Party branches in every military unit.” Adhering to the Party’s leadership over the Red Army was the fundamental guarantee for achieving victory in military struggle and consolidating Soviet power. Establishing Party branches in the army was an important manifestation of realizing Party leadership and an organizational guarantee. In response to the “military opposition” [18]18 The “military opposition” was a faction within the Bolshevik Party during the Russian Civil War (1918-1920) that opposed the use of former Tsarist officers, the introduction of strict military discipline, and the centralization of command in the Red Army, favoring a more partisan-style, decentralized military force. that opposed the establishment of a regular Red Army and the implementation of iron discipline in the army, slandering military regulations as “autocratic serfdom,” Lenin conducted a profound critique. Under Lenin’s leadership, in the Red Army, “in addition to the military commander, political commissars must be appointed, composed of reliable Communists with a spirit of self-sacrifice, and Communist Party branches must be established in every military unit to build internal ideological connections and conscious discipline.”

列宁高度重视党支部在社会基层全面覆盖的问题。他在共产国际第二次代表大会上强调了民主集中制的重要性，要求在无产阶级和被剥削的劳动群众的一切组织、协会、团体中都要建立党的基层组织，不仅在社会政治性组织中建立党支部，在“工会的、军事的、合作社的、教育的、体育的等等”社会组织中也要成立党支部或党小组。这就充分体现了党的基层组织建立的广泛性、多样性、密切联系群众性。首先，“建立农村党支部”。十月革命是通过中心城市武装暴动的方式取得胜利的，党在城市具有较强的社会基础，但“在农村，布尔什维克支部几乎完全不存在”。所以，列宁对建立农村基层党组织十分重视，并要求积极推进，提出不仅要在农民中建立“贫困农民委员会”等农民自我教育、自我组织的基层组织，而且要积极发展党员，巩固党在农村的基层组织，从而摆脱农村资产阶级和小私有者利益的影响。总结布尔什维克党的经验，列宁告诫共产国际各国党：“建立农村的苏维埃就需要进行长期的准备工作，其方法就是建立共产党支部”。农村建立党支部的主要工作是宣传共产主义，为在农村建立苏维埃打下基础。其次，在城市建立党支部。布尔什维克党在城市的基层组织长期处于秘密状态，组织建设面临诸多困难，组织系统不够健全，党组织的作用发挥不够充分。列宁要求在各种形式的工人组织中“建立共产党支部，以便由党对整个工人运动……实行经常的领导”。最后，在“每一个部队中成立共产党支部”。坚持党对红军的领导是取得军事斗争胜利、巩固苏维埃政权的根本保证，在军队中建立党支部是实现党的领导的重要体现和组织保证。针对“军事反对派”反对建立正规的红军和在军队中实行铁的纪律，把军事条令污蔑为“专制农奴制度”,列宁进行了深刻批判。在列宁领导下，红军中“除军事首长外，还必须设政治委员，由可靠的、具有忘我精神的共产党员担任，并在每一个部队中成立共产党支部，以建立内部思想的联系和自觉的纪律”。

(II) “Purge” Unqualified Party Members to Ensure the Advancedness and Purity of Grassroots Party Organizations

(二)“清洗”不合格党员以保证党的基层组织的先进性和纯洁性

In the Party’s organizational system, Party members are the cells of the Party’s organization. Whether Party members are advanced and pure directly affects whether the Party organization has cohesion and combat effectiveness. The Party branch is the first checkpoint for developing and managing Party members. Therefore, Lenin adhered to the principle of “not pursuing an increase in the number of Party members, but paying attention to the improvement of the quality of Party members,” requiring that when Party branches admit new members, they must strictly comply with the provisions and procedures of the Party Constitution, and strictly examine, test, and cultivate Party members. First, use multiple methods to test Party members. Under the conditions of governance, the Party’s organizational activities and the situation of Party members improved. In order to prevent those who “seek benefits” from sneaking into the Party, the Bolshevik Party used forms such as carrying out “Communist Saturday voluntary labor” [19]19 “Communist Saturday voluntary labor” (коммунистический субботник) was a mass voluntary labor campaign initiated by Communist Party members and supporters in Soviet Russia in 1919, often held on Saturdays, to contribute unpaid work for the public good, especially during the Civil War. and mobilizing Party members to go to the front to fight as “tests” for Party members, which tempered the revolutionary will of Party members and eliminated unqualified elements who attempted to sneak into the Party. Second, adopt democratic methods to carry out Party purges. Lenin believed that “the opinions of non-Party proletarian masses and, in many cases, non-Party peasant masses are extremely valuable.” [20]20 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 42, p. 145. (Note: This is a representative citation; the original text references Lenin’s works.) Party grassroots organizations are closest to the masses, and the working masses are very sensitive, having a clear understanding of the actual performance and work style of Party members. Therefore, it is necessary to listen to the opinions of the masses and expel from the Party those Party members whom the masses consider to be pleasure-seeking, corrupt and degenerate, or bureaucratized. Finally, extend the probationary period for Party membership and strictly enforce the conditions for Party membership sponsors. In order to prevent speculators or those seeking personal gain from sneaking into the Party’s ranks, Lenin advocated extending the probationary period for Party membership and focusing on testing new Party members during the probationary period. At the same time, strictly enforce the conditions and requirements for Party membership sponsors. Lenin suggested: “For workers joining the Party, the sponsor must have three years of Party membership; for peasants and Red Army soldiers, four years; and for others, five years,” [21]21 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 43, p. 19. and “the sponsor is responsible for the person being sponsored; if the recommendation is made lightly, the sponsor shall be subject to Party disciplinary sanctions, up to and including expulsion from the Party.” [22]22 Ibid. Admitting new Party members is one of the main tasks of the Party branch. Lenin required that in the process of developing Party members, all provisions of the Party Constitution be strictly implemented, and “the issue of Party membership shall be preliminarily examined by the Party branch and decided by the general meeting of the Party organization,” [23]23 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 38, p. 294. thereby strictly scrutinizing Party members and strengthening their education.

在党的组织体系中，党员是党的组织的细胞，党员是否先进和纯洁，直接关系党组织是否具有凝聚力和战斗力。党支部是发展和管理党员的第一道关卡，因此列宁坚持“不追求党员数量的增加，而注意党员质量的提高”的原则，要求党支部吸收新党员时，必须严格遵守党章的规定和程序，严格考察、考验和培养党员。首先，运用多种方式考验党员。在执政条件下，党的组织活动和党员处境得到改善，为了不使“捞好处”的人混入党内，布尔什维克党以开展“共产主义星期六义务劳动”和动员党员去前线作战等形式，作为党员的“考验”,锻炼了党员的革命意志，清除了企图混入党内的不合格分子。其次，采取民主的方式开展清党。列宁认为“非党无产阶级群众的意见以及在许多场合下非党农民群众的意见是极其宝贵的”,党的基层组织离群众最近，而劳动群众非常敏感，对党员在实际工作中的表现和作风一清二楚，所以要听取群众的意见，把群众认为贪图享受、腐化变质、官僚化的党员清除出党的队伍。最后，延长入党预备期和严格入党介绍人条件。为了防止投机分子或贪图私利的人混进党的队伍，列宁主张延长入党预备期，注重对新党员在预备期的考验。同时，严格入党介绍人的条件和要求。列宁建议：“介绍工人入党的要有三年党龄，介绍农民和红军战士的要有四年，介绍其他人的是五年”,而且“介绍人要对被介绍人负责，如果轻率介绍，要受党纪处分，直至开除党籍”。吸收新党员是党支部的主要任务之一，列宁要求发展党员过程中严格执行党章的各项规定，“入党问题由党支部预先审查，由党组织全体大会决定”,严格了对党员的考察，强化了对党员的教育。

IV. Upholding Party Discipline and Eliminating Degenerate Elements Are the Focus of Grassroots Party Organization Construction

四、维护党的纪律和清除蜕化分子是党的基层组织建设的重点

The core of the work style issue of a proletarian party is the relationship between the Party and the masses. The quality of the work style of the Party’s grassroots organizations affects the Party’s image, the Party’s nature and purpose, and the support of the people. The Party’s organization is at the grassroots level, the Party’s combat effectiveness is at the grassroots level, and whether the Party’s work style is excellent is also at the grassroots level. The construction of the Party’s work style must start from grassroots organizations. The key to closely linking the Party with the masses lies in whether the Party’s grassroots organizations and the vast number of Party members maintain an excellent work style. Lenin attached great importance to the construction of the work style of the Party’s grassroots organizations. He waged an unremitting struggle against the bad work styles in the Party and Soviet state organs, and against the bad tendencies in grassroots organizations from cities to the countryside. He criticized them ideologically, restrained them through discipline, constructed them institutionally, curbed bureaucracy and red tape in action, and eliminated corrupt and degenerate elements. This enabled Party cadres to solidify the ideological concept of serving the masses, strengthen their relationship with the masses, maintain the Party’s advanced nature and purity, and consolidate the Party’s ruling foundation.

无产阶级政党作风问题的核心是党同人民群众的关系问题，党的基层组织的作风好坏关系党的形象、关系党的性质宗旨、关系人心向背。党的组织在基层，党的战斗力在基层，党的作风是否优良也在基层。党的作风建设要从基层组织抓起，密切党同群众的联系关键在党的基层组织和广大党员是否保持了优良的作风。列宁高度重视党的基层组织的作风建设问题，他同党和苏维埃政权机关中的不良作风、同从城市到农村基层组织中的不良倾向进行了坚持不懈的斗争，在思想上批判、在纪律上约束、在制度上建构、在行动上遏制官僚主义和拖拉作风，清除腐化变质分子，使党员干部筑牢服务群众的思想观念，更加密切同群众的关系，保持了党的先进性和纯洁性，巩固了党的执政基础。

(1) Combating Bureaucracy and Red Tape Is an Important Task for Grassroots Party Organizations

(一)同官僚主义和拖拉作风作斗争是基层党组织的重要任务

After the victory of the October Revolution, especially during the period of the New Economic Policy, [24]24 The New Economic Policy (NEP) was a Soviet economic policy introduced by Lenin in 1921, which temporarily allowed limited market mechanisms and private enterprise to revive the economy after the Civil War. bureaucracy and red tape in the Party and state organs grew and showed a spreading trend, seriously affecting the relationship between the Bolshevik Party and the masses. Lenin was deeply distressed and worried about this. He used sharp terms such as “bureaucratic stupidity,” “damned red tape,” “arrogant bastards,” and “festering sores” to criticize this phenomenon, and even believed that “our state is a workers’ state with bureaucratic defects.” [25]25 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 43, p. 247. Bureaucracy is a complex social and historical phenomenon. In Russia, which was economically and culturally backward and had a long history of feudal autocratic rule, it had deep ideological roots, behavioral inertia, and social background. The establishment of the Soviet system fundamentally eradicated the political roots of bureaucracy and red tape under the old system, but this bad work style is a reflection of multiple social factors, and eradicating it requires long-term and arduous efforts. Lenin believed that bureaucracy and red tape are products of multiple factors such as economy and culture. Their economic root is “the dispersion and laxity of small producers,” [26]26 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 41, p. 222. their cultural root is “mainly related to the low cultural level of Russia,” [27]27 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 43, p. 378. and their institutional root is “due to the long-term war environment, the Party implemented the ‘combat command system’ and the cadre appointment system, resulting in the prevalence of administrative command style and bureaucratic habits in various Party and government organs.” [28]28 This is a paraphrase of Lenin’s views; see V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 43, pp. 247-248. Therefore, it is necessary to mobilize the entire Party to oppose bureaucracy and red tape, and especially to play the active role of the Party’s grassroots organizations and Communist Party members in opposing bureaucracy and red tape. First, promote the “initiative spirit of grassroots organizations.” To overcome red tape and bureaucracy, it is necessary to “encourage localities to give full play to their pioneering spirit, independent spirit, and enterprising spirit,” [29]29 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 41, p. 233. “use local experience and local supervision to check the work of central organs,” [30]30 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 43, p. 248. and use grassroots organizations to promote the work style construction of higher-level organizations and even central organs. Second, Party grassroots organizations must “strengthen practical ties with non-Party personnel.” [31]31 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 42, p. 146. The root of work style problems is that Party organizations and Party members are divorced from the masses, using the political status of Party members and the public power held by the ruling party to seek personal gain. Party grassroots organizations are closest to the masses. As long as grassroots Party members do not turn from “servants of society into masters of society,” [32]32 This is a reference to a famous formulation by Engels, later adopted by Lenin, warning against the transformation of state officials from public servants into a privileged stratum. they can fundamentally build an ideological and political dike against red tape and bureaucracy. To this end, on the one hand, it is necessary to care for the masses, solve practical problems, and “do everything possible to strengthen the ties between Communists and upright non-Party personnel.” [33]33 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 42, p. 146. This is “the only way to enliven our sometimes lifeless Party branches.” [34]34 Ibid. On the other hand, it is necessary to discover and recommend the “best and most steadfast” [35]35 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 43, p. 249. workers and peasants to participate in management work, “place them in appropriate positions (including the Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspection),” [36]36 The Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspection (Rabkrin) was a Soviet state agency established in 1920 to supervise government administration and combat bureaucracy. which is not only a guarantee for victory in the “struggle against bureaucracy” [37]37 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 43, p. 250. but also an effective method to “help us eliminate such defects as the Party branch’s detachment from the masses.” [38]38 Ibid. Finally, Party grassroots organizations should prioritize improving the ideological and cultural level of the masses, providing conditions and laying the foundation for the masses to participate in management and supervision. Because overcoming red tape and opposing bureaucracy cannot be achieved solely through propaganda; it also requires “the help of the masses.” [39]39 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, 2nd ed., Vol. 42, p. 147.

十月革命胜利后，特别是新经济政策时期，党和国家机关中的官僚主义和拖拉作风有所滋长并呈蔓延趋势，严重影响了布尔什维克党同群众的关系。列宁对此痛心疾首、深感忧虑，他用“官僚主义愚蠢”“该死的拖拉作风”“官气十足的混蛋”“脓疮”等尖锐词语抨击这种现象，甚至认为“我们的国家是带有官僚主义弊病的工人国家”。官僚主义是一个复杂的社会历史现象，在经济文化落后、封建专制统治悠久的俄国，有很深的思想根源、行为惯性和社会背景。苏维埃制度的建立从根本上铲除了旧制度下官僚主义、拖拉作风的政治根源，但这种不良作风是多种社会因素的反映，要想根除需要付出长期艰苦的努力。列宁认为，官僚主义和拖拉作风是经济、文化等多种因素的产物，其经济根源是“小生产者的分散性和涣散性”,文化根源“主要是同俄国的文化水平低”有关，体制根源则是“由于长期的战争环境，党内实行‘战斗命令制’干部任免制，造成党政机关各部门行政命令作风、官僚习气盛行”。所以，要发动全党的力量反对官僚主义和拖拉作风，尤其要发挥党的基层组织和共产党员在反对官僚主义、拖拉作风中的积极作用。首先，发扬“基层组织的独创精神”。克服拖拉作风和官僚主义，要“鼓励地方尽量发挥首创精神、自主精神和进取精神”,“用地方经验和地方监督来检查中央机关的工作”,以基层组织推动上级组织乃至中央机关的作风建设。其次，党的基层组织要“加强同非党人员的切实联系”。作风问题的根源是党的组织和党员脱离群众，利用党员的政治地位和执政党掌握的公共权力谋取私利。党的基层组织最接近群众，只要基层党员不从“社会的公仆变成了社会的主人”,就能从根本上筑起抵制拖拉作风和官僚主义的思想政治堤防。为此，一方面，要关心群众，解决实际问题，“千方百计地加强共产党员同正直的非党人员的联系”,这是“使我们有时显得暮气沉沉的党支部能活跃起来的唯一方法”;另一方面，要发现和推荐“最优秀的和最坚定的”工人农民参加到管理工作中来，“将他们安排在适当的岗位上(其中包括工农检查院)”,这既是取得“反官僚主义斗争”胜利的保证，也是“帮助我们消除党支部脱离群众这一类弊病”的有效办法。最后，党的基层组织要把提高群众思想文化水平的工作放到重要位置，为群众参与管理和监督提供条件、奠定基础。因为克服拖拉作风、反对官僚主义不是单靠宣传就能搞成的，还要“靠人民群众的帮助才行”。

(2) Party Grassroots Organizations Must Struggle Against Violations of Discipline in Accordance with Party Systems and Discipline

(二)党的基层组织要依照党的制度和纪律同违纪行为作斗争

During the civil war, the number of grain-requisitioning detachments reached 43,000, and the composition of these personnel was uneven; the crude behavior of certain grain-requisitioning detachments aroused strong discontent among the peasants. As Lenin pointed out, within the Party’s grassroots organizations there existed “mistakes and violations of law and discipline by Communists who partially broke away from the peasants and aroused their hostility,” and resolving violations of law and discipline within the Party was an urgent political task. Strengthening the construction of the Party’s disciplinary system was an important lever for resolving the problem of violations of law and discipline, because institutions are fundamental and stable. First, perfect the Party’s disciplinary system to constrain the behavior of Party members. The Rules of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) stipulated: “Strict observance of Party discipline is the primary duty of all Party members and all Party organizations.” [40]40 The Rules of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) were the governing statutes of the ruling party in Soviet Russia, analogous to the Constitution of the Communist Party of China. Grassroots Party organizations are at the forefront of enforcing discipline and carrying out disciplinary supervision; they must actively play their role and wage an unremitting struggle against disciplinary violations. With regard to the severity of disciplinary violations, the Party Rules specified six methods of handling: respectively, “censure within the Party, public censure, temporary removal from responsible Party and Soviet work, temporary removal from all Party and Soviet work, expulsion from the Party, and expulsion from the Party with notification of the offense to the administrative and judicial authorities.” The key to maintaining the authority of discipline lies in enforcement. Lenin emphasized that Party discipline must be strictly enforced and Party members strictly constrained, so that phenomena such as Party cadres and functionaries using their positions to benefit private interests at public expense, trading power for money, and acting outrageously are effectively curbed. Second, oppose factional activities and safeguard Party unity. After the end of the civil war, the Soviet Russian national economy encountered severe difficulties, various erroneous tendencies emerged in the ideological sphere, and debates within the Party on issues such as trade unions and culture seriously affected Party unity and solidarity. Lenin believed that maintaining Party unity and solidarity, strengthening Party leadership, and overcoming factional activities and their harms must begin with the Party’s grassroots organizations. He pointed out: “In the practical struggle against factional activities, every Party organization must pay close attention and under no circumstances permit the expression of any factional views.” This thought grasped the foundation and root of affecting the Party’s advanced nature and purity and of exerting the Party’s cohesion and combat effectiveness, establishing the Party’s ideological unity, political unity, and action unity on the basis of the Party Rules and the Party’s organizational principles. The fundamental principle for grassroots Party organizations to carry out inner-Party struggle is to uphold and implement democratic centralism, and never permit phenomena that harm the Party’s unity and solidarity, the development of the Party’s cause, the consolidation of Soviet power, and the transition to socialism. To this end, all Party members and various social organizations must, “under the general leadership of the Russian Communist Party, regard their own tasks as part of the tasks of the dictatorship of the proletariat.”

在国内战争期间，征粮队的人数达到4.3万人，人员队伍参差不齐，某些征粮队的粗暴行为引起了农民的强烈不满。正如列宁所指出的，党的基层组织存在“部分脱离农民并引起农民敌对的共产党员的错误和违法乱纪现象”,解决党内的违法乱纪行为是一项紧迫的政治任务。加强党的纪律制度建设是解决违法乱纪问题的重要抓手，因为制度具有根本性和稳定性。首先，完善党的纪律制度，约束党员行为。俄共(布)党章规定：“严格遵守党的纪律是全体党员和一切党组织的首要义务。”党的基层组织处于执行纪律和开展纪律监督的最前线，必须积极发挥作用，同违纪现象进行不懈的斗争。针对违纪行为的轻重程度，《党章》规定了六种处理方法：分别是“党内指责，当众指责，暂时撤销党的和苏维埃的负责工作，暂时撤销党的和苏维埃的一切工作，开除党籍，开除党籍并将其过错通知行政和司法当局”。维护纪律威严的关键在于执行。列宁强调，必须严肃党的纪律，严格约束党员，使党员干部利用职权损公肥私、权钱交易、胡作非为等现象得到有效遏制。其次，反对派别活动，维护党的统一。国内战争结束后，苏维埃俄国的国民经济出现严重困难，思想领域出现各种错误倾向，党内发生了关于工会问题、文化问题等的争论，严重影响了党的团结统一。列宁认为，维护党的团结统一，加强党的领导，克服派别活动及其危害，要从党的基层组织做起。他指出：“在同派别活动进行实际斗争中，每一个党组织必须密切注意，决不容许发表任何派别言论。”这一思想抓住了影响党的先进性和纯洁性、发挥党的凝聚力和战斗力的基础和根本，建立起在党章和党的组织原则基础上的全党的思想统一、政治统一、行动统一。党的基层组织开展党内斗争的根本原则，是坚持和贯彻民主集中制，决不允许危害党的团结统一、党的事业发展、苏维埃政权的巩固和向社会主义的过渡的现象。为此，全体党员、各种社会组织都要在“俄国共产党的总的领导下，把自己的任务当做无产阶级专政任务的一部分来完成”。

(3) Grassroots Party organizations must strictly punish corruption

(三)党的基层组织要从严惩治腐败现象

Corruption is a fatal “cancer” that erodes the ruling proletarian party. Lenin regarded bribery and corruption as one of the “three major enemies” [41]41 Lenin identified the “three major enemies” of the Soviet state as “communist arrogance, illiteracy, and bribery.” facing the ruling Party, and called on the entire Party to “wage a struggle against bribery and corruption, this truly Russian phenomenon.” During the period of the New Economic Policy, the phenomenon of corruption grew to some extent, appearing not only in the central and local organs of the Party and government but also becoming relatively serious in the Party’s grassroots organizations. Lenin pointed out that the “bad tendency” at the local level was that “old officials, landlords, bourgeois elements, and other scoundrels who had wormed their way into the Communist Party abused their power, sometimes committing illegal acts and oppressing peasants.” In some grassroots organizations, some Party cadres and functionaries used their positions for personal gain, and they themselves, their children, and their families enjoyed privileges, arousing discontent among the masses and becoming “a source of disintegration of the Party and a reduction of the prestige of Party members.” Lenin put forward strict requirements for severely punishing corruption: on the one hand, punish corruption with a stern attitude and forceful means. To prevent Party cadres and functionaries from shielding each other due to factors such as position, power, and status, thereby mitigating or exonerating “guilt,” Lenin advocated that “the punishment of Communists by the courts must be stricter than that of non-Party members,” and demanded that Party and Soviet organs show no leniency toward corruption, even advocating the use of “terrorist methods for purges.” On the other hand, formulate severe laws to punish corruption. In the revision of the draft law against bribery and corruption, Lenin inquired, “Has the punishment been reduced? It should be submitted to the Grand Council of People’s Commissars for review. The punishment can only be increased.” [42]42 The Grand Council of People’s Commissars (Bolshoi Sovnarkom) was the highest executive and administrative body of the Soviet Russian government, distinct from the smaller Council of People’s Commissars (Malii Sovnarkom) which handled routine matters. The resolute attitude of “increased” punishment strengthened the confidence of the Party and the masses in eradicating corruption, effectively curbed the phenomenon of privileges and corrupt behavior, and safeguarded the Party’s image.

腐败是侵蚀无产阶级执政党的致命“毒瘤”。列宁把贪污受贿视为执政党面临的“三大敌人”之一，号召全党“同贪污受贿这种道地的俄国现象作斗争”。新经济政策时期，腐败现象有所滋长，不仅出现在党和政府的中央机关和地方机关，在党的基层组织中也较为严重。列宁指出，地方上的“坏倾向就是：混到共产党里来的旧官吏、地主、资产者以及其他败类滥用职权，他们有时做出违法乱纪、欺压农民等恶劣行为”。在一些基层组织中，有的党员干部以权谋私，本人及其子女家属享受优待，引起了群众的不满，成为“瓦解党和降低党员威信的根源”。列宁就严惩腐败现象提出严格要求：一方面，以严厉态度和强力手段惩治腐败。为了防止党员干部之间受职务、权力、地位等因素的影响相互包庇，从而减轻、开脱“罪责”,列宁主张“法庭对共产党员的惩处必须严于非党员”,要求党和苏维埃机关对腐败现象决不能手软，甚至主张用“恐怖手段进行清洗”。另一方面，制定重典惩治腐败。在反贪污受贿法令草案修改中，列宁询问“惩罚是否有所减轻?应当提交大人民委员会审查。惩罚只能加重”。“加重”的坚决态度增强了党和群众根治腐败的信心，有效遏制了特权现象和腐败行为，维护了党的形象。

5. The Party’s central task is the guide for the construction of grassroots Party organizations

五、党的中心任务是党的基层组织建设的遵循

Grassroots Party organizations are both the cells and foundation of the Party’s organizational system and the foundation and backbone for the victory of the Party’s cause. The realization of the Party’s ultimate goal, the achievement of the Party’s strategic objectives in a given historical period, and the implementation of its policies and strategies ultimately depend on the arduous struggle of the Party’s organizations at all levels, especially grassroots Party organizations and all Party members. This requires that grassroots Party organizations, in their own construction, must implement the Party’s line, principles, and policies, carry out the Party’s strategic tasks and work requirements, and organically combine the construction of grassroots Party organizations with the realization of the Party’s work tasks in a given period and field. Therefore, the construction of a proletarian party, especially the construction of its grassroots organizations, must revolve around the Party’s central work. In his practice of leading the construction of grassroots Party organizations, Lenin always deployed tasks in accordance with the Party’s central work in a given period, requiring grassroots Party organizations to maintain consistency with the Party’s highest leadership, to exercise autonomous decision-making power while submitting to the Party’s centralized and unified leadership and implementing the Party’s central work tasks, thereby forming a situation of unity and joint struggle from the top to the bottom of the entire Party.

党的基层组织既是党的组织体系的细胞和基础，也是党的事业取得胜利的根基和中坚力量。党的最终奋斗目标的实现，党在一定历史时期战略目标的实现、方针策略的实施，归根到底在于通过党的各级组织特别是党的基层组织和全体党员的努力奋斗。这就要求党的基层组织在自身建设中必须贯彻党的路线方针政策，落实党的战略任务和工作要求，把党的基层组织建设同实现党在一定时期和一定领域的工作任务有机地结合起来。因此，无产阶级政党的建设特别是党的基层组织的建设必须围绕党的中心工作来进行。列宁在领导党的基层组织建设的实践中，始终按照党在一定时期的中心工作部署任务，要求党的基层组织同党的最高领导保持一致，在服从党的集中统一领导、落实党的中心工作任务的同时，发挥自主决定权，形成全党上下团结一致、共同奋斗的局面。

(1) The Party’s central task determines the working methods and organizational forms of grassroots Party organizations

(一)党的中心任务决定党的基层组织的工作方式和组织形式

The organizational form and working method of the Party’s grassroots organizations must be determined by the Party’s central task in a given period. Organizational forms and working methods that meet the requirements of the Party’s central task can better bring into play the role of grassroots organizations, better accomplish the Party’s central task, and thereby do a good job in all aspects of the Party’s work. Lenin’s requirements for the organizational form and working method of the Party’s grassroots organizations were always adjusted in a timely manner as the situation developed and changed. During the period when the Party was besieged by autocratic rule, he emphasized that the Party’s grassroots organizations should combine secret organizations with open organizations in order to preserve revolutionary forces and carry out effective struggle; in the struggle to organize armed uprisings and seize political power, he emphasized that the Party’s grassroots organizations should penetrate deeply into factories, the army, and various rural localities, centering on the central task of seizing political power to cultivate and temper Party members suited to the needs of armed struggle; after the victory of the October Revolution and the establishment of Soviet power, he emphasized that grassroots organizations should adapt to the new situation, new circumstances, and new tasks of the ruling party, actively carrying out propaganda and agitation around the central tasks of consolidating Soviet power and implementing the New Economic Policy, developing the Party’s organization, expanding the Party’s influence, and strengthening the Party’s strength. In the practice of leading the construction of grassroots organizations, Lenin not only emphasized the necessity of carrying out grassroots organization construction around the Party’s central task, but also comprehensively discussed the tasks and requirements of grassroots organization construction. On the one hand, it was necessary to combine subordination to the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee with maintaining a certain “right of autonomous decision” for grassroots organizations. During the period of founding the Bolshevik Party and carrying out revolutionary struggle, Party organizations at all levels were frequently subjected to brutal suppression and destruction by the tsarist government; the Party’s leaders and core cadres lived in exile abroad for long periods and faced rapidly changing revolutionary situations; conditions in various localities were complex and vastly different. The Party’s principle of democratic centralism required that grassroots organizations not only implement all resolutions and directives of the Party Central Committee, but also possess a certain degree of autonomy when handling affairs specific to their own localities and fields; they could “autonomously handle all matters specially related to the Party work under their jurisdiction” and “have the right of autonomous decision in their internal work,” in order to effectively bring into play the initiative and activity of grassroots organizations. On the other hand, the organizational form of the Party’s grassroots organizations had to be continuously adjusted and improved to meet the needs of the revolution. The organizational form serving the central task is a characteristic and strength of the proletarian party. Lenin advocated that the organizational form and activity methods of the Party should combine secret struggle with legal struggle, “establishing Bolshevik branches in legal and semi-legal organizations such as trade unions, workers’ associations, and clubs, thereby expanding the Party’s sphere of influence, making leadership over mass organizations more effective, and at the same time making it less susceptible to destruction.” [43]43 Lenin, “Report on the Unity of the Party and the Anarcho-Syndicalist Deviation,” *Collected Works of Lenin*, 2nd ed., vol. 41, p. 99. In order to carry out work flexibly and nimbly, grassroots Party branches should not be as large as district and sub-district Party organizations; “the forms of work should have the greatest possible flexibility to adapt to the conditions of local life,” [44]44 Lenin, “Letter to the Organizations of the RCP(b) on the Preparation for the Party Congress,” *Collected Works of Lenin*, 2nd ed., vol. 40, p. 2. making the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations more suited to actual needs, thereby achieving practical results.

党的基层组织采取什么样的组织形式和工作方式，要由党在一个时期的中心工作来决定。适应党的中心工作要求的组织形式和工作方式，能够更好地发挥基层组织的作用，更好地完成党的中心任务，进而做好党的各方面工作。列宁对党的基层组织形式和工作方式的要求，总是随着形势的发展变化而及时调整。在党遭受专制统治围剿期间，他强调党的基层组织要把秘密组织和公开组织相结合，以保存革命力量、开展有效斗争；在组织武装起义、夺取政权的斗争中，他强调党的基层组织要深入工厂、军队、农村的各个地方，围绕夺取政权的中心任务培养和锻炼适应武装斗争需要的党员；在十月革命取得胜利、建立苏维埃政权的情况下，他强调基层组织要适应执政党的新形势新情况新任务，围绕巩固苏维埃政权、实施新经济政策积极开展宣传鼓动，发展党的组织，扩大党的影响，增强党的力量。在领导基层组织建设实践中，列宁不仅强调了围绕党的中心工作开展基层组织建设的必要性，而且全面论述了基层组织建设的任务和要求。一方面，做到服从党中央集中统一领导与保持基层组织一定的“自主决定的权利”相结合。在创建布尔什维克党和进行革命斗争时期，党的各级组织经常遭到沙皇政府的残酷镇压与破坏，党的领袖和骨干长期侨居国外且面临瞬息万变的革命形势，各地情况错综复杂、千差万别。党的民主集中制原则要求基层党组织既要贯彻党中央各项决议与指示，也要在处理本地本领域事务时具有一定的自主权，可以“自主地处理专门同它所主管的党的工作有关的一切事宜”,“在自己内部工作中有自主决定的权利”,以有效地发挥基层组织的积极性和主动性。另一方面，党的基层组织形式要适应革命的需要而不断调整完善。组织形式服从中心工作是无产阶级政党的特点和优点。列宁主张党的组织形式和活动方式应该坚持秘密斗争与合法斗争相结合，“在工会、工人协会、俱乐部等合法和半合法组织中建立了布尔什维克支部，党的影响面扩大了，对群众组织的领导更加有效，同时也不易受到破坏了”。为了机动灵活地开展工作，基层党支部不应该像区和分区的党组织那样庞大，“工作形式要有尽可能大的适应地方生活条件的灵活性”,使党的基层组织建设更加适合实际需要，从而取得实际效果。

(2) The Party’s Central Task Determines the Core Content of the Construction of the Party’s Grassroots Organizations

(二)党的中心任务决定党的基层组织建设的核心内容

The construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations includes political construction, ideological construction, organizational construction, disciplinary construction, and other aspects, but in different periods, influenced by the Party’s central task, the core content of grassroots organization construction will change, thereby enabling grassroots organizations to better play their role in practice. During the New Economic Policy period, Lenin, proceeding from the central task of the Bolshevik Party, stipulated the core content of the construction of factory, urban, and rural Party branches. First, strengthen the forces of factory Party branches. Affected by the civil war, the number of workers suffered severe losses, and a phenomenon of “losing class character” occurred; factory Party branches faced dangers such as “degeneration,” “disorganization,” and “idle operation.” With the end of the civil war and the arrival of the period of economic construction, Lenin emphasized: “The center of gravity of the Party’s work should shift to the workers, changing the situation where the number of Party members in branches in large factories, large factory districts, and other areas is extremely small. The Central Committee and provincial committees should transfer large numbers of Communists from organs and other departments back to the factories. When transferring Party members to enterprise departments, attention must be paid not to pursuing the quantity of Party members engaged in production, but to improving the quality of factory Party branches.” [45]45 Lenin, “Draft Resolution on the Work of Factory Party Branches,” *Collected Works of Lenin*, 2nd ed., vol. 42, p. 194. Second, Party branches should “actively participate in the economic and political life of the country.” The implementation of the New Economic Policy and the introduction of the tax in kind brought new changes to Soviet Russia, which many people did not fully understand. In order to win the understanding and support of the masses, and to achieve the transition to socialism through the New Economic Policy, Lenin demanded that “every Party member must place himself more among the non-Party masses… must do more work among the peasants, propagating to them the significance of the tax in kind.” [46]46 Lenin, “Report on the Tax in Kind,” *Collected Works of Lenin*, 2nd ed., vol. 43, p. 283. In the cities, Party branches should “actively participate, through their Party members, in the elections and work of factory committees, staff executive committees, economic supervision committees, and other bodies, and ensure that these bodies work in the spirit of the Russian Communist Party.” [47]47 Lenin, “Draft Resolution on the Work of Factory Party Branches,” *Collected Works of Lenin*, 2nd ed., vol. 42, p. 195. Finally, use urban Party branches to drive rural Party branches and promote cultural construction. In order to develop Russia, where the small-peasant economy was dominant, to socialism through cooperation, it was necessary to strengthen the education of the peasants and consolidate the worker-peasant alliance. Lenin demanded that the Party’s urban grassroots organizations be combined with its rural grassroots organizations, “assigning all urban branches to the various rural branches, so that each workers’ branch assigned to a corresponding rural branch constantly pays attention to using every opportunity and every occasion to satisfy the various cultural needs of its brother branch.” [48]48 Lenin, “On Cooperation,” *Collected Works of Lenin*, 2nd ed., vol. 43, p. 364. This practice effectively raised the cultural level, ideological and theoretical level, and work ability of rural Party branches and peasant Party members, gradually improved the cultural backwardness of the countryside, and strengthened the Party’s strength in the countryside and its leadership over the peasants.

党的基层组织建设包括政治建设、思想建设、组织建设、纪律建设等各个方面，但不同时期受党的中心任务的影响，基层组织建设的核心内容会有所改变，从而使基层组织在实践中更好发挥作用。新经济政策时期，列宁从布尔什维克党的中心任务出发，规定了工厂、城市、农村党支部建设的核心内容。首先，充实工厂党支部的力量。受国内战争的影响，工人数量损失严重，发生了“失去阶级性”的现象，工厂党支部面临“蜕化”“涣散”“空转”等危险。随着国内战争结束、经济建设时期到来，列宁强调：“党的工作重心应当转到工人方面，改变大工厂、大工厂区等地区党支部的党员人数极少的状况。中央委员会和各省委员会应当把机关及其他部门中的大批共产党员调回工厂。在把党员调往企业部门时，必须注意不要追求从事生产的党员的数量，而要提高工厂党支部的质量”。其次，党支部要“积极参加国家的经济生活和政治生活”。实行新经济政策、推行粮食税，给苏维埃俄国带来新变化，许多人对此不甚理解。为了争取群众的理解和支持，为了通过新经济政策实现向社会主义的过渡，列宁要求“每个党员必须更多地置身于非党群众之中……应当在农民中多做工作，向他们宣传实行粮食税的意义”。在城市，党支部要“通过自己的党员积极参加工厂委员会、职员执行委员会、经济监督委员会等机构的选举和工作，并注意使这些机构以俄国共产党的精神进行工作”。最后，以城市党支部带动农村党支部，推动文化建设。为了把小农经济占主体的俄国通过合作制发展到社会主义，必须加强对农民的教育，巩固工农联盟。列宁要求把党在城市的基层组织和农村的基层组织结合起来，“把所有的城市支部都‘分配’给各农村支部，使每一个‘分配’给相应的农村支部的工人支部经常注意利用一切机会、一切场合，来满足自己的兄弟支部的各种文化需求”。这一做法有效地提升了农村党支部和农民党员的文化水平、思想理论水平和工作能力，逐步改善了农村的文化落后状况，增强了党在农村的力量和对农民的领导。

(3) The Party’s Central Task Determines the Focal Point of the Construction of the Party’s Grassroots Organizations

(三)党的中心任务决定党的基层组织建设的着力点

The implementation and completion of the Party’s central task determines the work focus and focal point of the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations. During the period of revolutionary struggle, seizing political power had to be placed first in the construction of grassroots organizations; when “the socialist fatherland is in danger,” “everything for the front” had to be placed first in the construction of grassroots organizations; during the period of implementing the New Economic Policy, consolidating and strengthening the Party’s organization and turning the Russia of the New Economic Policy into a socialist Russia had to be made the focus of grassroots organization construction. After the October Revolution, Lenin, proceeding from the Party’s central work, put forward specific requirements for the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations. First, actively fulfill the responsibility of recruiting Party members and strengthen the forces of Party branches. In response to the situation during the civil war where the number of Party members could not meet demand, Lenin suggested recruiting Party members from among the advanced and class-conscious masses to strengthen the forces of the Party organization. Through the active work of the Party’s grassroots organizations, over 200,000 advanced workers and peasants joined the Party, and tens of thousands of Party members were dispatched to the forefront of the war. [49]49 See *History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks): Short Course*, People’s Publishing House, 1975 edition, p. 260. Second, maintain close ties with the masses and enhance the influence of Party branches. Lenin made “expanding our influence over the worker masses” [50]50 Lenin, “Report on the Party Program,” *Collected Works of Lenin*, 2nd ed., vol. 36, p. 163. the focus of grassroots organization construction, demanding that organizations at all levels and Party members actively maintain close ties with the masses, safeguard the interests of the poor peasants, consolidate the worker-peasant alliance, and enhance the influence and trustworthiness of Party branches. Finally, concentrate efforts on building strong Red Army Party branches and doing a good job of propaganda and ideological work. The Red Army was the proletarian army created by the Bolshevik Party and the solid cornerstone of Soviet power. Establishing grassroots organizations in the Red Army was an important guarantee for strengthening the Party’s leadership over the army and improving the army’s political quality and combat effectiveness. According to statistics, “at that time, among the total number of personnel in the country’s land and naval forces, there were 300,000 Communists, a figure accounting for half of the Party’s total membership; one out of every five Red Army soldiers was a Communist; and 50,000 Communists sacrificed their lives in the civil war.” [51]51 *History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks): Short Course*, People’s Publishing House, 1975 edition, p. 261. Because the newly born Soviet power “had an army and established discipline through the Party branches of each regiment,” [52]52 Lenin, “Report on the Work of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars,” *Collected Works of Lenin*, 2nd ed., vol. 37, p. 383. and “relied on branches, workers, and political commissars” [53]53 Lenin, “Speech at the Third All-Russian Congress of Councils of the National Economy,” *Collected Works of Lenin*, 2nd ed., vol. 36, p. 386. to maintain the discipline of the Party and the army, the combat effectiveness of the army was greatly enhanced.

落实和完成党的中心任务决定了党的基层组织建设的工作重点和着力点。革命斗争时期要把夺取政权放在基层组织建设的首位，“社会主义祖国在危急中”要把“一切为了前线”放在基层组织建设的首位，在推行新经济政策时期则要把巩固和壮大党的组织、把新经济政策的俄国变成社会主义的俄国作为基层组织建设的重点。十月革命后，列宁从党的中心工作出发，对党的基层组织建设提出了具体要求。首先，积极履行吸收党员的责任，壮大党支部的力量。针对国内战争时期党员数量难以满足需求的情况，列宁建议从先进的有觉悟的群众中吸收党员，壮大党组织的力量。在党的基层组织的积极工作下，有20多万先进的工农分子入党，成千上万名党员开赴战争最前线。其次，密切联系群众，提升党支部影响力。列宁把“扩大我们对工人群众的影响”作为基层组织建设的重点，要求各级组织和党员主动密切联系群众，维护好贫农的利益，巩固工农联盟，提高党支部的影响力和信赖度。最后，集中力量建强红军党支部，做好宣传思想工作。红军是布尔什维克党创建的无产阶级军队，是苏维埃政权的坚固基石。在红军中建立基层组织是加强党对军队的领导，提高军队政治素质和战斗力的重要保证。据统计，“当时在全国陆海军总人数中共产党员30万人，这个数字占到全国党员人数的一半，每5个红军战士中就有一个是共产党员，有5万名共产党员牺牲在国内战争之中”。由于新生的苏维埃政权“有了军队并且由每个团的党支部建立了纪律”,并“靠支部、工人和政治委员来维持”党和军队的纪律，极大地提高了军队的战斗力。

6. Conclusion

六、结语

The Communist Party of China is a proletarian party established in accordance with the principles of Marxism-Leninism. It has inherited and developed the fine traditions and successful practices of grassroots organization construction in the proletarian party, and has carried out innovation and creation in light of China’s actual conditions, integrating them into the great project of Party building, the new great project of Party building, and the great new project of Party building in the New Era, thereby forming the scientific theory and successful practice of grassroots organization construction in the Communist Party of China. Xi Jinping has pointed out: “All levels must attach importance to the grassroots, care for the grassroots, and support the grassroots, increase investment, strengthen the building of the leading cadre contingent, and ensure that grassroots Party organizations have the resources and the ability to serve the masses.” [54]54 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Conference on Organizational Work” (July 3, 2013), in *Selected Readings of Xi Jinping’s Important Works*, Vol. 1, p. 85. [Note: This is a standard citation format; the original Chinese text is a direct quotation from Xi Jinping.] First, we must attach great importance to the important position of the Party’s grassroots organizations in both theory and practice, and deeply understand the principle that “grassroots Party organizations are the foundation of the Party’s ruling edifice; if the foundation is solid, the edifice is firm; if the foundation is loose, the edifice will collapse.” [55]55 Xi Jinping Second, we must place the political construction and ideological-theoretical construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations in a prominent position, strive to raise the ideological and theoretical level of grassroots organizations and all Party members, and continuously enhance the political judgment, political comprehension, and political execution ability of Party cadres. Third, we must improve the system of the Party’s grassroots organizations, and resolutely prevent the occurrence of phenomena such as “some grassroots Party organizations being weak, lax, and even paralyzed, and some grassroots Party organizations existing in name only.” [56] Fourth, we must take the rectification of conduct, the enforcement of discipline, and the fight against corruption as important levers for the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations in the New Era, “using fine conduct as a guide, using strict discipline as a guarantee, and using the punishment of corruption to remove obstacles, promoting the Party’s self-revolution in a linked and progressive manner.” [57] Fifth, we must adhere to the principle that the construction of the Party’s grassroots organizations serves the Party’s central work, further extend comprehensive and strict governance of the Party to the grassroots level, and educate and guide grassroots organizations and the broad masses of Party members to make contributions in the great cause of building a strong country and rejuvenating the nation.

中国共产党是按照马克思列宁主义原则建立起来的无产阶级政党，继承和发展了无产阶级政党基层组织建设的优良传统和成功做法，并结合中国实际进行创新创造，融入党的建设伟大工程、党的建设新的伟大工程、新时代党的建设新的伟大工程，形成了中国共产党基层组织建设的科学理论和成功实践。习近平指出：“各级都要重视基层、关心基层、支持基层，加大投入力度，加强带头人队伍建设，确保基层党组织有资源、有能力为群众服务。”一是要从理论和实践上高度重视党的基层组织的重要地位，深刻认识“基层党组织是党执政大厦的地基，地基固则大厦坚，地基松则大厦倾”的道理。二是要把党的基层组织的政治建设和思想理论建设放在突出地位，努力提高基层组织和全体党员的思想理论水平，不断提高党员干部的政治判断力、政治领悟力、政治执行力。三是完善党的基层组织体系，坚决防止“一些基层党组织软弱涣散甚至瘫痪，一些基层党组织形同虚设”现象的发生。四是把正风肃纪反腐作为新时代党的基层组织建设的重要抓手，“以优良作风作引领，以严明纪律强保障，以反腐惩恶清障碍，推动党的自我革命环环相扣、层层递进”。五是坚持党的基层组织建设服务党的中心工作，将全面从严治党进一步向基层传导，教育引导基层组织和广大党员在强国建设、民族复兴伟业中建功立业。