| January 2 (15) | Lenin directs the sitting of the Zimmerwald Left Bureau to discuss the representation of the Dutch Left-wing Social-Democrats on the Bureau, and the publication of Vorbote (Herald) as the organ of the Zimmerwald Left. |
| January 12 (25) | Lenin directs the sitting of the Zimmerwald Left Bureau to discuss measures in connection with the forthcoming publication of the first issue of Vorbote. |
| January, later than 12 (25) | Lenin’s article “Opportunism and the Collapse of the Second International” is published in Vorbote No. 1. |
| January 17 (30) | Lenin writes a letter of instructions to the Zurich section of the Bolsheviks about the work to be done among young people in view of the forthcoming meeting of the International Socialist Bureau of Youth Organisations. |
| January 23-26 (February 5-8) | Lenin takes part in the work of the enlarged meeting of the I.S.C. in Berne, writes the draft resolution on the convocation of the Second International Socialist Conference and the terms of representation. |
| January 26 (February 8) | Lenin speaks at an international meeting in Berne on the imperialist war and the tasks facing the proletariat. |
| January 28 (February 10) | Lenin writes the letter, “The Tasks of the Opposition in France’. |
| January 28 or 29 (February 10 or 11) | Lenin leaves Berne for Zurich. |
| January-February | Lenin writes his theses, “The Socialist Revolution and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination”, which are published in Vorbote No. 2, in April 1916. |
| February 3 (16) | Lenin sends the Bolshevik sections abroad a communication on the enlarged meeting of the I.S.C. held on January 23-26 (February 5-8); he instructs them to start immediate preparations to mobilise the forces of the Zimmerwald Left for the elections to the Second International Socialist Conference scheduled for April. |
| February 4 (17) | In Zurich, Lenin reads his paper, “Two Internationals”. |
| February 5 (18) | Lenin’s article, “Have the O.C. and the Chkheidze Group a Policy of Their Own?”, is published in Sotsial-Demokrat No. 50. |
| February 13 (26) | In Zurich, Lenin reads his paper, “The ‘Terms of Peace’ in Connection with the National Question”. |
| February 16 (29) | Lenin’s articles, “Peace Without Annexations and the Independence of Poland as Slogans of the Day in Russia”, and “Wilhelm Kolb and Georgy Plekhanov”, are carried in Sotsial-Demokrat No. 51. |
| February 17 (March 1) | In Geneva, Lenin reads his paper, “The ‘Terms of Peace’ in Connection with the National Question”. |
| February 27 (March 11) | Lenin issues instructions to stop publication of Kommunist in view of the anti-Party position of the Bukharin-Pyatakov group, who tried to use the journal for their own factional ends, and plans the publication of Sbornik Sotsial-Demokrata, under the editorship of the R.S.D.L.P. Central Organ, Sotsial-Demokrat. |
| February-March | Lenin writes his “Letter from the Committee of Organisations Abroad to the Sections of the R.S.D.L.P.” |
| End of February-March | Lenin writes the “Proposals Submitted by the Central Committee of the R.S.D.L.P. to the Second Socialist Conference” (theses), has them translated into German and French and circulates them among the Bolshevik sections abroad and the Left-wing internationalists of various countries. The theses are published in the I.S.C. Bulletin No. 4, on April 9 (22). |
| End of February-April | Lenin writes his article “Split or Decay?”. |
| March 6 (19) |
In a letter to A. M. Kollontai in Norway, Lenin asks her to have Internationale Flugblatt No. 1, carrying the draft resolution and manifesto of the Zimmerwald Left, translated into English and published in Norway, and to take measures to circulate it in America, Britain, Sweden, Norway and other countries. Lenin sends his theses, “The Socialist Revolution and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination”, to Norway to allow Swedish and Norwegian Left-wing socialists to study them. |
| March 12 (25) | Lenin’s article, “The Peace Programme”, is carried by Sotsial-Demokrat No. 52. |
| March-June | In his works and letters to Bolsheviks abroad, Lenin exposes the anti-Party views of the Bukharin-Pyatakov group on the key questions of Marxist theory and tactics, and their double-dealing in respect of the Party centre. He also exposes the double-dealing of Zinoviev, who in fact supports the Bukharin-Pyatakov group. |
| April 5 (18) | Lenin delivers his report, “The Immediate Tasks of the Social-Democrats in Russia”, at a joint meeting of the Zurich section of the Bolsheviks with Polish and Latvian Social-Democrat internationalists. |
| April 11-17 (24-30) | Lenin takes part in the work of the Second International Socialist Conference in Kienthal, organises and rallies its Left, directs the commission on resolutions (criticising the pacifism and activity of the I.S.B.) and secures their adoption. |
| April, not earlier than 16 (29) | Lenin makes an outline of an article or report on the results of the Second International Socialist Conference. |
| May 20 (June 2) | In Geneva, Lenin reads his paper, “Two Trends in the International Working-Class Movement”. |
| May 31 (June 13) | Lenin’s article, “German and Non-German Chauvinism”, is printed in Voprosy Strakhovania No. 5 (54). |
| May-July | In letters to Left-wing Social-Democrat internationalists in the Scandinavian countries, Lenin gives directives on preparations for a conference of socialists of the neutral countries and defines the tactics of the Left-wing delegates. |
| June 19 (July 2) | Lenin completes his work on Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, and mails the manuscript to the Parus Publishers. |
| Between July 4 and 7 (17 and 20) | Lenin goes to live at Flums, a mountain village near Zurich. |
| July 12 (25) | Lenin’s mother, M. A. Ulyanova, dies in Petrograd. |
| First half of July | Lenin writes his articles, “The Junius Pamphlet”, and “The Discussion on Self-Determination Summed Up”. Both are published in Sbornik Sotsial-Demokrata No. 1 in October 1916. |
| End of August-beginning of September | Lenin returns to Zurich from Flums. |
| August-September | Lenin writes “The Nascent Trend of Imperialist Economism” and “Reply to P. Kievsky (Y. Pyatakov)”. |
| August-October | Lenin writes “A Caricature of Marxism and Imperialist Economism”. |
| September 17 (30) | Lenin attends a conference of the International Socialist Committee in Berne. |
| September | Lenin writes “The Military Programme of the Proletarian Revolution”, published in Jugend-Internationale Nos. 9 and 10, 1917. |
| First half of October | Lenin writes a message of greetings from the R.S.D.L.P. Central Committee to the Italian Socialist Party Congress in Zurich. The message is read at the Congress session of October 2 (15). |
| October | Lenin writes “The ‘Disarmament’ Slogan” and “Imperialism and the Split in Socialism”, both of which appear in Sbornik Sotsial-Demokrata No. 2, December 1916. |
| October 21 and 22 (November 3 and 4) | Lenin attends meetings of Left delegates to the Swiss Social-Democratic Party Congress and shares in drafting the Congress resolution on the attitude towards Kienthal. |
| October 22 (November 4) | Lenin addresses the Swiss Social-Democratic Party Congress in Zurich on behalf of the R.S.D.L.P. Central Committee. |
| October 24 (November 6) | Lenin’s articles “A Separate Peace” and “Ten ‘Socialist’ Ministers!” are published in Sotsial-Demokrat No. 56. |
| October | Publication of Sbornik Sotsial-Demokrata No. 1, with Lenin’s articles “The Discussion on Self-Determination Summed Up”, “The Junius Pamphlet” and the theses “The Socialist Revolution and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination”. |
| End of October-beginning of November | Lenin writes the theses “Tasks of the Left Zimmerwaldists in the Swiss Social-Democratic Party” and arranges for their circulation and translation into French. The French translation was published as a separate pamphlet in 1918. |
| November 7 (20) | Lenin discusses these theses with a group of Left Zimmerwaldists. |
| November 17 (30) | Second discussion of the theses and of the Swiss Social-Democratic Party’s attitude towards the war with a group of Left Zimmerwald supporters. |
| November 1916-February 1917 |
In Letters to Inessa Armand, Lenin substantiates and amplifies the principal Marxist propositions on the war and fatherland defence. Lenin trenchantly criticises the views and factional activity of the Pyatakov-Bosh-Bukharin group, exposes the political intrigue of Radek and Zinoviev’s unprincipled, conciliatory attitude, discloses and criticises the errors and inconsistency of the Left Social-Democrats. |
| Beginning of December | Lenin works on his “Theses on the Attitude of the Swiss Social-Democratic Party Towards the War”. |
| December 19 (January 1, 1917) | Lenin writes “Bourgeois Pacifism and Socialist Pacifism”. |
| Second half of December | Lenin writes “An Open Letter to Boris Souvarine” published, in abridged form, in La Vérité No. 48, January 27, 1918. |
| Before December 25 (January 7, 1917) | Lenin draws up rough draft of “Theses for an Appeal to the International Socialist Committee and All Socialist Parties”. |
| December 26-27 (January 8-9, 1917) | Lenin writes “An Open Letter to Charles Naine, Member of the International Socialist Committee in Berne”. |
| End of December | Lenin writes his appeal “To the Workers Who Support the Struggle Against the War and Against the Socialists Who Have Sided with Their Governments”. |
| December |
Publication of Sbornik Sotsial-Demokrata No 2, with Lenin’s articles “The ‘Disarmament’ Slogan”, “Imperialism and the Split in Socialism”, “The Youth International”, “Efforts To Whitewash Opportunism” and “The Chkheidze Faction and Its Role”. Lenin writes “Principles Involved in the War Issue” and “On the Defence of the Fatherland Issue”. |
| December 1916-February 1917 | Lenin works in the Zurich Library on the Marxist attitude towards the state. His Notes from Marx and Engels, together with his own comments and conclusions, are gathered together under the title “Marxism on the State”. |
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