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Jean Grave; French Intellectual and Anarchist, 1854-1939

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Jean Grave; French Intellectual and Anarchist, 1854-1939 This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 67-2512 PATSOURAS, Louis, 1931- JEAN GRAVE; FRENCH INTELLECTUAL AND ANARCHIST, 1854-1939. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1966 History, modem University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan JEAN GRAVE; FRENCH INTELLECTUAL AND ANARCHIST, 1854-1939 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment oF the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Louis Patsouras, B .A ., A .M . The Ohio State University 1966 Approved by J Adviser Department of History Preface Mankind, at least as far as written history is concerned, has been rather sharply demarcated into certain fixed castes or classes. Rule by elite has been the norm. Because of this thesis, an antithesis has evolved which sees the estab­ lishment of an egalitarian society with freedom for a ll, and without the encumbrance of any elite. As an ideal, this view of society was subscribed to in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries by the socialists, who comprise the principal group for promoting change. The French Revolution of 1789-1799 not only established the hegemony of the bourgeoisie but also helped to create the conditions necessary for the rise of the proletariat as contenders for power. Up to the 1848 Revolutionary Era, socialism was mainly of the Utopian variety of Saint-Simon, Fourier, Proudhon and Owen, among others. Their principal slogan was cooperation between the bourgeoisie and the workers. After 1848, however, socialism became more militant and en­ visaged a society of workers devoid of bourgeois elements. During the 1848-1914 period, revolution (at least in theory) was the dominant strain within socialism in Europe. The two main streams within the revolutionary tradition were those of the Marxists and the anarchists. Both subscribed to the ideas of class struggle between workers and bourgeois, following which the victorious workers would establish a classless society in which the state would cease to exist. There were significant differences between the Marxists and anarchists on how to proceed to utopia. So marked and profound were they that before the nineteenth century was over the ties between the two movements were severed. The bearing of the future on the present was an important factor in the split. The anarchists generally wished to combat the present society in a way whereby the ideals of the future would be fu ll/ applied in challenging the present, whereas the Marxists were much more cautious and saw that many of the present imperfec­ tions had to be kept and only slowly modified. What was involved were differences in the concepts of leadership, organization, the state, revolution, and the nature of industry. While the anarchists were against the leadership principle and large-scale social and industry organization-, equating both with an unjust class society, the Marxists saw-these forms as necessary. Both anarchists and Marxists agreed that the state was undesirable and that as long as it existed social inequality would exist. The Marxists, however, in the short run accepted inequality as inevitable. For them, as long as the industrial process could not produce enough to satisfy all of man's needs (whatever they may be ) human antagonism would exist. As such the superior individual (leader, talented bureaucrat, or inspired artist) would be above the masses. In the long run when production reached an extremely high level, human selfishness would become satisfied, and then and only then would the state disappear and utopia come. Needless to say, the anarchists opposed this Marxist pattern. They argued that it was one where reactionary Darwinian thought was very strong, and saw that behind this reasoning was the imposition of a new master class upon the masses. To obviate this the anarchists urged that the bourgeoisie and the state be swept away by the same revolution. In these differing views the anarchists had a much more optimistic view of the masses than the Marxists did. While the Marxists would give the masses the intelligence to participate in revolution and government but not in leadership,; the anarchists thought them also capable of leadership. Perhaps this was why the Marxists stressed leadership and discipline, while the anarchists stressed spontaneity with respect to the revblution. The problem of industry comes into this general picture. Industry during the nineteenth century was ever evolving towards increasing bigness and bureau­ cratization. Although these conditions developed under capitalistic arrangements, the Marxists saw them as necessary in the expansion of the productive process. The anarchists realized the danger, and their cry was that with the advent of modern science and industry man could consciously for the first time in history shape and form the industrial process to his essential needs of freedom and equality. Anarchist activity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries has not been as extensive as that of social democracy and communism. It has had, nevertheless, considerable influence in the movement for change, particularly from the period between the Paris Commune of 1871 and World War I. The center of anarchism during this period, its area of greatest strength— in a cultural not numerical sense— was France. Here anarchist activity was widespread in the syndicalist movement and in artistic-intellectual life. The nineteenth century in particular was the classic century of anarchist thought. Such intellectual and artistic luminaries as Henry David Thcreau, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Leo Tolstoy, Henrik Ibsen, and William Morris were anarchists. Among anarchist theoreticians arid activists, William Godwin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Michael Bakunin, Peter Kropotkin, Errico Malatesta, and Louise Michel stand out. Jean Grave falls in this grand tradition. N ot only was he a good novelist, but also an intellectual, one of the chief theoreticians of anarchism. Furthermore, most of his life was characterized by a high revolutionary idealism. Among the communist-anarchists, the principal group in anarchism after the Paris Commune, Grave was only second in influence to Kropotkin. The object of this study is to present the life and work of Grave and to tie it in with the principal events, currents, and theories of anarchism. Particular attention will be given to the period from the Paris Commune to the eve of World War I when both anarchism and Graye were in their vigor of youth and maturity. Grave, theoretician, journalist-propagandist, artist, idealist, aspired to change the present. He and his comrades refused viable compromise and pursued as long as possible the goals of immediate revolution and utopia. The tragedy of Grave and anarchism was that they would not deviate from their intellectual purity. This explained their great vitality but also paradoxically their ultimate disappointment and failure. It seemed, indeed, amazing that a movement of under ten thousand members had so much influence on society; their intense feelings and beliefs necessarily impelled them into ceaseless activity. Lacking strong roots in the working class, however, which were not possible without some compromise of ideals, anarchism failed to become a mass movement, and sank to the status of a mere sect. I would like to thank the following people for aiding me in various ways concerning this work: Professor Harvey Goldberg for suggesting its possibility, Professor Jean Maitron for advising its feasibility; Monsieur Leon Ancely for our many conversations on anarchism and literature; Madame Paul Delesalle, ever indomitable and charming, who gave many hours recounting many details on Grave; M ile. Colette Chambelland of Le Musee Social, Mme. Fauvel-Rouiff of L'lnstitut Francois d'Histoire Social, Miss M . Hunik, of the International Institute for Social History at Amsterdam were most cooperative; Professor Henry Whitney for encouragement and to my advisers, Professor Peter Larmour and Professor Sydney Fisher. Dedicated to my parents, William and Helen Patsouras; grandparents, Theofanis and Irene Stratoudakis and Louis and Mary Patsouras; Leon Ancely; and to all those who have fought oppression and have hoped for a better mankind. VITA May 5, 1931 ................. Bom - Steubenville, Ohio 1953 .............................. B .A ., Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 1959 .............................. M .A ., Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 1961-1963 ................. Graduate Assistant, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1963-1966 ................. Instructor, History, Kent State University Academic Branches: Canton, Tuscarawas, and East Liverpool, Ohio. PAPERS M .A . Thesis: "Leon Blum and French Socialism; The Early Years through the Dissolution of the Popular Front in 1938." Ph.D. Dissertation: "Jean Grave: French Intellectual and Anarchist, 1854-1939." FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History French History. Professor Harvey Goldberg European History. Professor Henry N . Whitney and Professor John C . Rule American History. Robert H . Bremner and Foster Rhea Dulles TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE............................................................................................................................. iii VITA ............................................................................................................................ vii Chaster I. EARLY LIFE AND BEGINNING REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY 1854-1883 1 **• IE REVOLTS' AND LA REVOLTE P E R IO D ................................. 30 III. LES TEMPS NOUVEAUX
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