Peter Kropotkin
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PETER KROPOTKIN READER ON HISTORY P RINCIPLES, PROPOSITIONS & D ISCUSSIONS FOR L AND & FREEDOM AN INTRODUCTORY WORD TO THE ANARCHIVE Anarchy is Order! I must Create a System or be enslav d by another Man s. I will not Reason & Compare: my business is to Create (William Blake) During the 19th century, anarchism has develloped as a result of a social current which aims for freedom and happiness. A number of factors since World War I have made this movement, and its ideas, dissapear little by little under the dust of history. After the classical anarchism of which the Spanish Revolution was one of the last representatives a new kind of resistance was founded in the sixties which claimed to be based (at least partly) on this anarchism. However this resistance is often limited to a few (and even then partly misunderstood) slogans such as Anarchy is order , Property is theft ,... Information about anarchism is often hard to come by, monopolised and intellectual; and therefore visibly disapearing.The anarchive or anarchist archive Anarchy is Order ( in short A.O) is an attempt to make the principles, propositions and discussions of this tradition available again for anyone it concerns. We believe that these texts are part of our own heritage. They don t belong to publishers, institutes or specialists. These texts thus have to be available for all anarchists an other people interested. That is one of the conditions to give anarchism a new impulse, to let the new 2 anarchism outgrow the slogans. This is what makes this project relevant for us: we must find our roots to be able to renew ourselves. We have to learn from the mistakes of our socialist past. History has shown that a large number of the anarchist ideas remain standing, even during the most recent social-economic developments. Anarchy Is Order does not make profits, everything is spread at the price of printing- and papercosts. This of course creates some limitations for these archives. Everyone is invited to spread along the information we give . This can be done by copying our leaflets, printing from the CD that is available or copying it, e-mailing the texts ,...Become your own anarchive!!! (Be aware though of copyright restrictions. We also want to make sure that the anarchist or non-commercial printers, publishers and autors are not being harmed. Our priority on the other hand remains to spread the ideas, not the ownership of them.) The anarchive offers these texts hoping that values like freedom, solidarity and direct action get a new meaning and will be lived again; so that the struggle continues against the demons of flesh and blood, that sway scepters down here; and the dirty microbes that send us dark diseases and wish to squash us like horseflies; and the will- o-the-wisp of the saddest ignorance . (L-P. Boon) 3 The rest depends as much on you as it depends on us. Don t mourn, Organise! Comments, questions, criticism,cooperation can be send to [email protected] A complete list and updates are available on this address, new texts are always welcome!! 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS An introductory word to the anarchive ................. 2 Chronology of Peter Kropotkins life............................... 7 The Commune of Paris (1880).................................. 32 I. THE PLACE OF THE COMMUNE IN SOCIALIST EVOLUTION .................................. 32 II. HOW THE COMMUNE FAILED TO REALIZE ITS TRUE AIM AND YET SET THAT AIM BEFORE THE WORLD .............................. 39 III. THE TEACHINGS OF THE COMMUNE IN MODERN SOCIALISM....................................... 43 The state its historic role (1897) ................................ 49 Translator's Notes.................................................. 49 Section I ................................................................ 55 Section II ............................................................... 60 Section III..............................................................67 Section IV ............................................................. 77 Section V............................................................... 84 Section VI ............................................................. 89 Section VII ............................................................98 Section VIII......................................................... 105 Section IX ........................................................... 113 Section IX ........................................................... 113 Section X............................................................. 122 On the Assassination of Alexander II(1908)............... 129 The Terror in Russia.(1909)........................................ 132 INTRODUCTION .............................................. 132 PART I ................................................................ 141 CHAPTER I THE PRISONS.............................. 141 CHAPTER II SUICIDES IN THE PRISONS .... 170 CHAPTER III EXECUTIONS ........................... 176 CHAPTER IV THE EXILES.............................. 185 CHAPTER V EVIDENCE LAID BEFORE THE FIRST AND SECOND DUMA ON COURTS 5 MARTIAL, EXECUTIONS, AND THE OVERCROWDING OF PRISONS1.................. 195 PART II .............................................................. 210 CHAPTER VI PROVOCATION TO VIOLENCE AND THE PARTICIPATION OF POLICE OFFICIALS IN CRIME ..................................... 210 CHAPTER VII THE UNION OF RUSSIAN MEN ............................................................................ 218 CHAPTER VIII REPRESSION ......................... 225 CHAPTER IX DRASTIC MEASURES FOR THE RECOVERY OF ARREARS OF TAXES IN FAMINE-STRICKEN PROVINCES................. 229 CONCLUSION................................................... 235 On the 1905 Revolution (1914) .................................. 237 Kropotkins Bibliography ............................................ 256 KROPOTKIN'S WORKS AND ANTHOLOGIES ............................................................................ 256 ABOUT KROPOTKIN ...................................... 268 6 CHRONOLOGY OF PETER KROPOTKIN'S LIFE BIBLIOGRAPHY 1842: Peter Kropotkin is born on December 9 to Aleksei Petrovich Kropotkin and Yekaterina Nikolaevna Sulima. Aleksei was a relatively wealthy army officer and came from a noble lineage (Peter was in fact a prince). Although he maintained strict military discipline at home, Aleksei's military career was not terribly successful. Aleksi met Yekaterina during a military campaign in 1831. The couple had four children: Nikolai (1834), Yelena (1835), Alexander (1841), and Peter (1842). Yekaterina, the daughter of a Cossack army officer, was an artistically gifted person who enjoyed reading, writing and painting. Peter remained close to Alexander and Yelena throughout his life. 1846: Peter's mother died of consumption. This left Peter and his siblings care to their rather strict father. While both Peter and Alexander were too young to remember many experiences with their mother they both felt a strong feeling of devotion to her throughout their lives. 1848: Peter's father married (at the request of his commanding officer) Yelizaveta Mar'kovna Korandino. Yelizaveta caused a great deal of tension in the house. An aggressive, domineering woman, she attempted to erase all traces of the children's departed mother rather than offering them comfort. These actions caused further resentment between the children and their father. 7 1853: Nikolai leaves the family home for military service in the Crimean War. He left just before Peter began to become impressionable. As a result, he did not have a tremendous amount of impact on Peter's life. According to Peter, he left at the first opportunity available because, of all the children, he had the worst relationship with their father. Even after he won the Cross of St. George for Bravery, and was subsequently promoted to officer, he was unable to win the favor of their father. After the war, he developed a drinking problem, which eventually led to his removal from military service and installation in a monastery. In 1864 he escaped and was never heard from again. 1856: Alexander left home to live at the Moscow Cadet Corps. Peter and Alexander had spent a great deal of their early lives together. The void that Alexander's absence created was filled by Nikolai Pavlovich Smirnov, Peter's Russian tutor. While Peter had other tutors, he and Smirnov were able to forge a friendship. Much of Peter's early intellectual development was inspired by Smirnov. Around this time Peter also entered the First Moscow Gymnasium. He was not terribly impressed with the school, feeling that "all the subjects were taught in the most senseless manner." Part of the problem was that this was Peter's first exposure to a group learning experience. Despite his dislike for the school, he managed to receive an excellent grade in geometry and found pleasure in history and geography. 1857: In August of 1857, Peter began a new phase in his life when he entered the Corps of Pages. Perhaps because of 8 his resentment towards his father Peter openly rebelled against the various forms of authority at the Corps. Due to a difference in interests, Peter also found it extremely difficult to relate to his classmates. Rather than merge with the group, Peter spent his time reading books, writing letters and publishing a journal. During this time, Peter and Alexander grew very close through their written correspondence. 1858: Peter's writings suggest that at this time he became intensely interested in the fields of political economy and statistics.