Library.Anarhija.Net An Anarchist FAQ (15/17) The Anarchist FAQ Editorial Collective The Anarchist FAQ Editorial Collective An Anarchist FAQ (15/17) June 18, 2009. Version 13.1 Copyright (C) 1995–2009 The Anarchist FAQ Editorial Collective: Iain McKay, Gary Elkin, Dave Neal, Ed Boraas Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation, and/or the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2.0 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. See the Licenses page at www.gnu.org for more details. lib.anarhija.net June 18, 2009. Version 13.1 able form of revolutionary ideas and can be applied successfully in extremely difficult circumstances. They show that social revolu- tions need not consist of changing one set of bosses for another. The Makhnovist movement clearly shows that libertarian ideas can Contents be successfully applied in a revolutionary situation. Appendix: The Russian Revolution 6 What happened during the Russian Revolution? 8 1 Can you give a short summary of what happened in 1917? 18 2 How did the Bolsheviks gain mass support? . 18 3 Surely the Russian Revolution proves that vanguard parties work? ..................... 18 4 Was Lenin’s “State and Revolution” applied after October? 36 5 Did the Bolsheviks really aim for Soviet power? . 53 6 What happened to the soviets after October? . 63 7 How did the factory committee movement develop? . 89 8 What was the Bolshevik position on “workers’ control” in 1917? ......................... 89 9 What happened to the factory committees after October? 89 10 What were the Bolshevik economic policies in 1918? . 89 11 Did Bolshevik economic policies work? . 89 12 Was there an alternative to Lenin’s “state capitalism” and “war communism”? . 89 13 Did the Bolsheviks allow independent trade unions? . 89 14 Was the Red Army really a revolutionary army? . 89 15 Was the Red Army “filled with socialist consciousness”? 89 16 How did the civil war start and develop? . 89 17 Was the civil war between just Reds and Whites? . 89 18 How extensive was imperialist intervention? . 89 19 Did the end of the civil war change Bolshevik policies? 89 20 Can the Red Terror and the Cheka be justified? . 89 2 687 viks, who continually placed maintaining their own power above 21 Did Bolshevik peasant policies work? . 89 the needs of the revolution. The anarchists were simply used as can- 22 Was there an alternative to grain requisition? . 89 non fodder against the Whites and once their utility had ended, the 23 Was the repression of the socialist opposition justified? 89 Bolsheviks turned their guns on them. 24 What did the anarchists do during the revolution? . 89 Thus a lesson to be learned is that co-operation between anar- 25 Did the Russian revolution refute anarchism? . 89 chists and Bolsheviks is fraught with danger. As many activists are aware, modern-day supporters of Bolshevism constantly urge ev- What was the Kronstadt Rebellion? 90 eryone to unite “against the common enemy” and not to be “sec- 1 Why is the Kronstadt rebellion important? . 100 tarian” (although, somehow this appeal to non-sectarianism does 2 What was the context of the Kronstadt revolt? . 107 not stop them printing lying accounts of anarchism!). The Makhno- 3 What was the Kronstadt Programme? . 118 vists took them at their word in early 1919 and soon found out 4 Did the Kronstadt rebellion reflect “the exasperation of that “unity” meant “follow our orders.” When the Makhnovists con- the peasantry”? . 125 tinued to apply their ideas of working-class self-management, the 5 What lies did the Bolsheviks spread about Kronstadt? . 136 Bolsheviks turned on them. Similarly, in early 1920 the Bolsheviks 6 Was the Kronstadt revolt a White plot? . 143 outlawed the Makhnovists in order to break their influence in the 7 What was the real relationship of Kronstadt to the Ukraine. The Makhnovist contribution to the defeat of Denikin (the Whites? . 150 common enemy) was ignored. Lastly, in mid-1920 the Makhnovists 8 Did the rebellion involve new sailors? . 159 placed the need of the revolution first and suggested an alliance to 9 Was Kronstadt different politically? . 179 defeat the common enemy of Wrangel. Once Wrangel had been de- 10 Why did the Petrograd workers not support Kronstadt? 188 feated, the Bolsheviks ripped up the agreement they had signed and, 11 Were the Whites a threat during the Kronstadt revolt? 198 yet again, turned on the Makhnovists. Simply put, the Bolsheviks 12 Was the country too exhausted to allow soviet democ- continually placed their own interests before that of the revolution racy? . 203 and their allies. This is to be expected from an ideology based on 13 Was there a real alternative to Kronstadt’s “third revo- vanguardism (see section H.5 for further discussion). lution”? . 219 This does not mean that anarchists and Leninists should not work 14 How do modern day Trotskyists misrepresent Kronstadt? 230 together. In some circumstances and in some social movements, 15 What does Kronstadt tell us about Bolshevism? . 238 this may be essential. However, it would be wise to learn from history and not ignore it and, as such, modern activists should be What caused the degeneration of the Russian Revolution? 257 wary when conducting such co-operation. Ultimately, for Leninists, 1 Do anarchists ignore the objective factors facing the social movements are simply a means to their end (the seizing of Russian revolution? . 267 state power by them on behalf of the working class) and anarchists 2 Can “objective factors” really explain the failure of Bol- should never forget it. shevism? . 278 Thus the lessons of the Makhnovist movement are exceedingly 3 Can the civil war explain the failure of Bolshevism? . 290 rich. Simply put, the Makhnovshchina show that anarchism is a vi- 686 3 4 Did economic collapse and isolation destroy the revo- Cit., p. 571] If there had been a workers’ movement influenced lution? . 301 by anarchist or syndicalist ideas within the Ukrainian towns dur- 5 Was the Russian working class atomised or “declassed”? 312 ing the Russian Revolution, the possibilities of constructive work 6 Did the Bolsheviks blame “objective factors” for their would have been increased immensely. Take the example of when actions? . 345 the Makhnovists liberated Aleksandrovsk and organised two work- ers’ conferences. It was only at the insurgents’ insistence that the How did Bolshevik ideology contribute to the failure of the unions agreed to send delegates, but for information only. This Revolution? 356 was undoubtedly due to the fact that Mensheviks had some influ- 1 How did the Marxist historical materialism affect Bol- ence in the unions and Bolshevik influence was increasing. Both shevism? . 366 parties may have preferred the Makhnovists to the Whites, but 2 Why did the Marxist theory of the state undermine neither accepted anarchist ideas of workers’ self-management and working class power? . 370 so constructive work was limited to the railway workers. In con- 3 How did Engels’ essay “On Authority” affect the revo- trast, when Katerinoslav was liberated, the bakers set themselves lution? . 383 to preparing the socialisation of their industry and drawing up 4 How did the Bolshevik vision of “democracy” affect the plans to feed both the army and the civilian population. Unsurpris- revolution? . 395 ingly, the bakers had long been under anarcho-syndicalist influence. 5 What was the effect of the Bolshevik vision of “socialism”? 405 [Malet, Op. Cit., p. 123 and p. 124] 6 How did Bolshevik preference for nationalisation affect As the Makhnovists themselves realised, their movement had the revolution? . 413 to be complemented by urban working-class self-activity and self- 7 How did Bolshevik preference for centralism affect the organisations. While they did all they could to encourage it, they revolution? . 422 lacked a base within the workers’ movement and so their ideas had 8 How did the aim for party power undermine the revo- to overcome the twin barriers of workers’ unfamiliarity with both lution? . 443 them and their ideas and Marxist influence. With a strong working- class movement influenced by anarchist ideas, the possibilities for Were any of the Bolshevik oppositions a real alternative? 457 constructive work between city and village would have been helped 1 Were the “Left Communists” of 1918 an alternative? . 458 immensely (this can be seen from the example of the Spanish Revo- 2 What were the limitations of the “Workers’ Opposition” lution of 1936, where rural and urban collectives and unions made of 1920? . 464 direct links with each other). 3 What about Trotsky’s “Left Opposition” in the 1920s? . 471 Lastly, there is the lesson to be gained from Makhnovist co- 4 What do these oppositions tell us about the essence of operation with the Bolsheviks. Simply put, the experience shows Leninism? . 487 the importance of being wary towards Bolshevism. As Voline put it, another disadvantage of the Makhnovists was a “certain casual- ness, a lack of necessary distrust, towards the Communists.” [Op. Cit., p. 571] The Makhnovists were betrayed three times by the Bolshe- 4 685 stances, the anarchists were at a disadvantage compared to the Bol- Why does the Makhnovist movement show there is an al- sheviks, Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, who had been ternative to Bolshevism? 499 organised far longer and so had more influence within the urban 1 Who was Nestor Makhno? . 505 workers. 2 Why was the movement named after Makhno? . 515 While many anarchists did participate effectively and organisa- 3 Why was Makhno called “Batko”? . 518 tionally within many areas of Russia and the Ukraine (gaining in- 4 Can you give a short overview of the Makhnovist move- fluence in Moscow and Petrograd, for example), they were much ment? .