In the motley kaleidoscope of the Russian multi-party system, a special place belongs to anarchists - supporters of an ideology that rejects the power of man over man and advocates the abolition of all forms of political control of society. The fundamental concepts of this doctrine were formed over a long time, and in the 40s and 50s of the XIX century they began to be traced in the works of A. I. Herzen and the statements of the Petrashevites. Considering that today there are a number of social movements that continue the tradition of the anarchist party, it will be interesting to recreate their history in general terms.
The prince who chose the path of revolution
The ideas of anarchism, formulated in the middle of the 19th century by prominent Western European thinkers P. Zh. Proudhon and M. Stirner, in Russia they became elements of a mass revolutionary movement. They found their followers in the person of such major domestic ideologists as M. A. Bakunin and Prince P. A. Kropotkin, who took the path of political struggle by virtue of his convictions. Their calls for an immediate uprising of the working masses wereenthusiastically received in the circles of the radical intelligentsia.
Despite the fact that the Anarchist Party in Russia was not officially established, its program compiled by Kropotkin was very popular. It provided for the creation of a future society based on "free communes", devoid of central government. In his subsequent works, he developed this idea and proposed the concept of "anarcho-communism". Since the implementation of his ideas required a certain preparation of the population, Kropotkin called for the creation of an anarchist party, the program of which he intended to supplement with further developments, carried out taking into account all the socio-political characteristics of that time.
Rise of the first anarchist groups
In 1900, in Geneva, a group of Russian emigrants created a number of anarchist organizations, and began to publish the newspaper "Bread and Freedom", corresponding to their ideology. In the years leading up to the First Russian Revolution, similar organizations appeared in France, Germany, Bulgaria, and even the United States. Despite the fact that the founding congress was not held and the anarchist party was not formalized, its supporters declared themselves to be a real political force.
New political movement in Russia
In Russia itself, its representatives first appeared in 1903 on the territory of the Grodno province, and for the most part came from among the local Jewish intelligentsia and young students. Very soon they weremore than a dozen groups have been created in such large cities as Odessa, Yekaterinoslav, Bialystok and a number of others.
The initiative of the Grodno anarchists received wide support in society, and during the revolutionary events of 1905-07. there were already about 220 such cells in the country, created in 185 settlements. According to some reports, anarchist organizations in Russia then united about 7 thousand people in their ranks.
Goals and methods of struggle
A year before the start of the First Russian Revolution, a party congress was held in London, which outlined the tasks facing all communist anarchists (as they called themselves, using a term borrowed from the works of Kropotkin). The main goal was the violent destruction of all exploiting classes and the establishment of anarchist communism in the country.
The main method of struggle was declared an armed uprising, and at the same time, the issue of carrying out terrorist acts was transferred to the consideration of their direct executors and did not require additional approvals. In the same place in London, Kropotkin took the initiative to create an anarchist party in Russia. Characteristically, one of the main sources of its financing was the forced expropriation of valuables from “representatives of the exploiting classes.”
In the future, this resulted in massive robberies of banks, post offices, as well as apartments and mansions of we althy citizens. It is known that some anarchists, such asthe famous Nestor Makhno, hiding behind the interests of the party, often committed expropriations for personal enrichment.
Pluralism among anarchists
In terms of the composition of its members, the anarchist party was not homogeneous. With a general ideological orientation, consisting in the denial of all forms of human power over man, it included supporters of the most diverse forms of its implementation. In addition to the anarchist-communists mentioned above, the anarcho-syndicalists, who preached self-government and mutual assistance of militant revolutionary organizations, as well as anarcho-individualists, who advocated the exclusive freedom of the individual in isolation from the collective, also enjoyed wide influence.
The ideological inspirers of the first were prominent public figures of that time: B. N. Krichevsky, V. A. Posse and Ya. I. Kirillevsky, while their opponents were led by L. I. Shestov (Shvartsman), G. I. Chulkov, as well as the popular Russian and Soviet poet S. M. Gorodetsky and a major anarchist politician P. D. Turchaninov, better known under the pseudonym of Leo Cherny.
On the eve of the October coup
The First World War caused a split in the ranks of the anarchists. This was due to the fact that Kropotkin, who was then in exile, and his closest associates demanded its continuation "to the bitter end", while the internationalist anarchist wing, which had gained strength by that time, advocated the immediate signing of a peace treaty. During this period, the total number of the anarchist party, which at the beginning of the 20th century united up to 7 thousand people in its ranks.people, for various reasons, decreased dramatically, and probably barely reached 200 - 300 people.
After the February Revolution, many prominent political figures of Russia returned from exile, including Kropotkin. On his initiative, a confederation was created in Petrograd and Moscow from the remaining anarchist groups, which included 70 people - mostly representatives of radical students. They arranged the publication of the Moscow newspaper "Anarchy" and the St. Petersburg "Burevestnik".
During this period, members of the anarchist party actively advocated a social revolution and the overthrow of the provisional government, which, they said, represented only the interests of the bourgeoisie. After the Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies were created in most large cities, they tried with all their might to include their representatives in their compositions.
The first post-revolutionary years
After the October Revolution, the ranks of anarchists again increased significantly, however, this was largely due to all sorts of extremists who wanted to take advantage of the situation in the country, as well as people from the criminal environment. Suffice it to say that in Moscow alone in the spring of 1918, they arbitrarily seized and plundered at least 25 rich mansions.
In the 20th century, the anarchist party - officially, never established, but always existing "de facto", has undergone many different kinds of troubles. They began shortly after the October armed coup. As it became known later, the leadership of the Chekareceived information that many anarchist groups are in fact conspiratorial cells of the White Guard anti-Bolshevik underground. Whether such information corresponded to reality or not, it is now difficult to say, but in the spring of 1918 the Extraordinary Commission staged a large-scale operation to eliminate them. On the night of April 11-12, several dozen anarchists were killed at the hands of the Chekists, and more than a hundred were arrested.
In the cauldron of political passions
However, thanks to the efforts of Kropotkin and a number of his associates, by the autumn of that year, the activities of the previously created confederation resumed in Moscow and Petrograd, and work began on convening the All-Russian Congress of Anarchists. As many archival documents of that time testify, the Anarchist Party of 1917-1918 was a "boiling cauldron" of political passions. It included supporters of the most diverse ways of further development of Russia. They were united only by the denial of the supreme power, but otherwise they could not come to a common opinion. It is difficult even to imagine all the variety of ideological trends that have arisen among them.
Some prominent representatives of the anarchist movement left a noticeable mark on the history of the Civil War. One of them was the Ukrainian politician Nestor Ivanovich Makhno, who initially supported the Soviet government and fought for it at the head of the partisan detachment he created. But later he changed his position, and after the armed formations under his control began to fight food detachments and committees created in the villagespoor, he came into conflict with the Bolsheviks and became their implacable enemy.
The final defeat of the Russian anarchists
In January 1919, a major terrorist act took place in Moscow: a bomb was thrown into the premises of the RCP (b) committee, from the explosion of which 12 people died, and many of those present were injured. During the investigation, it was possible to establish the involvement of members of the anarchist party in Russia in the incident.
This gave impetus to the start of harsh repressive measures. Very many of the anarchists ended up behind bars, and even at the funeral of their ideological leader - Kropotkin, who died in February 1921, were released by the authorities on parole. By the way, after the end of the mourning ceremony, every single one of them voluntarily returned to the cells.
The next convenient pretext for the total destruction of the anarchist movement was the participation of a number of its members in the Kronstadt rebellion. This was followed by a continuous streak of arrests, executions and forced deportations abroad of dozens, and later hundreds of supporters of the abolition of all forms of state power. For some time, their center, created on the basis of the Kropotkin Museum, continued to operate in Moscow, but in 1939 it was also liquidated.
Return to life
During the period of perestroika, many political movements were revived, which declared themselves in the old days, but interrupted their activities due to the fault of the communists. In 1989, the Anarchist Party also joined them. Year of creation of its all-Russian organization, called"Confederation of anarcho-syndicalists" coincided with an important period in the history of the country, when the main directions of its further development were outlined.
In search of solutions to the most pressing issues, the revived anarchist movement has again undergone a split. Representatives of his right wing, who advocated maximum political freedom and autonomy, chose the image of a crossed-out dollar as their symbol, while their left-wing opponents, who later partly joined the Communist Party, marched under the flag of the Jolly Roger, which has been a traditional sign of anarchy since the revolution.
The Anarchist Party of Russia in the 21st century
United under the banner of the fight against all forms of human control, the followers of Prince P. A. Kropotkin could not create anything other than a political movement that only indirectly influenced the historical events that took place. It will be in vain to look in reference books for the year the Anarchist Party was formed. It was never officially established, and its very name exists only by virtue of established tradition, without legal rights.
Nevertheless, certain signs of the development of the anarchist movement are visible. In the 2000s, an international left-wing anti-capitalist organization called "AntiFa" was created on its basis. Its participants largely share the views of Marxists. In addition, in 2002, the liberal-communist semi-anarchist movement "Autonomous Action" was born, standing on an extreme left platform. In general, these directionsthey do not have a serious influence on the politics of Russia and are in the nature of a youth subculture.
