.s.a ‘O5 4aco4......5..\6.s,n. .»a aT.3.4..ryyM o 3 .:2«..‘...3.y.o1..r.)IVI.‘..Jl._6N. ) A r : GOVERNIVIENT IS VIOLENCE o m THEFIRSTCOLLECTIONOFTOLSTOY'S ESSAYS n ON ANARCHISM ANDNON-VIOLENTREVOLUTION a '- Q m .‘.‘n ‘0‘ People can only be***freed from slavery / *4J a by the abolition of Governments r ; a ; *** 6 m Ran A Government, and especially a Government " *' entrusted with military power, 1 \k s ..1a- is the most dangerous organization possible A . ._''t"? *** I .“ O l' 0 As long as Governments with armies exist, I a'‘!“ the termination of ’ 7" JA armaments and wars is impossible NH v e D *Ilflk E w The Anarchists are right in everything EH they are mistaken only in thinking that Anarchy ,{fi- can be instituted by a violent revolution ft; aura: ' . Freedom, not imaginary but actual, is attained ‘1‘ not by barricades and murders, 11., nor by any new kind h'] , L}; of institution coercively introduced, but ‘1 O T}? only by the cessation of obedience 3 {-t .7; to any human authority whatever _‘ U) 9")"1 *** 1' g :«7a1?: I OLS I O Y -«4 ~' ‘:° . . ‘ [if-1:51:25“ ”fixwwmwat;aQs R; A ‘3'; “Phoenix Press: ISBN0 94898415 5. “if. 35'331 :‘}\.‘:‘;,'3'S f. :‘ ? %$3étx‘fg'{Pit‘f 123‘ ° Tgxr5; fig Air-var W'iw’fi‘h‘ GOVERNMENT IS VIOLENCE GOVERNMENTIS VIOLENCE TOLSTOY GOVERNMENTISVIOLENCE essays on anarchism and pacifism Edited and introduced by David Stephens Phoenix Press London 1 9 9 0 Leo Tolstoy GOVERNMENTISVIOLENCE essays on anarchism and pacifism ISBN: 0 948984 15 5 Published byPhoenixPress POBox 824 London N19DL Typeset byKaw-djerandleVieux Foudre ArtworkbyPennyRimbaud Printedandboundby BPCC Wheatons,Exeter C0verphoto:Tolstoy in 1908 CONTENTS On this book Thenon~violent anarchism ofLeoTolstoy The EndoftheAge 21 AnAppealtoSocialReformers 53 OnAnarchy 67 ThouShaltNotKill 71 PatriotismandGovernment 77 TheKingdomofGodisWithinYou TheSlaveryofOurTime 111 OnSocialism,StateandChristian 157 Sources 168 FurtherReadingonTolstoy 170 Notes I74 ON THIS BOOK Thisbookhasbeendesignedtocomplementthe 1987republication by New SocietyofTolstoy’s Writingson CivilDisobedience andNon- violence, which contains many of Tolstoy's Christian pacifist essays. However,theNew Society collectiondoesnot includetheclassic anar- chist texts that Tolstoy wrote around the tum of the century, which, althoughoftenrepublished,remainscatteredinpamphletsandmagazines longout-ofsprintandhardtofind.Theaim,therefore,ofthiscollectionis to present in one volume the most important ofTolstoy’s writings on anarchism andrevolution, some of which (0n Anarchy, 0nSocialism, State and Christian) have not, to my knowledge, been republished in EnglishsinceTolstoy’sdeathin 1910.OneessaythatappearsintheNew Societycollection,ThouShaltNotKill,isalsoreproducedhere,asitsdis- cussion ofanarchistterrorism iscentral to thethemeofthisbook. Both collectionsincludeextactsfromTheKingdomofGodisWithinYou;they are,however,fromdifferentchapters and do notoverlap. Tolstoyoftencoveredthesamegroundinseveralessayswithslightly differentemphasis;whilstalloftheeightessaysrepublishedheredealwith the State and revolution, they have been arranged to give a rough progression from an evaluation of anarchist theories and tactics to a criticism of militarism, capitalism and Marxism. The essays appear essentially in theiroriginal form with a minimum ofeditingto remove superfluousreferencestocontemporarycircumstance;someofthetrans- lators’ moreobsoleteEnglishexpressions have,however,beenupdated wherenecessary. Detailsoftheeditingand sourcesare indicatedatthe backofthe book, asare suggestions for furtherreading on Tolstoy and anarcho~pacifism.Besidesgivingdetailsofeventsorpersonsmentioned byTolstoy,thefootnotesalsorefertomodernillustrationsofpointsraised intheessays.Foreaseofconsultation,theyhavebeengroupedattheend ofthebook,ratherthan appearingattheendofeachessay. My thanks must go to Michael Holman of Leeds University for academicadviceandresearch,andtoallthepeopleoverthelastfiveyears whohavekepttheideaofthebookgoing:Pen,BronandGofCrass,Albert andChrisoftheWarResisters’International/PeaceNews,Kaw-djerwho hadtheunenviabletaskoftypingitalland,aboveall,Mowhowasthefirst 5 to hearofitandtheonewhofinallybroughtitintobeing.Thisbookisfor Rachel,asitalwayswas. David Stephens gMnyamwl“lkT MI'mcoMt-waxHed!uWmJ “mm. ‘ “Morethat W «ohmic “It.“UNI ' mncio,n"m—a_mJ WildcatbyDonaldRooumappearsinFreedomeverymonth. THE NON- VIOLENT ANARCHISM OF LEO TOLSTOY EightyyearshavenowelapsedsinceLeoTolstoy’sdeathin1910,and yetthemanyessayswhichTolstoywroteinthelasttwentyyearsofhislife toexpoundhisinnovativebrandofnon~violentanarchismraiseissuesthat arestillofimportance today. Thetwentieth century has seen increasing convergence(andexpansion)ofanarchistandpacifistideas:theanarchist movementhasseen thevastescalation ofmilitarism andtheseemingly invincibleannouryofrepressionasperhaps thegreatestthreatposedby theState;thepacifistmovementhasgonebeyondasimplisticrejectionof violenceonapersonalleveltoconsidertheroleoftheStateinmilitarism, and has embraced direct action as a means of combatting it. Both anarchism and pacifism have as their common enemy the State as the ‘organofviolence’,andyetsomeanarchistsrefusetorecognizethiscom- munityofinterest- theOctober 1986issueofBlackFlag comments: ‘Manypacifistshavecometothinkofthemselvesasanarchiss.But their “anarchism” remained militant liberalism “non-violent anar- chism”isnotavariantofanarchism: itisanattackon it’. Thisuncompromisingstandisnotechoedinothercountries;indeed, in Germany, where anarchism is much more alive than in Britain, the numericallystrongestandmostactiveanarchistgroupistheFederationof Non—violentActionGroupswiththeirmagazineGrqssroots Revolution Thereisnoreasonfor theantipathythatexistsbetweendifferentcurrents ofanarchistthought;ithaslongbeenanunfortunatefeatureofanarchists thattheytendtoemphasizethedifferencesbetweenthemselvesratherthan recognizethesimilarities.Thishaspreventedanarchistsfrommeetingthe needforareappraisaloftheirrevolutionaryhistory; whilstauthoritarian ideologies have each had their day, anarchism has never succeeded in consolidatingalarge-scaleanddurablelibertariansocietybeyondthetem- Dorary and partial achievements born of civil war. Anarcho-pacifists wouldarguethatthisisbecauseoftheuniquemodelofsocietyanarchism represents;inbeingaloneinrejecting the Stateandcoercion, anarchists mustdevelopa non-coercivestrategy forrevolution differentfrom that Proposedbyauthoritarianideologies. Inordertodothis,anarchistsmust 7 beprepared to listen to onean other insteadofeach fighting from their comer,(0listentoototheexamplesfromthepastofanarchistrevolution- aries like Kropotkin, Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman who, having espousedviolence, cametobe disillusionedby itas a means of struggle.Tolstoy’sargumentsontheincompatibilitybetweenanarchism and violence and his proposed strategy ofnon-violent revolution are a usefulstarting-pointfordiscussion,butthedebateisnotmadeanyeasier ifsuchideasarerejectedoutofhandbysomeanarchists.AlbertMeltzer, forexample,writinginhisAnarchism,ArgumentsForandAgainst,even seekstodenythehistoricalandideologicallinksbetweenTolstoyandthe anarchistmovement: ‘The “Pacifist-Anarchist”approachdiffersradically from revolu- tionary anarchism. It is too readily conceded that “this is, after all, anarchism” popular opinion made such figures as Tolstoy into an anarchist-hewasnot; neither was hein the normal senseofthe worda Christianorapacifist,asp0pularlysupposed'. Thehistoryoftheanarchistmovementand theessayscontainedin thisbookshowotherwise.Tolstoy’spoliticalwritingsexpressanuncom- promisingrejectionofAuthorityandallitstrappings,ascathingcriticism ofChurchandState,capitalismandMarxism,militarismandpatriotism. Historically,Tolstoy‘sconversionfromadissoluteandprivilegedsociety author to thenon-violentand spiritualanarchistofhis latter days was broughtaboutbytwotripsaroundEuropein 1857and 1860-61. Atthat time,stifledbythepoliticalandliteraryrepressionofTsaristRussia,many Russian nobles left to taste the winds ofchange then blowing through WesternEurope;otherRussianaristocratsradicalizedby theirtravelsin WesternEurope wereKropotkin,BakuninandHerzen. During hisfirst visittoEurope,Tolstoyhadatraumaticexperiencewhichwastomarkthe beginningofhisevolution;afterwitnessingapublicexecutioninParis,he wrotetohisfriend V. P. Botkin onApril6, 1857: "IhetruthisthattheStateisaconspiracydesignednotonlytoexploit, but aboveall tocorrupt its citizens I understand moral andreligious laws,notcompulsoryforeveryone,butleadingforwardandpromisinga more harmonious future; I feel the laws of art, which always bring happiness. Butpolitical lawsseem tomesuch prodigiouslies, thatIfail toseehowoneamongthemcanbebctterorworsethananyoftheothers HenceforthI shallneverserveany governmentanywhere'. However,itwasduringhissecondtriptoEuropethatTolstoymetthe manwhowastoshapehispolitical transformation. In 1S60-6l.Tolstoy visited Britain,France, Italy, Germany and Belgium (NOTE No 1) to 8 gatherideasoneducation, ideaswhich wouldleadhim tosetupseveral libertarianschoolsnearhishomeofYasnayaPolyana. Duringhisvisitto Brussels in March 1861, armed with a letter ofrecommendation from AlexanderHerzen,Tolstoycalledonamathematicsteacherbythename ofEmileDurfort,inrealitytheFrenchanarchistPierre-JosephProudhon, thenlivinginexileafterthepublicationofhisOnJusticeintheRevolution and in the Church in 1858. Tolstoy later chronicled his meeting with Proudhonin hiseducational notebooks: ‘Lastyear,IhadthechancetospeaktoMr. ProudhonaboutRussia. At that time, he was engaged in writing a book on the laws ofwar. I describedtohimthelatestnewsfromRussia-thefreeingoftheserfs-and Itoldhimthatamongstthegoverningclassestherewasastrongdesireto developp0pulareducation,andalsothatsometimesthisdesiretookona somewhatcomicform andbecameakindoffashion.“Isthatreallyso?” heremarked. I replied that,asfaras Icouldjudge,Russian society was beginningtounderstand that,withoutp0pulareducation,noStatestruc» turecanbestable.Proudhonstoodupandbeganpacingaroundtheroom. “Ifthisistrue”,hesaidinanalmostenvioustone,“thenthefuturebelongs toyou,theRussians”.If1recountthisconversationwithProudhon,itisto showthat, in mypersonalexperience,hewastheonly man whounder- stood the significance of education and of the printing press in our time'(NOTENo2). Tolstoy’sviewsonpropertywerealsodecplyinfluencedbyProudhon, inparticularbyProudhon’s Whatispr0perty?,published in 1840,which TolstoyhadreadsometimebeforehismeetingwithProudhon.Criticiz- ingtheconstitutionalmovesinRussiawhichhademancipatedtheserfsbut deliveredthemintothepowerofthelandowners,Tolstoynotedinhisdiary forAugust18, 1865: ‘ThemissionofRussiainworldhistoryconsistsinbringingintothe worldtheideaofa socializedorganizationoflandownership.“Property istheft”willremainagreatertruth thanthetruthoftheEnglishconstitu- tion,aslongasmankindexists Thisideahasfuture.TheRussianrevo- lutioncanbefoundedonlyonthisidea.Therevolutionwillnotbeagainst theTsaranddespotism, butagainstprivateproperty in land’. Besidesdiscussingeducation and property, Tolstoy andProudhon alsotalkedofProudhon’sforthcomingbookonwar,stilloneoftheFrench author’smostcontroversial works. The book, published a few months afterTolstoy'svisit,wasentitled0nWarandPeace;threeyearslater,in 1864,theyearwhichsawthepublicationofProudhon’sbookinRussian, Tolstoy used thesame title when he began writing his greatest literary 9