Statism and Anarchy Michail Bakunin 1873 Contents CritiqueoftheMarxistTheoryoftheState . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 SomePreconditionsforaSocialRevolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 PreconditionsforaSocialRevolutioninRussia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 2 Critique of the Marxist Theory of the State Thereisnoroadleadingfrommetaphysicstotherealitiesoflife.Theoryandfactareseparated by an abyss. It is impossible to leap across this abyss by what Hegel called a “qualitative jump” fromtheworldoflogictotheworldofnatureandofreallife. The road leading from concrete fact to theory and vice versa is the method of science and is thetrueroad.Inthepracticalworld,itisthemovementofsocietytowardformsoforganization thatwilltothegreatestpossibleextentreflectlifeitselfinallitsaspectsandcomplexity. Suchisthepeople’swaytocompleteemancipation,accessibletoall—thewayoftheanarchist socialrevolution,whichwillcomefromthepeoplethemselves,anelementalforcesweepingaway allobstacles.Later,fromthedepthsofthepopularsoul,therewillspontaneouslyemergethenew creativeformsofsociallife. Theway ofthe gentlemenmetaphysicians iscompletely different.Metaphysician isthe term weuseforthedisciplesofHegelandforthepositivists,andingeneral,foralltheworshippersof scienceasagoddess,allthosemodernProcrusteanswho,inonewayoranother,havecreatedan ideal of social organization, a narrow mold into which they would force future generations, all those who, instead of seeing science as only one of the essential manifestations of natural and social life, insist that all of life is encompassed in their necessarily tentative scientific theories. Metaphysicians and positivists, all these gentlemen who consider it their mission to prescribe thelawsoflifeinthenameofscience,areconsciouslyorunconsciouslyreactionaries. Thisisveryeasytodemonstrate. Science in the true sense of that word, real science, is at this time within reach of only an insignificant minority. For example, among us in Russia, how many accomplished savants are thereinapopulationofeightymillion?Probablyathousandareengagedinscience,buthardly more than a few hundred could be considered first-rate, serious scientists. If science were to dictate the laws, the overwhelming majority, many millions of men, would be ruled by one or two hundred experts. Actually it would be even fewer than that, because not all of science is concernedwiththeadministrationofsociety.Thiswouldbethetaskofsociology—thescience ofsciences—whichpresupposesinthecaseofawell-trainedsociologistthathehaveanadequate knowledgeofalltheothersciences.HowmanysuchpeoplearethereinRussia—inallEurope? Twentyorthirty—andthesetwentyorthirtywouldruletheworld?Cananyoneimagineamore absurdandabjectdespotism? Itisalmostcertainthatthesetwentyorthirtyexpertswouldquarrelamongthemselves,andif theydidagreeoncommonpolicies,itwouldbeattheexpenseofmankind.Theprincipalviceof theaveragespecialistishisinclinationtoexaggeratehisownknowledgeanddeprecateeveryone else’s.Givehimcontrolandhewillbecomeaninsufferabletyrant.Tobetheslaveofpedants— whatadestinyforhumanity!Givethemfullpowerandtheywillbeginbyperformingonhuman beingsthesameexperimentsthatthescientistsarenowperformingonrabbitsanddogs. Wemustrespectthescientistsfortheirmeritsandachievements,butinordertopreventthem from corrupting their own high moral and intellectual standards, they should be granted no specialprivilegesandnorightsotherthanthosepossessedbyeveryone—forexample,theliberty toexpresstheirconvictions,thought,andknowledge.Neithertheynoranyotherspecialgroup shouldbegivenpoweroverothers.Hewhoisgivenpowerwillinevitablybecomeanoppressor andexploiterofsociety. 3 But we are told: “Science will not always be the patrimony of a few. There will come a time when it will be accessible to all.” Such a time is still far away and there will be many social upheavals before this dream will come true, and even then, who would want to put his fate in thehandsofthepriestsofscience? Itseemstousthatanyonewhothinksthatafterasocialrevolutioneverybodywillbeequally educatedisverymuchmistaken.Science,thenasnow,willremainoneofthemanyspecialized fields, though it will cease to be accessible only to a very few of the privileged class. With the elimination of class distinctions, education will be within the reach of all those who will have the ability and the desire to pursue it, but not to the detriment of manual labor, which will be compulsoryforall. Availabletoeveryonewillbeageneralscientificeducation,especiallythelearningofthescien- tificmethod,thehabitofcorrectthinking,theabilitytogeneralizefromfactsandmakemoreor lesscorrectdeductions.Butofencyclopedicmindsandadvancedsociologiststherewillbevery few. It would be sad for mankind if at any time theoretical speculation became the only source of guidance for society, if science alone were in charge of all social administration. Life would wither, and human society would turn into a voiceless and servile herd. The domination of life bysciencecanhavenootherresultthanthebrutalizationofmankind. We,therevolutionaryanarchists,aretheadvocatesofeducationforallthepeople,oftheeman- cipationandthewidestpossibleexpansionofsociallife.ThereforewearetheenemiesoftheState andallformsofthestatistprinciple.Inoppositiontothemetaphysicians,thepositivists,andall the worshippers of science, we declare that natural and social life always comes before theory, which is only one of its manifestations but never its creator. From out of its own inexhaustible depths,societydevelopsthroughaseriesofevents,butnotbythoughtalone.Theoryisalways createdbylife,butnevercreatesit;likemile-postsandroadsigns,itonlyindicatesthedirection andthedifferentstagesoflife’sindependentanduniquedevelopment. In accordance with this belief, we neither intend nor desire to thrust upon our own or any other people any scheme of social organization taken from books or concocted by ourselves. We are convinced that the masses of the people carry in themselves, in their instincts (more or less developed by history), in their daily necessities, and, in their conscious or unconscious aspirations, all the elements of the future social organization. We seek this ideal in the people themselves.Everystatepower,everygovernment,byitsverynatureplacesitselfoutsideandover thepeopleandinevitablysubordinatesthemtoanorganizationandtoaimswhichareforeignto and opposed to the real needs and aspirations of the people. We declare ourselves the enemies of every government and every state power, and of governmental organization in general. We thinkthatpeoplecanbefreeandhappyonlywhenorganizedfromthebottomupincompletely free and independent associations, without governmental paternalism though not without the influenceofavarietyoffreeindividualsandparties. Suchareourideasassocialrevolutionaries,andwearethereforecalledanarchists.Wedonot protestthisname,forweareindeedtheenemiesofanygovernmentalpower,sinceweknowthat suchapowerdepravesthosewhowearitsmantleequallywiththosewhoareforcedtosubmit toit.Underitsperniciousinfluencetheformerbecomeambitiousandgreedydespots,exploiters ofsocietyinfavoroftheirpersonalorclassinterests,whilethelatterbecomeslaves. Idealistsofallkinds—metaphysicians,positivists,thosewhosupporttheruleofscienceover life,doctrinairerevolutionists—alldefendtheideaofstateandstatepowerwithequaleloquence, becausetheyseeinit,asaconsequenceoftheirownsystems,theonlysalvationforsociety.Quite 4 logically, since they have accepted the basic premise (which we consider completely mistaken) that thought precedes life, that theory is prior to social experience, and, therefore, that social sciencehastobethestartingpointforallsocialupheavalsandreconstructions.Theythenarrive unavoidably at the conclusion that because thought, theory, and science, at least in our times, are in the possession of very few, these few ought to be the leaders of social life, not only the initiators, but also the leaders of all popular movements. On the day following the revolution thenewsocialordershouldnotbeorganizedbythefreeassociationofpeople’sorganizationsor unions,localandregional,fromthebottomup,inaccordancewiththedemandsandinstinctsof thepeople,butonlybythedictatorialpowerofthislearnedminority,whichpresumestoexpress thewillofthepeople. This fiction of a pseudo-representative government serves to conceal the domination of the massesbyahandfulofprivilegedelite;aneliteelectedbyhordesofpeoplewhoareroundedup anddonotknowforwhomorforwhattheyvote.Uponthisartificialandabstractexpressionof what they falsely imagine to be the will of the people and of which the real living people have not the least idea, they construct both the theory of statism as well as the theory of so-called revolutionarydictatorship. Thedifferencesbetweenrevolutionarydictatorshipandstatismaresuperficial.Fundamentally theybothrepresentthesameprincipleofminorityruleoverthemajorityinthenameoftheal- leged“stupidity”ofthelatterandthealleged“intelligence”oftheformer.Thereforetheyareboth equallyreactionarysincebothdirectlyandinevitablymustpreserveandperpetuatethepolitical andeconomicprivilegesoftherulingminorityandthepoliticalandeconomicsubjugationofthe massesofthepeople. Now it is clear why the dictatorial revolutionists,who aim to overthrowthe existing powers andsocialstructuresinordertoerectupontheirruinstheirowndictatorships,neverwereorwill be the enemies of government, but, to the contrary, always will be the most ardent promoters ofthegovernmentidea.Theyaretheenemiesonlyofcontemporarygovernments,becausethey wish to replace them. They are the enemies of the present governmental structure, because it excludesthepossibilityoftheirdictatorship.Atthesametimetheyarethemostdevotedfriends ofgovernmentalpower.Foriftherevolutiondestroyedthispowerbyactuallyfreeingthemasses, itwoulddeprivethispseudo-revolutionaryminorityofanyhopetoharnessthemassesinorder tomakethemthebeneficiariesoftheirowngovernmentpolicy. WehavealreadyexpressedseveraltimesourdeepaversiontothetheoryofLassalleandMarx, which recommends to the workers, if not as a final ideal at least as the next immediate goal, thefoundingofapeople’sstate,whichaccordingtotheirinterpretationwillbenothingbut“the proletariatelevatedtothestatusofthegoverningclass.” Letusask,iftheproletariatistobetherulingclass,overwhomisittorule?Inshort,therewill remainanotherproletariatwhichwillbesubduedtothisnewrule,tothisnewstate.Forinstance, the peasant “rabble” who, as it is known, does not enjoy the sympathy of the Marxists who considerittorepresentalowerlevelofculture,willprobablyberuledbythefactoryproletariat ofthecities.Or,ifthisproblemistobeapproachednationalistically,theSlavswillbeplacedin thesamesubordinaterelationshiptothevictoriousGermanproletariatinwhichthelatternow standstotheGermanbourgeoisie. If there is a State, there must be domination of one class by another and, as a result, slavery; theStatewithoutslaveryisunthinkable—andthisiswhywearetheenemiesoftheState. 5 Whatdoesitmeanthattheproletariatwillbeelevatedtoarulingclass?Isitpossibleforthe wholeproletariattostandattheheadofthegovernment?TherearenearlyfortymillionGermans. Canallfortymillionbemembersofthegovernment?Insuchacase,therewillbenogovernment, nostate,but,ifthereistobeastatetherewillbethosewhoareruledandthosewhoareslaves. TheMarxisttheorysolvesthisdilemmaverysimply.Bythepeople’srule,theymeantherule ofasmallnumberofrepresentativeselectedbythepeople.Thegeneral,andeveryman’s,rightto electtherepresentativesofthepeopleandtherulersoftheStateisthelatestwordoftheMarxists, aswellasofthedemocrats.Thisisalie,behindwhichlurksthedespotismoftherulingminority, alieallthemoredangerousinthatitappearstoexpresstheso-calledwillofthepeople. Ultimately,fromwhateverpointofviewwelookatthisquestion,wecomealwaystothesame sadconclusion,theruleofthegreatmassesofthepeoplebyaprivilegedminority.TheMarxists say that this minority will consist of workers. Yes, possibly of former workers, who, as soon as theybecometherulersoftherepresentativesofthepeople,willceasetobeworkersandwilllook down at the plain working masses from the governing heights of the State; they will no longer represent the people, but only themselves and their claims to rulership over the people. Those whodoubtthisknowverylittleabouthumannature. These elected representatives, say the Marxists, will be dedicated and learned socialists. The expressions “learned socialist,” “scientific socialism,” etc., which continuously appear in the speeches and writings of the followers of Lassalle and Marx, prove that the pseudo-People’s State will be nothing but a despotic control of the populace by a new and not at all numerous aristocracyofrealandpseudo-scientists.The“uneducated”peoplewillbetotallyrelievedofthe caresofadministration,andwillbetreatedasaregimentedherd.Abeautifulliberation,indeed! The Marxists are aware of this contradiction and realize that a government of scientists will be a real dictatorship regardless of its democratic form. They console themselves with the idea that this rule will be temporary. They say that the only care and objective will be to educate and elevate the people economically and politically to such a degree that such a government willsoonbecomeunnecessary,andtheState,afterlosingitspoliticalorcoercivecharacter,will automaticallydevelopintoacompletelyfreeorganizationofeconomicinterestsandcommunes. There is a flagrant contradiction in this theory. If their state would be really of the people, why eliminate it? And if the State is needed to emancipate the workers, then the workers are notyetfree,sowhycallitaPeople’sState?Byourpolemicagainstthemwehavebroughtthem to the realization that freedom or anarchism, which means a free organization of the working masses from the bottom up, is the final objective of social development, and that every state, notexceptingtheirPeople’sState,isayoke,ontheonehandgivingrisetodespotismandonthe othertoslavery.Theysaythatsuchayoke—dictatorshipisatransitionalsteptowardsachieving fullfreedomforthepeople:anarchismorfreedomistheaim,whilestateanddictatorshipisthe means,andso,inordertofreethemassesofpeople,theyhavefirsttobeenslaved! Upon this contradiction our polemic has come to a halt. They insist that only dictatorship (of course their own) can create freedom for the people. We reply that all dictatorship has no objective other than self-perpetuation, and that slavery is all it can generate and instill in the peoplewhosufferit.Freedomcanbecreatedonlybyfreedom,byatotalrebellionofthepeople, andbyavoluntaryorganizationofthepeoplefromthebottomup. The social theory of the anti-state socialists or anarchists leads them directly and inevitably towards a break with all forms of the State, with all varieties of bourgeois politics, and leaves nochoiceexceptasocialrevolution.Theoppositetheory,statecommunismandtheauthorityof 6 thescientists,attractsandconfusesitsfollowersand,underthepretextofpoliticaltactics,makes continuous deals with the governments and various bourgeois political parties, and is directly pushedtowardsreaction. ThecardinalpointofthisprogramisthattheStatealoneistoliberatethe(pseudo-)proletariat. Toachievethis,theStatemustagreetoliberatetheproletariatfromtheoppressionofbourgeois capitalism. How is it possible to impart such a will to the State? The proletariat must take pos- sessionoftheStatebyarevolution—anheroicundertaking.Butoncetheproletariatseizesthe State,itmustmoveatoncetoabolishimmediatelythiseternalprisonofthepeople.Butaccord- ingtoMr.Marx,thepeoplenotonlyshouldnotabolishtheState,but,onthecontrary,theymust strengthenandenlargeit.andturnitovertothefulldispositionoftheirbenefactors,guardians, and teachers — the leaders of the Communist party, meaning Mr. Marx and his friends — who willthenliberatethemintheirownway.Theywillconcentratealladministrativepowerintheir own strong hands, because the ignorant people are in need of a strong guardianship; and they will create a central state bank, which will also control all the commerce, industry, agriculture, and even science. The mass of the people will be divided into two armies, the agricultural and the industrial, under the direct command of the state engineers, who will constitute the new privilegedpolitical-scientificclass. Some Preconditions for a Social Revolution The propaganda and organization of the International is directed exclusively to the working class, which in Italy, as in the rest of Europe, embodies all the life, power, and aspirations of the future society. The International attracted only a handful of adherents from the bourgeois worldwho,havinglearnedtopassionatelyhatetheexistingsocialorderandallitsfalsevalues, renouncedtheirclassanddedicatedthemselvesbodyandsoultothecauseofthepeople. If they can root out the last vestiges of subjective loyalty to the bourgeois world, and those ofpersonalvanity,thesemen,thoughfewinnumber,couldrenderpricelessservicestotherev- olutionary movement. They draw their inspiration from the movement of the people. But in exchange they can contribute expert knowledge, the capacity for abstract thought and general- ization,andtheabilitytoorganizeandcoordinate—qualitieswhichconstitutethecreativeforce without which any victory is impossible. In Italy and Russia there are more such young men than there are in other countries. But what is a much more important asset for the Revolution is that there is in Italy an enormous proletariat, unusually intelligent by nature but very often lackingeducationandlivingingreatpoverty.Thisproletariatcomprisestwoorthreemillionur- banworkers,mainlyinfactoriesandsmallworkshops,andapproximatelytwentymilliontotally deprivedpeasants.Thishugeclasshasbeenreducedtosuchdesperationthateventhedefenders ofthisterriblesocietyarebeginningtospeakoutopenlyinparliamentandintheofficialpress, admittingthatthingshavereachedthebreakingpoint,andthatsomethingmustimmediatelybe donetoavoidapopularholocaustwhichwilldestroyeverythinginitspath. Nowhere are there more favorable conditions for the Social Revolution than in Italy. There doesnotexistinItaly,asinmostotherEuropeannations,aspecialcategoryofrelativelyaffluent workers, earning higher wages, boasting of their literary capacities, and so impregnated by a varietyofbourgeoisprejudicesthat,exceptingincome,theydifferinnowayfromthebourgeoisie. ThisclassofbourgeoisworkersisnumerousinGermanyandinSwitzerland;butinItaly,onthe 7 contrary,theyarcinsignificantinnumberandinfluence,ameredropintheocean.InItalyitis theextremelypoorproletariatthatpredominates.Marxspeaksdisdainfully,butquiteunjustly,of thisLumpenproletariat.Forinthem,andonlyinthem,andnotinthebourgeoisstrataofworkers, aretherecrystallizedtheentireintelligenceandpowerofthecomingSocialRevolution. Apopularinsurrection,byitsverynature,isinstinctive,chaotic,anddestructive,andalways entailsgreatpersonalsacrificeandanenormouslossofpublicandprivateproperty.Themasses are always ready to sacrifice themselves; and this is what turns them into a brutal and savage horde,capableofperformingheroicandapparentlyimpossibleexploits,andsincetheypossess littleornothing,theyarenotdemoralizedbytheresponsibilitiesofpropertyownership.Andin moments of crisis, for the sake of self-defense or victory, they will not hesitate to burn down theirownhousesandneighborhoods,andpropertybeingnodeterrent,sinceitbelongstotheir oppressors,theydevelopapassionfordestruction.Thisnegativepassion,itistrue,isfarfrombe- ingsufficienttoattaintheheightsoftherevolutionarycause;butwithoutit,revolutionwouldbe impossible.Revolutionrequiresextensiveandwidespreaddestruction,afecundandrenovating destruction,sinceinthiswayandonlythiswayarenewworldsborn… Noteventhemostterriblemiseryaffectingmillionsofworkersisinitselfenoughtospurthem to revolution. Man is by nature endowed (or cursed) by marvelous patience, and only the devil knowshowhecanpatientlyendureunimaginablemiseryandevenslowdeathbystarvation;and eventheimpulsetogivewaytodespairissmotheredbyacompleteinsensibilitytowardhisown rights,andanimperturbableobedience… Peopleinthisconditionarehopeless.Theywouldratherdiethanrebel.Butwhenamancan be driven to desperation, he is then more likely to rebel. Despair is a bitter, passionate feeling capable of rousing men from their semiconscious resignation if they already have an idea of a moredesirablesituation,evenwithoutmuchhopeofachievingit.Butitisimpossibletoremain toolonginastateofabsolutedespair:onemustgivein,die,ordosomethingaboutit—fightfor acause,butwhatcause?Obviously,tofreeoneself,tofightforabetterlife… ButpovertyanddesperationarestillnotsufficienttogeneratetheSocialRevolution.Theymay beabletocallforthintermittentlocalrebellions,butnotgreatandwidespreadmassuprisings.To dothisitisindispensablethatthepeoplebeinspiredbyauniversalideal,historicallydeveloped fromtheinstinctualdepthsofpopularsentiments,amplifiedandclarifiedbyaseriesofsignificant events and severe and bitter experiences. It is necessary that the populace have a general idea oftheirrightsandadeep,passionate,quasi-religiousbeliefinthevalidityoftheserights.When this idea and this popular faith are joined to the kind of misery that leads to desperation, then theSocialRevolutionisnearandinevitable,andnoforceonearthwillbeabletoresistit. ThisisexactlythesituationoftheItalianproletariat.Thesufferingstheyareforcedtoendure are scarcely less terrible than the poverty and misery that overwhelm the Russian people. But theItalianproletariatisimbuedwithagreaterdegreeofpassionaterevolutionaryconsciousness thanaretheRussianmasses,aconsciousnesswhichdailybecomesstrongerandclearer,Bynature intelligentandpassionate,theItalianproletariatisatlastbeginningtounderstandwhatitwants and what must be done to achieve its complete emancipation. In this sense the propaganda of theInternational,energeticallyandwidelydiffusedduringthelasttwoyears,hasbeenofgreat value. This profound sentiment, this universal ideal, without which (as we have already said) every mass insurrection, however great the sacrifices made, is absolutely impossible, has been stimulated by the International, which at the same time pointed out the road to emancipation andthemeansfortheorganizationofthepeople’spower. 8 Atfirstthisidealnaturallymanifestsitselfinthepassionatedesireofthepeopletoputanend to their poverty and misery and to satisfy all their material needs by collective labor, equally obligatory for all. Later it will come to include the abolition of all domination, and the free or- ganization of the life of the country in accord with the needs of the people. This will mean the rejection of the State’s form of control from the top in favor of organization from the bottom up, created by the people themselves, without governments and parliaments. This would be or- ganization achieved by the free participation of associations, of the agricultural and industrial workers, of the communes and the provinces. Ultimately, in the more distant future, it would erectontheruinsofallstatesthefraternityofpeoples. ItisworthnotingthatinItaly,asinSpain,theprogramofMarxiststatecommunismhashad absolutely no effect, while the program of the famous Alliance of revolutionary socialists [an- archistvanguardorganization],whichproclaimeduncompromisingwaragainstalldomination, all tutelage and governmental authority, was overwhelmingly and enthusiastically accepted by theworkers. Apeopleinspiredwithsuchideascanalwayswinitsownfreedomandgrounditsownlifeon themostamplefreedomforeveryone,whileinnowaythreateningorinfringingonthefreedom ofothernations.ThisiswhyneitherItalynorSpainwillembarkonacareerofconquestbutwill, onthecontrary,helpallpeoplestoaccomplishtheirownsocialrevolutions… Modern capitalist production and bank speculation inexorably demand enormous centraliza- tion of the State, which alone can subject millions of workers to capitalist exploitation. Feder- alist organization from the bottom upward, of workers’ associations, groups, communes, can- tons [counties], regions, and finally whole peoples, is the sole condition for true, non-fictitious freedom, but such freedom violates the interests and convictions of the ruling classes, just as economicself-determinationisincompatiblewiththeirmethodsoforganization.Representative democracy, however, harmonizes marvelously with the capitalist economic system. This new statist system, basing itself on the alleged sovereignty of the so-called will of the people, as sup- posedlyexpressedbytheirallegedrepresentativesinmockpopularassemblies,incorporatesthe two principal and necessary conditions for the progress of capitalism: state centralization, and theactualsubmissionofthesovereignpeopletotheintellectualgoverningminority,who,while claimingtorepresentthepeople,unfailinglyexploitsthem. The exploitation of human labor cannot be sugar-coated even by the most democratic form of government … for the worker it will always be a bitter pill. It follows from this that no gov- ernment, however paternalistic, however bent on avoiding friction, will tolerate any threat to its exploitative economic institutions or its political hegemony: unable to instill habitual obedi- ence to its authority by cajolery and other peaceful methods, the government will then resort tounceasingcoercion,toviolence,i.e.,topoliticalcontrol,andtheultimateweaponofpolitical controlismilitarypower. The modern State is by its very nature a military State; and every military State must of ne- cessity become a conquering, invasive State; to survive it must conquer or be conquered, for the simple reason that accumulated military power will suffocate if it does not find an outlet. ThereforethemodernStatemuststrivetobeahugeandpowerfulState:thisistheindispensable preconditionforitssurvival. And just as capitalist production must, to avoid bankruptcy, continually expand by absorb- ing its weaker competitors and drive to monopolize all the other capitalist enterprises all over the world, so must the modern State inevitably drive to become the only universal State, since 9 the coexistence of two universal states is by definition absolutely impossible. Sovereignty, the drive toward absolute domination, is inherent in every State; and the first prerequisite for this sovereigntyisthecomparativeweakness,oratleastthesubmissionofneighboringstates… A strong State can have only one solid foundation: military and bureaucratic centralization. Thefundamentaldifferencebetweenamonarchyandeventhemostdemocraticrepublicisthat inthemonarchy.thebureaucratsoppressandrobthepeopleforthebenefitoftheprivilegedin the name of the King, and to fill their own coffers; while in the republic the people are robbed and oppressed in the same way for the benefit of the same classes, in the name of “the will of thepeople”(andtofillthecoffersofthedemocraticbureaucrats).IntherepublictheState,which issupposedtobethepeople,legallyorganized,stiflesandwillcontinuetostifletherealpeople. But the people will feel no better if the stick with which they are being beaten is labeled “the people’sstick.” … No state, however democratic — not even the reddest republic — can ever give the people whattheyreallywant,i.e.,thefreeself-organizationandadministrationoftheirownaffairsfrom thebottomupward,withoutanyinterferenceorviolencefromabove,becauseeverystate,even thepseudo-People’sStateconcoctedbyMr.Marx,isinessenceonlyamachinerulingthemasses fromabove,throughaprivilegedminorityofconceitedintellectuals,whoimaginethattheyknow whatthepeopleneedandwantbetterthandothepeoplethemselves… We are as unalterably opposed to any form of pan-Slavism as we are to any form of pan- Germanism.ItisthesacredandurgentdutyoftheRussianrevolutionaryyouthtocounteractin every possible way the pan-Slavic propaganda inside Russia itself, and particularly that spread in other Slavic lands, officially and unofficially by government agents, and voluntarily by fa- natical Slavophiles, which strives to convince the unfortunate Slavs that the Slavic Tsar deeply loves his Slavic brothers, and that the dastardly pan-Russian Empire, which throttled Poland andLittleRussia[Ukrainia?]can,ifonlytheTsarwishes,freetheSlaviclandsfromtheGerman yoke.[BakuninincludesasSlavsthoseinthenowdefunctAustro-HungarianEmpire—Hungary, Austria,Bulgaria,Serbia,Yugoslavia,Czechoslovakia,etc.] This illusion is widespread among Austrian Slavs. Their fanatical though understandable ha- tred of their oppressor has driven them to such a state of madness that, forgetting or ignoring theatrocitiescommittedagainstLithuania,Poland,LittleRussiaandevenGreatRussiabyTsarist despotism,theystillawaitdeliverancebyourpan-Russianslavedriver. One should not be surprised that the Slavic masses harbor such illusions. They do not know historyortheinternalsituationinRussia:alltheyaretoldisthatanall-Slavicempirehasbeen created to defy the Germans; an empire so mighty that the Germans tremble in fear and what theGermanshate,theSlavsmustlove. Allthisistobeexpected.Butwhatissad,hardtounderstand,andinexcusableisthatpeople whoshouldknowbetter,theeducatedAustrianSlavs,experienced,wise,andwellinformed,have organizedapartythatopenlypreachespan-Slavism.Accordingtosome,thiswouldinvolvethe creation of a great Slavic empire under the domination of the Tsar, and according to others it wouldconsistintheemancipationoftheSlavicpeoplesbytheRussianEmpire… ButwhatbenefitswouldtheSlavicpeoplederivebytheformationofamightySlavicempire? —Thiswouldindeedbeadvantageousforthestates[composingtheempire]butnotfortheprole- tariat,onlyfortheprivilegedminority—theclergy,thenobility,thebourgeoisie—andprobably for some intellectuals, who because of their diplomas and their alleged mental superiority feel calledupontoleadthemasses.Inshort,thereisanadvantageforsomethousandsofoppressors, 10