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In the meantime, lie back, relax

4:40

and enjoy the readings. Memoirs

4:44

of a Revolutionist by

4:47

Peter Kropotkin With

4:49

a preface by George Brands and

4:52

a preface to this edition by

4:54

Peter Kropotkin dealing with events

4:56

in Russia up to 1906. This

5:01

book would probably not have been written

5:03

for some time to come were

5:05

it not for the kind invitation and

5:08

the most friendly encouragement of the

5:10

editor and the publisher

5:13

of the Atlantic Monthly to

5:15

write it for a serial publication in

5:18

their review. I

5:20

feel it a pleasant duty to

5:22

acknowledge here my very best thanks

5:24

both for the hospitality that

5:27

was offered to me and

5:29

for the friendly pressure that was

5:31

exercised in order to induce me

5:33

to undertake this work. It

5:36

was published in the Atlantic Monthly September

5:38

1898 to September 1899 under

5:44

the title of Autobiography

5:46

of a Revolutionist. Preparing

5:49

it now for publication in book

5:51

form, I have considerably

5:53

added to the original text in

5:55

the portions relating to my youth

5:58

and my stay in Soviet Russia. Siberia, and

6:01

especially in the sixth part in which

6:04

I have narrated my life in Western

6:06

Europe. Preface The

6:10

autobiographies which we owe to great

6:12

minds have in former times generally

6:14

been of one of three types.

6:18

So far I went astray, thus

6:20

I found the true path, St

6:22

Augustine. Not so

6:25

bad was I, but who dares to

6:27

consider himself better, Rousseau.

6:30

This is the way a genius has

6:32

slowly been evolved from within and

6:35

by favorable surroundings. In

6:38

these forms of self-representation, the

6:41

author is thus mainly preoccupied

6:43

with himself. In

6:46

the 19th century, the autobiographies of

6:48

men of Mark are more often

6:50

shaped online such as these. So

6:54

full of talent and attractive was I. Such

6:57

appreciation and admiration I

6:59

won. A

7:01

life lived once more in reminiscence.

7:05

Or I was full of talent and

7:07

worthy of being loved. But

7:09

yet I was unappreciated. And

7:12

these were the hard struggles I went

7:15

through before I won the crown of

7:17

fame. Hans Christian Andersen.

7:20

The Tale of a Life. The

7:23

main preoccupation of the writer in

7:25

these two classes of life records

7:28

is consequently with what his fellow men

7:31

have thought of him and

7:33

said about him. The

7:35

author of the autobiography Before

7:38

Us is not preoccupied with

7:40

his own capacities, and

7:43

consequently describes no struggle to

7:45

gain recognition. The

7:48

less does he care for the opinions

7:50

of his fellow men about himself. What

7:53

others have thought of him, he dismisses

7:56

with a single word. There

7:59

is in this world. work, no gazing,

8:01

upon one's own image. The

8:04

author is not one of those who

8:06

willingly speak of themselves. When

8:08

he does so, it is

8:11

reluctantly and with a certain shyness.

8:14

There is here no confession that

8:16

divulges the inner self, no

8:19

sentimentality and no cynicism.

8:23

The author speaks neither of his

8:25

sins nor of his virtues. He

8:28

enters into no vulgar intimacy with

8:30

his reader. He

8:32

does not say when he fell in love,

8:35

and he touches so little upon

8:38

his relations with the other gender,

8:41

that he even omits to mention his

8:43

marriage. And it

8:45

is only incidentally we learn that

8:48

he is married at all, that

8:50

he is a father and a very

8:53

loving one. He finds

8:55

time to mention just once in the

8:57

rapid review of the last sixteen

8:59

years of his life. He

9:02

is more anxious to give the

9:05

psychology of his contemporaries than of

9:07

himself, and one

9:09

finds in his book The Psychology

9:11

of Russia, The

9:13

Official Russia, and The Masses Underneath.

9:17

Russia struggling forward and Russia

9:19

stagnant. He strives

9:21

to tell the story of his contemporaries

9:24

rather than his own, and

9:27

consequently the record of

9:29

his life contains the history of Russia

9:32

during his lifetime, as

9:34

well as that of the labor movement in

9:36

Europe during the last

9:38

half century. When

9:41

he plunges into his own inner world,

9:43

we see the outer world reflected in

9:46

it. There

9:48

is nevertheless in this book an effect

9:50

such as God he aimed in the

9:52

dish tongue and vahite, the

9:56

representation of how a remarkable mind

9:58

has been shaped. the

20:00

information already gained rather

20:03

than to work at making new discoveries.

20:07

For my part, I do not think he

20:09

was right. With

20:11

such conceptions, pasture would not have

20:14

been the benefactor of mankind that

20:16

he has been. After

20:19

all, everything in the long run

20:22

is to benefit of the mass of the

20:24

people. I

20:26

think that a man does the utmost

20:28

for the well-being of all, when

20:31

he has given to the world the

20:33

most intense production of which he is

20:35

capable. But

20:37

this fundamental notion is

20:39

characteristic of Kropotkin. It

20:42

contains his very essence. And

20:45

this attitude of mind carries him

20:47

farther. In Finland,

20:50

where is he going to make a

20:52

new scientific discovery? As

20:55

he comes to the idea, which

20:57

was hearsay at the time, that

21:00

in prehistoric ages, all northern

21:02

Europe was buried under ice. He

21:05

is so impressed with compassion for the poor,

21:09

the suffering, who often

21:11

know hunger in their struggle for bread,

21:13

that he considers it his highest.

21:17

Absolute duty to become a teacher

21:19

and helper of the great working

21:21

and destitute masses. Soon

21:25

after that, a new world opens before

21:27

him, the life of

21:29

the working classes, and

21:32

he learns from those whom he intends

21:34

to teach. Five

21:36

or six years later, this crisis

21:39

appears in its second phase. It

21:42

happens in Switzerland. Already

21:44

during his first stay there,

21:46

Kropotkin had abandoned the group

21:48

of state socialists, from

21:51

fear of an economical despotism, from

21:54

hatred of centralization, from

21:57

love for the freedom of the individual.

22:00

and the commune. Now,

22:02

however, after his long

22:04

imprisonment in Russia, during

22:07

his second stay omits to the

22:09

intelligent workers of West Switzerland, the

22:12

conception which floated before his eyes

22:14

of a new structure of society

22:17

more distinctly dawns upon him

22:19

in the shape of a

22:22

society of federated associations, cooperating

22:25

in the same way as the

22:27

railway companies, or

22:29

the postal departments of separate

22:31

countries cooperate. He

22:34

knows that he cannot dictate to the

22:36

future the lines which it will have

22:38

to follow. He is

22:40

convinced that all must grow out of

22:42

the constructive activity of the masses. But

22:45

he compares for the sake of illustration

22:48

the coming structure with the guilds

22:51

and the mutual relations, which

22:54

existed in medieval times and were

22:56

worked out from below. He

22:59

does not believe in the distinction between

23:01

leaders and led, but

23:04

I must confess that I am

23:06

old-fashioned enough to feel pleased when

23:09

Kropotkin by a slight inconsistency

23:12

says once in praise of a friend that

23:14

he was a born leader of men. The

23:18

author describes himself as a

23:20

revolutionist, and he is

23:22

surely quite right in doing so. But

23:26

seldom have there been revolutionists

23:28

so humane and mild. One

23:31

feels astounded when, in alluding

23:33

on one occasion to the possibility of

23:36

an armed conflict with the Swiss police,

23:40

there appears in his character the

23:43

fighting instinct which exists in all of

23:45

us. He cannot

23:47

say precisely in this passage whether

23:49

he and his friends felt a

23:51

relief at being spared a fight,

23:55

or a regret that the fight

23:57

did not take place. This expression of

23:59

fear is not a feeling stands alone. He

24:02

has never been an Avenger, but

24:05

always a martyr. He

24:08

does not impose sacrifices upon others.

24:11

He makes them himself. All

24:14

his life he has done it, but in

24:16

such a way that the sacrifice seems to

24:18

have cost him nothing. So

24:21

little does he make of it. And

24:23

with all his energy he is so

24:25

far from being vindictive. That

24:28

of a disgusting prison doctor he

24:30

earned the remarks. The

24:32

less said of him, the better. He

24:36

is a revolutionist, without emphasis

24:38

and without emblem. He

24:41

laughs at the oaths and ceremonies

24:43

with which conspirators bind themselves in

24:46

dramas and operas. This

24:49

man is simplicity personified. In

24:52

character he will bear comparison with

24:54

any of the fighters for freedom

24:57

in all lands. None

24:59

have been more disinterested than he.

25:02

None have loved mankind more than

25:04

he does. But

25:07

he would not permit me to say in

25:09

the forefront of his book all

25:11

the good that I think of him.

25:13

And should I say it, my

25:15

words would outrun the limits of

25:17

a reasonable preface. George

25:20

Brand's. When

25:23

the first edition of this book was brought

25:25

out at the end of 1899, it was

25:27

evident to those who

25:31

had followed the development of affairs in

25:33

Russia, that owing to

25:35

the obstinacy of its rulers in

25:38

refusing to make the necessary concessions in

25:40

the way of political freedom, the

25:43

country was rapidly drifting towards

25:45

a violent revolution. But

25:48

when everything seemed to be so calm on

25:51

the surface, that when a

25:53

few of us expressed this idea, we were

25:56

generally told that we merely took

25:58

our desires for reality. At

26:02

the present moment, Russia is in

26:04

full revolution. The

26:06

old system is falling to pieces, and

26:09

amidst its ruins, the new one is

26:11

painfully making its way. Meanwhile,

26:14

the defenders of the past are

26:16

waging a war of extermination against

26:18

the country, a

26:20

war which may prolong their rule for

26:22

a few additional months, but

26:24

which raises at the same time the

26:27

passions of the people, to

26:29

a pitch that is full of menaces

26:31

and danger. Looked

26:33

upon the light of present events, the

26:37

early movements for freedom which are

26:39

related in this book acquire a

26:41

new meaning. They

26:43

appear as the preparatory phrases of

26:45

the great breakdown of a whole

26:47

obsolete world, a breakdown

26:49

which is sure to give a new life

26:51

to nearly 150 million

26:54

people, and to

26:56

exercise at the same time a

26:58

deep and favorable influence upon the

27:00

march of progress in

27:02

all Europe and Asia. It

27:05

seems necessary therefore to complete the

27:07

record of events given in this

27:09

book by a

27:11

rapid review of those which have

27:13

taken place during the last seven

27:15

years, and were

27:18

the immediate cause of the present

27:20

revolution. The

27:22

thirteen years of the reign of Alexander III in

27:24

1881 to 1894 were perhaps the gloomiest portion

27:30

in the nineteenth century history

27:32

of Russia. Reaction

27:35

had been growing worse and worse during

27:38

the last few years of the

27:40

reign of his father, with the

27:42

result that a terrible war had

27:44

been waged against autocracy by

27:47

the executive committee, which

27:49

had inscribed on its banner political

27:51

freedom. After

27:53

the tragic death of Alexander II,

27:56

his son considered it his duty

27:58

to make no consent. sessions whatever,

28:01

to the general demand of

28:03

representative government, and

28:06

a few weeks after his advent to the

28:08

throne, he solemnly

28:10

declared his intention of remaining

28:13

an autocratic ruler of his empire,

28:17

and then began a heavy

28:19

silent crushing reaction against

28:22

all the great inspiring ideas of

28:24

liberty, which our generation

28:26

had lived through at the time of

28:28

the liberation of the serfs, a

28:32

reaction perhaps the more terrible on

28:34

account of its not being accompanied

28:37

by striking and revolting acts

28:39

of violence, a

28:41

bit slowly crushing down all

28:43

the progressive reforms of Alexander

28:45

II, and the

28:47

very spirit that bred these reforms, and

28:51

turning everything, including education,

28:54

into tools of a general reaction. Sheer

28:58

despair got hold of that generation

29:00

of Russian intellectuals who had to

29:02

live through that period. The

29:05

few survivors of the executive committee

29:07

laid down their arms, and

29:10

their spread in Russian intellectual

29:12

society, that helpless

29:14

despair, that loss of

29:17

faith in the forces of the

29:19

intellectual, that general

29:21

invasion of commonplace vulgarity,

29:25

true that Alexander III, since his

29:27

advent to the throne, had

29:29

vaguely understood the importance of

29:32

several economic questions concerning the

29:34

welfare of the peasants, and

29:36

had included them in his program. But

29:40

with the set of reactionary advisers whom

29:42

he had summoned to his aid, and

29:45

whom he retained throughout

29:47

his reign, he could accomplish nothing

29:50

serious. The reactionaries

29:52

whom he trusted did not at all

29:54

want to make those serious improvements in

29:56

the conditions of the peasants, which

29:59

he can see considered it the mission

30:01

of autocracy to accomplish, and

30:04

he would not call in other men because

30:07

he knew that they would require

30:09

a limitation of the powers of

30:11

autocracy, which he would not admit.

30:15

When he died, a general feeling

30:17

of relief went through Russia and

30:20

the civilized world at large. However,

30:24

Hadazar ascended the throne under

30:26

more favorable circumstances than Nicholas

30:28

II. After

30:31

these thirteen years of reaction, the

30:34

state of mind in Russia was such

30:36

that if Nicholas II had only mentioned,

30:39

in his advent manifesto, the

30:42

intention of taking the advice of his

30:44

country upon the great questions of inner

30:46

policy, which required

30:48

an immediate solution, he

30:51

would have been received with open arms.

30:54

The smallest concession would have been

30:57

gladly accepted as an asset. In

31:00

fact, the delegates of Zemstoff

31:02

assembled to greet him, asked

31:05

him only, and this in the

31:08

most submissive manner, to

31:10

establish a closer intercourse between

31:12

the emperor and the provincial

31:14

representation of the land. But

31:18

instead of accepting this modest

31:20

invitation, Nicholas II

31:22

read before the Zemstow

31:25

representatives the insolent

31:27

speech of reprimand, which

31:29

had been written for him by

31:32

Pobenovstoff, and which

31:34

expressed his intention of remaining an

31:37

autocratic ruler of his subjects. A

31:40

golden opportunity was thus lost.

31:44

Distrust became now the dominating note in

31:46

the relations between the nation and the

31:48

Tsar, and it

31:50

was striking to see how this

31:53

distrust in one of those indescribable

31:55

ways in which popular feelings develop,

31:58

rapidly spread from the Winter Palace.