The Russian Anarchists. by Paul Avrich Review by: Abraham Ascher Slavic Review, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Mar.

, 1968), p. 137 Published by: Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2493925 . Accessed: 15/03/2013 21:18
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REVIEWS PAUL

137

AVRICH,The Russian Anarchists. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967. Pages ix, 303. $7.50. "Studies of the Russian Institute, Columbia University." This compact,lucid book is the firstfull-scalehistory in a Western language of the anarchistmovement in Russia. Although the anarchistsnever managed to secure active widespreadsupport,the literatureby and on them is vast, and it is clear that very little has eluded the author.In addition to examining an impressiveamount of published material in five languages,Mr. Avrich consulted the major anarchistarchivesin this countryand abroad.The result is an admirablybalanced,learned, and informative account of one of the more quixotic revolutionary movements in twentieth-century Russia. Quite properly, Mr. Avrich has not limited himself to describing the various ideological currentswithin Russian anarchism,itself a complicatedand demanding task. After an introductorychapter on the divergent theoretical contributionsof the two most notable Russian anarchists,Bakunin and Kropotkin,Avrich puts as much emphasison the social composition,activities,and influence of the movement as on the ideas of individuals.He has provided the volume with a coherent structure by organizinghis material around the revolutionsof 1905 and 1917, two occasions when anarchistactivities reached a climax. In 1905 their impact was slight. resort to terrorismduring the upheaval Still, Mr. Avrich'saccountof the anarchists' is a useful synthesisof data not generallyknown, and once again demonstratesthe futility of this kind of violence. Many of the most heroic membersof the movement were shot while carryingout their terroristicacts or later executed or imprisoned. The second, largerpart of the book, dealing with 1917 and its aftermath,is especially interesting and rewardingbecause it was during this period that anarchism
exerted real influence on the course of events. Soon after the February Revolution the anarchists made common cause with the Bolsheviks and thus helped to bring about the demise of the Provisional Government. The collaboration between the two groups resulted not only from the fact that both repudiated the new regime but also from Lenin's adoption of the slogan "Control of the factories to the workers," which coincided with the program of the anarchosyndicalists. In the factory committees that were formed in many cities the anarchists initially exercised considerable influence, but because of their renunciation of a centralized party apparatus they soon lost out to the well-organized and determined Bolsheviks. Once Lenin seized power and, instead of eliminating the state, established a powerful political authority, the anarchists realized that their faith in the Bolsheviks had been misplaced. Like other non-Communist radicals, the anarchists now faced an agonizing choice. They could either support the new rulers or, by opposing them, facilitate a victory by the Whites. For a few years the policy of the anarchists alternated between open hostility to the government and uneasy alliance with it. Ultimately, however, with the consolidation of the Soviet regime, it became clear that there was no room in Russia for the anarchists. They were subjected to a wave of suppression more sweeping than the one to which they had been exposed after 1905, and by the early 1920SRussian anarchism was in disarray. Mr. Avrich is fully aware that the anarchists' vision of the ideal society was unrealistic and that their program had no chance of being implemented throughout the country. Nevertheless, he succeeds in describing their views and their pathetic fate with seriousness, detachment, and understanding.

Brocklyn College City Universityof New York

ABRAHAM ASCHER

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