Bread and Freedom () was a group of communist anarchists that had a great influence on the revolutionary movement in Russia.

History

The forerunner of the "Bread and Freedom" group was the "Group of Russian Anarchists Abroad", founded in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Russian anarchist Anarchism in Russia developed out of the populist and nihilist movements' dissatisfaction with the government reforms of the time. The first Russian to identify himself as an anarchist was the revolutionary socialist Mikhail Bakunin, who became ...

emigrants Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

. The organization called for the overthrow of the

autocracy Autocracy is a form of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and Head of government, government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with demo ...

and

social revolution Social revolutions are sudden changes in the structure and nature of society. These revolutions are usually recognized as having transformed society, economy, culture, philosophy, and technology along with but more than just the political system ...

. Its leaders were Mendel Dainov, Georgy and Lydia Gogelia. In 1903, the Gogelia couple created a group of communist anarchists in Geneva called Bread and Freedom. The "Khlebovoltsy", with the support of

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

, M. I. Goldsmit and

Varlam Cherkezishvili Varlam Nikolozi dze Cherkezishvili ( ka, ვარლამ ნიკოლოზის ძე ჩერქეზიშვილი; 15 September 1846 – 18 August 1925) was a Georgian aristocrat and journalist involved in Georgian anarchist an ...

, managed in the same year to organize the publication of the first Russian anarchist printed organ abroad - the newspaper ''Bread and Freedom''. In

1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...

and in the first months of the

1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, th ...

, almost all anarchist groups consisted of followers of the Khlebovoltsy theory of anarchist communism.

Tactics

At the first congress in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(December 1904), the strategic and tactical tasks of the Khlebovoltsy in the revolution were outlined: "a social revolution, that is, the complete destruction of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and

the state A state is a political entity that regulates society and the population within a definite territory. Government is considered to form the fundamental apparatus of contemporary states. A country often has a single state, with various administrat ...

and their replacement with anarchist communism." The beginning of the revolution was to be a

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

of the dispossessed in

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

. The main methods of the anarchist struggle in Russia should be "an uprising and direct attack, both mass and personal, on the oppressors and exploiters." The form of anarchist organization was to be "voluntary agreement of individuals into groups and groups among themselves." The Khlebovoltsi categorically rejected the possibility of cooperation and the entry of anarchists into other revolutionary parties in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, as this would be contrary to anarchist principles. Therefore, at the congress, Kropotkin for the first time put forward the idea of the need to create a separate and independent anarchist party in Russia. At the Second Congress in London ([17-18 September 1906), Kropotkin wrote a resolution that assessed and revealed the nature of the revolution, clarifying the tasks of the anarchists. The resolution expressed the sharply negative attitude of the anarchists to the possibility of working in institutions such as the State Duma and the Russian Constituent Assembly, Constituent Assembly. Of all the methods of revolutionary struggle, the anarchists preferred the immediate and destructive action of the masses. In the resolution "On Acts of Personal and Collective Protest" (by Vladimir Zabrezhnev), the congress participants confirmed the right of anarchists to commit terrorist acts only for the purpose of

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), ...

. At the same time, "ideological" anarchists rejected the role of terror as a means to change the existing system.

Theoretical basis

The main principles of Khlebovoltsi: *Any

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

is not only useless, but also harmful. *Creation of an

anti-state Anti-statism is an approach to Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic or political philosophy that opposes the influence of the State (polity), state over society. It emerged in reaction to the formation of modern sovereign state ...

communist society In Marxist thought, a communist society or the communist system is the type of society and economic system postulated to emerge from technological advances in the productive forces, representing the ultimate goal of the political ideology of ...

. *

Societal transformation In sociology, societal transformation refers to “a deep and sustained, nonlinear systemic change” in a society. Transformational changes can occur within a particular system, such as a city, a transport or energy system. Societal transformat ...

in the spirit of

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. *The goals of anarchists can only be achieved with the help of a

, which will completely destroy

and the state system that supports it. *Anarchists do not recognize any intermediate stages. *A

towns A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and

, which should be the signal for the

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

and

communist revolution A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. Depending on the type of government, the term socialism can be used to indicate an intermediate stage between ...

. *The unity of the

anarchist movement According to different scholars, the history of anarchism either goes back to ancient and prehistoric ideologies and social structures, or begins in the 19th century as a formal movement. As scholars and anarchist philosophers have held a rang ...

must be achieved by uniting like-minded ideological groups that are free to part at any time if there is a disagreement.

Future society

After the liberation from

tsarism Tsarist autocracy (), also called Tsarism, was an autocracy, a form of absolute monarchy in the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire. In it, the Tsar possessed in principle authority and ...

, the Khlebovaya saw a society created on the model of

anarcho-communism Anarchist communism is a far-left political ideology and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private real property but retention of personal property and collectively-owned items, goods, and se ...

: a union or federation of

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

, united by free association. The individual will receive unlimited opportunities for development. The first task after the victory of the revolution, the anarcho-communists considered the

expropriation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...

of everything that served exploitation. They believed that the achieved maximum of

individual freedom Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance, and ad ...

will lead to the maximum economic prosperity of society, since

free labor The free-produce movement was an international boycott of goods produced by slave labor. It was used by the abolitionist movement as a non-violent way for individuals, including the disenfranchised, to fight slavery. In this context, ''free'' si ...

will lead to an increase in

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proce ...

. Decentralized industry, direct product exchange, integration of labor, the combination of

mental Mental may refer to: * of or relating to the mind Films * ''Mental'' (2012 film), an Australian comedy-drama film starring Toni Collette * ''Mental'' (2016 film), a Bangladeshi romantic-action film starring Shakib Khan * ''Mental'', a 2008 docu ...

and

physical labor Manual labour (in Commonwealth English, manual labor in American English) or manual work is physical work done by humans, in contrast to labour by machines and working animals. It is most literally work done with the hands (the word ''manual'' ...

, the introduction of a production and technical system of

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and

agrarian reforms Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

of the ideal of Khlebovoltsy are described in Kropotkin's book ''

The Conquest of Bread ''The Conquest of Bread'' is an 1892 book by the Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin. Originally written in French, it first appeared as a series of articles in the anarchist journal ''Le Révolté''. It was first published in Paris with a pref ...

''.

References

Bibliography