331 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
331 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
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- 1 -
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Preface to the Conquest of Bread, 1913 Edition
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by Peter Kropotkin.
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One of the current objections to Communism, and Socialism
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altogether, is that the idea is so old, and yet it has never
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been realized. Schemes of ideal States haunted the thinkers
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of Ancient Greece; later on, the early Christians joined in
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communist groups; centuries later, large communist
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brotherhoods came into existence during the Reform movement.
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Then, the same ideals were revived during the great English
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and French Revolutions; and finally, quite lately, in 1848,
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a revolution, inspired to a great extent with Socialist
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ideals, took place in France. "And yet, you see" we are
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told "how far away is still the realization of your schemes.
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Don't you think there is some fundamental error in your
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understanding of human nature and its needs?"
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At first sight, this objection seems very serious. However,
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the moment we consider human history more attentively, it
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loses its strength. We see, first, that hundreds of
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millions of men have succeeded in maintaining amongst
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themselves, in their village communities, for many hundreds
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of years, one of the many elements of Socialism - the common
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ownership of the chief instruments of production, the land,
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and the apportionment of the same according to the labour
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capacities of the different families; and we learn that if
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the communal possession of the land has been destroyed in
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Western Europe, it was not from within, but from without, by
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the governments which created a land monopoly in favour of
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the nobility and the middle classes. We learn, moreover,
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that the medieval cities succeeded in maintaining in their
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midst,for several centuries in succession, a certain
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socialized organization of production and trade; that these
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centuries were periods of a rapid intellectual, industrial,
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and artistic progress; while the decay of these communal
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institutions came mainly from the incapacity of men of
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combining the village with the city, the peasant with the
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citizen, so as jointly to oppose the growth of the military
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states, which destroyed the free cities. The history of
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mankind, thus understood, does not offer, then, an argument
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against communism. It appears, on the contrary, as a
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succession of endeavours to realize some sort of communist
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organization, endeavours which were crowned here and there
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with a partial success of a certain duration; and all we are
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authorized to conclude is, that mankind has not yet found
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the proper form for combining, on communistic principles,
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agriculture with a suddenly developed industry and a rapidly
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growing international trade. The latter appears especially
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as a disturbing element, since it is no longer individuals
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only, or cities, that enrich themselves by distant commerce
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- 2 -
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and export; but whole nations grow rich at the cost of those
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nations which lag behind in their industrial development.
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These conditions, which began to appear by the end of the
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eighteenth century, took, however, their full development in
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the nineteenth century only, after the Napoleonic wars Caine
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to an end. And modern Communism has to take them into
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account. It is now known that the French Revolution, apart
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from its political significance, was an attempt made by the
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French people, in 1793 and 1794, in three different
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directions more or less akin to Socialism. It has, first,
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the equalization of fortunes, by means of an income tax and
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succession duties, both heavily progressive, as also by a
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direct confiscation of the land in order to sub-divide it,
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and by heavy war taxes levied upon the rich only. The second
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attempt was a sort of Municipal Communism as regards the
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consumption of some objects of first necessity, bought by
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the municipalities, and sold by them at cost price. And the
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third attempt was to introduce a wide national system of
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rationally established prices of all commodities, for which
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the real cost of production and moderate trade profits had
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to be taken into account. The Convention worked hard at this
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scheme, and had nearly completed its work, when reaction
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took the upper hand. It was during this remarkable
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movement, which has never yet been properly studied, that
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modern Socialism was born--Fourierism with L'Ange, at Lyons,
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and authoritarian Communism with Buonarotti, Babeuf, and
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their comrades. And it was immediately after the Great
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Revolution that the three great theoretical founders of
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modern Socialism--Fourier, Saint Simon, and Robert Owen, as
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well as Godwin (the No-State Socialism)--came forward; while
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the secret communist societies, originated from those of
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Buonarroti and Babeuf, gave their stamp to militant,
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authoritarian Communism for the next fifty years. To be
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correct, then, we must say that modern Socialism is not yet
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a hundred years old, and that, for the first half of these
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hundred years, two nations only, which stood at the head of
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the industrial movement, i.e., Britain and France, took part
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in its elaboration. Both bleeding at that time from the
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terrible wounds inflicted upon them by fifteen years of
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Napoleonic wars, and both enveloped in the great European
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reaction that had come from the East. In fact, it was only
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after the Revolution of July, 1830, in France, and the
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Reform movement of 1830-1832 in this country, had begun to
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shake off that terrible reaction, that the discussion of
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Socialism became possible for a few years before the
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revolution of 1848. And it was during those years that the
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aspirations of Fourier, St. Simon, and Robert Owen, worked
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out by their followers, took a definite shape, and the
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different schools of Socialism which exist nowadays were
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defined. In Britain, Robert Owell and his followers worked
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out their schemes of communist villages, agricultural and
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- 3 -
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industrial at the same time; immense co-operative
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associations were started for creating with their dividends
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more communist colonies; and the Great Consolidated Trades'
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Union was founded-the forerunner of both the Lahour Parties
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of our days and the International Workingmen's Association.
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In France, the Fourierist Considerant issued his remarkable
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manifesto, which contains, beautifully developed, all the
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theoretical considerations upon the growth of Capitalism,
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which are now described as "Scientific Socialism." Proudhon
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worked out his idea of Anarchism and Mutualism, without
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State interference. Louis Blanc published his Organization
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of Labour, which became later on the programme of Lassalle.
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Vidal in France and Lorenz Stein in Germany further
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developed, in two remarkable works, published in 1846 and
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1847 respectively, the theoretical conceptions of
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Considerant; and finally Vidal, and especially Pecqueur,
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developed in detail the system of Collectivism, which the
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former wanted the National Assembly of 1848 to vote in the
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shape of laws. However, there is one feature, common to all
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Socialist schemes of that period, which must be noted. The
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three great founders of Socialism who wrote at the dawn of
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the nineteenth century were so entranced by the wide
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horizons which it opened before them, that they looked upon
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it as a new revelation, and upon themselves as upon the
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founders of a new religion. Socialism had to be a religion,
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and they had to regulate its march, as the heads of a new
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church. Besides, writing during the period of reaction which
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had followed the French Revolution, and seeing more its
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failures than its successes, they did not trust the masses,
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and they did not appeal to them for bringing about the
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changes which they thought necessary. They put their faith,
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on the contrary, into some great ruler, some Socialist
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Napoleon. He would understand the new revelation; he would
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be convinced of its desirability by the successful
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experiments of their phalansteries, or associations; and he
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would peacefully accomplish by his own authority the
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revolution which would bring well-being and happiness to
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mankind. A military genius, Napoleon, had just been ruling
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Europe, Why should not a social genius come forward, carry
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Europe with him and translate the new Gospel into life? That
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faith was rooted very deep, and it stood for a long time in
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the way of Socialism; its traces are even seen amongst us,
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down to the present day. It was only during the years
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1840-48, when the approach of the Revolution was felt
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everywhere, and the proletarians were beginning to p]ant the
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banner of Socialism on the barricades, that faith in the
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people began to enter once more the hearts of the social
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schemers: faith, on the one side, in Republic and Democracy,
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and on the other side in free association, in the organising
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power of the working-men themselves.
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- 4 -
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Upon another point they also were agreed. It was that the
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labour unions themselves would have to get hold of the
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instruments of production, and organize production
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themselves. The French idea of the Fourierist and Mutualist
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"Association" thus joined hands with Robert Owen's idea of
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"The Great Consolidated Trades' Union", which was extended
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now, so as to become an International Working-men's
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Association.
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Again this new revival of Socialism lasted but a few years.
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Soon came the war of 1870- 71, the uprising of the Paris
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Commune--and again the free development of Socialism was
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rendered impossible in France. But while Germany accepted
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now from the hands of its German teachers, Marx and Engels,
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the Socialism of the French "forty-eighters" that is, the
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Socialism of Considerant and Louis Blanc, and the
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Collectivism of Pecqueur,--France made a further step
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forward. In March, 1871, Paris had proclaimed that hence
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forward it would not wait for the retardatory portions of
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France: that it intended to start within its Commune its own
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social development. The movement was too short-lived to
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give any positive result. It remained communalist only; it
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merely asserted the rights of the commune to its full
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autonomy. But the working-classes of the old International
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saw at once its historical significance. They understood
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that the free commune would be henceforth the medium in
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which the ideas of modern Socialism may come to realization.
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The free agro-industrial communes, of which so much was
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spoken in England and France before 1848, need not be small
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phalansteries, or small communities of 2000 persons. They
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must be vast agglomerations, like Paris, or, still better,
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small territories. These communes would federate to
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constitute nations in some cases, even irrespectively of the
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present national frontiers (like the Cinque Ports, or the
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Hansa). At the same time large labour associations would
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come into existence for the inter-communal service of the
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railways, the docks, and so on. Such were the ideas which
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began vaguely to circulate after 1871 amongst the thinking
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working-men, especially in the Latin countries. In some
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such organization, the details of which life itself would
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settle, the labour circles saw the medium through which
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Socialist forms of life could find a much easier realization
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than through the seizure of all industrial property by the
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State, and the State organization of agriculture and
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industry. These are the ideas to which I have endeavoured
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to give a more or less definite expression in this book.
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Looking back now at the years that have passed since this
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book was written, I can say in full conscience that its
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leading ideas must have been correct. State Socialism has
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certainly made considerable progress. State railways, State
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banking, and State trade in spirits have been introduced
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- 5 -
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here and there. But every step made in this direction, even
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though it resulted in the cheapening of a given commodity,
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was found to be a new obstacle in the struggle of the
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working-men for their emancipation. So that we find growing
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amongst the working-men, especially in Western Europe, the
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idea that even the working of such a vast national Property
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as a railway-net could be much better handled by a Federated
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Union of railway employees, than by a State organisation.
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On the other side, we see that countless attempts have been
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made all over Europe and America, the leading idea of which
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is, on the one side, to get into the hands of the working-
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men themselves wide branches of production, and, on the
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other side, to always widen in the cities the circles of the
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functions which the city performs in the interest of its
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Inhabitants Trade-unionism, with a growing tendency towards
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organizing the different trades internationally, and of
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being not only an instrument for the improvement of the
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conditions of labour, but also of becoming an organisation
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which might, at a given moment, take into its hands the
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management of production; Co-operation, both for production
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and for distribution, both in industry and agriculture, and
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attempts at combining both sorts of co-operation in
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experimental colonies; and finally, the immensely varied
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field of the so-called Municipal Socialism --these are the
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three directions in which the greatest amount of creative
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power has been developed lately. Of course, none of these
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may, in any degree, be taken as a substitute for Communism,
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or even for Socialism, both of which imply the common
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possession of the instruments of production. But we
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certainly must look at all these attempts as upon
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experiments--like those which Owen, Fourier, and Saint Simon
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tried in their colonies --experiments which prepare human
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thought to conceive some of the practical forms in which a
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communist society might find its expression. The synthesis
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of all these partial experiments will have to be made some
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day by the constructive genius of some one of the civilised
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nations. But samples of the bricks out of which the great
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synthetic building will have to be built, and even samples
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of some of its rooms, are being prepared by the immense
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effort of the constructive genius of man.
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BRIGHTON. January, 1913.
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