Bakunin: Statism and Anarchy (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)

Written in the 1873 aftermath of the rise of the German Empire and the clash with Karl Marx in the first International, the great Russian anarchist's last work had an immediate influence on the to the people movement of Russian populism.

Statism and Anarchy is a complete English translation of the last work by the great Russian anarchist Michael Bakunin. It was written in 1873, in the aftermath of the rise of the German Empire and the clash between Bakunin and Karl Marx in the first International. Bakunin assesses the strength of a European state system dominated by Bismarck. Then, in the most remarkable part of the book, he assails the Marxist alternative, predicting that a dictatorship of the proletariat will in fact be a dictatorship over the proletariat, and will produce a new class of socialist rulers. Instead, he outlines his vision of an anarchist society and identifies the social forces he believes will achieve an ananarchist revolution. Statism and Anarchy had an immediate influence on the to the people movement of Russian populism, and Bakunin's ideas inspired other anarchist movements. This is the only complete and reliable rendition of Statism and Anarchy in English, and in a lucid introduction Marshall Shatz locates Bakunin in his immediate historical and intellectual context, and assesses the impact of his ideas on the wider development of European radical thought. A guide to further reading and a chronology of events are appended as aids to students encountering Bakunin's thought for the first time.

**Statism and Anarchy** (Russian: *Государственность и анархия*, *Gosudarstvennost' i anarkhiia*, literally "Statehood and Anarchy") was the last work by the Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin. Written in the summer of 1873, the key themes of the work are the likely impact on Europe of the Franco-Prussian war and the rise of the German Empire, Bakunin's view of the weaknesses of the Marxist position and an affirmation of anarchism. Statism and Anarchy was the only one of Bakunin's major anarchist works to be written in Russian and was primarily aimed at a Russian audience, with an initial print run of 1,200 copies printed in Switzerland and smuggled into Russia. (Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statism_and_Anarchy)) Title Page......Page 4 Copyright Page......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Editor's note......Page 8 Introduction......Page 9 Principal events in Bakunin's life......Page 34 Bibliographical note......Page 37 Note on the translation......Page 43 Statism and Anarchy......Page 44 I......Page 45 II......Page 66 III......Page 97 IV......Page 136 V......Page 160 VI......Page 168 VII......Page 196 Appendix A......Page 222 Appendix B......Page 240 Biographical and other notes on the text......Page 243 Index......Page 258 Written in 1873, Statism and Anarchy rejects both the modern capitalist state and the Marxist alternative to it. Here, Bakunin outlines his vision of an anarchist society and a theory of social revolution to achieve it. His ideas had an immediate impact on the Russian revolutionary movement and inspired anarchist movements elsewhere. The International Working Men's Association, which came into being scarcely nine years ago, has now attained such influence on the practical development of economic, social, and political issues throughout Europe that no political commentator or statesman can henceforth deny it his most serious, and frequently anxious, attention. This book is the first complete and authoritative English rendition of the last work of the great Russian anarchist Michael Bakunin