Page 94 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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68———Bakunin, Mikhail (1814–1876)

because of allegations that Bakunin had been forming inflicted on the mass of humanity by the state would
secret societies within the group with the intent of inspire them to revolt and that this revolution would
taking it over. The opinions of later commentators come quickly, perhaps in his own lifetime. These
have differed sharply on this question, but the evidence beliefs—that individual liberty is source of all good,
appears to support Marx’s accusation. That Bakunin that all forms of coercion are inherently evil, and that
would support such a strategy highlights the complex- the state must be destroyed to bring about a utopian
ity of his personality and his politics: such clandestine era of liberty—are the founding tenets of anarchism.
power plays are the antithesis of anarchist philosophy. These tenets present a practical problem for the
Throughout Bakunin’s life, his desire to personally anarchist in attempting to bring about the revolution:
participate in the anarchist revolution often caused Since the use of coercive power is inherently evil, how
him to behave in a self-contradictory manner. can people be convinced to revolt against the vast
His friendship and support of Russian revolution- power of the state? Bakunin believed that the anarchist
ary Sergey Nechaev is perhaps the most striking revolutionary should not to attempt to organize and
example of the perverse effects of his radical ardor. lead the people’s revolution—or attaining a position of
Nechaev had cold-bloodedly murdered one of his leadership inevitably gives one power over others, and
companions while in Russia; it was while on the run is thus inevitably corrupting—but merely to spark their
that he met Bakunin. Though most of their radical revolt. Thus Bakunin, in collaboration with Nechaev,
contemporaries reviled Nechaev and his methods, arrived at the idea of “propaganda by deed”: the use of
Bakunin embraced them, collaborating with him on a radical violence directed at the state to demonstrate to
pamphlet called Catechism of a Revolutionist (1869), the masses the vulnerability of state power.
discussed below. Though he eventually broke with There is dispute about how much Bakunin and
Nechaev and renounced some of Nechaev’s views, Nechaev each contributed to the composition
Bakunin’s relationship with him proved disastrous Catechism of a Revolutionist, and whose ideas they
for him personally, estranging him from the move- truly represented. The essay argues, in essence, that
ment he had helped to found. He died penniless in the ends justify the means; since the state was inher-
Bern, Switzerland, on July 1, 1876. ently evil, any form of attack against it was a good, no
matter who was harmed. Bombings, assassinations,
robbery—all were acceptable so long as they fur-
THE GRANDFATHER OF TERRORISM
thered the cause of revolution. The phrase “propa-
It is difficult to sum up Bakunin’s philosophy simply. ganda by deed” represents an important development
Most of his writings are in the form of personal letters, in the formation of modern terrorism. The use of vio-
political pamphlets responding to specific political lence to send a political message, rather than as an end
events of the day, and fragments of uncompleted essays in itself, is one of terrorism’s defining attributes.
written on the run. In brief, Bakunin believed in a pro- Furthermore, since creating a vast and hierarchical
gressive notion of history, that is, that historical events organization would inevitably come to involve the use
are not random and without purpose but instead repre- of coercive power, the anarchist revolutionary should
sent development toward a goal and that humanity will instead form small groups of like-minded individuals
eventually achieve a condition in which all people are who acted on their own initiative—a cell. From such
self-aware and free to determine their own destinies. cells a loose network could be created, with one mem-
Bakunin believed that the desire for freedom was a ber of each cell reporting to a central cell or commit-
primary drive in all human beings and that any attempt tee that could help the various small groups act in
to force people to behave in a manner inconsistent with concert. The cells would necessarily be secret; only
their own desires was inherently evil. one member would be in contact with the central cell,
Bakunin saw the state, particularly the monarchial so that if an individual member or an entire cell
and autocratic states of 19th-century Europe, as the were discovered and arrested, the organization would
primary obstacle to human freedom in his own time. persist. This idea of a cell network as the basis for the
He believed that the use of coercion by the state to revolutionary organization’s structure is another strik-
maintain power over individuals was the root of all the ing contribution to the development of terrorism and
evils of modern society; for people to be free, the state remains the primary organizational method used by
must be destroyed utterly. He believed that the misery terrorist groups today.