Background
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Bakunin was born on May 30th, 1814 in Premukhino, Russia and died in Bern, Switzerland on July 1st, 1876 (Smolensky, 2016). Bakunin’s father was a doctor of philosophy who believed deeply in the values of Enlightenment intellectuals and found a true interest in the ideas of Rousseau, specifically (Smolensky, 2016). This said, Bakunin grew, through the teachings of his father, to have similar beliefs (Smolensky, 2016). Bakunin placed more emphasis on the importance of reason than of faith, while also believing in the importance of “…individual consent to radical lengths.” (Smolensky, 2016). Values such as these give reasoning as to why and how he became an “… avowed atheist, materialist, and anarchist activist” (Knowles, 2002).
As a teenager, Mikhail Bakunin was sent to an artillery school in St. Petersburg and, eventually, “…posted to a military unit on the Polish frontier.” (Smolensky, 2016). Smolensky (2016) further notes that “the military life was not for Bakunin, and in 1835, he bolted from his unit, narrowly avoiding arrest and certain disgrace for desertion.” After such an experience avoiding authority, Bakunin had grown to despise it (Smolensky, 2016). This distaste for authority, along with the meeting and studying of other German philosophers, such as Fichte, Herzen, Hegel, and Belinsky, had propelled him into the career of anarchism he is most famously known for (Smolensky, 2016).
Historical Significance
As a devoted anarchist, Mikhail Bakunin had contributed the vast majority of his life and focus on the emancipation of humanity from all authority (Knowles, 2002). Said best by Smolensky (2016):
“For Bakunin, the very essence of humanity lay in thought and rebellion. Thought, or science, allowed human beings to understand the world around them in a way that other animals could never approach. Rebellion, or freedom, allowed human beings to exercise thought rather than blindly follow external authorities. To accept religious or political authority was, for Bakunin, to be less than fully human. The full development of humanity, in turn, demanded thoroughgoing social revolution, which would erase all manner of legal tyranny, class domination, and privilege, opening the way for true community.”
In 1848, Bakunin began his revolutionary career fighting alongside other working-class revolutionaries throughout European cities such as Paris (Smolensky, 2016). During this year, he also took part in revolutions in Germany and Poland and was seen at the Slav Congress in Prague (Smolensky, 2016). In 1849, Mikhail Bakunin took part in the insurrection in Dresden, Germany, where he was eventually arrested and held in a German prison until 1851, when he was sent to a prison in Russia (Smolensky, 2016). After an additional six years in the Russian prison, Bakunin was released and sent to Siberia (Smolensky, 2016). However, in 1861, Bakunin escaped Siberia and traveled to London. (Smolensky, 2016). In 1863, he took part in the Polish insurrection, reaching as far as Sweden, and the following year he traveled to Italy, where he successfully established a “…network of secret revolutionary societies across Europe.” (Smolensky, 2016). As Smolensky (2016) further states, “In 1868, Bakunin relocated to Geneva, where he joined the First International, a federation of various working-class parties for world socialism.” However, Bakunin and his followers were later removed from the First International due to conflict with Karl Marx, who sought out his removal (Smolensky, 2016).
The prolonged feud between Karl Marx and Mikhail Bakunin is a very recurrent topic when conducting research and discussing the histories of both individuals. However, as Gouldner (1982) states, “This climactic conflict was largely fought within the organizational framework of the International Workingman’s Association (IWA), later known as the First International.” (p. 853). Although both were revolutionists who fought against bourgeois individualism, Marx believed that only the working-class individuals should be eligible for membership in the First International, excluding those who fell under different categories such as intellectuals and students (Gouldner, 1982, p.855-856). Evidently, Bakunin was an intellectual himself, creating tension between himself and Marx upon his membership (Gouldner, 1982, p. 856). However, as explained by Gouldner (1982):
“What made Marx so implacably opposed to him, however, was not simply that Bakunin was his intellectual competitor for revolutionary leader- ship in the IWA, but that Bakunin’s doctrine provided a theoretical ground- ing for the very anti-intellectual exclusionary policies so prevalent among the militant artisans.” (p. 856).
Anarchists are constantly influenced by the actions and behaviors displayed by Mikhail Bakunin in the 19th century (Goodwin, 2007). Goodwin (2007) states that anarchist propaganda in 20th century Soviet Russia “… saw its boldest expression in the anarchists’ defence of their most legendary representative, Mikhail Bakunin (1814-76).” (p. 533). Through his “…passionate rhetoric against authoritarianism…” and “… acts of revolutionary valor…” Bakunin had won the hearts of young working-class anarchists and revolutionists during both his own time and thereafter (Goodwin, 2007, p.534).
Breann McKinney
References
Goodwin, J. F. (2007). Russian anarchism and the Bolshevization of Bakunin in the early Soviet period. Kritika: Explorations in Russian & Eurasian History, 8(3), 533-560. Retrieved from: https://kritika.georgetown.edu/
Gouldner, A. W. (1982). Marx’s last battle: Bakunin and the First International. Theory and Society, 11(6), 853-884. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org
Knowles, R. (2002). “Human light”: The mystical religion of Mikhail Bakunin. The European Legacy, 7(1), 7-24. doi: 10.1080/10848770120114547
Smolensky, I. (2016). Mikhail Bakunin. Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: https://www.salempress.com/
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