Stepniak with his own appreciation and critique of Kropotkin, who he helped escape from prison and in to exile in 1876.

‘Peter Kropotkin’ (1881) by Stepniak from Soviet Russia (New York). Vol. 7 No. 6. September 15, 1922.

I.

HE is not the leader of the Nihilist movement, as he is called throughout Europe. He has not even the least influence over the modern Russian revolutionary movement; no literary influence, for ever since he has resided abroad he has never written except in the French language; no personal influence, for at this moment he is known in Russia only by name. This fact, however strange it may appear to the reader, is the natural consequence of another. Kropotkin is a refugee and the political refugees who reside in the various cities of Europe have not the slightest influence, either separately or collectively, upon the revolutionary movement of their country.

The thing may appear incredible, yet any man of judgment who thinks about it tor a single moment will not fail to recognize the absolute truth of my assertions. Only two things have to be taken into consideration, the general character of the Russian movement, and the distance between Russia and the countries in which the refugees can reside, Switzerland, France, Italy, England; for no one would feel safe either in Prussia or Austria. I will cite one single fact. To exchange letters with Switzerland, which is the nearest country of all, a fortnight must always elapse, allowing a few days for the reply.

Now an order, supposing one has to be given, or even advice, would reach St Petersburg; a fortnight, or, in the most favorable case, ten days after it had been asked for. Now in Russia the struggle is no longer carried on exclusively by mental effort, as it was five years ago. It is a struggle, arms in hand, a thorough war, in which the minutest precautions have to be taken, in accordance with the latest movements of the enemy. Let us suppose that an attempt against the Emperor is being prepared. The slightest change m his itinerary, in the route he will take, in the measures he will adopt for his safety, immediately cause the whole plan of attack to be changed.

What orders could be given from London, from Paris, from Switzerland? Who would be so stupidly presumptuous as to believe himself in a position to give them? Who would be so stupid as to attribute any value to them? Let us suppose for a moment that a general wished to carry on a war in Turkey, himself remaining in St Petersburg. What would be said by any man with a particle of judgment? Yet this general would have an immense advantage, that of possessing the telegraph, while we have nothing but the laggard mails.

Since it is impossible, therefore, for a refugee to direct operations, or even to give advice of any value, upon Russian matters, why should he be informed beforehand of what is being prepared in Russia? To run the risk of some letter falling into the hands of the police? To increase the perils of this Titanic struggle, as though there were not enough already?

We have thus another fact resulting from the preceding- Even the refugees connected with those who belong to the party, and who take an active part in everything, have not the slightest knowledge of what is being prepared in Russia. From time to time, out of pure friendship, they receive some vague hint, without ever knowing anything for certain, respecting the place, time, or mode of execution of the project in embryo. Why communicate such things, even to the best of friends, merely to satisfy curiosity? It would be a crime, an infamy, a dishonest act; and every serious-minded man would be the first to reproach a friend for such an act. Events such as the patting to death of Alexander II and the explosion in the Winter Palace were as much of a surprise to the refugees as to the rest of the world.

The political influence of the Russian refugees at the present moment is therefore reduced absolutely to zero. Foreign countries are only resting places, harbors which every one makes for when his barque has been wrecked or disabled by the furious waves. Until they can refit, and steer towards their native shore, the refugees are poor castaways. They may be as intrepid as ever, but they can only stand with folded arms, regarding with envious eyes the country where the combatants are fighting, dying, conquering, while they, sad and idle, stifle in their forced inaction, strangers in a strange land.

II.

Kropotkin is one of the oldest of the refugees. For six years he has continuously lived abroad, and during all that time has therefore been unable to take the slightest part in the Russian revolutionary movement. This does not alter the fact, however, that he is one of the most prominent men of our party, and as such I will speak about him.

He belongs to the highest Russian aristocracy. The family of the Princes of Kropotkin is one of the few which descend in right line from the old feudal princes of the ancient royal house of Rurik. In the Circle of the Chaikovtsy, to which he belonged, it used thus to be jestingly said of him that he had more right to the throne of Russia than the Emperor, Alexander II, who was only a German.

He studied in the College of the Pages, to which only the sons of the Court aristocracy are admitted. He finished his course there with the highest distinction, toward the year 1861, but impelled by love of study, instead of entering the service of the court, he went to Siberia to pursue his geological researches. He remained there several years, taking part in many scientific expeditions, and obtained through them a vast amount of information which he afterwards utilized in conjunction with Elisee Reclus. He also visited China.

On returning to St Petersburg, he was elected a member and afterwards secretary of the Geographical Society. He wrote several works, highly appreciated by scientific men, and finally undertook a great work upon the glaciers of Finland, which, owing to a petition of the Geographical Society, he was permitted to terminate when already confined in the fortress. He could not escape the irksome pressure to enter the Court service. He was Chamberlain of the Empress, and received several decorations.

In the year 1871, or at the commencement of 1872, I do not quite remember which, he went abroad. He visited Belgium and Switzerland, where at that time the (First) International had assumed such proportions. His ideas, which certainly were always advanced, began to take definite shape. He became an Internationalist, and adopted the ideas of the most extreme wing, the so-called anarchist wing, of which he has always remained a fervent champion.

On returning home he put himself in communication with the revolutionary circle, inspired by the same ideas, that of the Chudkovtsy, and in the year 1872 was proposed as a member, and admitted by unanimity. He was entrusted with the duty of drawing up the program of the party and its organization, which was afterwards found among his papers. In the winter of 1872 he commenced his secret lectures upon the history of the International, which were simply the development of the principles of Socialism, and the Revolution, based upon the history of all the modem popular movements. These lectures, which united with depth of thought a clearness and a simplicity that rendered them intelligible even to the most uncultivated minds, excited the deepest interest among the workingmen of the Alexander-Nevsky district They spoke about them to their fellow workmen, and the news quickly spread through all the workshops of the neighborhood, and naturally reached the police, who determined at all hazards to find out the famous Borodin, for it was under that fictitious name Kropotkin gave his lectures. But they did not succeed. In two months time, having finished his lectures, he no longer showed himself in the house under surveillance, and made preparations to go among the peasants, and carry on the agitation as an itinerant painter; for, in addition to his vast erudition, he has much artistic talent.

The police succeeded, however, in bribing one of the workmen, who consented to play the spy, and perambulated the principal streets, hoping some day or other to meet with “Borodin.” In this he succeeded. After some few months he met Kropotkin in the Gostini Dvor upon the Nevski Prospekt, and pointed him out to a policeman. The supposititious Borodin was arrested. At first he would not tell his real name, but it was impossible to conceal it Some days afterwards the landlady of the house in which he had hired a room came to declare that one of her lodgers, Prince Peter Kropotkin, had suddenly disappeared on such a day. On being taken to the spurious Borodin she recognized him, and Kropotkin was compelled to acknowledge his identity.

Great was the emotion produced at court by the arrest of such a high personage. The Emperor himself was excited by it to such an extent, that a year afterwards, in passing through Kharkov, where a cousin of Peter, Alexis Kropotkin, was Governor, he was extremely discourteous to him, and abruptly asked if it was true that Peter was a relation.

Three years did Kropotkin pass in the cells of the fortress of St Peter and St Paul. In the early part of 1876, he was transferred by the doctor’s orders to the St Nicholas Hospital, the prison having undermined his health, never very good, to such an extent that he could neither eat nor move about. In a few months, however, it was reestablished, but he did everything in his power to hide the fact. He walked with the step of a dying man; he spoke in a low voice, as if it were a painful effort merely to open his mouth. The cause was very simple. He learned through a letter sent to him by his friends, that an attempt was being organized to effect his escape, and as in the hospital the surveillance was much less strict than in the fortress, it was essential to prolong his stay there.

In July of the year 1876 this escape was effected in accordance with a plan drawn up by Kropotkin himself. I described it in my last article.

III.

Some weeks afterwards Kropotkin was already abroad.

From this period his true revolutionary activity dates. Although not connected with the Russian movement, being exclusively devoted to European Socialism, it was perhaps the only means of displaying his eminent political qualities in their true light. His great gifts specially qualify him for activity in the vast public arena, and not in the underground regions of the secret societies.

He is wanting in that flexibility of mind, and that faculty of adapting himself to the conditions of the moment, and of practical life, which are indispensable to Russian conspirators. He is an ardent searcher after truth, a founder of a school, and not a practical man. He endeavors to make certain ideas prevail, at any cost, and not to attain a practical end by unscrupulously turning everything to account

He is too exclusive, and too rigid in his theoretical convictions. He admits no departure from the ultra-anarchist program, and has always considered it impossible, therefore, to contribute to any of the revolutionary newspapers published in the Russian language abroad and in St Petersburg- He has always found in them some point of divergence, and, in fact, has never written a line in any of them.

Kropotkin’s natural element is war on a grand scale, and not guerilla fitting. He might become the founder of a vast social movement, if the condition of the country permitted.

He is an incomparable agitator. Gifted with a ready and eager eloquence, he becomes all passion when he mounts the platform. Like all true orators, he is stimulated by the sight of the crowd which is listening to him. Upon the platform this man is transformed. He trembles with emotion; his voice vibrates with the accent of profound conviction, not to be mistaken or counterfeited, and only heard when it is not merely the mouth which speaks, but the innermost heart His speeches, although he cannot be called an orator of the first rank, produce an immense impression; for when feeling is so intense it is communicative, and electrifies an audience.

When, pale and trembling, he descends from the platform, the whole room throbs with applause.

He is very effective in private discussions, and can convince others and win them over to his opinions, as few can. Being thoroughly versed in historical science, especially in everything relating to popular movements, he draws with marvelous effect from the vast stores of his erudition, in order to support and strengthen his assertions with examples and analogies, very original and unexpected. His words thus acquire an extraordinary power of persuasion, which is increased by the simplicity and clearness of his explanations, due, perhaps, to his profound mathematical studies.

He is not a mere manufacturer of books. Beyond his purely scientific labors, he has never written any work of much moment. He is an excellent journalist, ardent, spirited, eager. Even in his writings, he is still the agitator.

To these talents he adds a surprising activity and such ingenuity in his labors that they have astonished even a worker like Elisee Reclus.

He is one of the most sincere and frank of men. He always speaks the truth, pure and simple, without any regard for the amour propre of his hearers, or for any other consideration whatever. This is the most striking and sympathetic feature of his character. Every word he says may be absolutely believed. His sincerity is such, that sometimes in the ardor of discussion an entirely fresh consideration unexpectedly presents itself to his mind, and sets him thinking. He immediately stops, remains quite absorbed for a moment, and then begins to think aloud, speaking as though he were an opponent. At other times he carries on this discussion mentally, and after some moments of silence, turning to his astonished adversary, smilingly says, “You are right”.

This absolute sincerity renders him the best of friends, and gives especial weight to his praise and blame.

Soviet Russia began in the summer of 1919, published by the Bureau of Information of Soviet Russia and replaced The Weekly Bulletin of the Bureau of Information of Soviet Russia. In lieu of an Embassy the Russian Soviet Government Bureau was the official voice of the Soviets in the US. Soviet Russia was published as the official organ of the RSGB until February 1922 when Soviet Russia became to the official organ of The Friends of Soviet Russia, becoming Soviet Russia Pictorial in 1923. There is no better US-published source for information on the Soviet state at this time, and includes official statements, articles by prominent Bolsheviks, data on the Soviet economy, weekly reports on the wars for survival the Soviets were engaged in, as well as efforts to in the US to lift the blockade and begin trade with the emerging Soviet Union.

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