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Peter Kropotkin

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Prince Peter Alekseievich Kropotkin (born December 9, 1842, died Petrograd February 8, 1921) is one of Russia's foremost anarchists.

Biography

Timeline of Kropotkin's Life

  • 1857 - joins the Corps of Pages where he begins to develop a rebellious reputation.
  • 1858 - Peter's early writings show interest in political economy and statistics, begins contact with "real" peasants.
  • 1861 - Peter has his first prison experience as a result of participating in a student protest.
  • 1862 - becomes disillusioned with royalty when as page de chambre to the tsar he witnesses the extravagances of court life.
  • 1862-1867 - at his own request serves with the military in Siberia. Witnesses the living conditions there, and the unwillingness of the corrupt administration to do anything to improve this.
  • 1868-1870 - pursues survey and geographical studies.
  • 1871 - becomes interested in the workers' movement and the events surrounding the Paris Commune.
  • 1872 - travels to Switzerland, where he joins the International; returns to Russia with a quantity of prohibited socialist literature.
  • 1873 - as a member of the Chaikovskii Circle, he helps with rewriting pamphlets in a way that can be understood by the uneducated; he shows great ability for communicating with the workers.
  • 1874 - Peter is imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress because of his revolutionary activities. At the intervention of the Geographical Society, he is given special dispensation to work on a paper on glacial periods.
  • 1876 - Escapes from a military hospital and moves to England.
  • 1877 - Returns to Switzerland to work with the Jura Federation. Attends the last meeting of the First International in Ghent.
  • 1881 - Attends the International Anarchist congress in London. In his propaganda of deed he supports the assassination of Tsar Alexander II on the grounds that an explosion is far more effective than a vote in encouraging the workers to revolution. This gets him kicked out of Switzerland. The Russian government is embarrassed when he discovers a plot to assassinate him in London.
  • 1882 - Shortly after moving to France he is arrested for his work in The International and sentenced to five years in prison. He stays there until 1886 when he is released on condition that he leave France.
  • 1886 - returns to England. Learns of his brother Alexander's suicide in Siberian exile for political activity.
  • 1890's - Spends most of his time writing. Visits Canada and the United States in 1897. The "Atlantic Monthly" agrees to publish his memoirs. In his books he attempts to develop an anarchist-communist view of society.
  • 1901-1909 - writes material in Russian for readers in his homeland. He was very disappointed by the failure of the 1905 revolution.
  • 1909-1914 - returns to Switzerland on condition that he refrain from anarchist activities. Tries to publicize the massacre of 270 workers at the Lena gold mines, but this activity is cut short by World War I.
  • 1914-1917 - actively supports the war against Germany as a war against the state. This position, a strange and questionable one for an anarchist to take, alienated him from many of his associates, particularly Errico Malatesta.
  • 1917 - Returns to Petrograd where he helps the Karensky government to formulate policy. He curtails his activity when the Bolsheviks come to power.
  • 1921 - His funeral, with Lenin's approval becomes the last mass gathering of anarchists in Russia.

Works

Books

Pamphlets

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