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 NIHILISM

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NIHILISM

cate violent measures. Hence his younger followers wearied of him; and on the other hand his defense of the Poles during the insurrection of 1S63 alienated many of his Russian sympathizers. The "Kolokol" went out of existence in 1M6S and Herzen died two years later. Bakunin was extreme in his revolution- ary theories. In the first numljer of "L' Alliance In- ternationale de la Democratic Socialiste" founded by him in 1869, he openly professed Atheism and called for the abolition of marriage, property, and of all so- cial and religious institutions. His advice, given in his "Revolutionary Catechism", was: "Be severe to yourself and severe to others. Suppress the senti- ments of relationship, friendship, love, and gratitude. Have only one pleasure, one joy, one reward — the tri- umph of the revolution. Night and day, have only one thought, the destruction of everything without pity. Be ready to die and ready to kill any one who opposes the triumph of your revolt." Bakunin thus opened the way to nihilistic terrorism.

Propaganda (1867-77). — It began with the forma- tion (1861-62) of secret societies, the members of which devoted their lives and fortunes to the dissemi- nation of revolutionary ideas. Many of these agita- tors, educated at Zurich, Switzerland, returned to Russia and gave Nihilism the support of trained intelli- gence. Prominent among them were Scrgius Necaev, master of a parochial school in St. Petersburg, who was in constant communication with nihilist centers in various cities, and Sergius. Kovalin who established thirteen associations in Cernigor. These societies took their names from their founders — the Malikovcy, Lavrists, Bakunists, etc. They enrolled seminarists, university students, and young women. Among the working men the jjropaganda was conducted in part through free schools. The promoters engaged in humble trades as weavers, blacksniil lis, and carpenters, and in their shops inculcated nihilist doctrine. The peasantry was reached by writings, speeches, schools, and personal intercourse. Even the nobles shared in this work, e. g.. Prince Peter Krapotkin, who, under the pseudonym of Borodin, held conferences with work- ingmen. As secondary centres, taverns and shops served as meeting-places, depositories of prohibited books, and, in case of need, as places of refuge. Though without a central organization the movement spread throughout Russia, notably in the region of the Volga and in that of the Dnieper where it gained adherents among the Cossacks. The women in particular dis- played energy and self-sacrifice in their zeal for the cause. Many were highly cultured and some belonged to the nobility or higher classes, e. g., Natalia Armfeld, Barbara Batiuskova, Sofia von Herzfeld, Sofia Pero- vakaja. They co-operated more especially through the schools.

The propaganda of the press was at first conducted from foreign parts: London, Geneva, Zurich. In this latter city there were two printing-offices, established in 1873, where the students published the works of Lavrov and of Bakunin. The first secret printing- office in Russia, founded at St. Petersburg in 1861, published four numbers of the Velikoruss. At the same time there came to Russia, from London, copies of the "Proclamation to the New Generation" (Kmo- lodomu pokolfiniju), and "Young Russia" (Molodaja Rosija), which was published in the following year. In 1862, another secret printing-office, established at Moscow, published the recital of the revolt of 14 De- cember, 182.5, written by Ogarev. In 1862, another secret press at St. Petersburg published revolutionary proclamations for officers of the army; and in 1863, there were pubhshed in the same city a few copies of the daily papers, "Svoboda" (Liberty) and "Zemlja i Volja" (The Earth and Liberty); the latter contin- ued to be published in 1878 and 1879, under the edi- torship, at first, of Marco Natanson, and later of the student, Alexander Mihailov, one of the ablest or-

ganizers of Nihilism. In 1866, a student of Kazan, Elpidin, published two numbers of the "Podpolnoe Slovo", which was succeeded by the daily paper, the " Sovremennost " (The Contemporary), and later, Ijy the "Narodnoe Delo" (The National Interest), which was published (1868-70), to disseminate the ideas of Bakunin. Two numbers of the "Narodnaja Ras- prava" (The Tribunal of Reason) were published in 1870, at St. Petersburg and at Moscow. In 1873, appeared the "Vpred" (Forward!), one of the most esteemed periodicals of Nihilism, having saUent social- istic tendencies. A volume of it appeared each year. In 187.5-76, there was connected with the "Vpred", a small bi-monthly sup]ilement, which was under the direction of Lavrov until 1876, when it passed under the editorship of Smironv, and went out of existence in the same year. It attacked theological and reli- gious ideas, proclaiming the equality of rights, freedom of association, and justice for the proletariat. At Ge- neva, in 1875 and 1876, the "Rabotnik" (The Work- man) was published, which was edited in the style of the people; the "Nabat" (The Tocsin) appeared in 187.5, directed by Thacev; the "Narodnaja Volja" (The Will of the People), in 1879, and the "Cernyi Peredel", in 1880, were published in St. Petersburg. There was no fixed date for any of these papers, and their contents consisted, more especially, of proclama- tions, of letters from revolutionists, and at times, of sentences of the Executive Committees. These print- ing offices also produced books and pamphlets and Russian translations of the works of Lassalle, Marx, Proudhon, and Buchner. A government stenogra- pher, My.skin, in 1870, established a printing-office, through which several of Lassalle's works were pub- lished; while many pamphlets were published by the Zemlja i Volja Committee and by the Free Russian Printing-Office. Some of the pamphlets were pub- lished under titles like those of the books for children, for example, "Dedu.ska Egor" (Grandfather Egor), "Mitiu.ska", Stories for the Workingmen, and others, in which the exploitation of the people was deplored, and the immunity of capitalists assailed. Again, some publications were printed in popular, as well as in cultured, language; and, in order to allure the peas- ants, these pamphlets appeared at times, under such titles as "The Satiate and the Hungry"; "How Our Country Is No Longer Ours". But all this propa- ganda, which required considerable energy and sacri- fice, did not produce satisfactory results. Nihilism did not penetrate the masses; its enthusiastic apostles committed acts of imprudence that drew upon them the ferocious reprisals of the Government ; the peasants had not faith in the preachings of those teachers, whom, at times, they regarded as government spies, and whom, at times, tlic,\' ilcTiouiici'd. The books and pamphlets that were disl iibiilnl ;tmong the country people often fell into tlu- IkhmIs (if the cinomiki (gov- ernment employees), or of the popes. Very few of the peasants knew how to read. Accordingly, Nihilism had true adherents only among students of the uni- versities and higher .s<iiii.ils, ainl unions the middle classes. The peasants :iiid wiukinrn did not under- stand its ideals of destrui-l imi :iim1 nf s(i(i:il revolution. NiHiLLST Terrorism. — Propagation of ideas was soon followed by violence: 4 Ai)ril, lSf)6, Tsar Alex- ander II narrowly escaped the shot fired by Deme- trius Karakozov, and in consequence took severe measures (rescript of 23 May, ISCili) against the revo- lution, making the universities and the press objects of special vigilance. To avoid detection and spying, the Nihilists formed a Central Executive Connnittee whose sentences of death were executed by "i)unish- ers". Sub-committees of from five to ten members were also organizcil and statutes (12 articles) drawn up. The a|ii)licanl for admission was required to con- secrate his life to the cause, sever ties of family and friendship, and observe absolute secrecy. Disobcdi-