Graham R (Ed.) - Anarchism - A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas Volume One - From Anarchy to Anarchism (300 CE to 1939)

PrlJ1a!Janda By Tlie Deed
43. Pall I Brollsse: Propaganda By the Deed (1877)
Propaganda by Ihe deed is often wrongly equated wilh lerrorism, when it really means IlOlhing
marc Ihan leading by example, on the basis thai aclions speak louder than words. While
Ihis concepl was artiClllaled by earlier revolutionaries, sllch as Carlo Pisacane (Selection 16)
alld Bakunin (Selcction 28), it was made ClIrrcllt by Palll Broussc (1844- 1912), at the tilllc
OIlC of Ihe mosl militant members of the ani i-authoritarian International, whose article on
I he subject was printed in thc Bulletin of the Jura Federation in August 1877, translated
here by Paul Slwrkey. The events referred to involved a demonstration in Berne, Switzerland.
ill which Brousse took part, where the workers showed the revo[utionGlY red flag. and an
abortive uprising in Benevento, Italy, in which Cafiero and Malatesta participated.
OF WHAT DO THE MASSES CONSIST Of peasants, workers, most of the time toiling
eleven and twelve hours per day. They make their way home worn out from fatigue
and have lillie inliination to read sociaiist pamphiers or newspapers: rhey sieep, they
go for a stroll or devote their evenings to the family.
Well, what if there is a way of grabbing these people's attention, of showing
them what they cannot read, of teaching them socialism by means of actions and
making them see, feel. touch .. When one resorts to that line of reasoning one is on
the trail that leads, beside theoretical propaganda, to propaganda by the deed.
Propaganda by the deed is a mighty means of rousing the popular consciousness.
Let us take an example. Prior to the Paris Commune, who in France was conversant
with the principle of commlmal autonomy No one. Yet Proudhon had written
magnificent books. Who read those books A handful of literati. But once the idea
was brought Ollt into the open air, in the heart of the capital, onto the steps of the
City Hall, when it took on flesh and life, it shook the peasant in his cottage, the
worker at his fireside, and peasants and workers alike had to reflect on this huge