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

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,.IWar AndRevoCution In EurlJ1e
74. flisee Reclus: Evolution and Revolution (1891)
Evolution and Revolution (London: W. Reeves, 1891) was one of Elisee Recllls' most poplliar
and widely translated pamphlets, later expanded into his book, Evolution, Revolution and
the Anarchic Ideal (Paris: Stock, 1898, in French). The idea that revoilltion was an aspect of
progressive evoilltion became a common tenet among anarchists the world over.
THESE TWO WORDS, EVOLUTION AND REVOLUTION, closely resemble one another,
and yet they are constantly used in their social and political sense as though their
meaning were absolutely antagonistic. The word Evolution, synonymous with gradual
and continuous development in morals and ideas, is brought fo rward in certain
circles as though it were the antithesis of that fe arful word, Revolution, which implies
changes more or less sudden in their action, and entailing some sort of catastrophe.
And yet is it possible that a transformation can take place in ideas without
hringing about so!ne abrupt displacciTIcnts in the equiHhriulll of life Tvi ust not revolution
necessarily follow evolution, as action follows the desire to act They are fu n­
damentally one and the same thing, differing only according to the time of their
appearance ...
To begin with, we must clearly establish the fact, that if the word evolution is
willingly accepted by the very persons who look upon revolutionists with horror, it is
because they do not fu lly realize what the term implies, for they would not have the
thing at any price. They speak well of progress in general, but they resent progress in
any particular direction. They consider that existing society, bad as it is, and as they
themselves acknowledge it to be, is worth preserving; it is enough for them that it realizes
their own ideal of wealth, power or comfort ...
But if the word evolution serves but to conceal a lie in the mouths ofthose who
most willingly pronounce it, it is a reality fo r revolutionists; it is they who are the true
evolutionists.