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50 VIOLENCE AND THE LABOR MOVEMENT
of the group, was a descendant of the Ruriks, and it was
said sometimes, in jest, that he had more right to the
Russian throne than Czar Alexander II. The fascinating
story of his life is told in the "Memoirs of a Revolutionist,"
but modesty forbade him to say that no one
since Bakounin has exercised so great an influence as
himself over the principles and tactics of anarchism.
Kropotkin first visited Switzerland in 1872, when he
came in close contact with the men of the Jura Federation.
A week's stay with the Bakouninists converted
him, he says, to anarchism. (2) He then returned to
St. Petersburg, and shortly after entered the famous
circle of Tchaykovsky, and, as a result of his revolutionary
activity, he was arrested and imprisoned in the
Fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul. After his thrilling
escape from prison, in 1876, Kropotkin returned to
Switzerland, and for several years gave himself up entirely
to the cause of anarchism. These four young men,
all far removed by training and position from the working
class, after the death of Bakounin, devised the Propaganda
of the Deed, a method of agitation that was
destined to become famous throughout the world.
Hitherto the Bakouninists had all been firmly convinced
that the masses were ready to rise at a moment's
notice in order to tear down the existing governments.
They were obsessed with the idea that only a spark was
needed to set the whole world into a general conflagration.
But repeated failures taught them that the masses
were inclined to make very little sacrifice for the sake of
communism and that stupendous efforts were needed to
create a revolution.
the propaganda
It appeared to them, therefore, that
of words and of theories was of little
avail. Consequently, these four youths, v/ith their
friends, set out to spread knowledge by acts of violence.