Centennial Expressions on Peter Kropotkin 1842-1942.

KROPOTKIN AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Kropotkin's attitude toward the War was
in complete accord with his character. As ever,
he looked to the future of humanity and embraced the most noble cause.
I may add that his attitude was in harmony
with his ideas. Those who have known Kropotkin do not doubt it, but many revolutionists have never come to understand.
It is the absolute of principles and the
abuse of reasoning that often border upon
fanaticism. Fanatics do not observe; they have
never observed. Possessing the primary verities, they draw from them inflexible conclusions without bothering about the complexity
of problems. Severity of reasoning gives an
appearance of solidity to their doctrines but
it is only a doctrine and life mocks at it.
The scientific pretentions of the socialdemocrats are but founded upon deductive
reasoning applied to a narrow materialism, to
simple, economic facts. But being unable to
include in their mathematical argument either
the sentiment or problems of liberty, these
pseudo-scientists simply and purely suppress
the moral facts.
The true syndicalists also see nothing but
the economic aspects of facts, and so as long
as they remain on their province of professional interests, they are on a firm foundation. But they render themselves puerile
and ridiculous by affirming with the socialdemocrats that "capitalism" is sufficient to
explain all social phenomena. They fall into
meanness and iImpotence by shutting themselves up in their class-egoism.
The Tolstovans only occupy themselves
with the moral without taking into account
the material and economic life. They only
succeed in getting utterly beyond reality.
A great many Anarchists are only individualists. From this viewpoint they are naturally all defeatists.
There is an abyss between these people and
Kropotkin. In his ideal Kropotkin knows how
to keep in view an ensemble of the aspirations
and needs of all humanity and to reckon with
the realities. Far from sharing the absolutism
of revolutionists as to system, he has on the
contrary, recommended applying to the study
of social facts the method of the natural sciences that is to say, observation. (See, for ex
By Dr. Marc Pierrot
ample, "Modern Science and Anarchism.")
To observe: That would mean to seek the
truth without preconceived opinions; to strive
to comprehend all the complexity of phenomena without abstractions, andl to (distrust de(ductive reasoning. This is the only means of
honestly serving the ideal.
Ignorance permits itself to be enclosed
within a deductive and absolute system. Kropotkin had the most extensive culture and the
knowledge of the true historian.
One may be against war apriori and we are
all against war. Kropotkin was against war.
\Ve have all made anti-militarist propaganda
in the hope of achieving disarmament, international understanding, internationalism. The
War broke out before we were able to succeed.
How many times have human gropings toward
the ideal thus been beaten off by catastrophies!
But these catastrophies, which are nothing but
accidents in the history of humanity, do not
prevent mankind from marching toward his
aspirations.
We are against war. but war have we suffered. We have accepted the War because we
were forced to do so. \Vhat could our attitude have been
Kropotkin thought it was impossible to remain indifferent to the conflict. To tell the
truth, how could one remain neutral or indifferent
However, there is the indifference of the
poor, the ignorant, of those who do not take
account of the weight of a strong oppression,
or of those for whom political liberty is without importance. Thus may be explained the
anti-patriotism of the early Christians. Thus
can one readily understandd why the Mujiks
should have deserted en masse from the front