These are very briefly the outlines of the
extraordinary hierarchy that was to form throughout all Europe and
America an invisible network of "the real revolutionists."
This organization was "to accelerate the universal revolution," and what
was understood by the revolution was "the unchaining of what is to-day
called the bad passions and the destruction of what in the same language
is called 'public order.' We do not fear, we invoke anarchy, convinced
that from this anarchy, that is to say, from the complete manifestation
of unchained popular life, must come forth liberty, equality, justice
..."[16] It was clearly foreseen by Bakounin that there would be
opponents to anarchy among the revolutionists themselves, and he
declared: "We are the natural enemies of these revolutionists ... who
... dream already of the creation of new revolutionary States."[17] It
was admitted that the Brothers could not of themselves create the
revolution. All that a secret and well-organized society can do is "to
organize, not the army of the revolution--the army must always be the
people--but a sort of revolutionary staff composed of individuals who
are devoted, energetic, intelligent, and especially sincere friends of
the people, not ambitious nor self-conceited--capable of serving as
intermediaries between the revolutionary idea and the popular instincts.
The number of these individuals does not have to be immense. For the
international organization of all Europe, one hundred revolutionists,
strongly and seriously bound together, are sufficient. Two or three
hundred revolutionists will be sufficient for the organization of the
largest country."[18]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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