International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

Czech anarchism is characterized by the development of two distinct strands, independently formed in the 1880s. The first was the anarchosyndicalism of the radical trade unionist movement of the North Bohemian miners and industry workers. Centered around editor Johann Most 's journal Die Freiheit (Freedom), these working-class anarchists believed the trade union was not simply to be used as an instrument in the greater anarchist struggle, but was to be seen as the model of a future classless society. Premised around direct action and the organization of labor, the radical labor movement was uncoordinated as a whole until 1903 with the formation of the Severočeská Hornická Federace (Northern Bohemian Federation of Miners). The second strain of Czech anarchism grew out of the secret student societies and radical reading circles of the 1880s and was further articulated by the more philosophical individualist anarchism of the radical intelligentsia and artists of the 1890s. Centered upon such literary journals as Omladina (Youth) and Nový Kult (New Cult), and in lieu of an actual anarchist organization representing the educated intelligentsia, these journals were intended as vehicles for theorizing, agitating, and organizing. By the end of the 1890s the two tendencies began to overlap with each other. One of the first attempts to align the two complementary strands of Czech ... log in or subscribe to read full text