Pyotr Tkachev
Pyotr Nikitich Tkachev | |
---|---|
Russian | |
Occupation(s) | Writer, critic, revolutionary theoretician[1] |
Pyotr Nikitich Tkachev (Russian: Пётр Ники́тич Ткачёв; 29 June 1844 – 4 January 1886) was a Russian writer, critic and revolutionary theorist[1] who formulated many of the revolutionary principles that were later developed and put into action by Vladimir Lenin. Although Tkachev is sometimes described as "the First Bolshevik",[2] he did not figure prominently in the mythology of the Soviet Union.
Biography
Early life
Tkachev was born in 1844 to a minor gentry family.
Tkachev began attending
Political career
Tkachev praised Nikolay Chernyshevsky's novel What Is to Be Done?, calling it the "gospel of the movement".[1]
Populists like Tkachev argued against waiting indefinitely for the social revolution while also in the meantime condemned revolt and terrorism by the
The populists returned to Jacobin methods of coups, conspiracy and terrorism in the name of the people in the 1870s after having exchanged it for social revolution. According to Figes, Tkachev's writings marked the "crucial watershed", establishing a bridge between Nechayev's
Meeting with Sergey Nechayev and exile
By the mid-1870s, Tkachev had become mesmerised by the works of Sergey Nechayev which would lead to him spending another time in prison before going into exile in Switzerland.[3] It was here in Switzerland that Tkachev crudely adopted Karl Marx's sociology which resulted in him parting ways with populism.[3]
In the mid-1870s, Tkachev formulated a violent critique of the Going to the People movement which had consisted of thousands of students and populists travelling to peasant villages to live and preach among serfs. In it, he formulated his belief that propaganda could not initiate a revolution because "the laws of social progress" made it so that the regime always would have the support of wealthier peasants.
Therefore, he instead advocated performing a coup, a seizure of power by a revolutionary vanguard by which would then proceed with establishing a revolutionary dictatorship and initiate the transition to socialism.[3] Tkachev believed that the time was perfect for the seizure of power and that it should be done as soon as possible while there was no social force that was prepared to side with the government, something that would come with the development of the bourgeoisie and capitalism.[3]
A rallying cry in one of the critique's passages, which were later to be copied by Lenin in October 1917, read: "This is why we cannot wait. This is why we claim that a revolution is indispensable, and indispensable now, at this very moment, We cannot allow the postponement. It is now or—perhaps very soon—never". He further wrote that a conspiratorial and elitist party, disciplined and centralised akin to an army, was essential for that to succeed, which was also later echoed by Lenin.[3]
Later life and death
In 1882 Tkachev fell seriously ill and spent his last few years in a psychiatric hospital. He died on 4 January 1886 in Paris at the age of 41.[9]
Political ideas
Historian Andrzej Walicki argued that the form of economic determinism espoused by Tkachev differed significantly with the historical materialism developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, stating: "This specific 'economic materialism' of Tkachev did not amount to Marxism; it constituted rather in a peculiar mixture of some elements of Marxism with a rather primitive utilitarianism, grossly exaggerating the role of direct economic motivation in individual behavior".[10]
Impact and following
A radical terrorist group called the
Vladimir Lenin and Tkachevism
Tkachev was a proponent of a closely organised revolutionary party:
Hal Draper had argued against this view, pointing out that Tkachev is only mentioned a handful of times in Lenin's writings and the only significant reference to him in What Is to Be Done? is a negative one.[15][16]
Friedrich Engels also took issue with Tkachev and his ideas about Russian development.[17]
References
- ^ a b c Figes, p. 130.
- ^ Weeks, Albert Loren (1968). The First Bolshevik: A Political Biography of Peter Tkachev. New York: New York University Press..
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Figes, p. 137.
- ^ Hardy, p. 17.
- ISBN 978-0-313-26265-4.
- ^ Hardy, p. 24.
- ^ Figes, p. 122.
- ^ a b Figes, p. 136
- ^ Venturi (1972), p. 385.
- ISBN 0-19-821474-X.
- ^ Riasanovsky, p. 383.
- ^ Figes, p. 145–146.
- ^ Venturi (1972), p. 347.
- ^ Quoted in French by Venturi (1972), p. 387, note 39: "À lui, à ses idées, à son abnégation, à la lucidité de son esprit, a sa clairvoyance, nous devons la grande partie du progrès, qui s'accomplit chaque jour dans le mouvement révolutionnaire de la Russie. Oui, c'est lui qui a été notre inspirateur et notre modèle dans le grand art de la conspiration."
- ^ Draper, Hall (1990). "The Myth of Lenin's "Concept of The Party" or What They Did to What Is To Be Done?". Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
- ^ Lenin, Vladimir (1901). What Is to Be Done?. "What type of organisation do we require?". Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
- ^ Fernbach, David, ed. (1974). Marx: The First International and After. London: Penguin Books, p. 67.
Bibliography
- ISBN 9781847922915.
- Hardy, Deborah (1977). Petr Tkachev: The Critic as Jacobin. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-95547-3
- ISBN 0-19-512179-1.
- Venturi, Franco (1972). "Pëtr Nikitič Tkačëv". Il populismo russo (in Italian). Vol. II: Dalla liberazione dei servi al nihilismo (2 ed.). Turin: Einaudi. pp. 326–393. (English language edition of the whole work, introduced by Isaiah Berlin: Roots of Revolution: A History of the Populist and Socialist Movements in 19th Century Russia. Translated by Haskell, Francis (2 ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1983.)
Further reading
- Pipes, Richard (1969). "Russian Marxism and its Populist Background". Russian Review (19:4). pp. 316–337.