Universalists (Russia)

Pan-Russian Section of the Anarchist-Universalists

Всероссийская секция анархистов-универсалистов
Pan-Russian Section of the Anarchist-Universalists Всероссийская секция анархистов-универсалистов
Abbreviation	VSAU
Founders	Anarcho-communism; Platformism; Syndicalism
Political position	Far-left
	Politics of Russia; Political parties; Elections;

The Universalists were a Russian

anarcho-communist organization established in 1920 to support the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War. After a period of growth, the organization split and was eventually suppressed in the wake of the Kronstadt rebellion

.

History

In August 1920,

Maximalists, a radical faction of the Socialist Revolutionaries which split off and later joined the Communist Party.^[5]

In articles published in the organization's official organ The Universal, Askarov criticised the recent history of the Russian anarchist movement and called for anarchists to participate in the construction of a new society, claiming that the Soviet state was a matter of fact. On the re-organization of the anarchist movement, the Universalists stressed the necessity of creating a "single, coherent organization, bound by firm self-discipline and which places itself on a defined revolutionary platform” and criticized the individualist model of small disorganized affinity groups.^[6]

At their first Conference, the Universalists marked their transition "from anarchist

class struggle" and called for the anarchist participation in the Soviets, where a number of Universalists including Askarov had already been elected.^[6]^[a] The Universalists declared themselves in support of the Communist International and their willingness to form a united front with other political parties that supported the October Revolution.^[8] The organization began to grow rapidly, establishing branches in Bryansk, the Urals, Ryazan, Minsk and Samara, while in their headquarters of Moscow, they opened up a number of establishments including a conference hall, bookstore, restaurant and a number of clubs.^[9] The organization was quickly joined by a number of new members that had a different anarchist political philosophy to that of its founders, which split the Universalists, leading to a minority faction around the Gordins being expelled from the organization,^[3] going onto name themselves the Anarchist-Universalist Association (inter-individualist) (Russian: Организация анархистов-универсалистов (интериндивидуалистов)) and publish the journal Through Socialism to Anarchism-Universalism.^[10] The two groups subsequently began to attack each other,^[11] with "insults, defamation, and violence."^[3]

With the Bolshevik victory over the white movement during the Russian Civil War, the Universalists were in good standing with the Bolsheviks,^[5] but by the time the Kronstadt rebellion broke out they were supporting the Baltic Fleet mutineers, denouncing the suppression of the rebellion by the Red Army under Leon Trotsky.^[12] When the New Economic Policy was implemented, Askarov responded by calling Universalists to prepare "the unions for the taking over of industry, the unionizing of the workers of the land, and economic reorganization through the free cooperation of workers and peasants."^[9]

A wave of repression against the anarchist movement soon followed,

police surveillance. Abba Gordin subsequently emigrated to the United States^[7] while Wolf, who had by this time fully converted to Bolshevism, was subjected to punitive psychiatry before being able to escape to the US.^[16] German Askarov was later arrested on charges of anti-Soviet agitation before disappearing during the Great Purge

.

Legacy

The anarchist Alexander Berkman considered the Universalists to be "worse than crazy".^[7] But the anarchist turned Bolshevik Victor Serge later praised the Universalists for condemning "the past errors of the Russian anarchist movement," advocating "participation in the Soviets," recognizing "what the revolution owes the Red Army," not wanting "to demonstrate any hostility toward the Communist International," and seeking "practical, immediate, and peaceful methods of work within the socialist state."^[9]

Notes

^ Abba Gordin had been elected twice by munitions workers to the Moscow Soviet, but each time the election results were declared invalid by the Bolsheviks.^[7]