Conflicts in the environment of Russian political emigration in Switzerland in 1870

Abstract

Russian political emigration from the beginning of its birth in the first half of the nineteenth century was constantly in search of forms and methods of struggle with royal power in the homeland. Detachment from Russia, the feeling of isolation that was inherent in emigration to the early twentieth century, were an important factor in the ongoing conflicts that took place in its environment. We note the conflicts between the «old» and the «young» emigration in the late 1860’s, between the Marxists and the populists of the 1880’s, between the revolutionary Marxists and the «economists» at the end of the 1890’s. All of these, as a rule, were due to excessive the ambitions of some leaders, the attempt to become the «rulers of ideas» for revolutionary youth, due to significant financial problems. In the list of these and similar conflicts there are events of 1870, when in the environment of political emigration there are two serious confrontations between the leader of anarchists M. Bakunin on the one hand and S. Nechaev or «Russian section of the First International» - on the other. These conflicts significantly influenced the situation in emigration, disorganized it, weakened the ability to fight the tsarist regime. They were accompanied by sharp accusations, searches for compromising materials, attempts to get support from leaders of the world revolutionary movement. The ambitions of young revolutionaries such as S. Nechaev or M. Utin were also connected with the attempt to take the main place among the emigrants, moving to the background of former leaders M. Bakunin, M. Ogarev, P. Lavrov. All this led to split in emigrant colonies, which consisted mainly of student youth. Violent discussions, accusations, boycotts became a hallmark of emigrant life. Basically, all these events took place in Switzerland, which at that time already became the center of not only Russian, but also international political emigration. Conflicts were directed at the political annihilation of the opponents, which subsequently resulted in the arrest and extradition to the Russian government of S. Nechaev in 1872, the cessation of the activities of the Russian Section of the First International and the return of M. Utin to Russia and the cessation of revolutionary activity in general. The positive side of these conflicts was the rallying of emigrants around their leaders, better information on the state of affairs in their environment, the development of new forms and methods of interaction and the strengthening of the role of revolutionaries from Russia itself.