The case of "Sophia" and the question of anarchist expropriation

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the events that took place in July 1907 - the anarchists expropriated a large amount of money from the boat «Sofia» in the Black Sea. Considering this event, the author discusses the essence and role of political expropriations during the revolution of the early twentieth century, the peculiarities of the tactics of anarchist groups in Ukraine, the fate of some anarchists and their associations. For the South of Ukraine in 1906-1908 political expropriations were common. The article examinates the robbery of a steamer and a train near Odessa, a bank robbery in Odessa, a robbery of a cash register in Verkhnedneprovsk, carried by anarchists. Such actions were conducted not only by anarchists, but also by Bolsheviks, social revolutionaries and other radicals. The expropriations that were carried out by the Odessa anarchists in July-September 1907 became the last chord of the anarchist practice of «direct actions» that allowed, for some time, to restrain the political horizons of the federation of anarchist-syndicalists and communist anarchists also known as the «Working Group Anarchists in the South» (1907–1910). The theme of the discussion is a question about anarchist expropriation, which some researchers consider only as «criminal gangsterism». The article states that the money that was captured by anarchists, initially, went to purely political actions: the preparation of strikes, the printing of propaganda publications, organizational expenses and the purchase of weapons. After the expropriation on the steamer «Sofia», the anarchists sent part of the money to organize a strike of Odessa sailors and port workers, to organize acts of terror against representatives of the executive and judicial authorities. In the second half of 1907, the anarchist groups showed a tendency for self-provision of revolutionaries – spending money that was captured during the expropriation for personal needs, which led to the disappearance of money, weakening of the activities of anarchist structures, the collapse of anarchist groups. «Money depravity» has become one of the causes of the crisis in the anarchist movement and to the disintegration of individual groups. After a series of high-profile expropriations, the police sent all their forces to search for «malefactors». Many anarchists were arrested, including 14 out of 18 participants in the robbery at Sophia, several people were executed. Chasing of the police led to mass arrests and to the emigration of part of anarchists abroad.