Welcome to Russian History Retold, episode 218, The Russian Anarchists, Part 2.

Last time we defined what anarchism is and we focused on the two most important Russian anarchists,

Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin.

Today we focus on a bigger group of lesser known but important anarchists as well as groups who lived the lifestyle.

We will also talk about more modern-day anarchists who can also be deemed to be anti-globalists.

As I alluded to in last episode, anarchism was an important movement in 19th century Russia.

Many who joined the movement were fed up with the Romanos in their overly-suppressive regime,

especially under the reactionary czar Alexander III.

This was common ground between the anarchists and the Bolsheviks.

What was different was that the anarchists believed that all forms of government was repressive

and could not be trusted to care for all people.

The Bolsheviks believed that the Tsarist regime was the bad guy and that they could change things once they came to power.

The anarchists turned out in the long run to be right.

We begin our discussion today with the most famous anarchist of all, Leo Tolstoy.

Born in 1828, his version of anarchism, Christian anarchism, was the most non-violent of all the forms of this political belief system.

It is a Christian movement in political theology that claims anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels.

They believe that the Sermon on the Mount is the cornerstone of its anarchist views.

It is grounded in the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answerable.

The authority of God has embodied in the teachings of Jesus.

It therefore rejects the idea that human governments have ultimate authority over human societies.

Christian anarchists denounce the state believing it is violent, deceitful, and when glorified idolatrous.

The Kingdom of God is within you, written by Tolstoy, is often regarded as a key text for modern Christian anarchism.

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