The League of Peace and Freedom

Abstract

When Bakunin left Italy in August 1867, the main lines of his political creed had been finally and firmly established. He believed in a social upheaval of the working class which would lead to the abolition of the “centralised State” and the sub-stitution for it of a more loosely organised society based on the undefined concepts of liberty, equality, and justice. The move to Switzerland entailed not a change of creed but a change of method. In Italy, Bakunin had deliberately shunned publicity, writing nothing of importance, and confining his activities to secret propaganda and organisation. On the free soil of Switzerland, other tactics were called for. While he did not abandon his compelling passion for conspiracy, Bakunin now missed no opportunity of proclaiming his faith to the world in speech and in print. For the five years from September 1867 to September 1872 he was a public figure. During the whole of this time (except for one brief interlude in France), he never had occasion to conceal his identity or mask his opinions. He appeared openly as a teacher and leader of revolution; and to this period belongs the greater part of his literary output.