Dielo Truda
Encyclopedia
Dielo Truda was an anarchist and platformist journal first published 1925 by a society called the Group of Russian Anarchists Abroad.
Russian political exiles formed the group in Paris
after the Russian Revolution of 1917
. Among the members were Nestor Makhno
, Piotr Arshinov, Gregori Maximoff
, Ida Mett
, and Nicholas Lazarevitch.
Their defeat by the Bolshevik
s convinced the group that anarchists needed a stronger political structure, including political faction
s, a militia
, and an executive committee
. They began publishing Dielo Truda in 1925, and in the following year published a definitive and influential platformist pamphlet titled Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft).
Soon, pressure from Stalinists and French authorities drove them to relocate from Paris to Chicago
.
The journal was published under the title Dielo Truda until 1939, when it merged with an anarcho-syndicalist journal to become Dielo Trouda-Probuzhdenie. Gregori Maximoff
edited this publication until 1950.
Dielo Truda promoted a platformist model that elicited a damning response from Errico Malatesta
, Sébastien Faure
, Alexander Berkman
,, and some other anarchists. They labeled it authoritarian, and therefore contrary to anarchism
. Although there was little support for it at the time, platformism resurged in the 1950s, and there are numerous Platform-influenced anarchist organizations today, such as NEFAC
(the North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists) in the United States, and the Workers Solidarity Movement
in Ireland.
Russian political exiles formed the group in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
after the Russian Revolution of 1917
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
. Among the members were Nestor Makhno
Nestor Makhno
Nestor Ivanovych Makhno or simply Daddy Makhno was a Ukrainian anarcho-communist guerrilla leader turned army commander who led an independent anarchist army in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War....
, Piotr Arshinov, Gregori Maximoff
Gregori Maximoff
Grigori Petrovitch Maximoff was a Russian-born anarcho-syndicalist who was involved in Nabat, a Ukrainian anarcho-syndicalist movement. Along with several other anarchists, he was imprisoned on 8 March 1921 following a Cheka sweep of anarchists in the area...
, Ida Mett
Ida Mett
Ida Mett was a Russian-born anarchist and author....
, and Nicholas Lazarevitch.
Their defeat by the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s convinced the group that anarchists needed a stronger political structure, including political faction
Political faction
A political faction is a grouping of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. The individuals...
s, a militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
, and an executive committee
Executive Committee
Executive Committee may refer to:* The Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland, a government body in the United Kingdom 1921–1972* The Northern Ireland Executive, a government body in the United Kingdom...
. They began publishing Dielo Truda in 1925, and in the following year published a definitive and influential platformist pamphlet titled Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft).
Soon, pressure from Stalinists and French authorities drove them to relocate from Paris to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
The journal was published under the title Dielo Truda until 1939, when it merged with an anarcho-syndicalist journal to become Dielo Trouda-Probuzhdenie. Gregori Maximoff
Gregori Maximoff
Grigori Petrovitch Maximoff was a Russian-born anarcho-syndicalist who was involved in Nabat, a Ukrainian anarcho-syndicalist movement. Along with several other anarchists, he was imprisoned on 8 March 1921 following a Cheka sweep of anarchists in the area...
edited this publication until 1950.
Dielo Truda promoted a platformist model that elicited a damning response from Errico Malatesta
Errico Malatesta
Errico Malatesta was an Italian anarcho-communist. He was an insurrectionary anarchist early in his life. He spent much of his life exiled from his homeland of Italy and in total spent more than ten years in prison. He wrote and edited a number of radical newspapers and was also a friend of...
, Sébastien Faure
Sébastien Faure
Sébastien Faure was a French anarchist . He was a main proponent of the anarchist organizational form known as synthesis anarchism.- Biography :Before becoming a free-thinker, he was a seminarist...
, Alexander Berkman
Alexander Berkman
Alexander Berkman was an anarchist known for his political activism and writing. He was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century....
,, and some other anarchists. They labeled it authoritarian, and therefore contrary to anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
. Although there was little support for it at the time, platformism resurged in the 1950s, and there are numerous Platform-influenced anarchist organizations today, such as NEFAC
NEFAC
NEFAC is a platformist anarchist communist organization based in the northeast region of the United States...
(the North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists) in the United States, and the Workers Solidarity Movement
Workers Solidarity Movement
The Workers Solidarity Movement is an anarchist organisation in Ireland broadly in the platformist tradition of Nestor Makhno. It was set up in 1984 and publishes the paper Workers Solidarity and the magazine Red and Black Revolution....
in Ireland.