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Featuring a riveting collection of anarcho-communist poetry, essays, articles, and diary entries, this translation of Erich Mühsam’s legendary writings introduces the German revolutionary’s ideas to English speakers for the first time. Uniting a burning desire for individual liberation with radical, left-wing convictions and bohemian strains with syndicalist tendencies, this diverse body of work not only includes his main political pamphlet and one of the key texts in the history of German anarchism but also some of his best-known poems, unbending defenses of political prisoners, passionate calls for solidarity among the proletariat, recollections of the utopian community of Monte Verità, debates on the rights of homosexuals and women, and the role of intellectuals in the class struggle. Perfect for anarchists, activists, or those interested in German history, this expansive and enlightening compilation provides a deep understanding of this important historical figure.
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Liberating Society from the State and Other Writings: A Political Reader Erich Mühsam Edited and translated by Gabriel Kuhn ISBN: 978-1-60486-055-9 LCCN: 2010927794 This edition copyright ©2011 PM Press All Rights Reserved PM Press PO Box 23912 Oakland, CA 94623 www.pmpress.org Cover by John Yates/stealworks.com Layout based on design by Daniel Meltzer Printed by the Employee Owners of Thomson-Shore in Dexter, Michigan. www.thomsonshore.com Published in the EU by The Merlin Press Ltd. 6 Crane Street Chambers, Crane Street, Pontypool NP4 6ND, Wales www.merlinpress.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-85036-683-9
TABLE OF CONTENTS Editor’s Note Introduction Childhood and Youth Autobiography “Father’s 72nd Birthday” 1900–1904: Literary and Anarchist Awakening The “Homosexuality” Pamphlet 1904–1909: Traveling Years “Johannes Nohl” Excerpts from “Ascona” Bohemia 1909–1914: Munich I, Socialist Bund and Kain New Friends The Fifth Estate My Secret Society “Riot in Berlin” Women’s Rights The Moroccan War Anarchy The Suffragette Amazons Culture and the Women’s Movement The Blessing of Children Ritual Murder 1914–1918: Munich II, The War The Great Slaughter Kain Letter
“The Typical German” “Discharged” “Plans for Anti-War Protests” “Riot in Munich” “Bernhard Köhler” 1918–1919: Munich III, Revolution and Council Republic Karl Liebknecht–Rosa Luxemburg Excerpts from “From Eisner to Leviné” “Gustav Landauer’s Death” “Zenzl” Final Court Statement “Sentenced” 1919–1924: Imprisonment “The Ebrach Prison Commune” On the Jewish Question The Intellectuals “Max Hoelz” “Hitler and the Fledgling Nazi Movement” “Free!” 1924–1933: Berlin Germany Needs Colonies Bismarxism The Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti Leaving the Rote Hilfe Liberating Society from the State: What Is Communist Anarchism? Preface I. The Worldview of Anarchism II. The Way of Anarchism Appendix I Additional Diary Entries Additional Letters
Appendix II The Fate of Zenzl Mühsam Bibliography German English Index
EDITOR’S NOTE
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GUSTAV LANDAUER, ERICH MÜHSAM HAS BEEN Germany’s most influential anarchist. Johann Most and Rudolf Rocker had a bigger international impact, but Landauer and Mühsam have left the biggest mark on anarchist history in the country itself. Mühsam’s Die Befreiung der Gesellschaft vom Staat. Was ist kommunistischer Anarchismus?, included in this volume as Liberating Society from State: What Is Communist Anarchism?, is arguably the most widely read anarchist text in Germany. Die Befreiung der Gesellschaft vom Staat was the programmatic summary of Mühsam’s political beliefs, penned one year before his death. It is presented in this book alongside numerous essays, letters, and diary entries, documenting the life of a unique personality straddling the lines between bohemia and proletarian organizing. The volume’s selection contains Mühsam’s best-kn