My Disillusionment in Russia · Chapter
Preface to First Volume of American Edition explained
Emma Goldman explains her motivation for writing this book: to correct the superficial and misleading accounts of the Russian Revolution written by outsiders, and to expose the growing gap between the Bolshevik regime and the true revolutio
What happens
Emma Goldman explains her motivation for writing this book: to correct the superficial and misleading accounts of the Russian Revolution written by outsiders, and to expose the growing gap between the Bolshevik regime and the true revolutionary spirit of the Russian people. She recounts her own journey from defending the Bolsheviks to becoming disillusioned after firsthand experience in Russia, emphasizing that the Bolsheviks have become the enemies of the revolution and that she must speak out against their tyranny, despite personal gratitude for hospitality.
Themes in this chapter
Disillusionment with Revolution
Goldman describes her painful process of realizing the Bolsheviks had betrayed the revolution, moving from fervent belief to critical opposition.
Betrayal of Revolutionary Ideals
She argues that the Bolsheviks discarded their revolutionary promises after gaining power, becoming the 'arch enemies of the Russian Revolution.'
Myth vs. Reality
Goldman contrasts the myth of the Bolsheviks as revolutionaries with the reality of their tyranny, and criticizes superficial accounts by outsiders.
State Power vs. Individual Freedom
She condemns the Bolshevik state for using violence to suppress the people, likening it to the bourgeois master class.
Characters to notice
- Emma Goldman
Author and narrator; explains her personal journey from defending the Bolsheviks to disillusionment, and her decision to write this book.
- Madame Breshkovsky
Mentioned as the 'Little Grandmother of the Russian Revolution' who campaigned against the Bolsheviks in the US in 1918; Goldman wrote to her imploring her not to betray the cause.
- Lenin
Referenced as a Marxist leader who adopted anarchist revolutionary tactics, part of the Bolshevik leadership.
- Trotsky
Referenced alongside Lenin as a Marxist leader who adopted anarchist revolutionary tactics.
- Peter Kropotkin
Mentioned as an anarchist who, paradoxically, denied revolutionary tactics and fell into Marxian reasoning during the revolution.
Key passages
“They have helped to perpetuate the myth that the Bolsheviki and the Revolution are synonymous. Yet nothing is further from the truth.”
Outsiders have falsely equated the Bolsheviks with the Russian Revolution, but the two are actually opposed.
Goldman's central thesis: the Bolsheviks are not the revolution but its betrayers.
“Today it is no exaggeration to state that the Bolsheviki stand as the arch enemies of the Russian Revolution.”
The Bolsheviks have become the greatest opponents of the revolution they once claimed to lead.
Goldman's final judgment after her experience in Russia.
“Not to cry out against the betrayal of the Russian Revolution would have made me a party to that betrayal.”
Remaining silent about the Bolsheviks' betrayal would mean complicity in it.
Goldman justifies her decision to write critically despite personal ties.