Anarchist Manifesto from 1892

 

From The Agitator (L'Agitateur) an Anarchist newspaper published in Marseille on the 13th of March 1892. Merci beaucoup to Constance Bantman for sharing this fragment.

 MANIFESTE AN-ARCHISTE 

AN-ARCHIE ne signifie pas « DESORDRE» Le mot « ANARCHIE»  vient de deaux mots grees: «A» Privatif, dont 1e sans est «Absence de» et «Arke» qui vent dire — AUTORITE.
Done, contrairement a Ia definition que se plaisent a downer tous nos adversaires, ANARCHIE est synonyme de -- ABSENCE D'AUTORITE-- et non «chaos, bouleversement, desordre».

Anarchist Manifesto 

AN-ARCHY does not mean "Chaos", the word "Anarchy" comes from the two Greek words "An" the meaning of which is "Absence of" an "Archy" which means AUTHORITY.

Well, contrary to the definition that all our adversaries like to use, ANARCHY us a synonym for - ABSENCE OF AUTHORITY, and not "Chaos, upheaval, disorder".

My French is very limited and tre rusty, so I appreciated the opportunity to exercise a little and combine it with my knowledge of Esperanto. It's said that for over a hundred years, the old communication problem remains. Usually propaganda is the answer to why do so many people equate Anarchy, Anarchism etc, to acts of random and violence. It certainly plays a part, though I am of the opinion the success of this propaganda is down largely to so many people equating freedom to violence and vulnerability. Personally I don't have an issue with equating Anarchy to chaos, but that is because for me chaos is random, change, experience, it can mean danger but so does authority and obedience. But, for many that word means violence, danger, threat exclusively, so I won't argue with the people who ran L'Agitateur.

Returning from Cuba 1898

 

Tornant de Cuba by Ricard Opisso a Catalan artist. Painted in 1898 this image depicts two veterans of the Spanish American war, tens of thousands of conscripts were discharged and returned to Spain at the Barcelona Quays which is seen in the background. Many of these men were wounded, and malaria sickness was common, the Spanish authorities essentially abandoned these men after Cuba and Philippines and Puerto Rico were lost to the United States. 

The treatment of these men contributed to the growing atmosphere of hostility to the Spanish military in Barcelona and the wider Catalan region. I've been told that this defeat sat heavily on Spanish consciousness and that a saying "Más se perdió en la guerra de Cuba" (more was lost in the Cuban war) which means could have been worse.

The conflict between the USA and Spain occurred during the infancy of film and Edison was keen to film recreations of the fighting, if you've seen a documentary on this conflict you've likely seen some of this footage, I certainly have.

Cuban revolutionaries occupy a house and fire on Spanish troops.