Propaganda of The Deed
Late in the 19th century, anarchist labor unions began to use the tactic of general strike. This was often met with violence and some of the strikes even resulted in massacres of the striking workers by militaries, police, and state militias; as well as by mercenaries hired by the bosses. The Pinkerton Security group was particularly notorious in 19th century America as mercenaries for hire and were responsible for many mass killings of trade unionists and anarchists.
In this climate, some anarchists began to advocate and practice terrorism or assassination, which they referred to as propaganda of the deed. United States President William McKinley was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz, a registered Republican who, after his arrest, claimed he had been influenced by the writings of Emma Goldman and others. Czolgosz' actions were widely condemned by anarchists, but the media widely characterized Czolgosz as a typical anarchist even though he had never actually belonged to any anarchist organization. Goldman spoke sympathetically of him and described his act as the result of a violent society. Her defense of Czolgosz was met with open hostility from most of the anarchist press.
Read more about this topic: Anarchism And Violence
Famous quotes containing the words propaganda and/or deed:
“Propaganda has a bad name, but its root meaning is simply to disseminate through a medium, and all writing therefore is propaganda for something. It’s a seeding of the self in the consciousness of others.”
—Elizabeth Drew (1887–1965)
“Those Maine woods differ essentially from ours. There you are never reminded that the wilderness which you are threading is, after all, some villager’s familiar wood-lot, some widow’s thirds, from which her ancestors have sledded fuel for generations, minutely described in some old deed which is recorded, of which the owner has got a plan, too, and old bound-marks may be found every forty rods, if you will search.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)