Russia, the mirage of support for the war - Le Monde Diplomatique

Russia, the mirage of support for the war

Source article.

 

 

Unmanned drones over the Kremlin, evacuation of civilians in the region of Belgorod, an attack on the nationalist writer Zakhar Prilepin: In May, Kyiv intensified its operations on the territory of Russia. Will these symbolic actions really undermine the credibility of the government? Although the effect of the wave of patriotism still exists, criticism of the elites is also increasing and does not only concern opponents of the war...

At first glance, the Russian ship of state appears to be weathering the storm the Kremlin unleashed when it invaded its Ukrainian neighbour. More than a year after the start of the war, the country's economy is in recession but has not collapsed (-2.1% in 2022). If we believe the results of opinion polling companies, even those independent of the state(1)¹, a majority of the population still favours continuing the "special military operation". But the cracks in Russian society are widening, revealing some surprising points of agreement: regardless of their opinion on the war, more and more Russians distrust the "elites". Already noticeable before the start of the invasion in February 2022 (2)², this mistrust is growing.

At a time when the climate of fear is intensifying in Russia, it is very difficult to feel the pulse of society, but sometimes useful lessons can be drawn from the methodical remarks made by the independent opinion polling companies. One example is the drop in response rates. According to Russian Field, a company that conducts marketing studies and opinion polls, only between 5.9% and 9.3% of respondents now answer all of its questions about the "special military operation", a rate three or four times lower than that of pre-conflict opinion polls (3)³. In one of its polls last February (4)⁴, the company asked respondents if they preferred initiatives that would intensify the offensive or those that could bring about peace. Only 27% said they support intensification, compared to 34% who preferred steps to peace.

Three groups deserve particular attention. The "party of war" which, according to opinion polls, represents between 25% and 37% of respondents, approves the persecution of dissidents, declares itself ready to sacrifice social policy in favor of military goals, and condemns deserters. This opinion is particularly well represented among the elderly and groups with high incomes. At the other end of the spectrum, the "party of peace" - between 10% and 36% of those surveyed - consists mostly of young people and the poorest respondents. Those who are between the two extremes either say that it is difficult to answer, or give contradictory answers. Although they are often opposed to an intensification of the war, they nevertheless yield to the official position of the authorities.

The Incompetence of the Generals

The party of war has its spokespersons on social networks through the accounts of those who could be called "extreme patriots". In the meantime, their freedom to speak is not subject to any restrictions, but it worries the leadership, which fears competition for supremacy. "We don't have to fear the liberal Maidan [overthrow of the government in Ukraine in 2014]: the liberals all fled. (...) Today, the only danger for our state is the Maidan of the extreme patriots dyed with a little leftism and supported by debates on corruption" declared Mr. Oleg Matveichev, deputy of the Duma for United Russia, the president's party last February (5)⁵.

Since the beginning of the invasion, the operations have been covered on social networks by so-called "war bloggers" (voienkori), who are actually supporters of the extreme right with military or paramilitary connections. The most famous is Mr. Igor Strelkov, a former officer of the Federal Security Service (FSB) with monarchist convictions. In 2014, as the commander of a detachment of Russian volunteers, he captured the city of Slovyansko, in the Donbass region of Ukraine. Although Moscow provided military support to the separatists at the time, the capriciousness and fanaticism of their leaders worried the Kremlin (6)⁶. Mr. Strelkov was forced to leave Donbass. Today, his channel on Telegram has almost one million subscribers. In it, he complains that the Kremlin is not fighting the Ukrainian enemy vigorously enough. After the military setbacks in the fall of 2022, Strelkov and other radical nationalists are condemning the shortcomings of President Putin's regime: inadequate organization of supplies for the army, the weakness of the defense industry, the incompetence and corruption of generals, and a second-rate ruling an elite who lives in luxury while the homeland is in danger. They even insinuate that part of President Putin's entourage secretly wishes to reconcile with the West, even if that means capitulation. "If they leave Russia during this war, we probably won't be able to touch their dear partners in the West, but with them we will do everything possible to settle the accounts," Mr. Strelkov wrote on February 3, 2023. He doubts that the current government is capable of winning the war. "The Great Disturbance [as he calls the consequences of the war] is now inevitable. Those in high places know this well, and they are worried. Our goal is to transform the Disturbance into a national and patriotic victory", wrote Mr. Maksim Kalashnikov (7)⁷, an admirer of Joseph Stalin's power politics, and an ally of Mr. Strelkov.

The "anger" of patriots outside the system has spread to loyalists in the war camp, a cause of great concern for the Kremlin. Against a background of competition with the generals of the ordinary army, Mr. Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the Wagner group, a private military company deployed heavily in Ukraine, now speculates about the problems of social inequality, corruption and incompetence of the military hierarchy. But his public activism displeased the presidential administration, which barred him from prisons, where he recruited volunteers for the front from among the prison inmates. The new chief of the military staff, Valerij Gerassimov, reduced the supply of ammunition to Wagner. The reaction of this former staunch supporter of the president was to force his fighters to record videos in the style of Mr. Strelkov, in which the commanders and officials were accused of treason. In one of them, a fighter declares, standing in front of corpses: "Stop the nonsense, (...) let us defend our homeland (8)⁸." Mr. Prigozhin took a further step when, in a video that appeared on the day of the May 9 celebrations (victory against Nazism, according to the Soviet calendar), he evoked "a happy grandfather [who believes that everything is fine]". "What will become of Russia if it turns out, and I'm only guessing, that this grandpa is a complete scoundrel?" he added, in an almost self-evident allusion to Mr. Putin.

The soldiers and officers in the trenches are also angry. The mobilization announced at the end of September 2022 recruited between 320,000 soldiers (according to official figures) and 500,000 (according to independent estimates (9)⁹. Recent measures adopted by the Duma in April 2023 - electronic mobilization calls, bans on going abroad for conscripts, blocking of sales of the real estate of exiles - should increase their numbers. The mobilization mainly affected the poorest regions, especially small towns and villages in economically distressed provinces, which make up Mr. Putin's traditional electorate. The authorities initially called for reserve officers and citizens with special military skills: middle-aged men from regions far from Moscow, with low or medium incomes. Most of them are "neutralists," that is, the social group that supports the war not out of militaristic conviction but out of loyalty. But it is they who are now being hit by the full force of combat operations.

To prevent rebellion, the state spares no expense. Salaries average 200,000 rubles a month (about 2,500 euros), ten times more than what a worker could hope to earn in a small town in a deindustrialized region. In April, Mr. Putin announced the creation of a special fund for bereaved family members and war veterans. But in a video posted on his YouTube channel Roi on February 5, Mr. Kalashnikov believes that only victory will ensure the survival of the regime: "A completely new reality is emerging. Soldiers are about to return from the front, holding weapons. They will resemble the German and Italian veterans of the First World War: they will return as maximalists, with a strong sense of justice defied. And they will not listen to the obscenities of United Russia."

In the meantime, the soldiers expressed their "maximalism" in other ways. Spontaneous riots, although sporadic, began to occur. Soldiers protest the lack of equipment and training, leave their squads voluntarily, clash with their officers and stop transport trains. The authorities succeeded in extinguishing the first wave of discontent by repression: soldiers were locked in cellars, beaten and intimidated. Some of the rebels were sentenced to long periods of imprisonment as an example for others (10)¹⁰. In January, mobilized soldiers were transported en masse from rear detachments to the front, and casualties rose extremely high. Although in 2022 journalists were able to compile the names of Russian military personnel killed every week at from 200 to 250 (real losses could be much higher), by March 2023. the list had reached more than 800 names every week (11)¹¹.

The press reports on cases of desertions, of which the real numbers are probably higher. Soldiers run away from hospitals (12)¹², jump off trains taking them to the front (13)¹³, drive tens of kilometres and get lost in the rear (14)¹⁴. Relatives of mobilized soldiers have set up online forums to help deserters plan their routes, find housing and avoid military patrols. In February and early March, no less than eighteen videos were posted on the Internet in which entire squads of mobilized soldiers refused to carry out combat missions and asked to be returned to the rear (15)¹⁵.

The anthropologist Aleksandra Arkhipova counted at least 85 places in 65 cities where locals brought flowers and toys, a silent, sloganless gesture of solidarity with Ukrainians and opposition to the war (16)¹⁶. Despite this deliberate discretion, some were arrested next to these "flower monuments" and were convicted of "discrediting the Russian army". But despite this, several thousand Russians deliberately put themselves at risk. The researcher and her team realized that many of them had never participated in opposition rallies before. Monuments appeared in cities that had never before been centers of protests against the registry: Orenburg, Nizhny Tagil, Omsk, Gorno-Altaysko.

Flowers of Protest

Only a quarter of these floral monuments appeared in places associated with Ukraine, such as streets with "Ukrainian" names. In 47 of the 85 cases, these commemorations took place in places associated with victims of state crimes or misdeeds: monuments to the victims of Stalinist terrorism and man-made disasters such as Chernobyl, places where opponents died. "The message is unequivocal: the state has killed people before, it is killing people now, and it will kill people again," Arkhipova says. In the cities of Chakhty and Saratov, monuments to the victims of fascism were chosen as memorials, making a comparison between the war of aggression against Ukraine and the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Another wave of "flower protests" took place on the first anniversary of the war. Despite more severe repression by the police, at least 82 spontaneous places of remembrance reappeared in 59 cities (17)¹⁷. Placing flowers on monuments to the victims of the state thus became an ongoing form of collective action by opponents of the war.

Although the war inspired a wave of patriotism, this must be qualified. Across all social strata and ideological camps, the same process takes place: "us" and "them" take on new meanings. The first encompasses variously "ordinary people", "true patriots", "victims of the state", but the last one is less ambiguous: it concerns those in authority, and no longer only the external enemy. Without a transformation of the situation on the battlefield, the front could move to the homeland. And in the eyes of people on all sides, from nationalists to pacifists, this government, which led the country into disaster, will appear as the sole culprit. Then, the battle for Ukraine will become a battle for a new Russia.

Alexej Sakhin and Lisa Smirnova The article was translated from Russian by Bleuenn Isambard, and into English by Reddebrek.

1The figures given in the article are taken from opinion polls carried out by three research organizations or collectives, the Levada Institute, Kroniki and Russian Field, which receives no public funds. They registered between 56% and 77% of opinions favouring the war in February. The number varies according to the wording of the question.

2Karine Clément, Quiet social protest in Russia. Ordinary social criticism and nationalism, Éditions du Croquant, Vulaines-sur-Seine, 2021.

3'One year of the special military operation: the opinion of the Russians' (in Russian), opinion poll conducted between January 31 and February 6, 2023, Russian Field, https://russianfield.com

4Ibid.

5'Members of United Russia warn of Maidan threat of extreme patriotism' (Russian), Politnavigator, 3 February 2023, www.politnavigator.net

6See Juliette Faure, 'Who are the falcons of Moscow?', Le Monde Diplomatique, April 2022.

7’Dangers and demons of the Great Disturbance’, Livejournal (retejo de blogoj), la 7-a de Januaro 2023, https://m-kalashnikov.livejournal.com

8In a channel called 'Razbruzka_vagnera', Telegram, February 17, 2023.

9'Let's get married. Growing number of wedding parties shows that at least 492,000 people were mobilized in Russia until mid-October' (in Russian), Mediazona, 24 October 2022, https://zona.media

10('Soldier who admonished an officer was sentenced to five and a half years of imprisonment under harsh conditions' (Russian), Gazeta.ru, January 11, 2023, www.gazeta.ru

11Russia's losses in Ukraine, graph regularly updated, Mediazona, https://zona.media/casualties

12'Wounded soldier from the Tyumen region escaped from the hospital in Mirny' (Russian), Tyumen Online, February 7, 2023, https://72.ru

13'Mobilizers escaped from their train in the Voronezh region' (in Russian), RBK, February 5, 2023, www.rbc.ru

14At the border with Donbas, in the Rostov region, a deserter is arrested' (in Russian), Bezformata, February 3, 2023, https://rostovnadonu.bezformata.com

15'The mobilized send their complaints', Telegram, channel 'Viorstka', March 9, 2023, https://t.me/svobodnieslova/1566

16Aleksandra Arkhipova, 'Consent as a form of protest' (in Russian), Kholod, February 2, 2023, https://holod.media

17Calculation made by Alexandra Arkhipova and published on Telegram on February 27, 2023, https://t.me/anthro_fun/2075

 

Translation of a talk on the Esperanto Workers Movement

 

 

 

 

La intermilita periodo, inter 1920 kaj 1940, estis ja riĉa je eventoj kaj ŝanĝoj por la laborista movado per la fondo de SAT, Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda, la eldono de multnombraj libroj, inkluzive de la Plena Vortaro de Esperanto, kaj revuoj kiel Sennacieca Revuo. 

(Ne forgesu, ke ĉiuj EsKu-aj filmetoj havas subtitolojn. Ne hezitu uzi ilin)

 

Saluton al vi ĉiuj, spektantoj de EsKu, nia nun tre bone konata kanalo pri Esperanto-Kulturo. 

Se unuafoje vi malkovras ĉi tiun filmserion, sciu ke vi povas aboni la kanalon, dank’ al la butono «abono».  

Tion farinte, vi ne maltrafos niajn venontajn filmetojn.

Kio estos la temo de via hodiaŭa parolado, Pascal?

Viaj du antaŭaj filmoj, la 35-a kaj la 37-a, pritraktis la evoluon de la neŭtrala movadparto inter la Unua kaj la Dua Mondmilitoj.

Supozeble vi nun klarigos, kiel anoncite fine de la filmo 37-a, la evoluon de la laborista movadflanko en la sama epoko.

Saluton, karaj spektantoj de EsKu! Vi pravas pri la hodiaŭa temo, Thierry.

La intermilita periodo, inter 1920 kaj 1940, estis ja riĉa je eventoj kaj ŝanĝoj por ambaŭ flankoj de la Esperanto-movado,

kaj mi denove resumu la tuton, ne povante doni ĉiujn plej etajn detalojn de la pli kaj pli kompleksa historio de nia lingvo.

 

Nepras diri, ke SAT rapide decidis uzi Esperanton praktike kaj iel neglekti propagandan laboron.

Ĝi ekz. kreis korespondan servon por ebligi rilatojn inter laboristaj asocioj disaj en la mondo,

gazetan servon por konigi novaĵojn sociajn aŭ sindikatajn,

eldonkooperativon por publikigi kelkajn gravajn verkojn, i.a. de Tolstoj kaj Kropotkin.

Ĝi ankaŭ organizis siajn proprajn kongresojn kaj multajn instrusesiojn.

Do efektive grava laboro plenumita de SAT! Tio verŝajne donis ŝancon al Esperanto disvastiĝi en la laborista medio, ĉu ne?

Efektive. Danke al SAT, la grava signifo kaj praktika utilo de Esperanto iĝis pli kaj pli agnoskitaj, eĉ ekster la Esperanto-movado.

Nia lingvo estis uzita de asocioj ne Esperantaj, ekz. Internacia Laborista Olimpiado, Internacio de militrezistantoj,

 

Rezolucio favora al Esperanto estis proponita en 1925 de la Brita Kongreso de Sindikatoj.

Samepoke, la Internacia Transportlaborista Federacio regule reklamis nian lingvon per rubriko en sia federacia organo.

Imagu eĉ, ke nur Esperanto-parolantoj rajtis kandidatiĝi al la Centra Komitato de la Hispana Metalista Federacio, laŭ decido de ties kongreso en 1925!

Vi ĵus menciis britan kongreson kaj hispanan federacion; tio donas al mi la emon demandi, ĉu la agado de SAT efikis tiam internaciskale?

Mi respondas jese per nura fakto: post 1920, miloj da laboristoj eklernis Esperanton, kiu ebligis al ili korespondi kun sammetianoj

el fremdaj landoj kaj legi bultenojn aŭ revuojn eldonitajn de pluraj tiamaj Laboristaj Esperanto-Asocioj (konataj sub la siglo LEA).

Pri tiuj LEA-oj, sciu ke kelkaj el ili ekzistis jam komence de la 20-a jarcento, eĉ antaŭ la Unua Kongreso de 1905

 

Kreiĝis ekzemple Sveda Esperanto-Asocio en 1921, Aŭstria Esperanto-Ligo kaj Pollanda Laborista Esperanto-Societo «Laboro» en 1922.

Kelkaj el la Laboristaj Esperanto Asocioj, kvankam sendependaj de SAT, kunlaboris kun ĝi.

Dume, Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda pli kaj pli kreskis: ĝia ĉiujara jarlibro, kiu entenis la adresojn de ĉiuj anoj,

listigis 2 705 membrojn en 1925 kaj 6 524 en 1929, kun multe da, tiam, el Rusio.

Aldone, sciu ke ĝis 1925 estis malpermesite al la anoj de SAT membriĝi ankaŭ en «neŭtrala» Esperanto-asocio.

Tiu malpermeso estis poste malpli severe aplikata.

Rilate la membronombron de SAT en 1929, Pascal, vi aludis pri Rusio. Mi profitas la okazon por ekscii pli pri ĉi tiu lando,

ĉar delonge mi volis demandi al vi pri la aparta situacio de la laborista movado en Sovetunio.

 

(Parenteze, mi diru ke Edmond Privat, en sia «Historio de la Lingvo Esperanto», uzis alian radikon, «sovjet’» en la landonomo Sovjetlando.)

Jam en junio 1921, dum la Tria Tutruslanda Esperantista Kongreso, estis fondita SEU, Sovetlanda Esperantista Unuiĝo,

kiu ŝanĝis sian nomon en 1927 al Sovetrespublikara Esperantista Unio.

Tiu SEU iel iĝis, aldone al SAT, alia grava laborista centro en nia movado.

De la fondo de SEU prezidis ĝin Ernest Drezen, ĝis sia morto en 1937.

Ni do memoru pri du gvidantoj en la laborista Esperanto-movado: Lanti por SAT kaj Drezen por SEU.

Kial? Ĉar ambaŭ gravis sed ne ĉiam tute akordiĝis.

Dum SAT celis grupigi ĉiujn maldekstrajn asociojn, SEU konservis fidelecon al pura ortodoksa marksismo.

 

(nomata ankaŭ Kominterno, kvankam ĉi tiu nomo ne estas oficiale registrita en niaj vortaroj).

La propono estis rifuzita, kaj ambaŭ asocioj saĝe ne plu kritikis unu la alian.

Tamen, en 1924 kaj 1925 okazis krizo en SAT pro anarkiistoj, kiuj plendis pri troa influo de la Komunista Internacio ĉe SAT

kaj pri neeblo skribi en SAT-organoj kontraŭ komunismo kaj Sovetunio.

Ili do kreis en 1924 sian propran asocion, TLES, la Tutmondan Ligon de Esperantistaj Senŝtatanoj,

kiu eldonis de 1925 ĝis 1931 neregulan gazeton: «Libera Laboristo».

Sed TLES neniam havis gravan influon kaj multaj anarkiistoj ree aliĝis al SAT.

Ĉu tiu krizo de 1924 far anarkiistoj kaj la repaciĝo de SAT kaj SEU iel ŝanĝis la influon de SAT tiuepoke?

Mi dirus, ke tiuj eventoj estis ŝanco por SAT. Tion pruvas ĝia 6-a kongreso, kiu okazis en 1926 en Leningrado.

Ĝi estis la unua granda internacia Esperanto-kongreso en Sovetunio, sukcesa plie ĉar ĝi kunigis 400 partoprenantojn el 14 landoj.

Amplekse kreskis la nombro de SAT-anoj post la Leningrada kongreso. Mi jam antaŭe diris pri la 6 524 membroj en 1929.

En tiu jaro, en la SAT-kongreso de Lepsiko, en Germanujo, partoprenis 650 esperantistoj el 22 landoj.

La grava signifo de SAT estis agnoskita en la Esperanto-movado kaj eĉ ekster ĝi.

Por la movado mem, gravis asocio, kiu ĉiujare kapablas organizi sukcesajn kongresojn, kiu eldonas grandkvante diversajn gravajn verkojn.

Pri tiu eldonlaboro de SAT, mi ŝatus ekscii iom pli. Ĉu vi povus klarigi ĝiajn amplekson kaj gravecon?

En 1922 ekfunkciis Eldon-Kooperativo, kiu poste iĝis fako de SAT, prizorgata de la SAT-estraro.

Tiu ĉi celis konigi literaturajn verkojn kaj progresigi la eldonadon de Esperanto-literaturo, ĉu originala, ĉu traduka.

Komence de la nuna filmeto, mi aludis pri tradukoj de verkoj de Tolstoj («Ĥodinka» en 1929,

«Kristanismo kaj Patriotismo» en 1931), de Kropotkin («Etiko», en 1926).

Mi citu ankaŭ Lenin («Ŝtato kaj Revolucio», en 1926), Goethe («Faŭsto», en 1923).

Pri originalaj Esperantaj verkoj, mi nepre parolu pri tiuj de Eŭgeno Lanti («For la neŭtralismon!», en 1922,

«La Laborista Esperantismo» en 1928, «Vortoj de Kamarado E. Lanti», en 1931, «Leteroj de E. Lanti», en 1940).

Mi ne forgesu ankaŭ Norbert Bartelmes, Eŭgeno Miĥalski, Paul Neergaard i.a.

Sed la ĉefa tiuepoka eldonaĵo de SAT sendube estis «Plena Vortaro de Esperanto», aperinta en 1930,

ĉefe verkita de Émile Grosjean-Maupin, kun la helpo de Albert Esselin, Salomon Grenkamp-Kornfeld kaj de Gaston Waringhien.

Ĝi tuj iĝis kaj restis referencvortaro ĝis la apero en 1970 de PIV, ĝia ilustrita sekvanto kaj anstataŭanto.

Pri PV, Plena Vortaro de Esperanto, skribis iu S-ro Kopar, en 1931, en la revuo Literatura Mondo.

(Parenteze, Kopar estis la pseŭdonimo de la konata poeto kaj elstara tradukisto Kálmán Kalocsay.)

Jen la citaĵo: «Zorge farita, ampleksa kaj detala, vere grandvalora verko...»

Ĉu nur verkojn kaj ĉi-tiun gravan vortaron eldonis SAT?

Tion mi demandas, ĉar depost la naskiĝo de nia lingvo rapide eldoniĝis multegaj revuoj.

Ĉu ankaŭ SAT disponigis periodaĵojn al sia membraro kaj al la tuta esperantistaro ?

Via demando estas tute interesa, Thierry.

Ĝi ja donas al mi la okazon paroli pri du ĉefaj revuoj eldonitaj de SAT en tiu intermilita epoko.

La unua estis la monata «Sennacieca Revuo», histori- scienc- pedagogi- kaj literaturtema,

kiu eldoniĝis ekde 1921, redaktita de Eŭgeno Lanti.

De 1928 ĝis 1933, ĝi ŝanĝis sian nomon al «La Nova Epoko», kaj poste reprenis sian originan titolon.

La dua estis Sennaciulo, la oficiala gazeto de SAT, pli soci- kaj politiktema, kiu aperis ĉiusemajne de 1924 ĝis 1931,

poste dusemajne ĝis januaro 1933 kaj poste monate. Ĝi havis monatan aldonon, «La Lernanto».

Dankon pro tiuj klarigoj pri la SAT-revuoj, Pascal. Ĉu elĉerpiĝis la temo de la laborista movado inter la du Mondmilitoj

aŭ ĉu vi dediĉu duan filmeton pri ĉi-tiu temo, same kiel vi faris por la samepoka neŭtrala movadflanko?

Vi tute bone konjektis pri la sekvo, Thierry. Efektive, multo plu direndas pri la historio de la laborista movado antaŭ la Dua Mondmilito.

Mi do dediĉos la filmon 41-an al tiu sama temo. Ĝis tiam, do…

Dankon, Pascal, ni do atendos la samteman sekvon.

Se vi, karaj spektantoj, jam abonis nian kanalon, vi estos avertitaj pri la enretigo de ĉi tiu sekvo.

Se ne, kial prokrasti senpagan abonon? Ne hezitu aldoni vian nomon al la abonantaro!

Dankon pro via atento, ĝis!

 La Angla Traduko

Thiery: Hello everyone, especially the viewers of EsKu, our now very popular channel about Esperanto culture. If you've discovered this video series for the first time then you can subscribe to our channel using the "subscribe" button below. Having done that, then you will not miss any of our future videos.

What is the subject of today's talk Pascal? Your previous two talks, videos 35 and 37 sketched out the development of the Neutral* part of the movement between the First and Second World Wars. I believe you will now go on to explain the development of the Workers Esperanto movement in the same period as you hinted you would at the end of video 37.

Pascal: Greetings dear viewers of EsKu. You are right about today's subject Thierry. The interwar period between 1920 and 1940 was a time rich with experiences and changes for both flanks of the Esperanto movement. Allow me to summarize the main parts again, as I'm not capabale of giving the most specific details of the complex history of our langauge. Regarding this period the Workers Movement, and remember that in video 33 I mostly talked about the founding of the SAT, Sennacieca Asocia Tutmonda (World Anti-National Association), in the summer of 1921, and I talked about its most important founder Eugene Adam more well known as Lanti. It goes without saying that the SAT quickly prioritised adopting Esperanto practically over propaganda work. For example, it created a correspondence service to establish connections with workers organisations across the world, a press service to spread awareness of social affairs and labour unions, and founded a publishing co-operative which published several important works, including those of Tolstoy and Kropotkin. It also organised its own congresses and many study sessions.

 Thierry: So, that was certainly important work by SAT, it would seem that its efforts created a chance for Esperanto to establish itself in the workers circles, right? 

Pascal: Well, effectively thanks to SAT both the significance and usefulness of Esperanto began to be acknowledged more and more, even by those outside of the Esperanto movement. Our language was being used by Associations that were not officially linked to the Esperanto movement, as an example the International Workers Olympiad, the War Resisters International, the International of Socialist Struggle**, International Workers Association, International Anti-militarism Office etc. The list of associations of that sort that understood the use of Esperanto is quite long. 

A resolution in favour of Esperanto was proposed in 1925 at the British Trade Union Congress. At the same time the International Federation of Transport Workers regularly promoted our language in a dedicated column in its own federal publication. And imagine this! According to a decision by the Spanish Metalist Federation congress in 1925, only Esperanto speakers were allowed to become candidates for its Central Committee.

 Thierry: You just mentioned the British congress and the Spanish Federation, that gives me an urge to ask this, did the activity of SAT have an impact on an international scale?

Pascal: I will answer yes by citing this fact; after 1920 thousands of workers started learning Esperanto, this enabled them to correspond with their fellow workers in foreign countries, and to read bulletins and magazines published by several Workers Esperanto Associations (known as WEAs). We know that some of these WEAs existed since the beginning of the 20th century, even before the first Universal Congress of 1905 at Bulogne-Sur-Mer, but there number grew after the First World War. For example a Swedish Esperanto Association was created in 1921, an Austrian Esperanto League and the Polish Workers Esperanto Society "Labour" in 1922. Some these groups although they were independent of SAT collaborated with it. Meanwhile, the SAT continued to grow; its annual Yearbook which contained the contact information of its members listed 2,715 members in 1925 and 6,524 in 1929, and a lot of them were located in Russia. 

Additionally, you should know that until 1925 it was forbidden for SAT members to join a "Neutral" Esperanto association. This ban was later applied less severely. 

Thierry: Regarding the membership numbers of SAT in 1929 you alluded to Russia, I shall profit from this occasion to begin learning more about that nation. Because I have for a long time wanted to ask you about the unique situation of the workers movement in the Soviet Union. During the period we're discussing both the February and October revolutions of 1917 occurred there afterall. 

Pascal: That's completley correct Thierry. After the October revolution the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic was founded, which became the Soviet Union in 1922. In June 1921 during the All-Russian Congress of Esperanto speakers the Soviet Esperantist Union (SEU) was formed. In 1927 it changed its name to the Soviet Republican Esperantist Union. The SEU became, in addition to the SAT another important centre for the Esperanto Workers movement. Ernest Drezen presided over the SEU from its founding until his death in 1937***. 

We should remember these two leaders of the Esperanto Workers Movement, Lanti with the SAT and Drezen of the SEU. Why? Because both are important but were not always aligned. While the SAT aimed to unite every left wing association, the SEU maintained allegiance to pure orthodox Marxism. During the third Congress of the SAT in Kassel (in Germany) Drezen proposed that SAT join the Third International, also called the Comintern, though that name does not appear in our dictionaries. The proposal was defeated and both organisations wisely decided to stop criticising each other. 

However in 1924-25 there was a crisis within SAT because Anarchist members were alarmed at the influence of the Communist International within SAT and were frustrated at not being able to write in SAT's press criticisms of Communism and the Soviet Union. So they created their own organisation in 1924, TLES Tutmonda Ligon de Esperantistaj Ŝenstatanoj the World League of anti-State Esperantists. They also published from 1925 until 1931 an irregular newspaper La Libera Laboristo, the Free Worker.  But TLES never had a major influence, and eventually most Anarchists rejoined the SAT. 

Thierry: Did the crisis with the Anarchists and the rapproachment with the SEU affect the influence of SAT at that time?

Pascal: I would say that those events were an opportunity for SAT. This is proved by its 6th Congress in 1926 which was held in Leningrad. It was the first large Esperanto gathering in the Soviet Union, and even more successful as it brought together 400 participants from 14 countries. The number of SAT members grew immensely after the Leningrad Congress, I have already spoken about the 6,524 members in 1929. In that year during the SAT Congress in Leipzeig Germany 650 Esperantists participated from 22 nations. The significance of SAT was acknowledged by the Esperanto movement and even outside of it. 

For the movement itself, having an organisation that holds sucessful congresses every year, and publishes a large qauntity of diverse and important works was an essential asset. 

Thierry: Regarding the publishing work of SAT, I would like to know more. Could you explain its scope and importance?

Pascal: In 1922 a publishing co-operative was opened which would become absorbed into a department of SAT and run by the SAT board. Its aim was to promote literary works and improve the publication of Esperanto literature, whether translations or original works. At the beginning of the video I mentioned the works of Tolstoy Khodynka in 1929, Christianity and Patriotism in 1931, from Kropotkin Ethics in 1926, I will also mention Lenin's State and Revolution in 1926 and Goethe's Faust in 1923. Regarding original works I must mention Eugen Lanti's "Cast Down Neutralism!" in 1922, the Workers Esperantism in 1928 and the Words of Comrade E.Lanti 1931 and Letters of Eugene Lanti in 1940.  I also should not overlook Norbert Bartelmes, Eugene Michalski, Paul Neergard etc. 

But without a doubt the most important publication of the SAT press in this time was the Complete Dictionary of Esperanto, first published in 1930. Written mostly by Emile Grosjean-Maupin with the assistance of Albert Esselin, Saloman Grenkamp-Kornfeld and Gaston Waringhien. It immediately became and remained an important reference dictionary until 1970 when the PIV the Illustrated Dictionary appeared as its follower and replacement. About Complete Dictionary of Esperanto, a Mr. Kopar wrote in 1931, in the magazine Literatura Mondo. (Incidentally, Kopar was the pseudonym of the well-known poet and outstanding translator Kálmán Kalocsay.) Here is the quote: "Carefully made, comprehensive and detailed, a truly valuable work".

Thierry: Did SAT publish only works and this important dictionary? That's what I'm asking, because since the birth of our language, many magazines have been published quickly. Did SAT also provide periodicals to its members and to the entire Esperanto community?

 Pascal: You're question is very interesting Thierry. It gives me an excuse to talk about the two main SAT periodicals published during the interwar years. The first was the monthly Sennacieca Magazine, an historical, sceintific, teaching, literary magazine which has been published since 1921 and was edited by  Eugene Lanti. Between 1928 and 1933 it changed its title to the New Era, but afterwards returned to its original title. The second was Sennaciulo the official organ of SAT which was more political and socially active and it was published weekly from 1924 until 1931, when it was published fortnightly until 1933 when it became a monthly paper. It also had a montly supplement called "The Pupil". 

Thierry: Thank you for your clarifications and explanations about the SAT publications Pascal. Has the theme of the Esperanto Workers movement between the World Wars been exhausted? Or will you dedicate a second video to this topic as you did with the contemporeanous Neutralist movement?

 Pascal: You've predicted the future very well Thierry. There is indeed a lot more to say about the Esperanto Workers movement before the Second World War. I will dedicate video 41 to the same topic. So until then.

Thierry: Thank you Pascal, in that case we will wait for the sequel. And if you dear viewers have subscribed to our channel then you will be alerted to the publication of our next video. But if not, why hesitate over a free subscription? Don't wait to add your name to our followers.  Thank you for your attention. Goodbye!

Pascal: Goodbye everyone!

 

*The Neutral movement is the name for what is the more mainstream and "official" part of the Esperanto movement. Despite the name it often takes positions that would be considered extremely radical (anti-militarism, cultural tolerance and language and minority rights, open borders, etc) compared to normal society. Its Neutral in the sense that its believes Esperanto should be open to everyone. The second competing current in Esperanto is the Laborista or Workers Esperanto movement.  

** This is a reference to the German ISK, the International Sozialisticher Kampfbund which was an split from the German Social Democratic Party, the ISK produced some material in Esperanto as well as in English and over languages.

 *** He was a victim of the purges of the Communist party carried out by Stalin. He was "rehabilitated" in 1957 and even bizarrely given back his membership of the Communist party in 1989 despite being dead for many decades.

 

Muscle Plex; Anarchism on film

 

I've found a list of Anarchist films on letterboxd. Well, to be more accurate, I found many lists with Anarchism and Anarchy in the title, but I like this one best. Most of the lists were about "Anarchic" as in screwball comedy. Once those were filtered out to include lists about the political and social definitions of Anarchism, there were still a lot of false positives. Many of these lists had interpreted Anarchism to be any form of vaguely radical political violence not obviously associated with the Far right. So, a lot of Soviet movies where the triumph of the Bolsheviks is the message of the movie and some that include the destruction of Anarchism as their plot, and Maoist agitprop. Or general political activism, which while no doubt interesting and educational don't have anything to say about Anarchism, and many have reformist "make the system work" messages. For an extreme example, several lists included the film Anarchy in the USA which despite the title is possibly the most anti-anarchist film ever made. It was made by the far right John Birch Society, and the film's content and aim is to popularise a conspiracy theory that the Communist Party of the United States of America, is in fact controlling the civil rights movement. But it has Anarchy in the title, so therefore it gets added to the list.

This list however seems to contain few false positives. Though it's hard to be a 100% sure since many of the films on that list are very difficult to find. I was able to track down two entries on the streaming service Plex, which I had not heard of, but my TV has built in. The films were Projekt A - A Journey to Anarchist Projects in Europe, and The Anarchist's Birthday. I've watched both of them, and they're very, very different films, but I've decided to make this a double feature.

Project A

Project A is a German language documentary released in 2016. Its subjects are a group of Anarchist projects around Europe. In Greece, Switzerland, Germany and Spain. The Anarchists interviewed are quite different in attitudes and activity. The Greek section mostly focuses on the squatting and alternative communities that have been established in the Athens district Exarchia. The film documents how locals handle decisions on how to restore and make use of an abandoned park. We also see how the Eurozone austerity crisis forced many to turn to a grassroots system of healthcare, in which Anarchists with medical skills administer prescriptions and check-ups and examinations. We also see community schools and day to day life on the streets. 

The Swiss segment is the lightest part of the film, it's a short coverage of an international gathering at St. Imier, with some short interviews with participants about what Anarchism means, though this segment presented a good opportunity for a shift to a short animated sequence explaining some of the history of the European Anarchist movement and the role of Switzerland in it. 

In Germany, there are two segments, the first is a sort of travel diary of a young German activist who is mainly focussed on working to block the transportation of uranium fuel and waste products through the countryside, and the second and final ending segment concerns the work of a Munich based agricultural collective called the Kartoffel Combinat, literally the Potato Combine. The Potato Combine is interesting as the narrator explains that none of the participants are Anarchists, or at least, they don't define their activity, their praxis, as Anarchist. It's included to make a point about content being more important than the label. 

Spain, or Catalunya since that's where all the footage and the participants come from, is broken up into several different Anarchist activities. The two main examples are the CGT union and a network that the subtitles called the CIC. There is also a brief interview with a member of the Indiginados movement who is in hiding from the police. The Indiginados movement was a populist response in Spain to austerity, which had some Anarchist participation, but it was politically diverse, inevitable considering it numbered in the millions in its peak, some would say incoherent, like the Occupy movement only the Indiginados were prepared to take more direct and confrontational action. And of course being filmed in Barcelona the CNT in the 1930s is also referenced. This is done by a short primer section with footage from the time and animations, the segment on the CGT also includes more information on this period as it follows a CGT member as he conducts tours of Barcelona. Regarding the Spanish Civil War I think it strikes a good balance, it overshadows Anarchism in general but especially so in Barcelona and its surroundings, so not acknowledging it would be a strange omission, but the focus is on the present day. I was a bit surprised that the current CNT didn't feature at all, though it's true that the CGT is the biggest of the syndicalist unions in Spain, though I think sadly the decision has more to do with the rifts and instability within the CNT or CNTs as there are multiple rivals competing over its legacy.

Of the two directions, I preferred the CGTs segment, I don't dislike the CICs portion, but the CGTs relevance to Anarchism was more pronounced, whereas the CIC was a collection of snippets following several members on various projects of different kinds and at different stages. Also being a network for community groups and co-operatives, some of the participants weren't Anarchists nor were they really interested in it. One of my favourite parts of the documentary was at one of the offices of the CIC, the two members the film has followed are giving a tour and a crypto bro approaches them and starts talking about this ATM he has for cryptocurrency, which the two members clearly know nothing about, they're letting him talk about the power of bitcoin et al., and when he's finished one of them just says "Well, that's not really a revolution, but I'm sure it will help". Then they just move past him and start talking about plans to reclaim some land for sustainable agriculture and eco-villages. 

Overall, I like the film. There are parts I think confuse more than clarify, but the nature of that type of documentary shooting means you're at the mercy of what happens on the day you're there. It covers a period that's underrepresented, the immediate aftermath to the 2008 financial crisis. There is a lot of content out there about this time period and beyond into the current year, but it's fragmented, mostly on isolated video channels, blogs and documentaries that seem to be allergic to having people watch them. Project A is an attempt to look at European Anarchism in a more substantial way, and it has had something of a push to be accessible. Plex in the UK is showing it free with ads and I found many entries about it on film databases and some German comments and reviews about it. It's still obscure but compared to say 2018s Kropotkin, a film so obscure not even the website of the director lists it in his projects section, it can be considered something of a box office smash.

The Anarchist's Birthday

2013s The Anarchist's Birthday is a very different kind of film. It's not a documentary, it's a fiction with a plot and characters. It's also one of those movies that can be described as a student film with some finances and access to professional actors. I don't know if that's the case, it's just the best way I can describe what the film looks like. I also don't mean that description as a criticism, it's clear that the crew have experience and the cast if they are amateurs don't commit any of the obvious giveaways. One of the actors, Daniel Lane the Anarchist whose enjoying his birthday has other credits, the rest of the cast I can only find a credit for this film.

As for the crew, this also appears to be the only film of the director Patrick Blake, who is also credited with the script. I think that's a shame, he handles this film pretty well considering the limitations. I like to play a game with my friends who enjoy films, coming up with more accurate titles for a film. For this film, I would change the name The Anarchist's Birthday for Folk who Bicker in a Field for a bit. There is an Anarchist and a birthday, but a lot more of the run time is dedicated to the characters struggling to accomplish their goals in a farmer's field and getting into friction with one another. I'm pleased there was an actual Anarchist in the film, in addition to all the filters I've listed there's one other that crops up quite a bit in fiction, a character who is called an Anarchist, or rarely a Nihilist, who is at most a bit quirky and a bit of a rebel when it comes to popular attitudes. Like the Punks these characters can be Anarchists, but they need more than a bit of an attitude towards authority figures. 

The plot of Anarchist Birthday is as follows, a farmer discovers a woman in his field, the woman is what we in the UK call a Rough Sleeper, which is the polite term for the homeless. The Farmer thinks she's a witch, and -it turns out he's right, so he does the obvious thing, reports the matter to the Church and request an official Witch-hunt. The hunt is organised by the Vicar, the Anarchist and another young man called Jay are forced to participate since they're both on community service. In the world of the film, Witches are accepted as real by the government, who have set up a qualification for clergy to be licensed as official Witch-hunters. The film is a comedy, but it's one of those subtle comedies where the humour comes from the setting and not through jokes. The scene where the Witch-hunt is organised is where the film makes its humour clear, it's extremely bureaucratic with the Vicar making sure everyone's paperwork is in order. There is no gearing up scene with a booming techno score with shiny guns filmed from multiple angles. There is technically speaking two action scenes, but they're defy the expectations of the label. 

I didn't laugh while watching the film, though some bits did strike me as clever. Once the film moves back to the field where the Witch is supposedly hiding it finds its stride. Essentially the plot can be summarised as the most inept and ill thought out exorcism ritual. Not one step of the plan, and there is a detailed step by step plan in accordance with government guidelines, is done with anything approaching expertise. The group just bumble along through the Vicars directions getting increasing fractious with each other. If you're wondering why I keep writing the Anarchist, Vicar, Farmer, etc, its because that's what those characters boil down too, they're supposed to be stand ins, they are given names, the Vicar checks them during the orientation chat before the hunt can commence, but they're not brought up much, I honestly keep forgetting them. The exceptions are Jay and his girlfriend Beyonce, they're names are brought up quite a bit, which is for the best because the Vicar and the Farmer represent authority and tradition, the Anarchist and the Witch the social rebels, Jay and Beyonce represent working class angst. They'd be called by the slur the Chavs under this theming. The film's blurb calss them "two local layabouts". Jay and Beyonce wear the typical, well stereotypical gear that marks people in this country as being on the lower rungs of the working class part of the ladder, and they do stereotypical things like have public shouting matches about their relationship and engage in recreational drugs. And of course Jay is doing community service, which is why he's in a field in the middle of nowhere.

Refreshingly though, the film doesn't demonise them for this, it doesn't have anything to say about their lifestyle beyond the relationship isn't healthy as it is and could do with some rebuilding. None of the characters could be mistaken for real people, though, fortunately none of them are so blunt as to go "I am the farmer and I believe in tradition" or "well, I am an Anarchist and I think that blah blah" its inbetween the two poles. There chats and arguments aren't conversations you'll hear in real life but they could be if written a different way. The Anarchist confirms he's an Anarchist by talking about direct action and living outside of a corrupt system in a fairly concise way and the flow of the film keeps his and the other characters lines from sounding like being addressed by someone on a soap box. I'm essentially describing everything that happens in the film and not doing a fantastic job of conveying the atmosphere very well. If I were a video reviewer the best case for the film I could make would be to upload it in full and just let you watch that.

Much of the film is shot with one camera, though some sequences do use multiple angles, and there are some effects work using exposure and lighting. Its clear that the people behind the camera know what they're doing and are working with a limited set of tools and options. As the credits rolled I found myself having positive feelings for the film. It does end on a positive pro Anarchism message, the Anarchist stands up to the authority of the Vicar and walks away from the hunt he never agreed with, and is going away with the Witch, and thanks to the magic of that Witch, Jay and Beyonce and the Farmer have changed for the better. So, while I had my doubts initially I think it belongs in a list of Anarchist films. 

Yes, the two women's roles are heavily attached to romantic partners, and the happy ending works thanks to literal magic, so it isn't a perfect masterpiece, but I've seen much worse films with a lot more backing, and if you have the time and are curious it couldn't hurt to give it a go.