1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, A production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,560 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. Recently, we did an episode 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: on Tayfield Steinlan, who was an artist, and we talked 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: about his connections to anarchists and anarchist groups in France, 6 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: And after that discussion, I wanted to return to the 7 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: topic of anarchism because we have talked about anarchists on 8 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:40,159 Speaker 1: the show before, but we've not really talked about anarchism 9 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: as a philosophy a lot of the time. It's like 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,839 Speaker 1: we were talking about labor organizers who were also anarchists, 11 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: or fears of anarchy that we're driving things like the 12 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: First Red Scare and some of the CIA's co intel pros, 13 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,640 Speaker 1: Like we haven't really talked about when people were talking 14 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: about anarchy, what did they mean beyond a very dictionary 15 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: level definition of believing that governments and sometimes also other 16 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: systems of authority are harmful and should be abolished. So 17 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:18,199 Speaker 1: Pyotr Kerpotkin, who is called Peter pretty universally in English 18 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: language writing, was incredibly influential in the development of anarchism 19 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: as a political philosophy in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 20 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: This was especially true in the UK and Russia, but 21 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: also in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and the United States. And 22 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: he was also a scientist and a prince, and I 23 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: just find him deeply fascinating. Unlike a lot of our 24 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: two parters, I had a feeling from the beginning that 25 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: this might need more than one episode. Kerpotkin's most famous work, 26 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 1: which is sometimes described as his masterpiece, was Mutual Aid 27 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: A Factor of Evolution. This is really a word of 28 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: zoology and anthropology, but it is also considered to be 29 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: a foundational text of anarchist communism. So today we are 30 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: going to focus on a series of formative moments in 31 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: Krapotkin's early life that contributed to him becoming an anarchist communist, 32 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: and then on Wednesday we will take a closer look 33 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 1: at his work as an anarchist, including this book. Prince 34 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: Pyotr Alexeyevitch Krapotkin was born on December twenty first, eighteen 35 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,639 Speaker 1: forty two, or December ninth in the Old style calendar, 36 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: in Moscow. He was the son of Prince Alexei Petrovitch 37 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: Krabatkin and Yakarina Nikoleevya Sulima. Peter's father was a military 38 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: officer and the family was ancient, aristocratic and rich. Peter 39 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: grew up surrounded by opulence, with a continual stream of 40 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: very prominent guests being entertained in their homes, including one 41 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: in Moscow for the winter and another in the country 42 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: for the summer, and lavish parties and festivals. But outside 43 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: all of those guests and events, he described their day 44 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: to day existence as one of a quote miserly economy. 45 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: In Kropotkin's words, quote wealth was measured in those times 46 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: by the number of souls which a landed proprietor owned. 47 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 1: So many souls meant so many male serfs. Women did 48 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 1: not count. My father, who owned nearly twelve hundred souls 49 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: in three different provinces, and who had, in addition to 50 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: his peasants holdings, large tracts of land which were cultivated 51 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: by these peasants, was accounted a rich man. He lived 52 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: up to his reputation, which meant that his house was 53 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: open to any number of visitors, and that he kept 54 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: a very large household. We were a family of eight, 55 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: occasionally of ten or twelve, but fifty servants at Moscow 56 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: and half as many more in the country were considered 57 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: not one too many. Four coachmen to attend, a dozen horses, 58 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: three cooks for the masters and two more for the servants, 59 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: a dozen men to wait upon us at dinner time, 60 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 1: one man plate in hand standing behind each person seated 61 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: at the table, and girls innumerable in the maid servants room. 62 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 1: How could anyone do with less than this? Those serfs 63 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: were the source of most of the food and provisions 64 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: that were required to maintain such a large household. Every year, 65 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 1: around the start of winter, based on his father's orders, 66 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: peasant sledges would arrive loaded up with the serfs required 67 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: contributions of grain, meat, and other provisions from what they 68 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: had been able to grow and raise. Kerpotkin also remarked 69 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: that the ideal for wealthy landowners was to produce everything 70 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: they could need or want on their own land by 71 00:04:55,720 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: their own men, including the embroideries, the harnesses, the furniture, everything. Quote. 72 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,040 Speaker 1: As soon as the children of the servants attained the 73 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 1: age of ten, they were sent as apprentices to the 74 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 1: fashionable shops, where they were obliged to spend five or 75 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: seven years, chiefly in sweeping, in receiving an incredible number 76 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: of thrashings, and in running about town on errands of 77 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: all sort. I must own that few of them became 78 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: masters of their respective arts. The tailors and the shoemakers 79 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: were found only skillful enough to make clothes or shoes 80 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: for the servants, and when a really good pastry was 81 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,840 Speaker 1: required for a dinner party, it was ordered at Tremblaze 82 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: while our own confectioner was beating the drum in the 83 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 1: music band. In April of eighteen forty six, when Peter 84 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: was three, his mother died of tuberculosis. She was thirty five. 85 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 1: Peter's oldest siblings had already gone away to school, and 86 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: this left him and his four year old brother, Alexander, 87 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: in the care of nurses. Their father remarried two years later, 88 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,359 Speaker 1: and afterward the family moved to a new house. This 89 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,400 Speaker 1: was very hard for the boys. Their new house was 90 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: stripped of any kind of connection to their late mother, 91 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: and one of the nurses who had cared for them 92 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,600 Speaker 1: after her death also was not retained at the new 93 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:21,479 Speaker 1: house when they moved. Peter and Alexander's education started with 94 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: being tutored at home and punished with a birch rod 95 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:29,719 Speaker 1: when they misbehaved. Peter also witnessed his father's cruelty to 96 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 1: the serfs, shouting at them using abusive language and sending 97 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: them to the police with a note that they needed 98 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: to be given one hundred lashes. In Kerpotkin's words, quote 99 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: terror and absolute mutinous reign in the house. Yet father 100 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: was not among the worst of the landowners. On the contrary, 101 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,279 Speaker 1: the servants and the peasants considered him one of the best. 102 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 1: What we saw in our house was going on everywhere, 103 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,080 Speaker 1: often in much more cruel forms. The flogging of the 104 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: was a regular part of the duties of the police 105 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 1: and of the fire brigade. Krapakin also wrote that his 106 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 1: father would order marriages between specific serfs, and that the 107 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: serfs worked out a way to try to protect themselves 108 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: from this. If it seemed like they were being identified 109 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: for a potential marriage, the two people in question would 110 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 1: become godmother and godfather to the same child, which, according 111 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: to Kropotkin's memoir, made a marriage between them illegal under 112 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: church law. Once a tailor who belonged to Kropotkin's father 113 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: fell in love with a girl who belonged to a neighbor. 114 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: This man hoped to be freed and to earn enough 115 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 1: money as a tailor to pay for his freedom and 116 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: that of the woman he hoped to marry. He and 117 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: another serf from the Krapotkin estate became godparents to the 118 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: same child when it seemed like they might be forced 119 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 1: to marry instead, when Kropotkin's father ordered the marriage and 120 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: the man explained that they were godparents and how he 121 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: hoped to be reed and to marry another woman, he 122 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: was instead forced to join the military. So all of 123 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: this sounds cruel and dehumanizing, but what krapot Can heard 124 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: about from other estates could be even worse. Quote if 125 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: I were to relate what I heard of in those years, 126 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: it would be a much more gruesome narrative. Stories of 127 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: men and women torn from their families and their villages 128 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: and sold or lost in gambling, or exchanged for a 129 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: couple of hunting dogs and then transported to some remote 130 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 1: part of Russia for the sake of creating a new estate. 131 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: Of children taking from their parents and sold to cruel 132 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: or dissolate masters of flogging in the stables, which occurred 133 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:48,079 Speaker 1: every day with unheard of cruelty of a girl who 134 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: found her only salvation in drowning herself, of an old 135 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: man who had grown gray haired in his master's service, 136 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: and at last hanged himself under his master's window. And 137 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: of revolts of which were suppressed by Nicholas the first 138 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: generals by flogging to death each tenth or fifth man 139 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: taken out of the ranks, and by laying waste the 140 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: village whose inhabitants, after a military execution, went begging for 141 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:17,199 Speaker 1: bread in the neighboring provinces, as if they had been 142 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: the victims of a conflagration. As to the poverty which 143 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: I saw during our journeys in certain villages, especially in 144 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:28,680 Speaker 1: those which belonged to the Imperial family, no words would 145 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: be adequate to describe the misery to readers who have 146 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: not seen it. In eighteen fifty four, when Peter was twelve, 147 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: his French tutor, Monsieur Poulains, started telling him stories about 148 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: the French Revolution, including about aristocrats who gave up their 149 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:49,319 Speaker 1: titles and sided with the revolutionaries. Peter was becoming more 150 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,199 Speaker 1: aware of the inequities of the world he was living in, 151 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:54,959 Speaker 1: including the enslavement of the serfs in the way that 152 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: they were treated, and he decided to do the same, 153 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: abandoning his title of pres and instead styling his signature 154 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:07,080 Speaker 1: just as p. Kropotkin. Yeah, that title was apparently something 155 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 1: that they just used routinely, even at home, in private, 156 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 1: all the time. Uh. Before he was like, Nope, I'm 157 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:18,680 Speaker 1: not doing that anymore. By this point, Zar Nicholas the 158 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: First had selected Peter for the elite Core of Pages. 159 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:26,120 Speaker 1: That happened when Peter was only eight, but he had 160 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 1: to wait for a vacancy before he could actually join 161 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 1: the Core. There was not a spot open for him 162 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: until he was fifteen, and by that point Nicholas the 163 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 1: First was no longer the czar. He died in eighteen 164 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: fifty five and was succeeded by Alexander the Second. In 165 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: the meantime, Peter had continued to be educated at home 166 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:50,240 Speaker 1: and then at a Moscow gymnasium. He also started his 167 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:55,599 Speaker 1: own literary review, which included his writings and his brother's poetry, 168 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:58,280 Speaker 1: and he kept that up until leaving for the Core 169 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: that included keep it up after his brother Alexander went 170 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: off to military school. We will get to Peter's time 171 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 1: at the Core of Pages and Alexander the Second's impact 172 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:22,240 Speaker 1: on Russia. After a sponsor break in August of eighteen 173 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,120 Speaker 1: fifty seven, Peter Kropotkin joined the Core of Pages in 174 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 1: Saint Petersburg. He described the Core this way quote. Only 175 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:34,720 Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty boys, mostly children of the nobility 176 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 1: belonging to the court, received education in this privileged corps, 177 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 1: which combined the character of a military school endowed with 178 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 1: special rights and of a court institution attached to the 179 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:51,120 Speaker 1: imperial household. After a stay of four or five years 180 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: in the Core of Pages, those who had passed the 181 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: final examinations were received as officers in any regiment of 182 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: the Guard or of the Art they chose irrespective of 183 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:05,960 Speaker 1: the number of vacancies in that regiment, And each year 184 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: the first sixteen pupils of the highest form were nominated 185 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,680 Speaker 1: pages to Chambre, that is, they were personally attached to 186 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,760 Speaker 1: the several members of the Imperial family, the Emperor, the Empress, 187 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 1: the Grand Duchesses and the Grand Dukes. Kropotkin had hoped 188 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,200 Speaker 1: to finish his education there in four years, but he 189 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:28,320 Speaker 1: was sorted into the fifth form that was the lowest, 190 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: and he was sorted there because he needed some additional 191 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: study in math. At first, he was really disappointed by this, 192 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: but it did work out. Aside from the math, most 193 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: of the rest of his courses in this first year 194 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 1: covered material that he already knew. Quote. I got into 195 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,200 Speaker 1: the habit of learning my lessons by merely listening to 196 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 1: what the teachers said in the classroom, and the lessons 197 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:52,720 Speaker 1: over I had plenty of time to read and to 198 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 1: write to my heart's content. I never prepared for the examinations, 199 00:12:57,440 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: and used to spend the time which was allowed for 200 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,600 Speaker 1: that in reading aloud to a few friends the dramas 201 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,440 Speaker 1: of Shakespeare or of Ostrowski. When I reached the higher 202 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:09,559 Speaker 1: special forms, I was also better prepared to master the 203 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:13,959 Speaker 1: variety of subjects we had to study. At various points 204 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 1: in his memoir, which is what we have been reading from, 205 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:21,679 Speaker 1: Krapotkin just casually drops things about his life that seem 206 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:26,720 Speaker 1: like maybe they should have been more major details. Immediately 207 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:29,920 Speaker 1: after this, he wrote quote, Besides, I spent more than 208 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,200 Speaker 1: half of the first winter in the hospital. Like all 209 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: children who were not born at Saint Petersburg, I had 210 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: to pay a heavy tribute to the capital on the 211 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: swamps of Finland in the shape of several attacks of 212 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: local cholera and finally one of typhoid fever. Kropotkin's education 213 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 1: was focused largely on mathematics, physics, and astronomy, although he 214 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 1: also enjoyed history, poetry and music. As he moved into 215 00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 1: more advanced coursework, he continued to focus on math because 216 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: he thought it was critical to an understanding of any 217 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 1: of the sciences. After two or three years in the Corps, 218 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:12,000 Speaker 1: he also started writing his first revolutionary essay, in which 219 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,920 Speaker 1: he criticized corruption and waste and advocated for the creation 220 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: of a constitution for Russia. So Peter had been personally 221 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 1: selected by the Czar to go to a military school 222 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: that was attached to the Imperial household, which would prepare 223 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: him to be an officer in the Russian military, and 224 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: now he was spending some of his time at that 225 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:38,320 Speaker 1: school writing essays criticizing the government and calling for a constitution. 226 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: This was definitely risky, and that is something that the 227 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 1: two or three like minded students that he gave this 228 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: essay to pointed out to him. But this was also 229 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 1: right at the beginning of a period of sweeping changes 230 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: in Russia. Implemented by Alexander the Second, who wanted to 231 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: institute some of the liberal reforms that had been seen 232 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 1: in part of Western Europe in the early years of 233 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:07,360 Speaker 1: his reign. Alexander reformed the judiciary, making it a separate 234 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: branch of government and banning secret trials and corporal punishment. 235 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: He decentralized some of Russia's political power structure, putting some 236 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,400 Speaker 1: of that power in the hands of local governments. He 237 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: reformed the military so compulsory service applied across all of 238 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: the social classes rather than only to the serfs. He 239 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: also relaxed censorship guidelines, which contributed to a rise in 240 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 1: populist and revolutionary organizations in Russia. On March third, eighteen 241 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: sixty one, Alexander also issued his Emancipation Manifesto, which set 242 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: February nineteenth, eighteen sixty three, as the day that the 243 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 1: serfs would be free. Kropotkin wrote of reading the Manifesto 244 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: over and over after it was issued. Quote, it was liberty, 245 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: but it was not liberty yet, the peasants having to 246 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: remain serfs for two years more till February nineteenth, eighteen 247 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:09,239 Speaker 1: sixty three. Notwithstanding all this, one thing was evident serfdom 248 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 1: was abolished and the liberated serfs would get the land 249 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 1: and their homesteads. They would have to pay for it, 250 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: but the old stain of slavery was removed. They would 251 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: be slaves no more. Kropotkins celebrated the liberation of the serfs, 252 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 1: but also described the costs involved with paying for their 253 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: land as simultaneously ruinous for them and extremely lucrative for 254 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: the landlords, who also got compensation for the property they 255 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 1: were losing. Serfs who had done household work also faced 256 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: a different problem. They were free, but they were offered 257 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 1: no land and no other compensation. Many of them left 258 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: the households they had been working in to find other 259 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: work because they had no offer of paid employment and 260 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:57,400 Speaker 1: no other options. This also wasn't something Alexander had done 261 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: out of purely humanitarian impulse. There had been more than 262 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:05,560 Speaker 1: seven hundred peasant uprisings across Russia in the twenty five 263 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: years before he became czar. He wanted to get rid 264 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:14,040 Speaker 1: of a potential source of disruption to the Russian economy. Yeah, 265 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 1: writing about all this from the US perspective today, a 266 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: lot of the time will draw parallels to the abolition 267 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: of slavery in the United States, and how many freed 268 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:29,840 Speaker 1: people then were trapped into a system of sharecropping in 269 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,640 Speaker 1: which they were not enslaved anymore technically, but they were 270 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 1: still doing in the same work, still in really dehumanizing conditions, 271 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:39,159 Speaker 1: and then just sort of trapped in a system that 272 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:44,160 Speaker 1: they still couldn't get out of. And Kerpotkin recognized these 273 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: things as also being true with the liberation of the 274 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:51,640 Speaker 1: serfs in Russia. He had been a very good student 275 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: and was often at the top of his form at 276 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:57,000 Speaker 1: the Core of Pages, and in June of eighteen sixty 277 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: one he was nominated to be sergeant, the privileged position 278 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,439 Speaker 1: at the school. He essentially became an officer over the 279 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:08,399 Speaker 1: other students, and in addition to that, he also served 280 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 1: as page to Chambre for the Emperor, so he was 281 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: essentially the Tsar's personal page. This was definitely an honor 282 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: and it had the potential to really set the stage 283 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 1: for the trajectory of his life after finishing his education 284 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:26,959 Speaker 1: at the Core. In Krapotkin's words quote at the beginning 285 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 1: of my service, I felt a great admiration for Alexander 286 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: the Second, the liberator of the serfs, imagination often carries 287 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: a boy beyond the realities of the moment, and my 288 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:39,719 Speaker 1: frame of mind at that time was such that if 289 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:42,359 Speaker 1: an attempt had been made in my presence upon the Czar, 290 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 1: I should have covered him with my body. But as 291 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,760 Speaker 1: time went on, he said, quote, various small incidents, as 292 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:54,440 Speaker 1: well as the reactionary character which the policy of Alexander 293 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: the second was decidedly taking, instilled more and more doubts 294 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,159 Speaker 1: into my heart. One source of those doubts was the 295 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 1: suppression of unrest at universities in Russia after authorities abolished 296 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:12,880 Speaker 1: scholarships and reversed earlier progressive reforms. In May of eighteen 297 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: sixty two, as his graduation was approaching, Kerpotkin was asked 298 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: what regiments he would be interested in joining. He didn't 299 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: really want to join a regiment at all. His dream 300 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: was to go to university, but he knew that his 301 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: father would never agree to that, so he asked to 302 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:37,719 Speaker 1: be sent to Siberia. Russia had annexed the Amur region 303 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:40,719 Speaker 1: in the southeast of Siberia on the border with China 304 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty eight. Kerpotkin thought that in this part 305 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: of Siberia there would be quote an immense field for 306 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: the application of the great reforms which have been made 307 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:54,639 Speaker 1: or are coming. The workers must be few there, and 308 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,880 Speaker 1: I shall find a field of action to my tastes. 309 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: To Kropotkin, this was an opportunity to bring change to 310 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,439 Speaker 1: Siberia and to make a difference. But of course to 311 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 1: everyone else, the Tsar's personal page and one of the 312 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,400 Speaker 1: top students in the Core, was asking to be sent 313 00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: to a place where people were normally exiled. As a punishment, 314 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,919 Speaker 1: they questioned whether he was in his right mind. His 315 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: father refused to allow it. That spring fires broke out 316 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:27,040 Speaker 1: in Saint Petersburg, and they burned for about two weeks. 317 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:32,680 Speaker 1: These fires spread primarily because of unusually warm, dry weather, 318 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:36,439 Speaker 1: but there were rumors that they had been intentionally set 319 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:40,920 Speaker 1: by radicals, or maybe students, or maybe people from Poland, 320 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:43,399 Speaker 1: much of which had been annexed by Russia at the 321 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 1: end of the eighteenth century. These suspicions led to arrests 322 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:53,680 Speaker 1: and crackdowns and rollbacks of earlier reforms, and Kerpotkin's words 323 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: quote after it, Alexander the Second surrendered to the reactionaries, 324 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:01,719 Speaker 1: and what was still worse, the public opinion of that 325 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,240 Speaker 1: part of society in Saint Petersburg and especially at Moscow, 326 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:10,000 Speaker 1: which carried most weight with the government, suddenly threw off 327 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:14,360 Speaker 1: its liberal garb and turned against not only the more 328 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:18,360 Speaker 1: advanced section of the Reform Party, but even against its 329 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:23,480 Speaker 1: moderate wing. Krepakin became even more determined to leave Western 330 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: Russia and to go somewhere that might be more open 331 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:30,640 Speaker 1: to reforms. Kropotkin and some of his classmates helped fight 332 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,040 Speaker 1: the fires one night, and the next day he accompanied 333 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: a Grand Duke on his rounds. Kropotkin told him about 334 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: his desire to go to Siberia, and the Grand Duke 335 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:44,040 Speaker 1: said he would recommend Kropotkin to the Governor General to 336 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 1: make sure he wasn't posted to a tiny, remote village somewhere. 337 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: This apparently reconciled Kropotkin's father to his going. We'll talk 338 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,399 Speaker 1: about what happened to Kerpotkin in Siberia after we have 339 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:10,760 Speaker 1: a sponsor break. When Peter Krapotkin arrived in East Siberia 340 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,480 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty two, the Governor General was Mikhail Korsokov. 341 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: He was the successor to Count Nikolay mrvyev Amersky, who 342 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: had negotiated the treaty that had annexed the Amur region 343 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: from the Qing dynasty he had retired in eighteen sixty one. 344 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:32,119 Speaker 1: Before his retirement and now by the time Kerpotkin arrived, 345 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:37,200 Speaker 1: these men were interested in reforming and modernizing Siberia. Kirpotkin 346 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 1: was appointed to two committees, one to reform Siberia's prisons 347 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,879 Speaker 1: in its system of exile, and one to bring about 348 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:49,119 Speaker 1: municipal self government. He also worked on other projects, and 349 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 1: a lot of them were focused on improving the lives 350 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 1: and conditions of people in Siberia, but Krapotkin's proposed reforms 351 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:01,320 Speaker 1: were never implemented. The rollback and crackdowns that he had 352 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: witnessed in Saint Petersburg ultimately made their way to Siberia 353 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:07,879 Speaker 1: as well, and by the time Krapakin was done with 354 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: his proposals, they were no longer wanted. He wrote, quote 355 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:16,440 Speaker 1: I soon realized the absolute impossibility of doing anything really 356 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: useful for the masses of the people by means of 357 00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: the administrative machinery. With this illusion, I parted forever beyond that, 358 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 1: Potkin called the five years he spent in Siberia, which 359 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:33,160 Speaker 1: did include some trips back home quote A genuine education 360 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:37,280 Speaker 1: in life and human character. I was brought into contact 361 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,120 Speaker 1: with men of all descriptions, the best and the worst, 362 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: those who stood at the top of society, and those 363 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:46,359 Speaker 1: who vegetated at the very bottom, the tramps and the 364 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:51,159 Speaker 1: so called incorrigible criminals. I had ample opportunities to watch 365 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,200 Speaker 1: the ways and habits of the peasants in their daily life, 366 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 1: and still more opportunities to appreciate how little the state 367 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,679 Speaker 1: administration could give to them, even if I were animated 368 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 1: by the very best intentions. Finally, my extensive journeys, during 369 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 1: which I traveled over fifty thousand miles in carts, on board, steamers, 370 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 1: and boats, but chiefly on horseback, had a wonderful effect 371 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 1: in strengthening my health. They also taught me how little 372 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 1: man really needs. As soon as he comes out of 373 00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:27,240 Speaker 1: the enchanted circle of conventional civilization, with a few pounds 374 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 1: of bread and a few ounces of tea in a 375 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:33,439 Speaker 1: leather bag, a kettle and a hatchet hanging at the 376 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:36,640 Speaker 1: side of the saddle, and under the saddle a blanket 377 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: to be spread at the campfire upon a bed of 378 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:44,720 Speaker 1: freshly cut spruce twigs, a man feels wonderfully independent even 379 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: amidst unknown mountains thickly clothed with woods or capped with snow. 380 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:54,200 Speaker 1: All of this had a huge impact on Kropotkin as 381 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: both a scientist and a political philosopher. During those fifty 382 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,359 Speaker 1: thousand miles of travel, he did a lot of military work, 383 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:06,199 Speaker 1: and he also studied the geography of northern Asia. He 384 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:08,560 Speaker 1: realized that most of the maps that were in use 385 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: showed huge mountains that weren't really there. He started cross 386 00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:16,639 Speaker 1: referencing his own observations with those of other researchers and 387 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,359 Speaker 1: travelers and anything else he could find to create a 388 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: map of the landscape in its structure that actually aligned 389 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,720 Speaker 1: with reality. His conclusion was that much of Siberia was 390 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:31,760 Speaker 1: an elevated plateau, not a lowland plane as it had 391 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 1: previously been understood. Sometimes this is summed up as Peter 392 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:42,720 Speaker 1: Kropotkin discovered the plateau, which is like a little oversimplified. 393 00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: It oversimplifies in a way that obfuscates the reality. Right. 394 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,919 Speaker 1: He said of this realization and sort of the process 395 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:55,680 Speaker 1: of coming to this realization quote, there are not many 396 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: joys in human life equal to the joy of the 397 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: sudden birth of a generalization illuminating the mind. After a 398 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: long period of patient research, what has seemed for years 399 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:12,879 Speaker 1: so chaotic, so contradictory, and so problematic, takes at once 400 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:17,960 Speaker 1: its proper position, with nharmonious whole. Out of the wild 401 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: confusion of facts, and from behind the fog of guesses contradicted. 402 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:26,040 Speaker 1: Almost as soon as they are born, a stately picture 403 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: makes its appearance, like an alpine chain, suddenly emerging in 404 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,320 Speaker 1: all its grandeur from the mists which concealed it the 405 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:37,479 Speaker 1: moment before, glittering under the rays of the sun, in 406 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:42,160 Speaker 1: all its simplicity and variety, in all its mightiness and beauty. 407 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,399 Speaker 1: Grapodkin described his study of the geography of Northern Asia 408 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:48,720 Speaker 1: and the work he created from it, to be his 409 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: greatest contribution to science, although he didn't get to do 410 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,080 Speaker 1: everything he wanted with it due to going to prison, 411 00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:59,040 Speaker 1: which we will be getting to in the next episode. 412 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: He also served as secretary of the Russian Geographical Society 413 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:07,919 Speaker 1: in its section on physical geography. In terms of his 414 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: political philosophy, as one example, the January Uprising began in 415 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: early eighteen sixty three. This was an uprising against Russian 416 00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: imperial rule in Poland. The uprising failed and led to 417 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:29,159 Speaker 1: even tighter imperial control over Poland. During its travels, Kerpotkin 418 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:33,200 Speaker 1: often met and spoke with Polish exiles about what had happened, 419 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 1: and his words quote, some of them understood the fault 420 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:41,160 Speaker 1: that had been committed. A revolution from its very outset 421 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:46,159 Speaker 1: must be an act of justice towards the downtrodden and oppressed, 422 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:51,199 Speaker 1: not a promise of making such reparation later on. Otherwise 423 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:55,680 Speaker 1: it is sure to fail. Unfortunately, it often happens that 424 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,040 Speaker 1: the leaders are so much absorbed with mere questions of 425 00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:04,439 Speaker 1: military tax that they forget the main thing to be revolutionists, 426 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 1: and failed to prove to the masses that a new 427 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:10,879 Speaker 1: era has really begun for them is to ensure the 428 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 1: certain ruin of the attempt. Kropotkin also described this uprising 429 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:21,680 Speaker 1: as a definitively ending that period of reform in Russia. 430 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: Krapatkin's brother Alexander joined him in Siberia in eighteen sixty four, 431 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: and in eighteen sixty seven they both decided to leave 432 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: military service. One reason was that they were called on 433 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: to put down an insurrection. Alexander had gotten married in Siberia, 434 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:44,120 Speaker 1: so leaving had some additional difficulties for him they went 435 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: back to Saint Petersburg, where Peter lived with Alexander and 436 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 1: his family. Peter also finally enrolled at Saint Petersburg Imperial University. 437 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: His father was furious. The atmosphere in Saint Petersburg was 438 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:02,320 Speaker 1: much different than it had been before Krapotkin went to Siberia. 439 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:06,560 Speaker 1: An assassination attempt on Czar Alexander the second and April 440 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:09,640 Speaker 1: of eighteen sixty six had led to a crackdown on 441 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 1: suspected radicals. Kropotkin thought that there had only been one 442 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:18,240 Speaker 1: successful social movement while he had been gone. That was 443 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: a movement for women's access to higher education, which had 444 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,560 Speaker 1: succeeded in opening women's universities and a medical school for 445 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: women in spite of political opposition, including opposition from the Czar. 446 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,880 Speaker 1: Krapotkin also found this movement and its success to be instructive. 447 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: He wrote, quote above all, it was through the unlimited 448 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: devotion of a mass of women in all possible capacities 449 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: that they gained their successes. In short, women took any position, 450 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: no matter how low in the social scale, and no 451 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:54,280 Speaker 1: matter what privations it involved, if only they could be 452 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: in any way useful to the people, not a few 453 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,800 Speaker 1: of them, but hundreds and thousands. They have conquered their 454 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,720 Speaker 1: rights in the true sense of the word. I did 455 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:09,680 Speaker 1: not try to track down whether Kerpotkin's perceptions of this 456 00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 1: movement were accurate, but like his perceptions and what he 457 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 1: found to be instructive or the important part here. He 458 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:20,920 Speaker 1: also said that he did not see any division between 459 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:23,880 Speaker 1: the older and the younger elements of this movement, even 460 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:28,400 Speaker 1: though they often had very different goals and strategies. This 461 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: included the older women being very focused on respectability and 462 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 1: correctness and avoiding political agitation, while a lot of the 463 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: younger women were nihilists who were also involved with revolutionary 464 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: or radical organizations. Sometimes there was friction between these two 465 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:50,600 Speaker 1: overall groups, but they were all on the same side, 466 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,480 Speaker 1: and neither of them ever denounced the other or tried 467 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 1: to shut them out of the movement. As someone who 468 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:05,800 Speaker 1: just sees prepares stual online discourse about various left wing activism, 469 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:12,240 Speaker 1: I find that idea so refreshing. He also described the 470 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:17,320 Speaker 1: movement's leaders as not feminists. That meant that he did 471 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 1: not think they were trying to get a share of 472 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:24,000 Speaker 1: the privileged positions and society in the state that were 473 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 1: being held only by men, and opening up some of 474 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,480 Speaker 1: those things up to women, so getting women a share 475 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:34,400 Speaker 1: of the privilege they were instead working for the masses. 476 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,960 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy one, Krapotkin went on an expedition for 477 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:43,680 Speaker 1: the Russian Geographical Society to study glaciers in Finland and Sweden. 478 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,040 Speaker 1: As he observed dry lake beds there, he had a 479 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 1: realization that had parallels to what he had experienced with 480 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:55,320 Speaker 1: the Siberian Plateau. He concluded that Scandinavia and Finland had 481 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:59,000 Speaker 1: been covered in ice in the distant past. Then quote 482 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:02,240 Speaker 1: ages past away till the melting of the ice began, 483 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 1: and with it came the lake period, when countless lakes 484 00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: were formed in the cavities, and a wretched subpolar vegetation 485 00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:13,400 Speaker 1: began timidly to invade the unfathomable marshes with which every 486 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:17,840 Speaker 1: lake was surrounded. Another series of ages passed before an 487 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 1: extremely slow process of drying upset in and vegetation began 488 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: its slow invasion from the south. And now we are 489 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:30,320 Speaker 1: fully in the period of a rapid desiccation, accompanied by 490 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 1: the formation of dry prairies and steps. And Ma'am has 491 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 1: to find out the means to put a check to 492 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:39,960 Speaker 1: that desication to which Central Asia already has fallen a victim, 493 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:44,880 Speaker 1: and which menaces southeastern Europe. This was connected to an 494 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:49,200 Speaker 1: ongoing scientific debate about the history of the Earth. You 495 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:53,600 Speaker 1: could really have a whole different two parter just about 496 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:58,400 Speaker 1: Krapotkin's work as a scientist. So extremely briefly, the European 497 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:03,320 Speaker 1: scientific community had long believed that the Earth was largely unchanging. 498 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:08,600 Speaker 1: God had created it, and with the exceptions of catastrophes 499 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 1: like earthquakes or massive floods, after that creation, things stayed 500 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:17,680 Speaker 1: largely the same. The idea of a past ice age 501 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:22,280 Speaker 1: and detectable natural changes normal ones that happened over time 502 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:26,720 Speaker 1: rather than being brought on by sudden, intense catastrophes. His 503 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 1: ideas were both fairly new, and Kirpotkin's work was part 504 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:35,440 Speaker 1: of that changing understanding. As with his time in Siberia, 505 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:41,200 Speaker 1: Kropotkin's expedition to Finland affected his political philosophy. He saw 506 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:44,720 Speaker 1: peasants who were living in poverty, and his first impulse 507 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:47,640 Speaker 1: was to tell them about tools and machines that could 508 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:50,719 Speaker 1: make their lives better and their work easier. But he 509 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:53,600 Speaker 1: realized that trying to talk to them about these kinds 510 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:57,840 Speaker 1: of innovations would be absurd and accomplish nothing. Quote, how 511 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,440 Speaker 1: dare I talk to him of American machines when all 512 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 1: that he can raise must be sold to pay rent 513 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:07,040 Speaker 1: and taxes. He needs me to live with him, to 514 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:09,840 Speaker 1: help him to become the owner or the free occupier 515 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,440 Speaker 1: of that land. Then he will read books with profit, 516 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:18,200 Speaker 1: but not now. In eighteen seventy one, Kerpotkin was offered 517 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,680 Speaker 1: the position of secretary of the Russian Geographical Society, so 518 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:25,400 Speaker 1: not just the section he had been secretary of before, 519 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:29,720 Speaker 1: the whole organization, and this was something he really wanted, 520 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:33,120 Speaker 1: but he turned it down. He thought he had so 521 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:37,239 Speaker 1: much to do in both scientific and political work, and 522 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:39,239 Speaker 1: he would not be able to do it if he 523 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:43,920 Speaker 1: accepted such a time consuming position. And he said, quote, 524 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:47,919 Speaker 1: what right had I to these highest joys when all 525 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:51,440 Speaker 1: around me was nothing but misery and struggle for a 526 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:55,160 Speaker 1: moldy piece of bread. When whatever I should spend to 527 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,480 Speaker 1: enable me in that world of higher emotions must needs 528 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:01,640 Speaker 1: be taken from the very mouth of those who grew 529 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:05,880 Speaker 1: the wheat and had not enough for their children. The 530 00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:10,640 Speaker 1: same year, Kropotkin's father died. Then in eighteen seventy two 531 00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:14,400 Speaker 1: he made his first journey to Western Europe. He wanted 532 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:18,160 Speaker 1: to learn about the International Workingmen's Association, also known as 533 00:35:18,239 --> 00:35:22,200 Speaker 1: First International, which was an international coalition of left wing 534 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:26,239 Speaker 1: political groups, trade unions, and other organizations that had been 535 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:30,319 Speaker 1: banned in Russia. Krapotkin went to Zurich and joined one 536 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:33,319 Speaker 1: of the local sections, and then to Geneva, which was 537 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:35,520 Speaker 1: at the heart of the movement and had been home 538 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:41,200 Speaker 1: to First International's first congress in eighteen sixty six. Kropotkin 539 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:45,200 Speaker 1: wrote of First International quote, one must have lived among 540 00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:48,359 Speaker 1: the workers at that time to realize the effect which 541 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,600 Speaker 1: the sudden growth of the association had upon their minds, 542 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,000 Speaker 1: the trust they put in it, the love with which 543 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:58,200 Speaker 1: they spoke of it, the sacrifices they made for it. 544 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:02,640 Speaker 1: Every day, week after week, and year after year. Thousands 545 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:06,359 Speaker 1: of workers gave their time and their coppers, taken upon 546 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:09,080 Speaker 1: their very food in order to support the life of 547 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:13,400 Speaker 1: each group, to secure the appearance of papers, to defray 548 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:17,440 Speaker 1: the expenses of the congresses, to support the comrades who 549 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:21,400 Speaker 1: had suffered for the association. Another thing that impressed me 550 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:27,280 Speaker 1: deeply was the elevating influence, which the International exercised. Most 551 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 1: of the Paris Internationalists wore almost total abstainers from drink, 552 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:35,960 Speaker 1: and all had abandoned spoken. Why should I nurture in 553 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:40,960 Speaker 1: myself that weakness? They said, the mean that trivial disappeared 554 00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:46,080 Speaker 1: to leave room for the grand, the elevating inspirations. But 555 00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:49,800 Speaker 1: after a while Krapotkins started to have doubts about this movement. 556 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,280 Speaker 1: It seemed like some of its leaders were pulling strings 557 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:56,799 Speaker 1: to get what they wanted, or allowing people and organizations 558 00:36:56,840 --> 00:37:01,000 Speaker 1: to join, even though their intentions weren't genuine, because it 559 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:04,040 Speaker 1: seemed expedient in the moment, and he thought there was 560 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 1: too much separation between the association's leaders and the workers. 561 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:12,080 Speaker 1: When he left Geneva, Krapotkin made his way to the 562 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:16,000 Speaker 1: Jura Mountains, on the border between France and Switzerland, where 563 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:21,040 Speaker 1: another organization had formed, the Jura Federation, which was established 564 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:25,319 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy two. This federation had grown out of 565 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:30,520 Speaker 1: a division within First International. On one side were the Marxists, 566 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:34,759 Speaker 1: whose ideas were drawn from German philosopher Karl Marx, and 567 00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:37,879 Speaker 1: on the other side were the Bacunonists, whose ideas were 568 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:43,839 Speaker 1: drawn from Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakunin. Broadly speaking, the Marxists 569 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:48,960 Speaker 1: were socialists who advocated for centralized leadership, state rule, and reforms, 570 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:55,320 Speaker 1: including massive reforms to existing economic systems, and Bakuninists were anarchists, 571 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:59,520 Speaker 1: focused on a total revolution that would dissolve existing social 572 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:03,400 Speaker 1: and economic structures and replace them with free communes and 573 00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:09,399 Speaker 1: other cooperatives. The Jura Federation was anti authoritarian and anarchists. 574 00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:13,920 Speaker 1: Many of the organizations involved with this federation were voluntary 575 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:19,760 Speaker 1: support organizations among watchmakers in the Jura mountains. Krapotkin found 576 00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:24,200 Speaker 1: these organizations and networks to be very egalitarian and the 577 00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:28,040 Speaker 1: people involved in them showed a lot of independence of thought. 578 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,279 Speaker 1: He wrote, quote here, I saw that the workers were 579 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:34,439 Speaker 1: not a mass that was being led and made subservient 580 00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:38,120 Speaker 1: to the political ends of a few men. Their leaders 581 00:38:38,239 --> 00:38:43,000 Speaker 1: were simply their more active comrades, initiators rather than leaders. 582 00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:47,560 Speaker 1: The clearness of insight, the soundness of judgment, the capacity 583 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:52,440 Speaker 1: for disentangling complex social questions, which I noticed among these workers, 584 00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:57,239 Speaker 1: especially the middle aged ones, deeply impressed me, and I 585 00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:01,040 Speaker 1: am firmly persuaded that if the Jura Federal has played 586 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:04,440 Speaker 1: a prominent part in the development of socialism. It is 587 00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:07,120 Speaker 1: not only on account of the importance of the no 588 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:11,360 Speaker 1: government and federalist ideas of which it was the champion, 589 00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:14,880 Speaker 1: but also on account of the expression which was given 590 00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:19,200 Speaker 1: to these ideas by the good sense of the Jura Watchmakers. 591 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:24,560 Speaker 1: Without their aid, these conceptions might have remained mere abstractions 592 00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:27,520 Speaker 1: for a long time. He went on to say, quote 593 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:31,040 Speaker 1: the theoretical aspects of anarchism as they were then beginning 594 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:34,719 Speaker 1: to be expressed in the Jura Federation, especially by Bakunin. 595 00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:38,680 Speaker 1: The criticisms of state socialism, the fear of an economic 596 00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:43,680 Speaker 1: despotism far more dangerous than the merely political despotism which 597 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:46,960 Speaker 1: I heard formulated there, and the revolutionary character of the 598 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:52,600 Speaker 1: agitation appealed strongly to my mind. But the egalitarian relations 599 00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:55,440 Speaker 1: which I found in the Jura Mountains, the independence of 600 00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:59,040 Speaker 1: thought and expression which I saw developing in the workers, 601 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:03,000 Speaker 1: and their unlimit devotion to the cause, appealed even more 602 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:06,080 Speaker 1: strongly to my feelings. And when I came away from 603 00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:09,400 Speaker 1: the mountains after a week's stay with the watchmakers, my 604 00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:15,640 Speaker 1: views upon socialism were settled. I was an anarchist. Everything 605 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:19,480 Speaker 1: we have talked about so far led Kerpotkin to believe 606 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:23,680 Speaker 1: that in order to make life better for everyone, society 607 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:28,120 Speaker 1: needed to move away from centralized governments and wage labor 608 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:32,520 Speaker 1: and capitalist systems, and he understood that doing so would 609 00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:37,360 Speaker 1: require a revolution, maybe even a civil war. Quote. The 610 00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:42,040 Speaker 1: question is then not so much how to avoid revolutions 611 00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:45,720 Speaker 1: as how to attain the greatest results with the most 612 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:50,640 Speaker 1: limited amount of civil war, the least number of victims, 613 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 1: and a minimum of mutual embitterment. For that end, there 614 00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:58,759 Speaker 1: is only one means, namely, that the oppressed part of 615 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:03,399 Speaker 1: society should obtain the clearest possible conception of what they 616 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:07,040 Speaker 1: intend to achieve and how, and that they should be 617 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:11,600 Speaker 1: imbued with the enthusiasm which is necessary for that achievement, 618 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:14,719 Speaker 1: in which case they will be sure to attract to 619 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:19,200 Speaker 1: their cause the best and freshest intellectual forces of the 620 00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:24,359 Speaker 1: class which is possessed of historically grown up privileges. We 621 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:27,720 Speaker 1: are going to talk about what happened after Krapotkin return 622 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:31,320 Speaker 1: to Saint Petersburg with all of these ideas next time. 623 00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:34,800 Speaker 1: In the meantime, Tracy, do you have some listener mail 624 00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:39,000 Speaker 1: I do. This is from Kathy, and Kathy wrote after 625 00:41:39,239 --> 00:41:44,680 Speaker 1: our President's House site episode. Kathy wrote, Dear Holly and Tracy. 626 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:48,280 Speaker 1: When I heard Philadelphia mentioned in the beginning of yesterday's episode, 627 00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:51,040 Speaker 1: I remembered I never sent my email about the last 628 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:54,280 Speaker 1: Philly episode. I wanted to thank you for your episode 629 00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,520 Speaker 1: about the President's House exhibit. It is a fantastic and 630 00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:01,000 Speaker 1: important exhibit that I think is so much more interesting 631 00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:04,640 Speaker 1: than the Liberty Bell exhibit. I've been telling everyone to 632 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:08,040 Speaker 1: go to the President's House since I randomly happened upon 633 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:12,200 Speaker 1: it about ten years ago. However, many tourists skip the exhibit, 634 00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:15,200 Speaker 1: even though it's right in front of the Liberty Bell building, 635 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:18,000 Speaker 1: because the line to see the Liberty Bell cues up 636 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:22,040 Speaker 1: around the exhibit instead of through it. Happily, the executive 637 00:42:22,120 --> 00:42:24,640 Speaker 1: order to remove the exhibit had the opposite of its 638 00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:27,760 Speaker 1: intended effect. I happened to pass by on a weekend 639 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:31,640 Speaker 1: shortly after the signs were reposted. There were way more 640 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:36,920 Speaker 1: people at the exhibit than there usually are in the winter. Also, 641 00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:39,479 Speaker 1: at the beginning of the Richard Peters episode, I hate 642 00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:41,239 Speaker 1: to be one of those people who correct you on 643 00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:43,759 Speaker 1: little details that have nothing to do with the episode, 644 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:47,760 Speaker 1: but as a Philadelphia history teacher and nerd, I can't 645 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:52,120 Speaker 1: help it. Germantown and Belmont were suburbs of Philadelphia when 646 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:55,279 Speaker 1: Peters lived there. Now they are both part of the 647 00:42:55,320 --> 00:42:59,800 Speaker 1: city proper. Germantown is a neighborhood northwest of Center City, 648 00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:03,080 Speaker 1: and Belmont is part of Fairmont Park. Both of these 649 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:05,879 Speaker 1: areas had safe houses on the underground railroad, which could 650 00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:08,680 Speaker 1: make for a good episode topic. Thanks for all you 651 00:43:08,719 --> 00:43:14,480 Speaker 1: do for pet tax, pet taxes, pictures of goldfish, and 652 00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:17,120 Speaker 1: we have said a number of times that we are 653 00:43:17,480 --> 00:43:20,319 Speaker 1: open to any kind of pet tax, or even pet 654 00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:23,600 Speaker 1: tax that is not animals, other kinds of tax so 655 00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:26,799 Speaker 1: or even pet tax that isn't a pet. Yeah, not 656 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:30,000 Speaker 1: even a pet. Goldfish are a great example of that. 657 00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:34,720 Speaker 1: They are named King Ray and conge as I'm assuming 658 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:37,719 Speaker 1: how that is pronounced. They are rancho goldfish and they 659 00:43:37,719 --> 00:43:40,680 Speaker 1: are all named for the word king in various languages 660 00:43:40,719 --> 00:43:44,920 Speaker 1: because these are known as king of the goldfish. Sincerely, Kathy, 661 00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:48,120 Speaker 1: thank you so much for this email. Kathy, I knew 662 00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:50,640 Speaker 1: there were a lot of folks going to the President's 663 00:43:50,640 --> 00:43:56,520 Speaker 1: house site to protest and demonstrate and leave signs and 664 00:43:56,560 --> 00:43:58,560 Speaker 1: notes and things. After all the signs are taken down 665 00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:00,480 Speaker 1: so I am glad to hear that they're has been 666 00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:04,879 Speaker 1: continued traffic to the site now that at least some 667 00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:06,920 Speaker 1: of the signs are backup. I meant to go check 668 00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:09,560 Speaker 1: if there have been new developments about the signs that 669 00:44:09,640 --> 00:44:12,360 Speaker 1: had not been put back up yet when we recorded 670 00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:14,799 Speaker 1: that episode, and I forgot to go look into that. 671 00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:19,600 Speaker 1: But thank you again Kathy for the email and the pictures. 672 00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:21,960 Speaker 1: If you would like to send us a note or 673 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:26,200 Speaker 1: at History Podcast At iHeartRadio dot com, you can find 674 00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:31,120 Speaker 1: the show notes to all of our episodes, including this one, 675 00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:34,520 Speaker 1: which includes all the works of Peter Patkins that we 676 00:44:34,600 --> 00:44:37,359 Speaker 1: have read from and referenced. That's on our website which 677 00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:40,040 Speaker 1: is Missed in Hisstory dot com, and you can subscribe 678 00:44:40,080 --> 00:44:42,399 Speaker 1: to the show on the iHeartRadio app and anywhere else 679 00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:50,040 Speaker 1: you'd like to get your podcasts. Stuff You Missed in 680 00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:53,759 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 681 00:44:53,840 --> 00:44:58,000 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 682 00:44:58,040 --> 00:44:59,560 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.