Anarchism and violence

Anarchism and violence have become closely connected in popular thought, in part because of a concept of "propaganda of the deed". Propaganda of the deed, or attentát, was espoused by leading anarchists in the late nineteenth century, and was associated with a number of incidents of violence. Anarchist thought, however, is quite diverse on the question of violence. In the name of coherence some anarchists have opposed coercion, while others have supported it, particularly in the form of violent revolution on the path to anarchy. Anarchism includes a school of thought which rejects all violence (anarcho-pacifism).

Many anarchists regard the state to be at the definitional center of structural violence: directly or indirectly preventing people from meeting their basic needs, calling for violence as self-defense.

Perhaps the first anarchist periodical was named The Peaceful Revolutionist, a strain of anarchism that followed Tolstoy's pacifism.

Late in the 19th century, anarchist labor unions began to use the tactic of general strike. This often resulted in violence by both sides and some of the strikes even resulted in the deaths of striking workers, their replacements and security staff.

In this climate, some anarchists began to advocate and practice terrorism or assassination, which they referred to as propaganda of the deed. In many cases, newspapers blamed anarchist terrorism on immigrant naïvety, but scholar Richard Bach Jensen explained that "the emigrant experience may have heightened a pre-existing radicalism or given more precise configuration to its violent expression." United States President William McKinley was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz, a registered Republican who, after his arrest, claimed he had been influenced by the writings of Emma Goldman and others. Czolgosz' actions were widely condemned by anarchists, but the media widely characterized Czolgosz as a typical anarchist even though he had never actually belonged to any anarchist organization. Goldman spoke sympathetically of him and described his act as the result of a violent society. Her defense of Czolgosz was met with open hostility from most of the anarchist press.

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