My Disillusionment in Russia
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~53,300 words · 253 passages
Cite this work
- APAEmma Goldman. (n.d.). My Disillusionment in Russia. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/emma-goldman/my-disillusionment-in-russia
- MLAEmma Goldman. "My Disillusionment in Russia." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/emma-goldman/my-disillusionment-in-russia.
- ChicagoEmma Goldman. My Disillusionment in Russia. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/emma-goldman/my-disillusionment-in-russia.
What it is about
Goldman in Soviet Russia (1920–1921): she arrived deported from the United States and a supporter of the Revolution, and left horrified.
Context and history
One of the first critical accounts of Bolshevism written from the left, and therefore uncomfortable for everyone: the right did not want the anarchist and the left did not want the critique. The title is not hers but the publisher's, and she hated it.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
The decision to record my experiences, observations, and reactions during my stay in Russia I had made long before I thought of leaving that country. In fact, that was my main reason for departing from that tragically heroic land. The strongest of us are loath to give up a long-cherished dream. I had come to Russia possessed by the hope that I should find a new-born country, with its people wholly consecrated to the great, though very difficult, task of revolutionary reconstruction. And I had fervently hoped that I might become an active part of the inspiring work. I found reality in Russia grotesque, totally unlike the great ideal that had borne me upon the crest of high hope to the land of promise. It required fifteen long months before I could get my bearings. Each day, each week, each month added new links to the fatal chain that pulled down my cherished edifice. I fought desperately against the disillusionment. For a long time I strove against the still voice within me which urged me to face the overpowering facts. I would not and could not give up. Then came Kronstadt. It was the final wrench. It completed the terrible realization that the Russian Revolution was no more. I saw before me the Bolshevik State, formidable, crushing every constructive revolutionary effort, suppressing, debasing, and disintegrating everything. Unable and unwilling to become a cog in that sinister machine, and aware that I could be of no practical use to Russia and her people, I decided to leave the country. Once out of it, I would relate honestly, frankly, and as objectively as humanly possible to me the story of my two years' stay in Russia. I left in December, 1921. I could have written then, fresh under the influence of the ghastly experience. But I waited four months before I could bring myself to write a series of articles. I delayed another four months before beginning the present volume. I do not pretend to write a history. Removed by fi
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