THE CONQUEST OF BREAD by P. Kropotkin PREFACE ONE of the current objections to Communism and Socialism altogether, is that the idea is so old, and yet it could never be realized. Schemes of ideal States haunted the thinkers of Ancient Greece; later on, the early Christians joined in communist groups; centuries later, large communist brotherhoods came into existence during the Reform movement. Then, the same ideals were revived during the great English and French Revolutions; and finally, quite lately, in 1848, a revolution, inspired to a great extent with Socialist ideals, took place in France. "And yet, you see," we are told, "how far away is still the realization of your schemes. Don't you think that there is some fundamental error in your understanding of human nature and its needs?" At first sight this objection seems very serious. However, the moment we consider human his...
The rapid progress in the fabrication of machinery in Germany is best seen from the growth of the German exports as shown by the following table:- 1890. 1895. 1907. Machines and parts thereof £2,450,000 £3,215,000 £17,482,500 Sewing-machines parts thereof 315,000 430,000 1,202,500 Locomotives and locomobiles 280,000 420,000 1,820,000 Three years later the first of these items had already reached £25,000,000, and the export of bicycles, motorcars, and motor-busses, and parts thereof, was valued at £2,904,000. Everyone knows that German sewing- machines, motor-bus frames, and a considerable amount of tools find their way even into this country, and that German tools are plainly recom...