Knowra Johann Most Johann Most Johann Most was a German-American anarchist, revolutionary socialist, and journalist who advocated revolutionary violence and popularized the phrase “propaganda of the deed.”
Emma Goldman : Emma Goldman was a Lithuanian-born American anarchist, writer, and speaker who advocated radical social change. Goldman later defended Most’s anarchist politics and worked with him in the United States.
German Empire : The German Empire was a federal monarchy that existed from 1871 until the end of World War I. Most entered politics amid the empire’s industrial growth, class conflict, and restrictions on socialist organizing.
Propaganda of the deed : Propaganda of the deed is the use of exemplary political action, often violent, to inspire wider revolt. Most popularized this strategy as a means of awakening workers to revolutionary struggle.
Haymarket affair : The Haymarket affair was an 1886 labor protest and bombing in Chicago followed by trials and executions of anarchists. The bombing intensified public fear of anarchism, though Most was not implicated in the attack.
Alexander Berkman : Alexander Berkman was a Russian-American anarchist and writer who attempted to assassinate industrialist Henry Clay Frick. Berkman’s attack reflected the revolutionary violence Most promoted, though Most did not direct it.
Anti-Socialist Laws : The Anti-Socialist Laws were German measures that restricted socialist organizations, publications, and public meetings from 1878 to 1890. The laws helped drive Most from Germany and intensified his break with parliamentary socialism.
Revolutionary socialism : Revolutionary socialism seeks to replace capitalism through a fundamental transformation of political and economic power. Most’s advocacy of direct action belonged to a current that rejected gradual reform as sufficient.
Anarchist Exclusion Act : The Anarchist Exclusion Act of 1903 barred certain anarchists from entering or remaining in the United States. The law reflected a political climate in which figures like Most were treated as security threats.
Wilhelm Liebknecht : Wilhelm Liebknecht was a German socialist politician and co-founder of the Social Democratic Workers’ Party. Liebknecht’s parliamentary socialism opposed the revolutionary strategy that brought Most into conflict with German social democracy.
Social Democratic Party of Germany : The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a political party founded in the nineteenth-century German workers’ movement. Most represented the party in the Reichstag before his expulsion and turn toward anarchism.
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