Mikhail Bakunin

Mikhail Bakunin was the Russian revolutionary philosopher who became the founding figure of modern anarchism. A contemporary and fierce rival of Marx within the First International, he argued that the state is inherently oppressive and that the abolition of capitalism must be accompanied by the immediate abolition of the state—not by the "dictatorship of the proletariat" but by free federations of workers and communes.

Bakunin's conflict with Marx ended in his expulsion from the International in 1872, splitting the socialist movement into Marxist and anarchist wings. His political philosophy was grounded in a collectivist vision of federalist organisations from the bottom up, rejecting all forms of authority as corrupting. His influence was greatest in Spain, Italy, and Russia, where his brand of revolutionary collectivism appealed to peasants rather than industrial workers.