Max Nettlau, born on the 30th of April in 1865, was an anarchist historian whose biographical subjects included Bakunin, Malatesta, and Élisée Reclus. His enormous collection of primary materials is held by the International Institute of Social History.

Max Nettlau was born in Neuwaldegg (Austria) to an affluent family. Nettlau's skepticism of state authority began at a young age; his memoirs state that, even as a child, he 'somehow considered the supporter of any government system as a seriously defective person'.

Formally, Nettlau studied linguistics, authoring his doctoral thesis on the Welsh language. While a student in London, he became a member of the Socialist League, the only organization he was ever to join according to the International Institute of Social History (IISG).

As an anarchist activist, Nettlau wrote articles for John Most's Freiheit and befriended famous anarchists such as Peter Kropotkin, Elisée Reclus, and Errico Malatesta.

Nettlau was an avid collector of materials of social movements. Not just manuscripts by anarchist authors (although original texts by Bakunin became a part of his collection), but the actual pamphlets, bulletins, and papers of social movements themselves.

Among Nettlau's works as an author are the first major biography of Michael Bakunin, biographies of anarchists Elisée Reclus and Errico Malatesta, and a seven volume work on the history of anarchism. A significantly shorter, one volume version is available in English as "A Short History of Anarchism".

In 1935, Nettlau sold his archive (described by the IISH as "enormous") to the newly found International Institute of Social History, where it remains to this day.

Nettlau died 1944 from stomach cancer in Amsterdam, having fled his native Austria follow the country's "Anschluss" to Nazi Germany in 1938.

"Do I want to propose my own system? Not at all! I am an advocate of all systems, i.e. of all forms of government that find followers."

  • Max Nettlau in "PANARCHY. A Forgotten Idea of 1860" (1905)

A Short History of Anarchism by Max Nettlau

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  • autismdragon [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    8 months ago

    Why was this removed? The /c/games mods arent responding to me. I have messaged ALL of them and not one has replied. Previous public megathread complaints about previous removals werent removed from previous megathreads so I had no reason to believe there was a problem with this. Public venting seems to be the only course of action I have when mods arent being responsive.

    • COMMENT [she/her]
      ·
      8 months ago

      There is a long standing rule against meta discussion in the mega.

      • autismdragon [he/him, they/them]
        ·
        8 months ago

        Never been a problem for me before. Ive vented about things getting removed at least three times before without a removal of the post about it. Didnt get singled based on previous incidents. Its also a dumb rule because y'all dont provide good methods for things to get adressed so public venting is the only recourse I have.

        Seems to me that theres no real method of communicating about these things on this website. Theres no modmail. The modlog is anonymous so you dont know who to contact when an incorrect mod action takes place. Theres no comm for complaints, there used to be but we locked it down. The fuck am I supposed to do? My post got removed and it should not have been. People are impossing hornyness on an image with a BABY in it when I came there to express my feelings of warm family feelings because it happens to have a little cleavage. Im accused of "hornyposting' when I literally said in the thread that got removed that my motive wasnt horny.

        The fact that not one of the tons of mods of /c/games can adress this with me is upsetting me and actually ruining my day. Its put me in an awful mood and making me want to take out my agression on people. I would like this to be adressed.

        • COMMENT [she/her]
          ·
          edit-2
          8 months ago

          Comments are removed for meta discussion in the mega, it's not a new rule and it has been enforced. Mods also need time to respond. Not getting a response within an hour doesn't mean you're being ignored.

          • autismdragon [he/him, they/them]
            ·
            8 months ago

            Comments are removed for meta discussion in the mega,

            Well I had no way of knowing that based on previous experiences where it was treated as fine, but ok.

            d. Mods also need time to respond. Not getting a response within an hour doesn't mean you're being ignored.

            Bit frusterating to deal with but I guess...