Clausewitz Inverted. Bolshevism, Revolution and War in Nikolay Berdyaev’s Thought

Abstract

This paper presents some remarks on the influence of the First World War on Russian Revolution and post-war life in Soviet Russia. In my opinion, the ideas formulated at the time of war and revolution by Nikolay Berdyaev (1874-1948) shed light on the fundamental aspects of 20th century politics and social life both in Russia and other countries. Here, I understand war as the essence of modern politics. Berdyaev’s reflections on WWI and Bolshevik revolution prefigure and confirm the belief shared by such thinkers as Jan Patočka, Alain Finkielkraut or Pierre Hassner, that the 20th century brings the inversion of the most famous Clausewitz’s maxim: after WWI, politics becomes the continuation of war conducted by other means. Berdyaev thinks about revolution as the “decay of the war” and analyses Russian communism as a “war reality” which is characterized by such phenomena as dehumanization, mob rule, totalitarianism, total mobilization, militarization of civil sphere, the rule of technology and, last but not least, the appearance of the “new man”. In his opinion, war and post-war militarism have determined the ideology, cultural patterns, and the means of wielding political power both in Russia and in the West.