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This chapter focuses on the dynamism of anarchist activities in London in the early nineteenth century, including meetings, conferences and demonstrations. It begins with the assassination of King Umberto I of Italy by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci on July 29, 1900, and the response of the anarchist movement to the event. It then turns to a discussion of the liberalisation of laws on trade unions in Italy and the anarchists’ attempt to organise the waiters and dishwashers employed in London restaurants. It also considers the involvement of anarchists in strikes and the labour movement, Errico Malatesta’s criticisms against syndicalism and the anarchists’ participation in the Commune. Finally, the chapter describes anarchist activity in London up to World War I.

This chapter focuses on the activities conducted by the Italian anarchists in London during the 1890s, including meetings, conferences and demonstrations. It examines the ideological differences between two main groups of anarchists: organisationalists, who considered the individual to be a product of society, and anti-organisationalists, who insisted that society was a union of self-governed individuals who might or might not associate with one another, depending on the potential benefits expected, and that human beings are naturally inclined towards anarchy. The chapter also looks at L’Associazione, a newspaper founded by Errico Malatesta, and its eventual closure. Finally, it considers the concern of authorities back in Italy about the danger posed by the anarchists in London.

This chapter focuses on the surveillance of the anarchists that the Italian embassy and the Italian Minister of Interior conducted in London by using spies and informers. It links the espionage to the concern of Italian authorities about the danger posed by anarchists living abroad, and their eventual recruitment of informers and secret agents for this purpose. It also considers Italy’s collaboration with the police forces of the host countries and its impact on the efficiency of intelligence. In addition, the chapter examines the activities of government spies and the anarchists’ ‘counterespionage’, along with the trial of Errico Malatesta for alleged espionage. Finally, it describes the attitude held by British police toward political refugees in London.

This chapter focuses on anarchist refugees who went to London to escape severe repression in Italy. It first provides a background on the political climate in Italy that forced anarchists to go into exile, particularly Giovanni Passanante’s failed attempt on the life of King Umberto I in 1878 that intensified the repression against the International. It then traces the roots of anarchist militancy in London’s Italian community to the arrival of Tito Zanardelli in the city following his expulsion from France. It also considers the emergence of an identifiable colony of Italian anarchist militants in London during the early 1880s, paying attention to the International Revolutionary Socialist Congress led by Errico Malatesta and other anarchists. Finally, the chapter discusses the political activities of Italian anarchists in London during the period.

This chapter examines the impact of the outbreak of World Word I on the anarchist movement in London. In particular, it looks at how the war divided the anarchists between interventionists and anti-interventionists, and the eventual disintegration of the network of international solidarity that used to be the core of the experience of political exile. It also considers the debate between Petr Kropotkin and Errico Malatesta about the war and the issue of militarism. In addition, the chapter discusses Italy’s eventual participation in the war and the anarchists’ propaganda campaign against the conflict. Finally, it explores how the departures of Russian militants affected the colony of anarchist refugees during the war.

Chapter 2 explains the role of government repression as the primary precipitant of Italian anarchist violence. Specifically it describes how, in a climate of growing economic hardship and social unrest among the peasantry and factory workers, in 1878 Giovanni Passanante’s failed “tyrannicide” of King Umberto I provided Italian authorities with a justification to attempt to deliver a mortal blow to socialism and the International. Repression took various forms. Socialists and anarchists groups were dissolved, their newspapers suppressed, rank-and-file members classified as “malefactors” and subjected to ammonizione (admonishment) and domicilio coatto (internal exile). Important anarchists were arrested and those who escaped detention, as in the case of Errico Malatesta and Carlo Cafiero, forced into exile. These developments led many anarchists to embrace anti-organizational forms of revolutionary ideology and practices that rejected all forms of organization and exalted terrorist violence.