Swiss American Historical Society Review
A Chasm Between Two Vanguards: Near Encounters of Russian Emigre Marxists and Dadaism in Switzerland
Keywords
Switzerland, Swiss history, European history
Abstract
In the year 1916, Switzerland was an island of peace in a sea of belligerence. Surrounded by Germany, France, and Italy, Switzerland was one of the few European counties to maintain its neutrality during the war that transformed Europe into a graveyard. It also became an ideal sanctuary for those who opposed the brutality and strident nationalism of World War I. Ever since the defeat of the 1905 Revolution in Russia, Switzerland had acted as an ideal place of refuge for members of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (the RSDLP, a Marxist party founded in 1898). This party sought to overthrow the Russian autocracy and further the cause of an internationalist revolution based upon Marxist principles of creating a society where "the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all."
Recommended Citation
Herman, Bryan K. and Fair-Schulz, Axel
(2017)
"A Chasm Between Two Vanguards: Near Encounters of Russian Emigre Marxists and Dadaism in Switzerland,"
Swiss American Historical Society Review: Vol. 53:
No.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol53/iss1/3