Anarchism is a 19th-century political ideology, developed by thinkers like Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, that rejected all forms of governmental authority and hierarchy, arguing the state should be abolished and replaced with a society built on voluntary cooperation (AP Euro Topic 6.7).
Anarchism is the most extreme answer to the big question of the 1800s, which was how society should be reorganized after the French and Industrial Revolutions. While liberals wanted constitutions, radicals wanted universal male suffrage, and socialists wanted wealth redistributed, anarchists said the problem was the state itself. Any government, even a democratic or socialist one, is a tool of oppression. Get rid of it entirely, and people will organize themselves through voluntary cooperation.
The two names you need are Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, both Russian thinkers writing in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bakunin famously clashed with Karl Marx because Marx wanted workers to seize state power first (the 'dictatorship of the proletariat'), while Bakunin argued that seizing the state would just create a new ruling class. Kropotkin pushed the idea of 'mutual aid,' claiming cooperation, not competition, is the natural basis of society. Some anarchists turned to violence, including assassinations of monarchs and heads of state in the late 1800s, which is why governments treated anarchism as the era's terrorist threat.
Anarchism lives in Unit 6 (Industrialization and Its Effects), Topic 6.7, Intellectual Developments from 1815-1914. It directly supports learning objective AP Euro 6.7.A, which asks you to explain how and why different intellectual developments challenged the political and social order from 1815 to 1914. Anarchism is the far end of the ideological spectrum the CED lays out. Liberals (KC-3.3.I.A) wanted limited reform, radicals and republicans (KC-3.3.I.B) demanded universal male suffrage, socialists (KC-3.3.I.D) wanted to redistribute wealth, and anarchists wanted to tear the whole structure down. The exam loves asking you to place ideologies on this spectrum and explain how each one challenged the existing order, so knowing exactly where anarchism sits (and why it split from Marxism) is what makes it useful.
Keep studying AP® Euro Unit 6
Communist Manifesto (Unit 6)
Marx and Bakunin agreed capitalism had to go but split over the state. Marx wanted workers to capture it; Bakunin wanted to abolish it immediately. This Marx-vs-Bakunin split is the single most tested anarchism comparison in AP Euro.
Chartists (Unit 6)
The Chartists show you the opposite strategy. They worked within the British system, petitioning Parliament for universal male suffrage, while anarchists rejected parliaments entirely. Together they bookend the spectrum of how to change society, reform versus destruction.
Charles Fourier (Unit 6)
Fourier's utopian socialism imagined small, voluntary communities (phalanxes), which actually overlaps with the anarchist vision of cooperation without a state. The difference is that utopian socialists wanted to build model communities, while anarchists like Bakunin wanted to destroy existing power first.
European politics (Units 6-7)
Anarchist violence in the late 1800s, including assassinations of heads of state, fed the political instability and mass anxiety that carries into the turn-of-the-century politics you see heading into Unit 7.
Anarchism shows up mostly in multiple-choice questions that ask you to distinguish it from other radical ideologies. Typical stems ask which 19th-century movement sought to overthrow all forms of government, or how Bakunin's anarchism fundamentally differed from Marx's communism. The move you need to make is precise placement, meaning you can say anarchism rejects ALL state authority, while socialism and Marxism want to use or transform the state. No released FRQ has used the term verbatim, but anarchism works well as evidence in an LEQ or DBQ on ideological responses to industrialization, where naming Bakunin or Kropotkin and contrasting them with Marxist socialism shows the analytical precision graders reward.
Both attack capitalism and both want revolution, which is why they get mixed up. The dividing line is the state. Marx argued workers must seize state power and use a 'dictatorship of the proletariat' to transition to communism. Bakunin countered that any state, even a workers' state, would become a new form of tyranny, so the state must be abolished immediately. If a question mentions seizing or using government power, that's Marxism. If it mentions abolishing all government and hierarchy, that's anarchism.
Anarchism is the 19th-century ideology that called for abolishing all forms of government and replacing the state with voluntary cooperation.
Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin are the two anarchist thinkers you need for AP Euro, both tied to Topic 6.7 and Unit 6.
Anarchism differs from Marxism over the state itself; Marx wanted workers to seize state power, while Bakunin said any state would just create a new ruling class.
Anarchism sits at the far end of the 1815-1914 ideological spectrum, beyond liberalism, radical republicanism, and socialism, all of which still accepted some form of government.
Some anarchists embraced violence, including assassinations of European heads of state in the late 1800s, making anarchism a real political threat in the eyes of governments.
On the exam, anarchism is tested through comparison, so be ready to explain how it challenged the political and social order differently than other ideologies (AP Euro 6.7.A).
Anarchism is a 19th-century political ideology, associated with Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, that argued all government authority is oppressive and should be abolished in favor of a society based on voluntary cooperation. It appears in Unit 6, Topic 6.7, as one of the ideologies that challenged the political order from 1815 to 1914.
No. Both opposed capitalism, but Marx wanted workers to seize state power and rule through a 'dictatorship of the proletariat,' while anarchists like Bakunin rejected the state entirely, arguing any government would become a new tyranny. This disagreement caused a famous split between Marx and Bakunin in the mid-19th century.
No, not as a core goal. Anarchists believed society could organize itself through voluntary cooperation, and Kropotkin even argued mutual aid was humanity's natural state. That said, some anarchists did use assassination and bombings in the late 1800s, which is why governments labeled the movement terroristic.
Radicals in Britain and republicans on the continent (KC-3.3.I.B) demanded universal male suffrage, meaning they wanted everyone to participate in government. Anarchists wanted no government at all. Radicals reform the state; anarchists abolish it.
Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, both Russian. Bakunin is known for his rivalry with Marx over whether to seize or abolish the state, and Kropotkin for the idea of mutual aid as the natural basis of society.
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