National Liberation by Murray N. Rothbard

National=20 Liberation

by Murray=20 N. Rothbard
by Murray = N.=20 Rothbard

This article, published in Egalitarianism=20 as a Revolt Against Nature and Other Essays, 2^nd=20 Edition, pp. 195=96198, originally appeared in = Libertarian=20 Forum, vol. 1, no. 11, September 1, 1969.

The = recent=20 rioting and virtual civil war in Northern Ireland points = out, both=20 for libertarians and for the world at large, the vital = importance of=20 pushing for and attaining the goal of national liberation = for all=20 oppressed people. Aside from being a necessary condition to = the=20 achievement of justice, national liberation is the only = solution to=20 the great world problems of territorial disputes and = oppressive=20 national rule. Yet, all too many anarchists and libertarians = mistakenly scorn the idea of national liberation and = independence as=20 simply setting up more nation-states; they tragically do not = realize=20 that, taking this stand, they become in the concrete, = objective=20 supporters of the bloated, imperialistic nation-states of = today.=20

Sometimes this=20 mistake has had tragic consequences. Thus, it is clear from = Paul=20 Avrich=92s fascinating and definitive book^{1=20
that the anarchists in Russia had at least a fighting chance =
to take=20
control of the October Revolution rather than the =
Bolsheviks, but=20
that they lost out for two major reasons: (1) their =
sectarian view=20
that any kind of definite organization of their own movement =

violated anarchist principles; and (2) their opposition to =
the=20
national independence movements for the Ukraine and White =
Russia on=20
the ground that this would simply be setting up other =
states. In=20
this way, they became the objective defenders of Great =
Russian=20
imperialism, and this led them to the disastrous course of =
opposing=20
Lenin=92s statesmanlike "appeasement peace" of Brest-Litovsk =
in 1918,=20
where Lenin, for the sake of ending the war with Germany,=20
surrendered Ukrainian and White Russian territory from the =
Greater=20
Russian imperium. Disastrously, both for their own =
principles and=20
for their standing in the eyes of the war-weary Russian =
people, the=20
Russian anarchists called for continuing the war against =
"German=20
imperialism," thereby somehow identifying with anarchy, the=20
centuries-old land grabs of Russian imperialism.}

Let = us first=20 examine the whole question of national liberation from the = point of=20 view of libertarian principle. Suppose that there are two=20 hypothetical countries, "Ruritania" and "Walldavia." = Ruritania=20 invades Walldavia and seizes the northern part of the = country. This=20 situation continues over decades or even centuries. But the=20 underlying condition remains: the Ruritanian State has = invaded and=20 continues to occupy and exploit, very often trying to = eradicate the=20 language and culture of the North Walldavian subject people. = There=20 now arises, both in northern and southern Walldavia, a = "North=20 Walldavian Liberation Movement." Where should we stand on = the=20 matter?

It = seems clear=20 to me that Libertarians are bound to give this liberation = movement=20 their ardent support. For their object, while it might not = be to=20 achieve an ultimate stateless society, is to liberate the = oppressed=20 North Walldavians from their Ruritanian State rulers. The = fact that=20 we may not agree with the Walldavian rebels on all = philosophical or=20 political points is irrelevant. The whole point of their = existence =96=20 to free the Northern Walldavians from their imperial = oppressors =96=20 deserves our wholehearted support.

Thus is solved=20 the dilemma of how Libertarians and anarchists should react = toward=20 the whole phenomenon of "nationalism." Nationalism is not a = unitary,=20 monolithic phenomenon. If it is aggressive, we should oppose = it; if=20 liberatory, we should favor it. Thus, in the = Ruritanian-Walldavian=20 case, those Ruritanians who defend the aggression or = occupation on=20 the grounds of "Greater Ruritania" or "Ruritanian national = honor" or=20 whatever, are being aggressive nationalists or = "imperialists." Those=20 of either country who favor North Walldavian liberation from = the=20 imperial Ruritanian yoke are being liberators and, = therefore,=20 deserve our support.

One = of the=20 great swindles behind the idea of "collective security = against=20 aggression," as spread by the "internationalist" = interventionists of=20 the 1920s and ever since, is that this requires us to regard = as=20 sacred all of the national boundaries which have been often = imposed=20 by aggression in the first place. Such a concept requires us = to put=20 our stamp of approval upon the countries and territories = created by=20 previous imperial aggression.

Let = us now=20 apply our analysis to the problem of Northern Ireland. The = Northern=20 Irish rulers, the Protestants, insist on their present = borders and=20 institutions; the Southern Irish, or Catholics, demand a = unitary=20 state in Ireland. Of the two, the Southern Irish have the = better=20 case, for all of the Protestants were "planted" centuries = ago into=20 Ireland by English imperialism, at the expense of murdering = the=20 Catholic Irish and robbing their lands. But unless = documentation=20 exists to enable restoration of the land and property to the = heirs=20 of the victims =96 and it is highly dubious that such exists = =96 the=20 proper libertarian solution has been advanced by neither = side and,=20 as far as we can tell, by no one in the public press. For = the=20 present partition line does not, as most people believe, = divide the=20 Catholic South from the Protestant North. The partition, as = imposed=20 by Britain after World War I and accepted by the craven = Irish rebel=20 leadership, arbitrarily handed a great deal of Catholic = territory to=20 the North. Specifically, over half of the territory of = Northern=20 Ireland has a majority of Catholics and should revert = immediately to=20 the South: this includes Western Derry (including Derry = City), all=20 of Tyrone and Fermanagh, southern Armagh and southern Down.=20 Essentially, this would leave as Northern Ireland only the = city of=20 Belfast and the rural areas directly to the north. =

While this=20 solution would leave the Catholics of Belfast oppressed by=20 outrageous Protestant discrimination and exploitation, at = least the=20 problem of the substantial Catholic minority in Northern = Ireland =96=20 the majority in the areas enumerated above =96 would = be solved,=20 and the whole question of Northern Ireland would be reduced = to=20 tolerable dimensions. In this way, the libertarian solution = =96 of=20 applying national self-determination and removing imperial=20 oppression =96 would at the same time bring about justice = and solve=20 the immediate utilitarian question.

Paul Avrich, The=20 Russian Anarchists (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton = University=20 Press, 1967).

Murray N. Rothbard = (1926=961995), the founder of modern libertarianism and the = dean of=20 the Austrian School of economics, was the author of T= he=20 Ethics of Liberty and For=20 a New Liberty and many other books = and=20 articles. He was also academic vice president of the = Ludwig von=20 Mises Institute and the Center for Libertarian Studies, and = the=20 editor =96 with Lew Rockwell =96 of The=20 Rothbard-Rockwell Report.

Murray=20 Rothbard Archives

=20