Anarchism and Police: A Weird Connection

Written By: John Martello

“The invention of dynamite had meant that the government and the corporations no longer had a monopoly on devastating violence. But they were still its greatest practitioners.” (p. 210)

One part of global history that doesn’t get much attention is the chaos of the late 1800s and early 1900s. While most people focus on the Second Industrial Revolution, imperialism, reform movements, and the slow build-up to World War I, there are two major ideas spreading during this time: anarchism and political violence.

Steven Johnson’s The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective dives into this overlooked chapter, charting how anarchism—and oddly enough, dynamite—shaped the era. It starts with Alfred Nobel, who’s known today for the Nobel Prizes. Before that legacy, he was known for inventing dynamite. At first, it was seen as a tool for construction and infrastructure. Over time, it became a weapon—especially for those fighting against industrial capitalism. In an age ruled by robber barons, the fighters were anarchists.

Anarchism isn’t easy to define, and Johnson doesn’t try to give a single definition. Instead, he shows how it’s a mix of ideas built around the belief that government is unnecessary. We meet several key figures—Pyotr Kropotkin, Emma Goldman, and Alexander Berkman—each with their vision of how society should work. As anarchism, so did violence and terror.

Johnson describes the assassination attempts on major political and industrial leaders, including Czar Nicholas II, President William McKinley, Henry Clay Frick, John D. Rockefeller Jr., and King Umberto I of Italy. These attacks, while not always successful, exposed gaps in policing. Governments realized they needed better tools to track and stop anarchists—and that meant turning to science.

During this era, American police were behind European police bureaus. European police forces had already started using photography and physical records to track offenders, and they soon adopted fingerprinting. A lot of modern police techniques came from this period. In some measure, the rise of anarchism in the United States helped push law enforcement to modernize.

To me, the story seemed random at first—dynamite, anarchists, detectives. But it all connects. Dynamite gave anarchists a powerful tool; their violence forced governments to respond, and that response led to new ways of policing. Johnson’s book leaves you wondering: how far will someone go to make their message heard?

References

Johnson, Steven. The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective. New York: Crown Publishing, 2024.