In 1921, Walter Benjamin published, at the age of only 28, his controversial essay Critique of violence, representing an account on the republican model of governance and development in the light of the First World War. Identifying an intrinsic and necessary relationship between legal authority and physical violence, Critique of violence has become a highly influential text for the discussion on the role of violence in politics, inspiring theorists as different as Carl Schmitt, Herbert Marcuse, Jurgen Habermas, Jacques Derrida and Giorgio Agamben. This master thesis proposes a reading of Benjamin s essay which it comprehends primarily as an answer to the critical and political philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Discussing the concepts of critique, politics vis-à-vis violence, and history in the works of both authors, this master thesis has the goal to clarify the divergences but also the parallels within the thought of both authors, arguing that both authors defend a position which considers violence as the only means for achieving freedom.