On this day 16/8/1819: The Peterloo Massacre
Fearing revolution the British state carried out a brutal atrocity against a peaceful pro-democracy demonstration 194 years ago today. Some 60-80000 people had gathered in St Peter’s Field, Manchester,...
View ArticleEasy peasy labour squeezy
While those involved in the anti-war movement over the past twelve years must claim a great deal of credit for Cameron’s defeat over Syria, the challenge becomes now to secure a reverse for the...
View ArticleOn this day 20/9/1792: The Battle of Valmy
The Battle of Valmy effectively saved the French Revolution from a bloody and reactionary premature end. A viciously counter-revolutionary Prussian army was advancing into France threatening...
View ArticleOn this day 5/10/1789: The Women’s March on Versailles
Following the euphoria of the storming of the Bastille and the establishment of the National Assembly in the Summer of 1789 the French Revolution stalled in the Autumn as the Assembly and King Louis...
View ArticleThe German Revolution Part 2: Militarism and Anti-Militarism
At the outbreak of World War I the world of the German political left and the labour movement was utterly dominated by its Social Democratic Party (SPD). In 1914 the SPD had well over one million...
View ArticleIvan Illich: A Contemporary Introduction
Not often do we find the character of a Roman Catholic Priest, radical social reformer, ascetic, philosopher, and all round rabble-rouser embodied in one person. Fortunately for those inclined towards...
View ArticleOn this day 2/11/1917: The Balfour Declaration
On 2 November 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour sent a letter to Lord Rothschild, a leading British Zionist, declaring British support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine: “I have...
View ArticleOn this day 4/11/1839: The Newport Rising
The Newport Rising was the last large scale armed uprising in the history of mainland Britain. Several thousand (estimates of the exact numbers vary widely) marched on Newport, South Wales from the...
View ArticleDemocracy: Theory & Practice
In this essay on democracy, I am going to work backwards. I’m going to start by looking at the ideal democracy for a socialist. I’m then going to look at what would be positive, intermediary steps in...
View ArticleThe German Revolution: the Missed Opportunity
Imagine the world if Hitler and Stalin had not taken power. No Second World War, no Holocaust and no Gulag. This is not just an abstract “what if?” proposition. The victory of both dictators stemmed in...
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