Help with new libcom feature - the "revolutionary wave"
Jul 12 2007 21:05
OK so the 90th anniversary of the October revolution is coming up, so I reckon it'd be good to do a general tidy up of our Russian Revolution content: http://libcom.org/tags/russian-revolution - sorting out some articles and filling in any gaps. And probably a nice feature page with a banner etc.
Alongside this, I'd like to have a feature on the general revolutionary wave from around (1910-)1917-1921(-1926), including all the bits that never really get talked about.
We have a 1910s tag here: http://libcom.org/tags/1910s which covers some of the events. Not sure if everything relevant is tagged with it though.
It'd be good to have history and library articles about events in the following places - this is pretty much off the top of my head, and hopefully has some glaring omissions. Some of these we already have of course, some places we don't, others I will have forgotten to put on the list at all. Then organise them into another feature so they can be easily found and linked together.
update:I'll try to stick links to existing relevant articles (or tags if it's huge) for each country.
Russia Russian Revolution tag
Finland - Serge on Finland 1917
Ukraine Makhnovists tag
Germany German Revolution tag
Italy Factory occupations 1918-21, Arditi del Popolo, Bordiga, Malatesta (Bordiga and Malatesta articles could do with tidy up).
Ireland - Munster uprising, Limerick soviet, Irish citizen army 1913-1916
Red Clydeside/UK - 1915 rent strike, Organise!, Ireland / shop stewards, 40 hours strike, IWW
Japan rice riots 1918
China
South india rice riots
Sierra Leone rice riots and transport strike
Brazil 1918
Chile: 1920: The Chilean "White Terror"
Mexico Syndicalism - John Hart, people's history of mexico
Argentina FORA, Patagonia/ICG
Peru General strike
US Seattle General Strike + IWW articles from 1905-26ish need to collate.
US: Massive list of strikes from wikipedia
US Repression articles: Wesley Everett (1919), Sacco and Vanzetti (1916-1927), Joe Hill (1915)
Canada - RR Berkman on Edmonton (1919), Calgary (1919)
etc.
Australia: Bill Beattie IWW Memoirs, IWW Australia Ian Bedford
If anyone fancies filling gaps we've got for any of these events in the library or history sections - either finding articles and photos or writing something up if there's not much around, that'd be lovely. I'll try to keep the thread updated with usernames and locations if this idea develops.
another edit: depending on how this goes, I reckon it'd be cool to try France/Czech '68, student protests (Columbia), Italy '69, Winter of Discontent '78/79, Poland 1980, post-war strikes (Ruhr, Renault) etc. etc. if people are up for it.
Jul 14 2007 21:45
#2
Actually I'd be interested to see what you've got to say about China and Red Clydeside. And maybe the US stuff. Dare I say it, do you have links?
Jul 15 2007 21:28
#3
The article specifically dealing with the revolutionary wave in the series of China from the International Review doesn't seem to be online yet - the following articles deal with the period of counter-revolution and imperialist war (ie. the origins of Maoism)'
However the following article from WR and Icc Online deals with China 27 quite thoroughly
http://en.internationalism.org/icconline/2007/china-march-1927.
Red Clydeside - not sure if we have anything online. the major series on the German revolution is also a gap, in English at least. But let me know which particular areas of the revolutionary wave you are interested in and we can sort out an electronic version of any articles we have on it.
Jul 15 2007 22:28
#4
The idea is that there'll be a little spike of interest this year in the Russian Revolution, and we can hopefully direct some of that interest towards two things:
1. a better understanding of the Russian Revolution itself - i.e. something beyond a Guardian or BBC editorial
2. a wider knowledge of the breadth of events internationally - like I said I'd not heard of the Sierra Leone or southern India rice riots before this week. Nor do I know much about China, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina around then either. A lot of people will never have read anything about the Ukraine or Germany even.
Also, I've decided that much as I hate anniversaries and the way the media treats them, they're a good opportunity to focus my mind on particular areas to read up on and fill in gaps, and to try to organise and add to the stuff we've got on libcom about them. Otherwise I find it hard to concentrate on anything and end up not reading anything.
China: we have this, none of it that comprehensive:
http://libcom.org/library/theses-chinese-revolution-cultural-revolution-cajo-brendel
http://libcom.org/library/mao-tse-tung-chinese-revolution
http://libcom.org/history/1922-the-hong-kong-strike
http://libcom.org/library/anarchism-in-north-china-1910-1934
http://libcom.org/library/dimensions-of-chinese-anarchism-an-interview-with-arif-dirlik
Thanks for this: http://en.internationalism.org/icconline/2007/china-march-1927 I've only scanned it as yet, but there's good information in there notwithstanding the Decadence allusions in several places of course. This looks pretty good as well on the same subject: http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/4137705
for ref.
Red Clydeside we seem to have a fair amount on: http://libcom.org/tags/glasgow - so unless there's something that fills gaps in that it's not a major priority to get lots more.
Jul 17 2007 19:08
#5
I'm contributing with a detourned comic about the Russian revolution.
Jul 18 2007 04:28
#6
In the Social Storm: Memoirs of the Russian Revolution by Boris Yelensky
[Editor’s Note: The unpublished work by Anarchist author Boris Yelensky is now being published in full online by The Radical Press and is a copyright of said company. Due to time constraints this long-awaited work will be posted on the Radical Forum as time permits. Hopefully over the next few weeks the full text of this unique perspective on the Russian Revolution will appear for the world to finally read, enjoy and learn from.]
————-
http://www.radical press.com/?page_id=501
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COPYRIGHT - RADICAL PRESS
In the Social Storm: Memoirs of the Russian Revolution
By Boris Yelensky
Author’s Preface and Prologue:
http://forum.radical press.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1470
Jul 18 2007 07:07
#7
Thanks!
Jul 19 2007 00:56
#8
Currently a few of us are working on putting together some material on a lesser known ukrainian anarchist insurgent Nikita Nikirova, as well a comrade in Edmonton is currently in the process of translating the first volume of Makhno's memoirs into english. Unfortunately this will all take some time, but I will talk to him about possibly providing electronic copies for the libcom library.
Jul 19 2007 04:27
#9
What happened in Sierra Leone?
Jul 19 2007 14:28
#10
For the US you'd want the Seattle general strike and the steel strike, both in 1919
here's an archive of primary sources on the steel strike
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/106/
There was also a wave of extremely violent racist riots in the US in 1918 and 1919, but i don't know if you'd want to include them.
Oh, i also just found out there was a general strike in Peru in 1919
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3686/is_199512/ai_n8716714/pg_15
Jul 19 2007 15:23
#11
You can add this for Mexico; http://libcom.org/library/revolutionary-syndicalism-mexico-john-m-hart
Jul 19 2007 22:36
#12
alibadani wrote:
What happened in Sierra Leone?
Not read the articles properly yet, but it looks like a mass strike of engineers/mechanics/railway workers for a week-ten days, then around the same time widespread rice riots, mainly aimed at Syrian/Lebanese rice merchants (not sure to what extent their nationality or profession was most important). Hopefully a bit more detail later if the articles are any good.
Jul 22 2007 11:43
#13
there's a 20-minute 'peoples history' of the 1919 winnipeg general strike made by the national film board of canada on karagarga - i could possibly stick it on youtube and embed it in a library article? (do we have a libcom youtube account?)
Jul 22 2007 11:44
#14
Dunno if we have a libcom youtube account (if not we should), but yeah that's a good idea!
Jul 22 2007 11:45
#15
aggh i'd have to chop it into 2 or 3 sections to do that as its 20mins/340mb atm, don't think the freebie video edit software i have can edit a divx
edit: google is my friend, grabbing some freeware avi chopper now
Jul 22 2007 11:48
#16
hmm, wrong person to ask about video editing.
Jul 22 2007 11:49
#17
^ see edit
Jul 23 2007 09:35
#18
catch wrote:
Dunno if we have a libcom youtube account (if not we should), but yeah that's a good idea!
we do http://www.youtube.com/user/libcom
i'm guessing gav set that up? if someone pms me the logins i'll stick the winnipeg strike film up and make a library article for it
Jul 26 2007 21:27
#19
I didn't spot 'Red Petrograd - Revolution in the Factories 1917-18' by S.A.Smith. Cambridge University Press. Published 1983 and 1985 in the Russian Section, which is well worth a read.
Jul 29 2007 14:02
#20
Perhaps something can be gleaned from The Seattle General Strike (U. Washington) website: http://faculty.washington.edu/gregoryj/strike/
Jul 29 2007 20:19
#21
looks good, thanks!
Aug 3 2007 03:55
#22
seattle general strike - http://libcom.org/history/1919-the-seattle-general-strike
Aug 15 2007 18:13
#23
Japan rice riots: http://libcom.org/library/1918-rice-riots-strikes-japan
Aug 20 2007 13:58
#24
EdmontonWobbly wrote:
Currently a few of us are working on putting together some material on a lesser known ukrainian anarchist insurgent Nikita Nikirova, as well a comrade in Edmonton is currently in the process of translating the first volume of Makhno's memoirs into english. Unfortunately this will all take some time, but I will talk to him about possibly providing electronic copies for the libcom library.
Shit missed this first time 'round. Nice one!
First post updated with more links. Makes me realise just how fucking hard it is to find stuff in the library 
On the plus side I found a load of "lost" articles about Ukraine which was handy.
Aug 21 2007 14:16
#25
I know it’s slightly off topic, but I did not want to start a new thread.
I have read somewhere that during the Germany in the early 1920s, the Nazis and the KPD sometimes shared the stage together at meetings. They both supported attacking Jewish “finance capital”. I cannot remember where I read this (it wasn’t from some far-right conspiracy website though. It may well have been from an article or a book from libcom.
Does anybody know anything about this?
Aug 22 2007 12:58
#26
Revolution in Patagonia - 1974 dramatisation here:
http://www.revolutionvideo.org/agoratv/secciones/memoria/la_patagonia.html
Anyone know if this is available in English: Osvaldo Bayer, "La patagonia rebelde"
Aug 23 2007 06:16
#27
I'm pretty sure we have a copy with english sub titles on VHS its a copy of a copy of a copy that was left to us by some dead italian anarchist ten years ago and is in very rough shape so I'm not so sure where it came from or if we could even upload it. Pretty neat stuff though.
Aug 23 2007 06:50
#28
If anyone is interested, I have a 117 page thesis on the Edmonton General Strike of 1919; methinks that pertains to this field.
If anyone would like a copy, feel free to PM me for a Final Draft (not the published version, but the last before it goes to print).
Best,
Aug 24 2007 10:37
#29
catch wrote:
Anyone know if this is available in English: Osvaldo Bayer, "La patagonia rebelde"
Yup, the Projectile/Star and Shadow lot have copies.
But I thought it was a bit shite tbh. 
Aug 24 2007 12:17
#30
mk12 wrote:
I know it’s slightly off topic, but I did not want to start a new thread.I have read somewhere that during the Germany in the early 1920s, the Nazis and the KPD sometimes shared the stage together at meetings. They both supported attacking Jewish “finance capital”. I cannot remember where I read this (it wasn’t from some far-right conspiracy website though. It may well have been from an article or a book from libcom.
Does anybody know anything about this?
I'm not sure how reliable this source is but, from this page on Trotsky:
Quote:
A worried Klara Zetkin wrote to the ninth KPD Party conference in March 1924: "The ‘left-wing’ majority of the Party fraternally combines plenty of KAPists, Syndicalists, anti-parliamentarians and, seen in the light – horribile dictu – even reformists and, of late, fascist anti-Semites."26 During the Party conference an unnamed supporter of Heinrich Brandler declared: "There is a certain amount of anti-Semitic undertow in the Party."27 But at no time did these tendencies dictate the KPD’s attitude to the Jewish question.This was not the case even in 1924 when, under the Communists in Bavaria and central Germany, a lumpenproletarian, anti-capitalist sort of anti-Semitism arose and found a voice in pamphlets and local newspapers such as Klassenkampf (Class Struggle) in Halle.28 Out of day-to-day political opportunism the Party felt it had to take into consideration the anti-Semitic resentment of the petty bourgeoisie and proletariat whom they wanted to win over to the KPD. In a speech made on the 25 July 1923 to Communist and "narrowly nationalist" students Ruth Fischer said:
"You are protesting against Jewish capitalism, gentlemen? Whoever protests against Jewish capitalism, gentlemen, is already a class-warrior, whether he knows it or not. You are against Jewish capitalism and want to beat down stock exchange jobbers. That’s all right. Stamp on the Jewish capitalists, string them up from the lamp-posts, trample them underfoot – Stinnes, Klockner ...."29
Catch, In our International Review, we have done series on;
- the German Revolution
-The revolutionary wave in China (around the early years of the Chinese CP)
- the Russian Revolution
- there are various others
- I think we did an article in the early days of WR on the Red Clyde
- our section in the US also did some articles on the history of the revolutionary wave in the US and Canada
You may not be interested, but they do give a Left Communist perspective on these events.