The Charter of Amiens
The Charter of Amiens was adopted by the Confédération Générale du Travail in 1906. It marked a watershed in the development of French anarcho-syndicalism and of the French labour movement more broadly (later reversed of course) by underlining the independence from and opposition to political parties and the state. It is a defining document of the revolutionary and anarcho-syndicalist movements, no less so than the IWW Preamble is for anglophone anarcho-syndicalists.
The Confederation's congress of Amiens confirms Article 2 as foundational of the CGT. [1]
Outside of all political schools, the CGT groups together all workers conscious of the fight to be carried out for the disappearance of the salaried and of employers.
Rebel Girls and Union Maids: the woman question in the journals of the AFL and IWW, 1905-1920
Submitted by Juan Conatz on Aug 29 2012 06:08
An article by Ann Schofield which contrasts the differences and examines the striking likenesses between the AFL and the IWW approaches to the woman question through their treatment of important women's issues of the day.
Originally appeared in Feminist Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Summer, 1983)
Revolutionary unions and French labor: The rebels behind the cause; or, Why did revolutionary syndicalism fail?
Submitted by Juan Conatz on Aug 29 2012 05:46
Rejecting the conclusions reached by author Peter Stearns that French revolutionary syndicalism never gained worker support and American economists John R. Commons and Selig Perlman that conservative unionism was the only unionism workers would accept, the author provides statistical evidence disproving both. Rather, the author suggests that the failure of the CGT to create cross-class alliances contributed to its isolation and eventually, the decline of revolutionary syndicalism. We do not agree with some of the article, but reproduce for useful information.
Originally appeared in French Historical Studies, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Spring, 1997)
Havana hub: Cuban anarchism, radical media and the Trans-Caribbean anarchist network, 1902-1915
Submitted by Juan Conatz on Aug 28 2012 08:07
An essay on Caribbean anarchists and their newspaper ¡Tierra! .
ABSTRACT
Matiushenko, Afanasy Nikolaevich 1879-1907
Submitted by Battlescarred on Dec 5 2007 11:09
A biography of Afanasy Matiushenko, who was one of the key mutineers on the Battleship Potemkin, immortalised by Eisenstein's film, which helped kick-start the 1905 Revolution.
Afanasy Nikolaevich Matiushenko
Also spelled Afanasiy Matyushenko, born 1879 - Kharkov, Russia, died 20 October 1907 - Sevastopol, Russia
The Potemkin mutineer
Afanasy Matiushenko was the son of peasants from Kharkov province in the Ukraine. He was born in 1879, in the village of Dergachi. His father had to give up the unrewarding work of farming to become a shoemaker.
1900: The assassination of King Umberto I of Italy
Submitted by Steven. on May 9 2007 15:08
A short account of the assassination of King Umberto I of Italy in revenge for the brutal suppression of a workers' demonstration in Milan which left hundreds dead.
See also our biography of Gaetano Bresci
Revolutionary unionism in Latin America - the FORA in Argentina
Submitted by Steven. on Mar 29 2007 11:49
Excellent pamphlet outlining the origins and development of the Argentinian working class movement, focussing in particular on the anarcho-syndicalist FORA (Federación Obrera Regional Argentina).
REVOLUTIONARY UNIONISM IN LATIN AMERICA
The FORA in Argentina
ASP LONDON & DONCASTER 1987
PREFACE
Anarchism is the philosophy of a new social order based on liberty, and unrestricted by man-made laws; the theory that all forms of government rest on violence and are therefore wrong and harmful, as well as unnecessary.
1880-1945: Yiddish-speaking libertarians in France
Submitted by Steven. on Jan 13 2007 16:04
Short article tracing the development of the Jewish Yiddish language anarchist and syndicalists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in France.
In the pletzl (Marais) and in Montmartre in Paris (pictured, above), Jewish anarchists had a real influence. In 1907, police reports indicated the presence of about 450 anarcho-communists, an enormous figure if one realises that the immigrant Jewish population living in Paris at the time was about 20,000.
1900-1923: Anarchism in Siberia
Submitted by Steven. on Sep 13 2006 13:31
A history of anarchism in Siberia, until its demise in the Bolshevik counter-revolution. It had many similarities with the Makhnovist movement.
A Siberian Makhnovschina?
Academics like Paul Avrich, along with militants like Voline, Gorelik and Archinov, have given us only a sketch of anarchism in Siberia. The important role of anarchism there has remained obscured.
1890-1924: Anarchism in Hungary
Submitted by Steven. on Sep 13 2006 13:09
A history of the anarchist movement, and key anarchists in Hungary up until the aftermath of the 1918 Revolution.
In reaction to the pedestrian Hungarian Social-Democratic Party, founded in 1890, which constantly appealed to the bourgeoisie, often forming alliances with its progressive elements, emerged a far more radical anarchist current. Count Ervin Batthany became friends with Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin whilst in London.
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