accounts

Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell

George Orwell in revolutionary Spain: he is the tall man towards the right

George Orwell's famous 1938 account of the Spanish Revolution and Civil War, from his point of view as a volunteer in the POUM militia.

Though the POUM were socialists, he wrote "as far as my purely personal preferences went I would have liked to join the Anarchists."

His vivid descriptions of classless anarchist Barcelona following the revolution and terrorised Stalinist Barcelona after the counter-revolution are a timeless reminder that a 'revolutionary state' is a contradiction in terms.

Looking back on the Spanish war - George Orwell

Submitted by Joseph Kay on Sep 14 2006 12:21

“In essence it was a class war” - George Orwell reflects on his experiences as a volunteer militiaman in the Spanish Revolution and Civil War. Written in 1943.

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First of all the physical memories, the sounds, the smells and the surfaces of things.

Anarchism in North China, 1910-1934

Submitted by Steven. on Sep 13 2006 13:39

Some personal recollections of the anarchist movement in Northern China.

In the village where I was born there is a monument in a square erected by the trades unions where fifteen Anarchists were executed as common criminals engaged in a conspiracy against the Empress in her last terror-stricken days. They were buried in a common grave which became a place of honour to the common people, who preserved it carefully.

1945: The Saigon commune

Submitted by Ed on Sep 8 2006 15:06

A brief account of a workers' and peasants' uprising in Vietnam following the end of World War II by Ngo Van Xuyet, one of the participants.

One of the main concerns of the Vietminh Committee was to ensure its ‘recognition' by the British authorities as a de facto government. To this end the committee did everything it could to show its strength and demonstrate its ability to ‘maintain order'.

McGuckin, Henry - Memoirs of a Wobbly

Submitted by Red Marriott on Aug 25 2006 14:04

An important contribution to the history of the Industrial Workers of the World. A superb account by a rank'n'file Wobbly organiser; on the road, on the job, on strike, in jail, on the run, coast to coast...

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Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company Established 1886 P,O.BOX 914 Chicago, Illinois 60690

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Sabotage and striking on the job - Louis Adamic, 1931

Submitted by Red Marriott on Jul 8 2006 20:33

Louis Adamic immigrated to the United States from Yugoslavia at age 14 and was naturalized in 1918. This essay describes his experiences as a casual labourer in a variety of jobs during the 1920s, including his meetings with fellow workers who were members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the 'Wobblies'.

(This text is Chapter 32 of the Rebel Press reprint of Louis Adamic's classic book 'Dynamite! A Century of Class Violence In America 1830-1930'.)

A migrant worker joins the Wobblies - Henry Pfaff

Submitted by Red Marriott on Jul 7 2006 18:49

A Wobbly - a member of the Industrial Workers of the World - tells his story and describes his outlook. "The vision we had was that everyone would have to do a necessary share of social production and everyone would receive all the necessities without the need for money. And we wouldn't have to work eight hours a day. We would eliminate all useless work and all work that is detrimental.

1964: Stuart Christie's account of his actions in a Franco assassination attempt

An extract of Stuart Christie's book Granny Made Me An Anarchist which describes his involvement in an attempt to assassinate Spanish dictator General Franco. He describes his experiences from picking up the plastic explosive in France to his arrest by Franco's police in Spain. This extract first appeared in The Guardian newspaper on Monday August 23, 2004

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