revolutionary wave c.1905-1927
1926: British general strike
A short history of Britain’s only ever general strike which lasted 10 days and was called in support of locked-out coal miners.
Britain’s only ever General Strike shook the British ruling class out of their thrones and showed brilliantly how collective working class action can change society.
It also showed how willing the ruling class and how unwilling labour leaders are to fight. Without wanting to sound too light-hearted: We could’ve done it if it wasn’t for those pesky Trade Union bureaucrats!
1922: The Hong Kong strike
The history of a huge general strike in Hong Kong which won many concessions, including a 20% pay hike.
Hong Kong, Pearl of The Orient? Bastion of democracy against communism? Or a battleground for 200 years between worker and master?
1918-1921: The Italian factory occupations - Biennio Rosso
A brief history of the Italian Biennio Rosso (two red years) and the mass factory occupations of 1920 where half a million workers ran their workplaces for themselves.
The reformist unions then negotiated an end to the conflicts, clearing the path for the fascist reaction - the Biennio Nero (two black years) of 1921-22.
1919: The Seattle general strike
A general strike of 100,000 workers, which saw the city shut down and all essential services provided under workers' control.
The First World War was hardly over, it was February 1919, and the leadership of the revolutionary rank-and-file union the Industrial Workers of the World was in jail. However, the IWW idea of the general strike became reality for five days in Seattle, Washington, when a walkout of 100,000 working people brought the city to a halt.
1919: La Canadiense and Barcelona general strike
A short history of the Barcelona general strike of 1919 which began after the sacking of eight workers, and ended up as one of the most successful working class actions in history.
The strike forced the introduction of the world's first 8-hour working day law and large pay increases.
1920: An uprising in Munster
A hidden history of sympathy strikes, socialism, workers' councils and revolution in a corner of rural Ireland.
When the red flag flew in Munster
1917-1921: The Ukrainian Makhnovist movement
The history of the revolutionary movement in the Ukraine - the anarchist Makhnovists - at the time of the 1917 Russian Revolution.
The revolution in the Ukraine was a libertarian revolution, and the workers and peasants fought both Tsarist reaction and Bolshevik domination.
1917-1918: The Brazilian anarchist uprising
A short history of the attempted revolution in Brazil of 1918. The uprising failed when it was infiltrated by security forces, and the army did not join the side of the workers.
In 1918 Rio de Janeiro city was shaken by a series of events that would culminate in one the most important episodes in the history of the Brazilian workers movement: an attempted insurrectionary strike designed to bring down oligarchic republican government and replace it with workers’ and soldiers' councils.
1918: The Hungarian Revolution
The history of the revolution which brought down the monarch and saw workers' and peasants' councils spring up across the country, only to be betrayed by its social democratic and Communist "leadership".
On May 1st, 1917 a massive strike wave and demonstration led to the fall of the reactionary government of Count Tisza, on the 23rd of May.
1917-1921: Generalised revolutionary struggle in Patagonia - ICG
An article by the Internationalist Communist Group (ICG/GCI) about the events in Patagonia 1917-21.
Workers' Memory, from Communism #4
"This signifies the rashest defiance of everything that stands for law and order and the worship of the Homeland, which is the worship of institutions under whose protection groups of more or less genuine workers attempt to vent their hatred and class resentment with unspeakable abuse" said the bourgeois of the "Union", 1921.
