The Workers' Dreadnought (Vol. 5 No. 21 - 17 August 1918)

dreadv5-21.png

Including: awful conditions in Belfast prison, Sylvia Pankhurst on the Brest Litovsk treaty, women munition workers, socialist education: The New School continued from previous issue, etc.

Submitted by Fozzie on October 30, 2024

Comments

westartfromhere

7 hours ago

Submitted by westartfromhere on October 31, 2024

Ms Pankhurst's words on the betrayal of revolution by the Social Democrats of Russia are so blurred as to be unreadable.

Fozzie

6 hours 41 min ago

Submitted by Fozzie on October 31, 2024

The PDF is readable I think? For some reason the screenshots I take of the first pages are a bit blurry. Not sure what to do about that.

Fozzie

6 hours 33 min ago

Submitted by Fozzie on October 31, 2024

Maybe that's better....

westartfromhere

5 hours 34 min ago

Submitted by westartfromhere on October 31, 2024

Opened it in a different Reader and it is clear now.

The words that resonate most today are those of Lloyd George:

The people who made the war for the purpose for which they made it are still there prosecuting the same sinister purpose.

No words to be read here from Comrade Pankhurst on the role of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty in betraying proletarian revolution worldwide.

Maybe this AI thing is useful after all:

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is often seen as a betrayal of the proletarian revolution worldwide because it forced the fledgling Soviet government to cede vast territories to Germany, essentially abandoning revolutionary movements in those regions and undermining the idea of international solidarity among working classes, ultimately fuelling scepticism about the Bolsheviks' commitment to global revolution.

The Thumbnail looks better, Fozzie.

Fozzie

1 hour 41 min ago

Submitted by Fozzie on October 31, 2024

OK good to know, thanks. It’s unnerving posting some of these with all the optimism about Russia…

westartfromhere

17 min 2 sec ago

Submitted by westartfromhere on October 31, 2024

For her saving grace, Sylvia at least saw the errors of her ways.

To Lenin, as representing the Russian Communist Party and the Russian Soviet Government.

We address you as representative of the Russian Soviet Government and the Russian Communist Party. With deep regret we have observed you hauling down the flag of Communism and abandoning the cause of the emancipation of the workers. With profound sorrow we have watched the development of your policy of making peace with Capitalism and reaction.

Open letter to Lenin - Sylvia Pankhurst

adri

16 min 21 sec ago

Submitted by adri on October 31, 2024

It’s unnerving posting some of these with all the optimism about Russia…

I had noticed that as well; the Dreadnought's position on Russia/Lenin certainly evolved over time. To be fair though, a lot of anarchists (e.g. Berkman and Goldman) were also initially optimistic about the Bolsheviks' coming to power. The Dreadnought captured events as they unfolded and contains a lot of useful primary sources that haven't been published elsewhere (e.g. the manifesto of the Unemployed Workers' Organisation), which is why the paper is worth a read.

Fozzie

9 sec ago

Submitted by Fozzie on October 31, 2024

Yes exactly adri, the discomfort is a salutory reminder that life and history is a messy business...