History

1989-90 - Beninese campaign for economic justice and democracy

Submitted by Reddebrek on Dec 23 2018 10:09

In 1989 students, teachers and civil servants in Benin began strike actions in protest at the governments freezing of scholarships and the four month delay in wage payments in 1988. The government's stalling and repression dragged the campaign on into 1990 and escalated the conflict to the point where the regime crumbled.

1831 The Jamaica Slave Rebellion

Submitted by Reddebrek on Dec 7 2018 23:48
Destruction of the Roehampton Estate, January 1832, by Adolphe Duperly

A short account of the Baptist War, the revolt by Jamaican slaves in 1831 that forced the British Empire to abolish slavery within its borders in the aftermath.

Police Regulation of Working Class Life in 19th Century France

Submitted by Reddebrek on Nov 22 2018 21:39
A police commissaire is seriously injured in a Paris riot

One of the consequences of the frequent insurrections, riots and demonstrations of 19th Century France was the increased surveillance and repression by the police, army and government. This article details the rise of the Party of Order and then Napoleon III's police state and the state of emergencies in the countryside.

1848: Impact of Revolution on French Colonies

Submitted by Reddebrek on Nov 22 2018 21:08
Daguerreotype view of a baptismal ceremony for slaves shortly after their emanci

An article on French Colonialization and the impact of the Revolution of 1848.

1848: Peasant Agitation in Italy

Submitted by Reddebrek on Nov 22 2018 20:22

A short article about the conditions of peasants on the Italian peninsular in the 1840s and their agitation and what this meant for the Italian revolutions of 1848.

1848: Students of Paris

Submitted by Reddebrek on Nov 22 2018 19:07

An article about the politicisation of the students of Paris and the role they played in the revolt and reaction of 1848.

1850: Bulgarian Peasants Revolt

Submitted by Reddebrek on Nov 22 2018 18:44
Turkish Bashi-Bazouks

A short history of an uprising by (mostly) Bulgarian peasants in the waning Ottoman Empire. The peasants fought to abolish their feudal duties and taxes, but many of their leaders were also motivated by a mix of national autonomy and Christianity. The revolt was defeated but outrage over the severe reprisals by the authorities forced the Ottoman Empire to back down and introduce limited land and tax reforms.

Origins and Development of Workers Autonomy in Spain (1970-1976) – Miguel Amorós

Submitted by Alias Recluse on Nov 21 2018 20:33

A chronicle of the rise and fall of the fortunes of the assembly movement in Spain during the early 1970s, with brief accounts of strike movements all over Spain, the rise of assemblies as forms of autonomous organization of the struggle, and the subsequent repression and police violence, highlighting the nefarious role played by the Communist Party and its trade union front organization at a time when it seemed that Spain was on the verge of a social revolution and that only the Communist Party and its allies could effectively prevent the workers’ assemblies from associating, organizing their self-defense, and becoming a system of workers councils.

The Peterloo Massacre - BBC Discussion

Submitted by Reddebrek on Nov 20 2018 12:20
Cruikshanks sketch of a satirical monument to the Yeomanry

A Radio Four discussion by Melvyn Bragg and three historians about the Peterloo Massacre. The discussions attempts to show that bloody day in August 1819 in the context of growing social and political tension and resistance. As such it also covers other personalities and events both before and after Peterloo that are often overlooked.

The untold history of armistice and the end of World War I

Submitted by Jared on Nov 10 2018 04:20

‘The best antidote to ideology is detail,’ writes Paul Mason. And the detail that’s missing this Armistice Day is that working people, when they take power into their own hands, can end whatever catastrophe is imposed on them.