As well as Marxism 2017, in central London from 6-9 July, tickets are now on sale for ‘Must Britain Travel the Moscow Road? The British Left and the Russian Revolution’, taking place on Monday 10th July at the British Library. More information, including the programme of the day is available at: https://www.bl.uk/events/must-britain-travel-the-moscow-road-the-british-left-and-the-russian-revolution
What did H G Wells and
Sylvia Pankhurst find on their visits to the first Communist state? What
was it like being brought up in a Communist family in Britain following
the events of 1917? Join writer and broadcaster David Aaronovitch
alongside historians and archivists to uncover the effect of the
Revolution on British socialists.
The Russian Revolution
and the birth of the Soviet state had a deep and enduring impact on the
British Left, which continues to shape socialist politics to this day.
Socialists in Britain watched the unexpected events of 1917 with
amazement and confusion, and struggled to draw lessons for themselves.
The Bolsheviks, meanwhile, saw the nations of the British Empire as key
targets through which their revolt could spread, hoping to spark a
world-wide revolution. At this packed day of talks, historians and
archivists uncover stories and records of their responses at home, and
visits made to witness the new state at first hand. Writer and
broadcaster David Aaronovitch concludes the day with an account of his
upbringing in a loyal Communist family in Britain.
Programme
09.00 - Registration and coffee
09.30 – 10.15 - Dr Jonathan Davis
(Anglia Ruskin University) opening keynote: ‘A new star of hope has
arisen over Europe’: British Labour and the Russian Revolutions
10.15 – 11.00 - Dr Billy Kenefick (University of Dundee): The Scottish Radical Left and the impact of the Russian Revolution
10.15 – 11.00 - Dr Billy Kenefick (University of Dundee): The Scottish Radical Left and the impact of the Russian Revolution
11.00 – 11.20 - Coffee/tea break
11.20 – 13.00 - Dr John S. Partington (University of Reading): One Russia, Two Reflexions: H. G. Wells and Clara Zetkin on the Soviet Experiment, 1917-1934
11.20 – 13.00 - Dr John S. Partington (University of Reading): One Russia, Two Reflexions: H. G. Wells and Clara Zetkin on the Soviet Experiment, 1917-1934
Professor Mary Davis
(Visiting Professor of Labour History, Royal Holloway, University of
London): Sylvia Pankhurst and the Russian Revolution; Pioneering
Solidarity
13.00- 14.15 - Lunch (not included)
13.00- 14.15 - Lunch (not included)
14.15 – 15.30 - Short introductions to British Left archives and resources with Ralph Gibson (Society for Co-operation in Russian and Soviet Studies), Jeff Howarth (TUC Library), Meirian Jump (Marx Memorial Library) and Katya Rogatchevskaia (British Library)
15.30 – 15.50 - Coffee/tea break
15.50 – 16.30 - David Aaronovitch
concludes the day with an account of his upbringing in a loyal
Communist family in Britain – a life filled with picket lines, militant
trade unions, solidarity rallies for foreign Communists, the Red Army
Choir, copies of the Daily Worker, all underpinned by a quiet love of
the Soviet Union. He is the author of the recent autobiography Party Animals: My Family and Other Communists.
A temporary display The Russian Revolution and its impact on the course and outcome of WWI will
be available to view at this event. This Heritage Lottery funded
exhibition on the impact of the Russian Revolution 1917-22 looks at the
two revolutions of 1917, their effect on WW1, the ensuing Wars of
Intervention and Labour Movement responses in Britain and elsewhere in
Europe.
