World War I
On 25 April 1915, Australian soldiers, along with troops from New Zealand, Britain and France, stormed beaches on the Gallipoli Peninsula close to Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The campaign was badly planned and organized from the start and was a military disaster. It ended in defeat less than a year later, at the cost of over 300,000 dead and wounded. It was a minor episode of the larger disaster that was World War I, a clash between two great imperial alliances to see who could steal whose colonies, resources and markets.
War Today
A hundred years ago, war was mostly soldiers killing other soldiers while the civil societies behind them supplied guns and ammunition. Things don’t work like that any mo... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Invasion Day, 26 January, is now the largest day of Left wing mobilization in Australia. Attendances are much greater than those at May Day and are only exceeded by set piece events organized by the unions. Increasing numbers of both indigenous and non-indigenous people are turning out on this day and their demands are increasingly radical. These are welcome indicators of the growth of a movement which rejects the racism on which Australia is founded.
The capitalist media in Australia have been campaigning for over thirty years to generate Australian nationalism and focus it on an officially designated “Australia Day”. Indigenous people have never accepted this and have pushed back. In the face of this resistance, it has become... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Petrograd, 1917
The women of Petrograd in 1917 made International Women’s Day their day for going out on strike for bread and peace and an end to Czarist rule. They were angry and defiant in the face of the regime, which was consuming society to fight the Great War. Food was becoming expensive. Queues were long and many people were hungry and cold. Corruption blossomed so the rich feasted on delicacies while the poor starved.
International Women’s Day (IWD), had been born in New York in 1909 to commemorate the 1908 strike of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. The IWD idea was nourished from year to year, and by 1917 women in many countries had celebrated IWD including Russia, Austria, Denmark, Germ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) The United States is aflame with rage over the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on 25 May. A cop who had arrested him over a minor crime knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, killing him. Starting in Minneapolis, demonstrations have spread nationwide, often linking up with local grievances against police violence and racism.
George Floyd’s murder didn’t come out of the blue. Police in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs, like many others in the US, are key instruments in violently imposition of the racist social order that enables capitalism. Their anti-Black racism is infamous, inflicting countless daily humiliations and injustices. Even in the last few years, it resulted in the murder of Jamar Clark in 2015 a... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) The Yellow Vests movement in France began on 17 November and, after peaking in early December, has continued to this day. It was triggered by the decision of the French Government to increase taxes on petrol and diesel fuel at the start of 2019 and to justify it on environmental grounds, in particular to mitigate climate change. Opinion polls report that the movement has the support of the vast majority of people in France.
Hundreds of thousands of people have participated in militant actions across France, with many of the demonstrations encountering massive police violence. The movement has been politically heterogeneous from the outset. At the beginning Right wing tendencies were predominant, but after about a month, the Left gained the... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) The Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group have joined PUSH! Organizing and Educating to Build an Anti-Fascist United Front. As its name implies, PUSH! aims to build a united front of working class organizations against Fascism. Our forces are modest, composed of a handful of groups and individual activists who have left CARF, but we are clear about our basic direction.
As capitalism evolves ever more deadly contradictions, Right wing forces gather strength. Fascism, an ideology most people thought was defeated seventy years ago, has reemerged. Like other reactionary forces, Fascists seek to blame society’s problems on suitable scapegoats, but the distinguishing feature of Fascism is its use of violence as a strategy. By whipping up the... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Chicago 1886
May Day began in the United States, when Anarchist unions in Chicago called a general strike on 1 May 1886 to win the 8 hour day. A few days later, a bomb killed 7 police and 4 others at a protest connected with the campaign. In the ensuing witch hunt, eight Anarchist union organizers were arrested. They were convicted in a trial where there wasn’t even a pretense at proving their guilt. Four were executed. A movement was born in the subsequent campaign for the exoneration of the Haymarket Martyrs and spread around the world.
Class War in Australia
The Coalition Government elected last year is showing itself as the most Right wing in generations. It has been physically repelling refugees from Australian shores; it ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Chicago 1886
On 1 May, workers in Chicago in the United States went on strike for the 8 hour day. Three days later, a bomb went off at a workers’ demonstration. Seven police and four workers were killed, either by the bomb on the following gunfire. In the outcry that followed, eight Anarchist union leaders were framed and convicted for the crime. Four were executed. The campaign for the exoneration of the Haymarket Martyrs and the release of the survivors gave birth to May Day, celebrated around the world as a day of working class solidarity.
Melbourne 2016
The labor movement in Melbourne, though far declined from its former strength, has neither totally given up the ghost nor been allowed quarter by its enemies. Unions campaig... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Origins
The first May Day was a workers’ strike and demonstration in Chicago in the United States in 1886. They were fighting for the eight hour day. Police killed several workers. At a protest meeting a few days later, someone threw a bomb. Seven police and four workers died from the bomb or the following police gunfire. Eight Anarchist union officials were framed and four were executed. The campaign for the exoneration of the Haymarket Martyrs and the release of the survivors led to May Day now being celebrated around the world as a day of working class solidarity.
The Current Time
Economically, the advanced countries of the world are descending into stagnation. Despite years of record low interest rates, they cannot get out ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) International Workers Day
May Day is International Workers Day. It is a day for workers to come together in struggle worldwide and to celebrate our solidarity. It started as a campaign to free the Haymarket Martyrs, Anarchist union organizers who had been falsely convicted of murder in 1886 after an unidentified person threw a bomb at a workers’ demonstration in Chicago in the United States. As the campaign spread around the world, the workers’ movement developed a sense that its movement was international as its pioneering thinkers had predicted. Four were executed and one committed suicide, but the survivors were ultimately pardoned. August Spies’ last words before his execution came true: “The time will come wh... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Chicago 1886
May Day arose in the late 19th Century from a campaign to free the Haymarket Martyrs. Police had moved to break up a peaceful workers’ demonstration in Chicago in the US on 4 May 1886 and an unknown person threw a bomb. As a result of the explosion and ensuing gunfire, which came largely if not entirely from the police, seven police and at least four workers died. Eight Anarchist union organizers were convicted in a rigged trial. Seven were sentenced to death, of whom four were executed and one committed suicide. The labor movement mobilized in their defense and a tradition was born, International Workers’ Day.
Capitalism Today
It has been over 130 years since the Haymarket Massacre. The world has seen booms,... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Origins
In 1886, workers in Chicago in the US kicked off a campaign to win the eight hour day, starting with a strike on 1 May. Police started breaking up a peaceful workers’ demonstration, then an unknown person threw a bomb. Seven police and at least four workers died from the explosion and the following gunfight. A kangaroo court convicted eight Anarchist union organizers, without any evidence of guilt being presented. Four were hung, one committed suicide and two later had death sentences commuted. In the campaign to defend them, International Workers’ Day was born.
Back to the Future
The labor movement, just getting started in 1886, grew to a massive size and strength over the following decades. Despite massive inter... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Chicago
Anarchist-led trade unions started a campaign for the eight hour day in Chicago in 1886, using direct action as their strategy. The bosses opposed it as both economically ruinous and politically seditious. The campaign started with a strike wave on 1 May, but a worker was shot by a cop, so a protest rally was held on 4 May. At that rally, someone threw a bomb, a handful of coppers died and the police opened fire into the crowd with their guns. Eight Anarchists were arrested and falsely convicted over the bombing. Four were executed, one committed suicide and three were imprisoned. Years later, after a long campaign, the Haymarket Martyrs were exonerated.
International Workers Day
May Day, which grew out of the international c... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) For far too long major segments of the working class have been dormant under the illusion that change can be delegated to exterior organizations or parties. When our struggles are bureaucratized and delegated to others, we lose ownership over them and in turn lose many benefits gained through them. A victory for the working class can only be established if our class is active in the struggle leading to victory.
From the battle for the 8 hour day, to the struggles witnessed this past year, these examples cry out for the need to organize the fight back against the war that is being waged on workers at home and abroad. Through these examples we can begin to see an alternate future and experiment towards it. This new workers’ movement mu... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) May Day 1886
In the US city of Chicago, the union movement is boisterous and militant. Its political leanings are mostly Anarchist. As part of their campaign for an 8 hour working day, the unions call for a strike on 1 May. At a workers’ rally soon after, a bomb is thrown at police. Four Anarchist trade union organizers are framed for the crime and hanged; another spends 6 years in prison. In memory of their sacrifice, and to further the struggle for workers’ rights and the 8 hour day, May Day becomes an international workers’ day.
May Day 2006
In Melbourne, we face an Australian government which is bent on crushing the union movement and putting end to workers’ struggles. Weakened by decades of bureaucratic c... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Origins
May Day began in the United States in 1886, where Anarchist union organizers called a strike on 1st May to win the 8 hour day. A striker was killed and, at a protest rally a few days later, a bomb was thrown, which killed 8 police and some others. Uproar followed and 8 Anarchist unionists were arrested and charged with murder. They were convicted, even though the prosecution didn’t even try to prove they had anything to do with the bomb. Four were executed. The campaign in their defense spread around the world and initiated May Day as International Workers Day.
The Current Crisis
Three years ago, the world was hurtling into the Global Financial Crisis. Speculative real estate dealings and toxic financial products in the... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Journalist and black liberation militant Mumia Abu-Jamal is still threatened with capital punishment by the US Government for a crime he didn't commit. In March 2008 the Federal Court of Appeal ruled against a new trial and he now faces a sentence of either execution or life imprisonment. Mumia has been on death row since 1982, after the state failed to assassinate him on the streets. As an outspoken, articulate Philadelphia journalist, prior to his imprisonment Mumia spoke out about the racist practices of the Mayor's office. He spoke about police brutality in black communities and the capitalist-racial oppression of poor African and Hispanic Americans. At the age of 15 Mumia joined the black panthers and later became a prominent supporter... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) The Beginning
On 25 April 1915, Australian troops, accompanied by others from the British Empire, stormed a Turkish beach at Gallipoli. The landing didn’t go well and presaged a disastrous campaign that ended in Australian withdrawal in December that year. The whole debacle was a sideshow, an attempt to take the Ottoman Empire out of World War I and deprive Germany of an ally. The 300,000 Allied and 250,000 Turkish casualties constituted a major crime, inside the gargantuan crime of World War I itself. Capitalism was at an impasse and, as a result, two great imperial alliances clashed over who was to steal whose colonies, resources and markets. Tens of millions died for profits.
The Myth
Out of the debacle, a national myth was ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) The Campaign for a General Strike to Stop Tony Abbott is developing, but needs to go a lot further and a lot faster. Each day that goes by without an organized working class response is a day that Liberals harm working class people and democratic rights in Australia further, a day to destroy the environment, torture refugees, wage imperialist war in West Asia, stoke reactionary social forces and stack public offices with Right wing zealots. To wait till the next election is to concede Tony Abbott the right to commit any crimes, no matter how appalling.
The Senate Won’t Save Us
Firstly, many of the atrocious measures contained in last May’s Budget were waved through because they were part of the appropriation bills which give... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) On May Day, we put forward our alternative. It is libertarian communism, a society without governments or bosses. A society of peace and freedom, of justice and equality. We can build a new world. It is the only way out of the irrational, unjust and unsustainable one we live in today.
Origins
In Chicago in 1886, anarchist union organizers were framed for the death of police killed by a bomb which exploded at a workers’ rally on 4 May. Convicted in a farce of a trial, four were executed and one committed suicide the day before to avoid sharing that fate. Years later, all were exonerated. The campaign for justice for the Haymarket Martyrs grew into an international movement for commemorating May Day as building the unity of workers ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Even a government wanting to solve global warming can be defeated by the economic power of capitalists intent on protecting their own profits. Only through workplace organizing and direct action can this power be removed. And only a federation of workplace and community councils can plan and implement a path to a sustainable future, in Australia and for the planet as a whole. We’re talking about a workers’ revolution, because nothing else will work.
The Copenhagen Conference has failed. Beneath a mass of lies, excuses and buck-passing, the reality is clearly visible. The United Nations Conference, which was supposed to produce a binding international treaty to stop dangerous global warming, has resulted in no such thing. Instea... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) As we go to press, the US Presidential election is fast approaching. Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate, is further ahead in the polls than Hillary Clinton was four years ago and his lead is pretty stable. Trump can only win by either a massive last-minute shift in opinion or by undemocratic means. These could include the Electoral College, semi-legal methods of voter suppression or an outright illegal refusal to count postal votes. So many conventions of US politics have been broken in recent years that we hesitate to rule out any scenario as impossible. There is even discussion about whether Trump would be prepared to recognize an election in which he was defeated.
With our limited resources, picking a winner would be a mug’s game... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) As more people realize that climate change is happening, and there’s no mainstream political call to stop it, they are starting to look beyond conventional political tactics. Writing to politicians, canvasing for votes and having a protest march from A to B won’t cut it. The peace and environment movements have a long tradition of adopting Non-Violent Direct Action (NVDA) when other tactics fail, without clarifying just what this means.
It is generally agreed that NVDA attempts to achieve aims by peacefully taking action that either directly reaches the goals or blocks the government or corporation from conducting business-as-usual (BAU). These are very effective tactics. Indeed, it can be seen that a strike is a primary exampl... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) During the last 3 years in Greece, savage austerity imposed by the Troika (International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission) has crippled the country’s economy. The austerity has led to a depression that is as bad, if not worse, as the Great Depression was in the United States. Enjoying the atmosphere of anguish and despair associated with economic depression, Golden Dawn has flourished, espousing an ideology of hate. It is in effect a Fascist party that promotes anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant and misogynist chauvinism and has grown to become the third most popular political party in the country.
It is this threat which led the Greek government to arrest the party’s leadership and dozens of its followers... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) April 1915
In a minor episode of World War I, Australian and other troops of the British Empire storm a Turkish beach. The war is a crime against humanity, a clash of two great imperialist alliances over territory, colonies and markets. Before the year’s end, the Anzacs are sent packing, but the war drags on until 1918. Nine million troops die for “their” country.
April 2006
The armies of the United States and its allies (including Australia) occupy Iraq and have done since 2003. The occupation is a crime against humanity, a grab for strategic military power and control over some of the world’s largest oil deposits. At least 35,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed by the occupation, its puppet govern... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) ANZAC Day is nothing to celebrate
The attempted invasion of Turkey by the ANZACs and other Allied forces in 1915 was a typical episode in World War I. “Defending Australia” had nothing to do with it. The war was fought between two rival imperial alliances, each out to gain territory, colonies and markets. Tens of thousands of young men were sacrificed, on both sides of the trenches, for the wealth and power of rich capitalists and the great houses of Europe.
IWW opposed World War I
The Industrial Workers of the World, a revolutionary syndicalist workers’ union, opposed the war from the start. Against the wave of patriotic propaganda, the IWW proclaimed that the war was a capitalist crime and that a bayonet was a wea... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) The capitalist media in Australia are full of news and opinion designed to create fear and suspicion of China and its so-called “communist” government. To advance this agenda, many real and alleged instances of bad behavior by Beijing are cited. This is having the desired effect. Public opinion is shifting against China and giving the Liberal Government (aided and abetted by the Labor “Opposition”) more room to join the United States in its anti-China military maneuvers.
And here is the link to the bigger picture. The United States has taken an increasingly anti-China stance in recent years because it is afraid of losing its global dominance. The US remains the single most powerful country by a long way, despite rec... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Since its inception, Israel has been oppressing and maltreating the Palestinian people. From its initial War of Independence in 1947–48, through the 6 Day War of 1967, through to the Gaza War of 2009, Israel has treated the Palestinians as inferior (and often as non-existent), expanded its territorial borders and used extreme brutality to suppress resistance. The violence against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla earlier this year was new only because Israel was seen to be giving people from other countries a taste of what it has been dishing out to the Palestinians on a regular basis for generations.
Why is this so?
The fundamental cause of the plight of the Palestinians was the decision of the Zionist (i.e. Jewish nationalist) movement,... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) The coronavirus pandemic started in a market in Wuhan late last year. It grew into a crisis through bureaucratic suppression of bad news by local “Communist” Party authorities. It has now become a global catastrophe because of haphazard and often complacent reactions by capitalist governments. So far, there is no vaccine to prevent it and no treatment that can cure it. The best that doctors can do is treat the symptoms and hope the body of the patient fights it off.
This would be bad enough even in a libertarian communist society, but capitalism makes it so much worse. What needs to happen? As any epidemiologist could tell you, in the absence of a vaccine, you test as many people as possible, isolate the people infected and tra... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.) Against majority expectations, last November Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. He was inaugurated in January with the most reactionary Cabinet in living memory. While, considered individually, almost all of his choices (i.e. excepting Steve Bannon) would fit into a government of his Republican rivals, as a whole they represent an attempt to implement a radical shift of US public policy.
Trump has since come under strong pressure from elements within the State to change course. These elements are aligned either to the Democratic Party or to the old guard of the Republicans, the people Trump shoved aside to get the nomination. Such dynamics have dominated the media reportage of Trump and the way he has been going about... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)