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History

Marxists must study the history of the class struggle, so that we can apply the lessons in the struggle for communism today. Here, you can find our most recent historical articles. For theoretical articles, click here.

You can also visit our education hub to find a selection of articles, books, talks and reading guides.

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Chile: the threatening catastrophe

Thirty
five years ago on 11th September 1973 a coup eliminated the
democratic Popular Unity government in Chile and killed the elected President
Salvador Allende in the presidential palace. In the days, weeks and months that
followed tens of thousands of activists were murdered and dumped in unmarked
graves by the military. Tens of thousands more were imprisoned and tortured –
many in Santiago football stadium. This was a catastrophe for the Chilean and
international working class.

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The birth of the Trades Union Congress

The Labour
Movement must learn from the lessons provided by its own history. The trade
unions were created out of class struggle. To establish themselves they had to
fight the hostility of Parliament, the courts, the employers and the media.  Here we trace how the TUC arose from the need
to secure a legal basis for the developing union movement in the 1860s.

 

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The Colonial Revolution and the Sino-Soviet Dispute

The initial
trigger for the writing of this document was the Sino-Soviet split, its
importance for the world Communist movement at the time, and its significance
for the forces of genuine Marxism, the Trotskyists. In the first place Ted
declares that the split confirms Trotsky’s brilliant prediction, “That the
theory of ‘socialism in one country’ would lead inevitably to the degeneration
on nationalist lines of the parties of the Communist International.”

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A short history of the People’s Republic of Benin (1974 – 1990)

On the 26th of Ocotber 1972, the then President of the Republic of
Dahomey was deposed in a coup d’etat led by Major Mathieu Kérékou. He deposed a
system in which three members of a presidential council would rotate power.  He overthrew the President Justin Ahomadegbé,
who was placed in house arrest until 1981 alongside the other members of the presidential
governing council who were Hubert Maga and Sourou-Migan Apithy.

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The Invergordon Mutiny 1931

In September 1931,
the sailors of the Atlantic Fleet of the British Royal Navy organised an
insurrection against the government in response to pay cuts and conditions of
employment. Known as the Invergordon Mutiny, it is one of the historical
examples of the power of class-based action in response to attacks on living
standards.

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Jack London: What Life Means to Me

Jack London
is best known as the writer of what he called his ‘dog books,’ such as ‘Call of
the Wild’ and White Fang’. As this biographical sketch shows, he was a
convinced socialist till his death in 1916. Reader will find that he learned
his socialism from a very convincing school – the school of hard knocks. Here
he sums up the lessons of his life.

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Health services before the NHS

Before the
establishment of the NHS in 1948, the provision of health care was inextricably
bound up with religion and controlling the poor. What is clear is that
capitalism has never been able to provide health care for working people and
they have been forced to rely on charity and philanthropy.

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Defending the Russian Revolution

"Petrograd is in an unprecedented catastrophic condition. There is
no bread. The population is given the remaining potato flour and
crusts. The Red Capital is on the verge of perishing from famine,"
stated Lenin. "The political situation has become extremely critical
owing to both external and internal causes." This view of Lenin’s summed up the horrendous plight of the
Russian Revolution in May 1918, some six months after the successful
Bolshevik insurrection and the introduction of Soviet rule. The
"external and internal causes" which threatened the Revolution were the
aggressive actions of the imperialist powers, foreign blockade, the
organisation of internal counter-revolution, and the economic sabotage
of the landlords and capitalists.

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On the brink of revolution

This year sees the 40th anniversary of the May events of France 1968,
which culminated in the biggest general strike in history, involving
more than 10 million workers. TV programmes and newspaper columns will
mark the occasion but few, if any, will give a real reflection of the
role played by the main actors and actresses, the working class.

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[Ted Grant Archive Update] – The French revolution has begun

In August 1968 Ted Grant drew a balance sheet
of the revolutionary crisis ignited in France with the May events. In this
important article he carefully analysed the main problems facing the
revolution, exposing the treacherous policies of the Stalinist CP leaders, who
gave De Gaulle the possibility to recover from his earlier paralysis, and the
sectarian mistakes of the leaders of the "revolutionary left".

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The Tolpuddle Martyrs: trade unions and the state

A name etched into the collective consciousness of the labour and trade
union movement is that of the ‘Tolpuddle Martyrs’, a case which clearly demonstrated that the State is
not a neutral instrument, but the means by which the ruling class will
use peaceful means by preference and violence if necessary in order to
maintain its power. So who were the Tolpuddle Martyrs,
what did they do and what lessons do they have for socialists in the
twenty-first century?

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