Way back in 1959, the then Tory prime minister, Harold Macmillan, went
into an election with the slogan that Britain has “never had it so
good.” Now, according to Gordon Brown, the UK has enjoyed, under his
stewardship, the longest period of sustained economic growth since
1701! However, it does not say much for capitalism and the British
variety of it that the longest period of economic growth in its history
is just seven years.
Tony Blair has called the general election for May 5. He did this as
opinion polls show a sharp fall in Labour support, down to 37% of the
electorate, with the Tories close behind at 34% and the Liberal
Democrats at 21%. This would indicate another Blair victory but with a
much reduced majority and with significant layers of the working class
voting for nobody. There will be no street parties this time.
Jamie Oliver’s television programme has highlighted the scandal of junk
food school meals being served up to British children by private firms.
In some cases a pathetic 37p is being spent per child. This is the
inevitable consequence of allowing profit hungry privateers anywhere
near our children’s health and education.
Strikes and protests erupt on women's day in Petrograd and develop into a mass movement involving hundreds of thousands of workers; within 5 days the workers win over the army and bring down the hated and seemingly omnipotent Tsarist Monarchy.
Following the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets, the reformist leaders called a demonstration to show the strength of "democracy". 400,000 people attended, the vast majority carried banners with Bolshevik slogans.
Spontaneous, armed demonstrations against the Provisional Government erupt in Petrograd. The workers and soldiers are suppressed by force, introducing a period of reaction and making the peaceful development of the revolution impossible.
Following the July days, the Bolsheviks were driven underground and the forces of reaction were emboldened. This process culminated in the reactionary forces coalescing around General Kornilov, who attempt to march on Petrograd and crush the revolutionary movement in its entirety.
The Provisional Government is overthrown. State power passes to the Soviets on the morningm of 26th October, after the Bolsheviks’ Military Revolutionary Committee seize the city and the cabinet surrenders.
The February Revolution saw a mass strike develop from below at a furious pace which posed the question of state power within a week of its inception. Workers in Petrograd took to the streets against intolerable bread shortages, the slaughter…
This reading guide contains some of Lenin’s most important writings and speeches made in the April period, accompanied by works which provide further details of events at that stage of the Revolution.
This reading guide informs the May-June period of the Revolution with analysis, accounts of those who were involved and important speeches and writings of the time.
This selection of texts covers the background, events and consequences of the July Days. Next, we will turn our attention to one of those consequences – the Kornilov putsch in late August.
Kornilov’s failed coup brought the direct action of the masses into play again, and proved to them once and for all that they were the only force in society capable of transforming their own living conditions. For the first time,…
The following series of articles provides in-depth analyses and first-hand accounts of the events immediately preceding, during and after the greatest event in human history: the October Revolution, in addition to reflections on its aftermath.