The National Question in Nigeria is probably one of the most
complicated in the world - with over 120 languages spoken, three main
ethnic groups, none of which constitutes a majority of the population,
and the religious divide between Christians in the south and Muslims in
the north. Over the past few years thousands of people have been killed
in ethnic clashes. Unless the working class can offer a way out,
Nigeria could be dragged into a bloodbath of barbaric proportions. Here
we are publishing a collection of articles from the Nigerian Marxist
journal, the Workers' Alternative, concerning this question.
Last year we publicised the plight of a group of Nigerian students who were
shot at and arrested during one of their protes.
Here one of those students describes the appalling conditions in Nigerian jails,
but he also draws inspiration from his experience to continue in the struggle to
transform society, the most noble cause anyone can dedicate themselves to.
Five years after the fall of the hated military dictator of Nigeria,
General Sani Abacha, we look at why he came to power and why in the end
the same ruling elite that had supported him was forced to intervene to
remove for fear of the mass movement that was building up from below.
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.