DOCSLIB.ORG

Early American Marxism (14-12)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Early American Marxism (14-12) H-HOAC Early American Marxism (14-12) Discussion published by Tim Davenport on Tuesday, March 25, 2014 Early American Marxism website • www.marxisthistory.org/ Weekly Update no. 14-12 • March 23, 2014. A full bushel of 20 new files. Three main clusters of articles: a small group of mostly short news pieces about the little-known Sept. 4, 1918 bombing of the Chicago Federal Building in the aftermath of the great IWW trial; several articles on the factional machinations behind the 1924 Farmer-Labor Party convention and LaFollette for President efforts; and a sampling of material from 1926 including fisticuffs over a controversial article in The New Leader which drew an official denunciation of the "most complete and ignorant forgery" by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Debsiana includes a 1918 dance on capitalism's grave, a letter declining nomination as an Indiana Congressional candidate in 1918, a remembrance of Ohio pioneer socialist Allen Cook, and C.E. Ruthenberg's defense of the Communist decision to honor the recently-deceased Debs as a member of the revolutionary socialist pantheon. Also worthy of mention is an official obituary of former youth leader turned Daily Worker editor Harry Gannes from 1941. All of these files are available for free download and non-commercial reproduction at the following URL: http://www.marxisthistory.org/subject/usa/eam/14-12.html Thanks for your interest, Tim Davenport, Corvallis, OR [email protected] ================ NEW FILES ON EAM ================ (1) "The Terror," by James Oneal [event of June 1908] Although perhaps slightly fictionalized for the allegorical telling, this short work by Socialist Party activist James Oneal detailing a June 1908 lynch mob which he witnessed stands as his most compelling piece of writing. First published in 1909, this powerful story was reprinted by the New York Call's Sunday magazine in September 1918. (2) "Farewell, Capitalism!" by Eugene V. Debs [May 24, 1918] The slaughter of millions on European battlefields, the tottering of war-stressed economies, and the emergence of the Bolsheviks in defeated Russia combined to create a sort of mass hysteria among revolutionary socialists in America, in which prospects were exaggerated and grim political realities minimized. This short piece by Socialist icon Gene Debs is a gleeful grave dance upon a grave site not yet even dug. "The system in which capitalists and profiteers so long have fattened while working people and their families starved, body and soul, is in the throes of collapse and dissolution. The war has broken its backbone and ripped it into shreds and patches," Debs enthusiastically declares. "Farewell, capitalism! We have waited long and patiently for your end, and it finally has come. The frightful war of your own making shall be your funeral dirge. (3) "Debs Refuses Nomination: Physical Condition and Busy Months Ahead Given as Causes." (Truth) [event of July 9, 1918] Although a candidate for Congress in his home state of Indiana in 1916, Eugene Debs chose not to run in the subsequent 1918 election. His letter of declination was made public and widely printed in the Socialist press. While stating that he appreciated the honor of being made the SPA's candidate in the Indiana 5th District, Debs Citation: Tim Davenport. Early American Marxism (14-12). H-HOAC. 03-25-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/6077/discussions/16532/early-american-marxism-14-12 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 1 H-HOAC announces "there are reasons in my present situation, physical and otherwise, which make this absolutely impossible. The coming months promise to be very busy ones for me, and I have already more in hand than I can well manage, and am, therefore, compelled, much to my regret, to decline the nomination." * * * (4) "Bomb Explosion Kills 4 in Federal Building in Chicago; Arrests Reported."(NY Call) [event of Sept. 4, 1918] Terse initial report of the Sept. 4, 1918 Chicago Federal Building bombing as published the next morning in The New York Call, Socialist daily newspaper. The event is (apparently wrongly) reported as resulting from a thrown bomb. A correct casualty count of 4 killed and "more than 75 injured" is provided, with the reporter adding the detail "a majority of them slightly." "The bomb fell just outside the door of the north corridor. The material damage done was not great," the unsigned report notes. This appears to be the only coverage of the attack which The Call published. (5) "Chicago Federal Building Bombed: Four Persons Killed, 75 Injured: Haywood There at Time: Structure Containing Landis’ Courtroom Damaged." (Morning Oregonian) [event of Sept. 4, 1918] Apparently a national wire news report of the Sept. 4, 1918 bombing of the Chicago Federal Building. Four were killed and 75 wounded when a high explosive bomb concealed in a suitcase and hidden behind a radiator blew out the Adams Street entrance of the building. Many injuries resulted from flying glass generated by windows of the lowest three stories of two buildings across the street being blown in on their occupants. The IWW -- 95 members of which had recently been sentenced in the building -- was immediately blamed for the terrorism and raids and arrests proceeded at once. For his part, IWW Secretary-Treasurer Big Bill Haywood, who was present in the building at the time of the blast, quickly "deplored the outrage" and vehemently denied an IWW connection. "I know that the IWW will be blamed," said Haywood, "but I am convinced in my own heart that no man of my organization was in any way connected with this matter. It would be insane for an IWW to commit such an act at this time." An effort by an IWW attorney to win low bail for convicted members pending appeal was summarily denied in the aftermath of the blast. (6) "Bomb Explosion Blamed on IWW: Many Fellow Workers Arrested and Held Following Explosion in Federal Building, Chicago, which Killed 4 and Injured Many." (Defense News Bulletin) [event of Sept. 4, 1918] In the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 4, 1918, a bomb ripped through the entrance of the Chicago Federal Building, in which recently convicted IWW Secretary-Treasurer William D. Haywood was appearing in the office of the US Federal Marshal. Four people were killed and about 30 injured in the powerful blast, which rocked the building and was heard and felt for a considerable distance. The IWW was immediately blamed for the blast, with Haywood's "private secretary" J.W. Wilson targeted by authorities as responsible for the fatal bomb. This article from the IWW's weekly Defense News Bulletin denounces the "fiendish crime" and details the series of arrests which followed the blast. Lack of motive is made clear: "Looking at the matter from the standpoint of organization and defense work, nothing worse for us could have happened at this time. It was our intention, after filing appeals in behalf of our fellow workers who have been sentenced to Leavenworth, to make an attempt to get a number of them out on bonds pending the appeal. The explosion made it simply impossible for us to do anything further along this line at the present." (7) "A Terrible Deed." (St. Louis Labor) [event of Sept. 4, 1918] Short snippet covering the Sept. 4 bombing of the Chicago Federal Building from the pages of the Socialist Party of Missouri's weekly newspaper. Buried on page 5, the coverage is in the form of a summary of published news accounts, even-handed in tone despite the considerable antipathy to the IWW felt by many in the Missouri party - - which was closely connected to the local AF of L unions. "The blast occurred directly beneath the courtroom of Federal Judge K.M. Landis, where 95 IWW leaders were recently convicted and sentenced for obstructing the government’s war program," the report notes. It adds that "William D. Haywood, who was on the 8th floor of the building when the explosion happened, deplored the crime and expressed the fear that the IWW would be Citation: Tim Davenport. Early American Marxism (14-12). H-HOAC. 03-25-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/6077/discussions/16532/early-american-marxism-14-12 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 2 H-HOAC blamed for it." (8) "4,000 Listen to Socialists on Russian Affairs: War on Soviet Government Would Mean War on People, Says Speaker," (NY Call) [event of Sept. 13, 1918] Throughout 1918 the ongoing situation in Soviet Russia remained a topic of keen interest among the Socialists of New York City, as reflected in this short news item about a mass meeting from the pages of the New York Call. On Sept. 13, some 3,000 people were turned away at the door and another 4,000 gained admittance to hear speeches by journalist John Reed (recently back from Soviet Russia), representative of Red Finland Santeri Nuorteva, Louis Fraina of the newspaper The New International, and Gregory Weinstein, editor of the Russian- language Socialist weekly Novyi Mir (The New World). All the speakers seem to have discounted reports appearing in the bourgeois press of widespread civil disorder in Moscow and Petrograd. Socialist Assemblyman Ben Gitlow, chair of the meeting, brought the crowd to its feet for a raucous ovation when he mentioned the name of party leader Eugene V. Debs, currently awaiting sentencing in Ohio. (9) "Reed Held Under Spy Act; Bail is $5,000: Hearing Set for Tuesday on Charge of Violating Law in Recent Speech." (NY Call) [event of Sept. 14, 1918] One day after speaking before 4,000 New Yorkers at Hunts Point Casino, Liberator journalist John Reed was arrested for alleged violation of the so-called Espionage Act for remarks made during the course of his speech.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • John Reed, Ten Days That Shook the World
    Review: John Reed, Ten Days That Shook the World Barney Doherty thing but a detailed account’ of the revolu- tion, amongst its pages are counters to the common criticism of the revolution as well as several important lessons for revolutionaries today. Immediately in Ten Days That Shook the World, Reed reveals how Russian society was in a flux. Ideas were being debated on street corners and in large halls, all of Russia, he writes, ‘was learning to read politics, eco- nomics, history because people wanted to know.’ The masses were not passive spec- tators of the political discussion but were energetic participants. Reed commented that by October the period of the February Revolution seemed conservative by comparison. Russian poli- John Reed, Ten Days That Shook the World tics ‘swung bodily to the Left’ as the masses grew in confidence and changed the param- eters of political discourse, ‘until the Cadets The centenary of the Russian Revolution were outlawed as ‘enemies of the people’, in 1917 is obviously significant for Marxists. Kerensky became a ‘counter-revolutionist’, This year will see attempts to misrepresent the ‘middle’ Socialist leaders... were too re- the revolution or questions its democratic actionary for their following’. (p. 36) nature or political necessity. Revolutionary socialists, therefore, must The revolution in October was part of a study the event themselves and understand wider process of human liberation, as people how it happened and what its significance were actively involved in conciously shap- was. A good place to start is with John ing their society. The levels of engagement Reed’s Ten Days That Shook the World.
    [Show full text]
  • The Revolutionary Age Devoted to the International Communist Strublle
    Combined with uThe New Yor~ Comm~nist" The Revolutionary Age Devoted to the International Communist StruBlle Vol. 2, No.3. Saturday, July 19, 1919 Price Se. 1: }"f'2A1>E ~ ~H1I.(, g., t ~~ Guaranteed to cure all Wars, Corns, Bugs and Protect Capital 2 THE REVOLUTIONARY Ar.R July 19, 1919- conquered; and now, the world greets the ,The Revolutionary Age French Revolution as a great event. Now to Work Combined with The Ne'll.' York "Communist" November 7 symbolizes the proletarian rev­ olution; for it was. on that day in 1917 that APITALISM plunged the world into war. National Orgui of the Left Wing Section the Russian proletariat conquered power. C It made work for death instead of life the Socialist Patty Abuse and slanders are the portion of the normal occupation of peoples. It disorganized LOllIS C. FRAINA, Editor men and women of this Revolution; the whole industry, encouraged destruction and idealized world of bourgeois privilege is arrayed against EADMONN MACALPINE, Managit~g Editor death. Capitalism did all these things in order the Soviet Republic, the Bolsheviki being stig­ to promote the supremacy of Capitalism. Owned and Controlled by the Left Wing matized as beasts and assassins,-precisely Section of the Socialist Party as during the French Revolution. The terrible tragedy of the war was a pro­ 'When the world accepted democracy, it re­ duct of the terrible tragedy of peace. Cap­ NATIONAL COUNCIL italism is latent war and destruction, becom­ John BaHam C. E. Ruthenberg versed the original opinion of the French Rev­ olution; when the world accepts ,the Com .
    [Show full text]
  • The Salon of Mabel Dodge
    DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91125 THE SALON OF MABEL DODGE Robert A. Rosenstone To be published in Peter Quennell, ed., Salon (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1980). HUMANITIES WORKING PAPER 24 January 1979 THE SALON OF ~WillEL DODGE Robert A. Rosenstone Mabel Dodge's salon ••• burst upon New York like a rocket. Margaret Sanger It was the only successful salon I have ever seen in America. Lincoln Steffens Many famous salons have been established by women of wit or beauty; Mabel's was the only one ever established by pure will power. And it was no second-rate salon; everybody in the ferment of ideas could be found there. Max Eastman 2 It is indeed the happy woman who has no history, for by happy we mean the loving and beloved, and by history we designate all those relatable occurences on earth caused by the human energies seeking other outlets than the biological one. • . That I have so many pages to write signifies, solely, that I was unlucky in love. Most of the pages are about what I did instead •. Mabel Dodge 1 Mabel Dodge was rich and attractive and more than a little lucky. For two years -- from 1912 to 1914 -- she played hostess to the most famous and no doubt the most interesting salon in American history. This success was no accident, but the result of a subtle interplay between her individual needs and ambitions and the historical moment. It was a very special period in the cultural life of the United States, one when expatriate Irish painter John Butler Yeats cocked an ear and heard "the fiddles • tuning as it were allover America.
    [Show full text]
  • Radicalism and the Limits of Reform: the Case of John Reed
    DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91125 RADICALISM AND THE LIMITS OF REFORM: THE CASE OF JOHN REED Robert A. Rosenstone To be published in a volume of essays honoring George Mowry HUMANITIES WORKING PAPER 52 September 1980 ABSTRACT Poet, journalist, editorial bo,ard member of the Masses and founding member of the Communist Labor Party, John Reed is a hero in both the worlds of cultural and political radicalism. This paper shows how his development through pre-World War One Bohemia and into left wing politics was part of a larger movement of middle class youngsters who were in that era in reaction against the reform mentality of their parent's generation. Reed and his peers were critical of the following, common reformist views: that economic individualism is the engine of progress; that the ideas and morals of WASP America are superior to those of all other ethnic groups; that the practical constitutes the best approach to social life. By tracing Reed's development on these issues one can see that his generation was critical of a larger cultural view, a system of beliefs common to middle class reformers and conservatives alike. Their revolt was thus primarily cultural, one which tested the psychic boundaries, the definitions of humanity, that reformers shared as part of their class. RADICALISM AND THE LIMITS OF REFORM: THE CASE OF JOHN REED Robert A. Rosenstone In American history the name John Reed is synonymous with radicalism, both cultural and political. Between 1910 and 1917, the first great era of Bohemianism in this country, he was one of the heroes of Greenwich Village, a man equally renowned as satiric poet and tough-minded short story writer; as dashing reporter, contributing editor of the Masses, and co-founder of the Provinceton Players; as lover of attractive women like Mabel Dodge, and friend of the notorious like Bill Haywood, Enma Goldman, Margaret Sanger and Pancho Villa.
    [Show full text]
  • Lenin Is Dead but His Work Lives
    4 Page Four THE DAILY WORKER DISTRICT EIGHT Meetings | Workers (Communist) Party | Resolutions SCHOOL MEETS Opportunities for Shop Nuclei Work WITH SUCCESS MiNEYtitiCYmSCONDUCTED - »V WORKERS LEAGUE shop to shop in the same industry. to the workers on that basis the class slstance for the greatest possibility pro- Circuit Classes Are Com- By ARNE SWABECK. Furthermore, arbitration or adjust- nature of the present system of of success. Naturally, this problem ment boards are very frequently cre- duction. differs widely organized in un- POLITICAL BANKRUPTCY OF YIPSELS ARTICLE 11. in and ing to End ated by interference of governmental Shop nuclei members should gather organized shops. In case of the for- Violations of Working Argeements. authorities and a fight for the elimin- the necessary statistics to explain the mer the measures must be proposed The Milwaukee class in the first SEEN AT FINNISH BRANCH MEET system helps only rates by is mainly a problem of organ- ation of this not difference in brot about both thru the unions while in case of the term of Elements of Communism con- to expose the nature of the capitalist open and veiled wage cuts, make a latter the ability the Communists Friday evening 1 attended a meeting of the Y. S. L. Finnish branch, THISized enterprises. Bosses as a rule of tinues its sessions every Thursday P. government but also organize the comparison with the neces- will be put a test. Spontane- York, an make no agreements with unorgan- to amount to real evening. The question of Imperialism, New where informal debate was scheduled to be held In the club workers politically.
    [Show full text]
  • ELIZABETH GURLEY FLYNN Labor's Own WILLIAM Z
    1111 ~~ I~ I~ II ~~ I~ II ~IIIII ~ Ii II ~III 3 2103 00341 4723 ELIZABETH GURLEY FLYNN Labor's Own WILLIAM Z. FOSTER A Communist's Fifty Yea1·S of ,tV orking-Class Leadership and Struggle - By Elizabeth Gurley Flynn NE'V CENTURY PUBLISIIERS ABOUT THE AUTHOR Elizabeth Gurley Flynn is a member of the National Com­ mitt~ of the Communist Party; U.S.A., and a veteran leader' of the American labor movement. She participated actively in the powerful struggles for the industrial unionization of the basic industries in the U.S.A. and is known to hundreds of thousands of trade unionists as one of the most tireless and dauntless fighters in the working-class movement. She is the author of numerous pamphlets including The Twelve and You and Woman's Place in the Fight for a Better World; her column, "The Life of the Party," appears each day in the Daily Worker. PubUo-hed by NEW CENTURY PUBLISH ERS, New York 3, N. Y. March, 1949 . ~ 2M. PRINTED IN U .S .A . Labor's Own WILLIAM Z. FOSTER TAUNTON, ENGLAND, ·is famous for Bloody Judge Jeffrey, who hanged 134 people and banished 400 in 1685. Some home­ sick exiles landed on the barren coast of New England, where a namesake city was born. Taunton, Mass., has a nobler history. In 1776 it was the first place in the country where a revolutionary flag was Bown, "The red flag of Taunton that flies o'er the green," as recorded by a local poet. A century later, in 1881, in this city a child was born to a poor Irish immigrant family named Foster, who were exiles from their impoverished and enslaved homeland to New England.
    [Show full text]
  • Morris Childs Papers
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf896nb2v4 No online items Register of the Morris Childs papers Finding aid prepared by Lora Soroka and David Jacobs Hoover Institution Archives 434 Galvez Mall Stanford University Stanford, CA, 94305-6010 (650) 723-3563 [email protected] © 1999 Register of the Morris Childs 98069 1 papers Title: Morris Childs papers Date (inclusive): 1924-1995 Collection Number: 98069 Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Archives Language of Material: English and Russian Physical Description: 2 manuscript boxes, 35 microfilm reels(4.3 linear feet) Abstract: Correspondence, reports, notes, speeches and writings, and interview transcripts relating to Federal Bureau of Investigation surveillance of the Communist Party, and the relationship between the Communist Party of the United States and the Soviet communist party and government. Includes some papers of John Barron used as research material for his book Operation Solo: The FBI's Man in the Kremlin (Washington, D.C., 1996). Hard-copy material also available on microfilm (2 reels). Physical Location: Hoover Institution Archives Creator: Childs, Morris, 1902-1991. Contributor: Barron, John, 1930-2005. Location of Original Materials J. Edgar Hoover Foundation (in part). Access Collection is open for research. The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to copies of audiovisual items, computer media, and digital files. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos, films, or digital files during your visit, please contact the Archives at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see or hear. Please note that not all material is immediately accessible.
    [Show full text]
  • For All the People
    Praise for For All the People John Curl has been around the block when it comes to knowing work- ers’ cooperatives. He has been a worker owner. He has argued theory and practice, inside the firms where his labor counts for something more than token control and within the determined, but still small uni- verse where labor rents capital, using it as it sees fit and profitable. So his book, For All the People: The Hidden History of Cooperation, Cooperative Movements, and Communalism in America, reached expectant hands, and an open mind when it arrived in Asheville, NC. Am I disappointed? No, not in the least. Curl blends the three strands of his historical narrative with aplomb, he has, after all, been researching, writing, revising, and editing the text for a spell. Further, I am certain he has been responding to editors and publishers asking this or that. He may have tired, but he did not give up, much inspired, I am certain, by the determination of the women and men he brings to life. Each of his subtitles could have been a book, and has been written about by authors with as many points of ideological view as their titles. Curl sticks pretty close to the narrative line written by worker own- ers, no matter if they came to work every day with a socialist, laborist, anti-Marxist grudge or not. Often in the past, as with today’s worker owners, their firm fails, a dream to manage capital kaput. Yet today, as yesterday, the democratic ideals of hundreds of worker owners support vibrantly profitable businesses.
    [Show full text]
  • Anarchy! an Anthology of Emma Goldman's Mother Earth
    U.S. $22.95 Political Science anarchy ! Anarchy! An Anthology of Emma Goldman’s MOTHER EARTH (1906–1918) is the first An A n t hol o g y collection of work drawn from the pages of the foremost anarchist journal published in America—provocative writings by Goldman, Margaret Sanger, Peter Kropotkin, Alexander Berkman, and dozens of other radical thinkers of the early twentieth cen- tury. For this expanded edition, editor Peter Glassgold contributes a new preface that offers historical grounding to many of today’s political movements, from liber- tarianism on the right to Occupy! actions on the left, as well as adding a substantial section, “The Trial and Conviction of Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman,” which includes a transcription of their eloquent and moving self-defense prior to their imprisonment and deportation on trumped-up charges of wartime espionage. of E m m A g ol dm A n’s Mot h er ea rt h “An indispensable book . a judicious, lively, and enlightening work.” —Paul Avrich, author of Anarchist Voices “Peter Glassgold has done a great service to the activist spirit by returning to print Mother Earth’s often stirring, always illuminating essays.” —Alix Kates Shulman, author of Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen “It is wonderful to have this collection of pieces from the days when anarchism was an ism— and so heady a brew that the government had to resort to illegal repression to squelch it. What’s more, it is still a heady brew.” —Kirkpatrick Sale, author of The Dwellers in the Land “Glassgold opens with an excellent brief history of the publication.
    [Show full text]
  • Presenter Contact Information
    Presenter Contact Information Abad, Daniel, Michigan State University, [email protected] Abdul-Ra'uf, Bakhitah B., Radford University, [email protected] Abel, Meagan Nicole, Michigan State University, [email protected] Abel, Richard, Texas A&M University, [email protected] Abella, Anna Davidson, University of South Florida, [email protected] Abualnaja, Nader, U.S. Census, [email protected] Acquaviva, Brittany L., Sam Houston State University, [email protected] Acton, Daniel N., University of Florida, [email protected] Adams, Ian T., University of Utah, [email protected] Adkinson, Cary Dale, Texas Wesleyan University, [email protected] Adubato, Beth Ellen, Saint Peter's University, [email protected] Afifi, Tracie O., University of Manitoba, [email protected] Ajil, Ahmed, University of Lausanne, [email protected] Akbas, Halil, Troy University, [email protected] Akgul, Arif, Indiana State University, [email protected] Akhter, Morsheda, Texas Woman's University, [email protected] Akin, Shelleen N., University of North Carolina at Charlotte, [email protected] Akyuz, Kadir, University of Bridgeport, [email protected] Alahmad, Saad Mohammed S., University of New Haven, [email protected] Alaniz, Heather, Texas A&M International University, [email protected] Alarid, LeAnne, University of Texas, El Paso, [email protected] Alasti, Sanaz, Lamar University, [email protected] Albanese, Jay, Virginia Commonwealth University, [email protected] Alexander, Jim, Texas Woman's University, [email protected] Alexander, Kellie
    [Show full text]
  • A Socialist Schism
    A Socialist Schism: British socialists' reaction to the downfall of Milošević by Andrew Michael William Cragg Submitted to Central European University Department of History In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Supervisor: Professor Marsha Siefert Second Reader: Professor Vladimir Petrović CEU eTD Collection Budapest, Hungary 2017 Copyright notice Copyright in the text of this thesis rests with the Author. Copies by any process, either in full or part, may be made only in accordance with the instructions given by the Author and lodged in the Central European Library. Details may be obtained from the librarian. This page must form a part of any such copies made. Further copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the written permission of the Author. CEU eTD Collection i Abstract This work charts the contemporary history of the socialist press in Britain, investigating its coverage of world events in the aftermath of the fall of state socialism. In order to do this, two case studies are considered: firstly, the seventy-eight day NATO bombing campaign over the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, and secondly, the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in October of 2000. The British socialist press analysis is focused on the Morning Star, the only English-language socialist daily newspaper in the world, and the multiple publications affiliated to minor British socialist parties such as the Socialist Workers’ Party and the Communist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee). The thesis outlines a broad history of the British socialist movement and its media, before moving on to consider the case studies in detail.
    [Show full text]
  • One Big Union—One Big Strike: the Story of the Wobblies
    One Big Union—One Big Strike: The Story of the Wobblies Early in the 20th century, the Industrial Workers of the World, called the "Wobblies," organized thousands of immigrant and unskilled workers in the United States. The union eventually failed, but it helped shape the modern American labor movement. In 1900, only about 5 percent of American industrial workers belonged to labor unions. Most unions were organized for skilled craft workers like carpenters and machinists. Membership in these craft unions was almost always restricted to American-born white men. The American Federation of Labor (AFL), led by Samuel Gompers, dominated the labor movement. Gompers wanted to assemble the independent craft unions into one organization, which would work to improve the pay and working conditions of the union members. Gompers and the AFL believed that unskilled factory and other industrial workers could not be organized into unions. Therefore, the vast majority of American workers, including immigrants, racial minorities, and women, remained outside the labor union movement. In 1905, a new radical union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), began to organize workers excluded from the AFL. Known as the "Wobblies," these unionists wanted to form "One Big Union." Their ultimate goal was to call "One Big Strike," which would overthrow the capitalist system. Big Bill Haywood and One Big Union One of the main organizers for the IWW was "Big Bill" Haywood. William Dudley Haywood grew up on the rough and violent Western frontier. At age 9, he began working in copper mines. Haywood eventually married and took up homesteading in Nevada.
    [Show full text]