mutinies
Articles about mutiny in the armed forces from combat avoidance and desertion to open rebellion.
Aftermath of the BDR mutiny; state murders and class struggles in Bangladesh
Updates on;
1) deaths in custody of suspects in the February Bangladeshi Rifles (BDR) army mutiny,
2) the increasing unrest in the Bangladeshi garment industry and state measures to contain it.
The bloody revenge
Bangladesh; the BDR mutiny
Speculative comments on the recent 25th-26th February rebellion in the ranks of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) auxiliary unit, which has so far claimed nearly 150 lives.
Whatever the BDR mutiny was, it seems unlikely that it was merely a simple labour dispute or incident of class conflict.
The Ninety-third Division - Black US soldiers' struggles in World War II - Nelson Peery
Extracts from Nelson Peery's Black Fire - The Making Of A Black Revolutionary. Peery describes here the racism and segregation encountered by black soldiers and their militancy in opposing it during WWII.
Matiushenko, Afanasy Nikolaevich 1879-1907
A biography of Afanasy Matiushenko, who was one of the key mutineers on the Battleship Potemkin, immortalised by Eisenstein's film, which helped kick-start the 1905 Revolution.
Afanasy Nikolaevich Matiushenko
Also spelled Afanasiy Matyushenko, born 1879 - Kharkov, Russia, died 20 October 1907 - Sevastopol, Russia
The Potemkin mutineer
Afanasy Matiushenko was the son of peasants from Kharkov province in the Ukraine. He was born in 1879, in the village of Dergachi. His father had to give up the unrewarding work of farming to become a shoemaker.
Somalia: Soldiers demand unpaid wages
Soldiers have taken control of government buldings in the Central province of Hiran after going seven months without pay.
The troops have not been paid since they were deployed to the province and are blaming corruption by local goverment. They have seized the buildings in Balet Weyne and have said they will keep them until they are paid.
Troops have also seized a barracks in Jowhar, north of the capital Mogadishu, with reports of gunfire although not of any injuries so far.
Pirate utopias: Under the banner of death, 1640-1820
An interesting look at the life and times of pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries. This article explores the somewhat libertarian and communalist values which guided the life of a pirate during those years.
"In an honest Service, there is thin Commons, low Wages, and hard Labour; in this, Plenty and Satiety, Pleasure and Ease, Liberty and Power; and who would not ballance Creditor on this Side, when all the Hazard that is run for it, at worst, is only a sower Look or two at choaking. No, a merry Life and a short one shall be my Motto" - Pirate Captain Bartholomew Roberts.(1)
Mutinies in the American army, 2004-2005 - Echanges #111
A brief discussion of incidences of dissatisfaction in the US Army during the Iraq War.
Mutinies, the word can seem excessive because Iraq is not (yet) Vietnam. However, a refusal to obey in the army, whatever the reason, is a mutiny and quite often such acts of insubordination have started with minor acts. Even isolated, such acts are indicative of "troop morale", an essential element for continuing war.
Schmitz, Hans, 1914-2007
A short biography of German anarcho-syndicalist, militant anti-fascist and conscript to the Wehrmacht, Hans Schmitz.
Hans Schmitz was born in Wuppertal, Germany in 1914.
His father,* a leading activist in the anarcho-syndicalist union the FAUD, was a devout Catholic and a convinced pacifist from both a religious and ideological standpoint (!). Despite this, as Hans Schmitz reports, he carried a weapon as a member of the “Red Ruhr Army” during the right-wing Kapp putsch.
1973: The Skylab 4 mutiny
A brief account of the 24-hour mutiny during the Skylab 4 mission in 1973/4 triggered by the astronauts' complaints of excessive workloads.
Class war in space - The Skylab 4 mutiny
1931: The Invergordon mutiny
A short account of a strike by a thousand sailors of the Royal Navy that occurred in Northern Scotland in 1931 against proposed wage cuts.
The government attempted to supress all memory of the strike, and although the strikers won partial concessions, the cuts were still imposed and many sailors were punished for taking part.
