1950s
1951: Barcelona general strike
A brief description of social conditions in post-Civil War Spain followed by an account of the Barcelona general strike of 1951. The events in Barcelona led to strikes across the country and signalled the potential for a return to working class combativity in Spain after over a decade of rule under the Franco regime.
The situation of the Spanish working class at the turn of 1950 was a desperate one. Franco's regime had ruled over the country for the last eleven years, and severe conditions fuelled by austerity measures imposed on workers after the end of the Civil War were becoming rapidly worse.
Poland 1956 - Vladan Vukliš
A history of the uprising in Poland, 1956 which began at the ZISPO factory in Poznan.
This is an English translation of the original Serbian. Further editing by libcom from the translated version.
Polish Revolt of 1956
Hungarian revolution 1956 - Scorcher publications
An pamphlet on the revolution in Hungary 1956, reproduced from Scorcher publications. No.1 in a series of Council Communist Pamphlets.
Online version by http://www.af-north.org
Before October....
Poznan 1956 and Radom 1976
A background report for Radio Free Europe written in 1981, detailing the workers uprisings in Poznan '56 and Radom '76.
BOX-FOLDER-REPORT: 46-4-214
TITLE: Polish Workers Commemorate their Past Struggles
BY: J. B. de Weydenthal
DATE: 1981-7-7
COUNTRY: Poland
ORIGINAL SUBJECT: RAD Background Report/192
--- Begin ---
RFE-RL
RADIO FREE EUROPE Research
RAD Background Report/192 (Poland)" 7 July 1981
Hungary '56 - Nick Heath
A history of the Hungarian uprising of 1956, published as a special supplement of Anarchist Worker on the 20th anniversary in 1976
IT IS NOT out of love for nostalgia that we are commemorating the 1956 Hungarian uprising. Hungary '56 was a prime example of the working class itself reaching for power: doubly significant, it took place in one of the mythical 'workers' states'.
Aims and principles of the Syndicalist Workers Federation
The Aims and principles of the Syndicalist Workers Federation, which was the British Section of the anarchosyndicalist International Workingmen's Association (IWA). For a history of the IWA see A short history of the IWA, 1922-Today on libcom.org/history
Aims and principles
1953: The gulag uprising at Vorkuta
An article, edited from News and Letters, outlining the uprising at the Gulag in Vorkuta in 1953.
Don't Forget Vorkuta: A Soviet Holocaust
June 2003
Introduction
The Hungarian Revolution: 1956
This is an anonymous account of the events of the near revolution of 1956, containing interesting information from interviews with participants.
Details are included from Columbia University Research Project interviews with participants which are a nice complement to the information in our other Hungary '56 articles.
[11,000 words]
For a short history, we recommend our article The Hungarian Uprising, 1956 on libcom.org/history.
Guevara, Ernesto "Che", 1928-1967
A critical look at the life of Latin American revolutionary, Ernesto "Che" Guevara.
After his remains were dug up in Boliva and reburied in Cuba a few years ago, public interest in Che was rekindled. The heroic cult that has developed around him took on new life, as hitherto unknown photos of his Bolivian campaign and two new biographies were published.
1958-1990: Operation Gladio, Italy
The history of the secret neo-fascist army in Italy set up ostensibly to resist Soviet invasion, but in reality to be used in the event of the working class growing too strong once again.
Following the end of World War II, the Italian workers’ movement was rapidly gaining strength. In some towns the fascists had been kicked out by Resistance forces (as before the war, these were usually led by socialists and anarchists), and embryonic workers’ councils were governing.
1939-1965: Armed resistance to Franco
An account of the underground guerilla armed struggle of anarchists and anti-fascists against General Franco's regime following the Civil War.
The rattle of the Thompson gun
1950-today: Corporate and state intervention in the arts
A look at involvement of governments and corporations attempting to push their interests in the world of art and culture since the middle of the last century.
The Cultural Cold War
1958: Beating back Mosley in Notting Hill
A Notting Hill resident recounts his story of fighting racists and fascists in West London.
"Mosley tried to stir up a conflict between the blacks and the whites because his aim was to drive the blacks frorn North Kensington, to drive them from the shores of England. I wasn't for that because I came here to fight for the mother country...
1953: The East German uprising
A brief history of a rebellion against the Soviet government.
Many people have heard of the uprisings in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. The 1953 East Germany rebellion was an earlier example of the working class resistance to Bolshevik domination, which saw party bureaucrats and cops strung up and a nationwide network of workers councils springing up spontaneously.
1945-1957: Vietnam
Howard Zinn's short history of Vietnam from the defeat of Japan in 1945 through the installation of the US puppet government in Saigon to the beginning of the Vietnam War.
17. "Or Does It Explode?"
The black revolt of the 1950s and 1960s-North and South-came as a surprise. But perhaps it should
not have. The memory of oppressed people is one thing that cannot be taken away, and for such
people, with such memories, revolt is always an inch below the surface. For blacks in the United
States, there was the memory of slavery, and after that of segregation, lynching, humiliation. And it
Socialisme ou Barbarie: A French Revolutionary Group, 1949-1965
An article about French libertarian socialist group Socialisme ou Barbarie - Socialism or Barbarism. SouB had a theoretical influence on the Situationist International and others of their time.
1952-1973: Radical perspectives in the Caribbean
The experiences of Fundi, Carribean Situationist. " From the start we saw through the fraud of the "independent" unions ... We decided that the union bureaucracy must stop; that there should not be any mediation between us and the boss for this has been responsible for suppressing confidence in ourselves to take up the total task of ending capitalism. ... We developed the capacity for instant strike action. We had meetings on the factory compound and the farms during work hours against the wishes of the boss and traditional unionism. ... Such actions are the bedrock of direct participation which stands in truth against the lies of centralized leadership."
None Shall Escape:
Radical perspectives in the Caribbean - Fundi (Caribbean Situationist)
Published in 1988 by
NEWS FROM EVERYWHERE
1933-1993: Cuba - socialist paradise or Castro's fiefdom?
A short article describing Cuba with some historical information about the 1958 Revolution, which examines the alleged "socialist" nature of the governing regime
[2,400 words]
1950: The Times on London Mayday
"Police break up procession: 69 arrested in West End"
An article on the events of Mayday in Trafalgar Square, London in 1950.
