1914-18 : The Great Slaughter - Challenging A Year Of Myth Making.

[Lo Siento.]

apparently the BBC had a debate between Niall Ferguson and Max Hastings the other day. Balance appears to consist of "one person to make the imperialist case for war, the other to make the imperialist case against it"

 

[Bakunin]

Technically, she was someone providing information to British intelligence, rather than actually "spying", but she was nonetheless working for British intelligence.

And, as such, working behind their lines under civilian cover and without diplomatic immunity, the Germans were perfectly entitled to shoot her under the international law of the time. If she was passing information to SIS then she was spying and, if she'd been a German caught behind British lines, night well have suffered the same fate as 11 German spies shot by the British at the Tower of London.

 

[butchersapron]

Dear friends

You are invited to:

A Remembering the Real WW1 London

FREESCHOOL

Saturday 18th May, 11.30 – 5.00pm

Venue: no 88 Fleet Street, London, EC4 1DH.
Nearest tube: Blackfriars

The plan is to have short introductory talks followed by open discussions.

As it stands there are proposed sessions on:

• World War 1, its relevance today; why Capitalism Needs War

• Mutinies, women’s protests and revolutions

• Countering Cameron’s Commemorations

• War Today: Ukraine, Putin and more…

But other suggestions are welcome: we are not ‘experts’, we have some
historical knowledge, but are always ready to learn. We see this
freeschool as an opportunity for us all to learn from each other, and
maybe come up with ideas to counter the government’s plans for
glorification of the First World War.

All welcome, this event is free, but donations would be gratefully
received on the day.
Disabled access is unfortunately poor…

This event is organised by Remembering the Real WW1 (London). We are a
small group of activists, historians and rebels, part of a growing network
of groups and individuals working to highlight the histories of the Great
War that official ‘commemorations’ will sweep under the carpet.

For more information email us on: therealww1@riseup.net

Or check our blog: therealww1.wordpress.com

 

[Harry Patch]

Here's the programme for the Real World War One Free School

Sunday 18 May at No. 88 Fleet Street(entrance in St. Brides Avenue), London EC4 1DH (Blackfriars or Chancery Lane Tube)

The official accounts and commemorations of the anniversary of World War One mask the real social history of the period. This conference is a chance for us to educate ourselves about the protests, strikes, mutinies and revolutions that preceded, provoked and, eventually, ended the war. We will also discuss how best to oppose both the official commemorations and future wars. Please bring food to share if you can.

11.30am (for 12 noon start) - 1pm WORLD WAR ONE AND ITS RELEVANCE TODAY

Why did the war start: Imperialism? The reassertion of masculinity? An attempt to forestall European revolution?

Why did so many support the war?

Did World War One ever really end? Why does capitalism need war?


1.30-3pm WOMEN’S PROTESTS, MUTINIES AND REVOLUTIONS

Why were the first mass protests of the war started by women?

Did politicians keep the war going to prevent the Russian Revolution from spreading?

Did mutinies in the Russian, French and German armies end the war? What about the rebellions in the British army?


3.15-4.15pm UKRAINE, PUTIN AND WAR IN EUROPE TODAY?

Was the Maidan Square uprising a revolution - or a fascist coup?

Should we take sides between Putin and the West?

Will the Ukrainian crisis lead to another European conflict?


4.30-6pm COUNTERING CAMERON’S COMMEMORATIONS

Why is Cameron so keen to celebrate World War One?

How do we celebrate the mutinies and revolutions of the period instead?

How do we counter the official commemorations without disrespecting the dead?


We hope to have ‘Real WW1’ meetings on the 3rd Thursday of each month at No. 88 Fleet Street.

Please see therealww1.wordpress.com for information about futuremeetings and events.

 

[butchersapron]

Couple of Houseman events

INTERNATIONAL CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS’ DAY EVENT

‘Objection Overruled’ and ‘Comrades in Conscience’ with David Boulton and Cyril Pearce
Thursday 15th May, wine reception 6.30pm, talks from 7pm, free entry

An event to commemorate International Conscientious Objectors’ Day event, remembering the actions of those who opposed and resisted the
first world war, as told in new editions of these two important books.

Writings against the First World War’ with Bruce Kent and A.W. Zurbrugg
Wednesday 18th June, 7pm
Entry £3, redeemable against any purchase

Our guests present the works of those who opposed the First World War and who wrote and published in order to convince others of its horrors,
with particular reference to newly published books ‘Not Our War: Writings against the First World War’ and ‘War against War!’

Too much emphasis on pacifism and conscientious objectors in counter-events i think. Let's see if we can bring some other stuff to the table.

 

[brogdale]

Saw this in the latest 'Verso' catalogue...comes out in the next few months I think. Could be interesting...anyone know of Newton?

http://www.versobooks.com/books/1591-the-darkest-days

 

[Harry Patch]

Franz Ferdinand’s assassination anniversary: Anti-war walk and film 27-28 June,

100 years since the assassination of Franz Ferdinand:

A TOUR OF WHITEHALL – remembering the victims and opponents of World War 1
Saturday 28 June, 1.30pm, Parliament Square

The official commemorations for the start of WW1 will focus on the sacrifice and suffering of the war. But the statues displayed around Whitehall – of Lloyd George, Churchill and Haig – show that the British establishment still has few regrets about that suffering. These WW1 leaders were responsible for sending a million men to their deaths in a war that killed 16 million, a war that led, inexorably, to fascism and the horrors of WW2.

But Whitehall has an alternative history, a history of protests by suffragettes, soldiers and workers. Join us to explore that history. (Dressing up is optional. But it would be great if people came as anti-war suffragettes or ‘unknown soldiers’ – and the more Archduke Ferdinands and Duchess Sophies, the better!)

*
​

‘Remembering the Real WWI’ presents: Abel Gance’s anti-war film,
J’ACCUSE
Friday 27 June, 7pm, Cock Tavern, Phoenix Rd. NW1 1HB, Euston. Free admission.



By 1918, after almost four years of war, European society was in a state of shock. French soldiers had mutinied and the Russian revolution had shown an alternative to capitalism and war. But there still seemed no end to the slaughter.

In this atmosphere, Abel Gance resolved to make a film exposing ‘the horror of war’. The result was J’Accuse, a complex love story that culminates in stunning scenes of the war dead rising from their graves ‘to see if their sacrifice was worth anything at all.’ A veteran himself, Gance used French soldiers to play these ‘zombies’ – many of whom, in real life, went on to fight and die in the last battles of WW1.

Gance was inspired by the idea that ‘if all the dead came back, the war would stop at once.’ A romantic delusion? Yes, certainly, but more radical and thought-provoking than the barrage of TV programmes presently commemorating the centenary of the conflict.

It’s nothing like seeing the whole film but for the highlights of J’Accuse see:

(it’s better without the music!)

*
The Imperial War Museum will be opening its new WW1 exhibition on Saturday 19 July.

The museum was set up in 1917 by the very same generals and politicians who started the war. Join us on that day to commemorate the fact that it wasn’t victorious generals and politicians that ended the conflict, it was mutinying soldiers and striking workers – and they did so in revolutions that, almost, toppled the entire capitalist system.

For more details see:

http://therealww1.wordpress.com/

 

[moochedit]

100 years ago today.

 

[treelover]

Did politicians keep the war going to prevent the Russian Revolution from spreading?

any sources?

 

[treelover]

If we care about Britain's future, we must not forget our past
100 years on from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand we should remind ourselves of the struggles our ancestors endured to ensure we have a decent life

In June, only the rain and our hopeless optimism that summer awaits connect us to the Britain of my parents, who married 100 years ago on 29 June in a Barnsley registry office.

Time and tide separate us from those days, when women were denied the right to vote and suffragettes battled in the streets for the right to be treated as equals. Back then we were a colonial power that controlled a quarter of the world's population with a brutal efficiency that would be condemned today for its imperialism and human rights violations. Ireland was occupied by our soldiers and on the verge of civil war because of our unconscionable actions across the centuries as overlords of an enslaved people. It was a time when our nation stood as the mightiest military and economic power in the world, but when unions at home were forced to fight protracted battles for organised labour to increase the wages of workers and enshrine on-the-job safety.

http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...e-past-assassination-archduke-franz-ferdinand

Harry's written a good piece

 

[taffboy gwyrdd]

On the anniversary of the Sarajevo assassination (and with apols if this has been posted already) -
Some good articles on the WW1 centenary and more current war-mongering from the Anarchist Federation.

http://www.afed.org.uk/res/resist156.pdf

 

[stowpirate]

Staff from Stowmarket QD store doing a selfie at todays WW1 Commemoration (or was it a celebration?) anyway this was a tad in bad taste as an obvious money spinning exercise?

 

[Pickman's model]

more current war-mongering from the Anarchist Federation.

 

[sim667]

I noticed one of the brighton green councillors has come under fire for describing parading soldiers as "hired killers"

 

[Pickman's model]

I noticed one of the brighton green councillors has come under fire for describing parading soldiers as "hired killers"

must have been quite a surprise to hear the bullets humming.

 

[dylanredefined]

I noticed one of the brighton green councillors has come under fire for describing parading soldiers as "hired killers"

Good.
Disarmament and pacifism only work if everyone plays along. First job of a state is defending its citizens nice thoughts won't do that.

This is basically the left wing equivalent of a tory councillor saying something racist.

 

[stowpirate]

I noticed one of the brighton green councillors has come under fire for describing parading soldiers as "hired killers"

I sort of agree with that, albeit did they sign up due to poverty. If so then we have another issue that is far more complicated.

 

[sim667]

I sort of agree with that, albeit did they sign up due to poverty. If so then we have another issue that is far more complicated.

To be fair, soldiers are trained to kill, and paid for it..... So by literal definition they are a hired killer regardless of whether they've joined due to poverty or not.

 

[DotCommunist]

economic conscription of the time was equally weighted with a social pressure- white feather sir?

 

[stowpirate]

To be fair, soldiers are trained to kill, and paid for it..... So by literal definition they are a hired killer regardless of whether they've joined due to poverty or not.

Are we talking WW1 or now? Maybe as DotCommunist touched on peer pressure was a factor?

 

[sim667]

Are we talking WW1 or now? Maybe as DotCommunist touched on peer pressure was a factor?

Nah, just generally.

 

[stowpirate]

Nah, just generally.

Between 1916-1919, and 1939-1960, we had conscription. So you are correct for early WW1 but WW2 and early cold war was another can of worms?

 

[sim667]

Between 1916-1919, and 1939-1960, we had conscription. So you are correct for early WW1 but WW2 and early cold war was another can of worms?

I was thinking more modern day soldiers in relation to the green MP's tweet to be honest

 

[stowpirate]

I was thinking more modern day soldiers in relation to the green MP's tweet to be honest

Yeh, it is a sick world with well informed so called educated intelligent youngsters signing up to kill Muslims, especially in the USA. The irony is that UK muslims are stamped on for doing the same thing by wearing different uniform and fighting for a a cause the UK Government sort of half supports. I find that whole thing very confusing and wonder what the real public perception was of say the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's and the International Brigade. What control does big brother now have over peoples thinking/ideals? Not that I support any of these recent crusades/wars/inerventions.

 

[sim667]

Yeh, it is a sick world with well informed so called educated intelligent youngsters signing up to kill Muslims, especially in the USA. The irony is that UK muslims are stamped on for doing the same thing by wearing different uniform and fighting for a a cause the UK Government sort of half supports. I find that whole thing very confusing and wonder what the real public perception was of say the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's and the International Brigade. What control does big brother now have over peoples thinking/ideals? Not that I support any of these recent crusades/wars/inerventions.

Unfortunately I think people are much more easily led by a mass media generated by their peers

 

[treelover]

Yeh, it is a sick world with well informed so called educated intelligent youngsters signing up to kill Muslims, especially in the USA. The irony is that UK muslims are stamped on for doing the same thing by wearing different uniform and fighting for a a cause the UK Government sort of half supports. I find that whole thing very confusing and wonder what the real public perception was of say the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's and the International Brigade. What control does big brother now have over peoples thinking/ideals? Not that I support any of these recent crusades/wars/inerventions.

while I don't think they are comparable, ISIS are not bound by any laws and deliberately murder, etc, one can note that Orwell wrote the majority of people were more interested in the Pools than Spain, though many working class communities did raise funds especially food, etc. The attitude of the govt was 'neutral' but people who had fought in Spain found themselves blacklisted and couldn't join the army, etc.

 

[CNT36]

Good.
First job of a state is defending its citizens nice thoughts won't do that.

Unless everyone volunteers to do it for free then a proportion of the people doing it are hired killers.

 

[DotCommunist]

black/white

 

[phildwyer]

I find that whole thing very confusing and wonder what the real public perception was of say the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's and the International Brigade.

It's hard to say, but the media coverage was extremely negative. The Daily Mail described International Brigaders as "the scum of England." They were portrayed as desperate adventurers or Stalinist dupes.

Those who volunteered to fight for Franco (who far outnumbered the IB-ers in places like Ireland) were represented in a far more positive light, as motivated by religious faith.

 

[phildwyer]

one can note that Orwell wrote the majority of people were more interested in the Pools than Spain, though many working class communities did raise funds especially food, etc.

But then again, Orwell was an Old Etonian, and tended to assume that everyone else was one too.

The truth is that British working-class communities were passionately involved in Spain. And, lest we forget, they were involved on both sides. In fact more working-class money probably went to the rebels than to the government. There were villages in South Wales where the war was replayed for decades every time the pubs closed.