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Radical History Blog
From Textile Magnate to Communist: The Life of Friedrich Engels
Coauthor with Karl Marx of The Communist Manifesto, Friedrich Engels has always been slightly overshadowed by his more famous communist friend“From the first day to this, sheer greed was the driving spirit of capitalist civilisation.”Friedrich Engels died on this day in 1895.
Class Against Class: The Radical Life of Ginger Goodwin
On this day in 1918, Albert "Ginger" Goodwin was shot dead by a policeman on Vancouver Island, catalysing the Canadian labour movement “...we know that all this misery is the outcome of someone's carelessness, and that ‘someone’ is the capitalists, those who own the machinery of production...” In May 1887, Albert “Ginger” Goodwin was born in the village of Treeton in Yorkshire, England.
Zombie Revolutionary: Augusto Sandino and the Nicaraguan Revolution
On this day in 1979, Sandinista revolutionaries took power in Nicaragua - 45 years after Sandino's death “…our cause will live on through those who follow us.” These were the words of Augusto Cesar Sandino (1895-1934), the Nicaraguan revolutionary.
The Martyrs Who Raised The Watch-Word Liberty
Commemorating the annual Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival which takes place each July in Dorset we recall the story of the martyrs from whom it takes its name We raise the watch-word liberty; We will, we will, we will be free!
Armed Struggle in South Carolina: The Life of Denmark Vesey
Executed on this day in 1822, Denmark Vesey organised a mass slave rebellion in South Carolina In the 1820s, a spectre was haunting white supremacy – the spectre of the . Slaveowners in the U.S.
When the Tale is Told: The Life of George Padmore
The Trinidadian communist and anti-imperialist George Padmore was one of the luminaries of black radicalism in the twentieth century "The black man certainly has to pay dear for carrying the white man’s burden." Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse – known to history by his communist penname George Padmore – was born today in the British colony of Trinidad in 1903.
The Meaning of Homeland: World Refugee Day
Photo by Ra Dragon on Unsplash Today we're celebrating World Refugee Day and the refugees who wrote the story of radical history across the world You ask: What is the meaning of “homeland”?
Socialists at Normandy: The Radical Story of the D-Day Landings
Famous as a military event of great strategic ambition, D-Day is also a landmark in the story of Europe's radical pastToday, 6th June, marks the eightieth anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.
Wanted by the British Empire: Pemulwuy - Dead or Alive
Pemulwuy, an Aboriginal warrior, led resistance against early British colonialism in Australia "…with simple spears, rocks, boomerangs, stones, he defeated the British army that they sent here." The British empire did not conquer the continent of Australia without a fight.
The "Old Man" of the Mexican-American Labor Movement
Born on 29th May in 1918, Bert Corona was a leading twentieth-century activist and labor organiser The Mexican American labor movement during the twentieth century was bigger than just , formidable as he was.