Colonialism

The Arab revolt: A history of struggle

Details: Tuesday, 15 March 2011; Written by John Pickard

The Arab world, from the Atlantic to the Persian Gulf and from North Africa to the heart of Sudan, is in flames as one revolutionary movement after another unfolds. Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Libya, Algeria, Sudan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Morocco have all seen demonstrations for democracy and social reforms.

The Colonial Revolution and the Sino-Soviet Dispute

Details: Wednesday, 27 August 2008; Written by Ted Grant, 1964

The initial trigger for the writing of this document was the Sino-Soviet split, its importance for the world Communist movement at the time, and its significance for the forces of genuine Marxism, the Trotskyists. In the first place Ted declares that the split confirms Trotsky’s brilliant prediction, “That the theory of ‘socialism in one country’ would lead inevitably to the degeneration on nationalist lines of the parties of the Communist International.”

Ireland’s holocaust - The Irish Potato Famine, 1845-50

Details: Wednesday, 12 December 2007; Written by Harry Whittaker

Over 150 years ago Ireland lost a staggering 13% of its population to death by disease and starvation. How could it be that Britain, which was still the richest and most powerful country in the world, could not prevent this horrific death toll? The answer is simple ‑ the British ruling-classes did not want to minimize the death toll, on the contrary, they welcomed it!

The Crime of Partition - part 3: The role of the Communist Party of India during Partition

Details: Thursday, 23 August 2007; Written by Jamil Iqbal

Could the Communist party of India have made a decisive difference in the independence movement? Here Jamil shows they were above all the prisoners of the policies imposed by Stalin, which were normally reformist, indeed counter-revolutionary. But occasionally Stalin lurched into an ultra-left phase as in 1947-48, called the 'Zhdanov offensive.' In lurching from right to left, a drunk will at one point be found upright. That is the significance of the correct perception of what was happening in India by the Moscow commentators Dyakov and Zhukov.

[Ted Grant Archive - Update] British Refuse Arms to Indians

Details: Friday, 17 August 2007; Written by Ted Grant

The threatened invasion of India by Japanese imperialism in 1942 brought the question of India front and centre before the British working class. Rather than arm the Indian people and risk India falling into the hands of the Indians, the British imperialists would have prefered it to fall, temporarily, into the hands of the Japanese.

The Crime of Partition - part 2

Details: Tuesday, 10 July 2007; Written by Jamil Iqbal

After World War II the British imperialists were in a hurry to leave India. The Partition of British India in 1947, which created the two independent states of India and Pakistan, was followed by one of the cruellest and bloodiest migrations and ethnic cleansings in history.

How the West was Stolen: Western Movies and the Western Myth

Details: Friday, 15 June 2007; Written by Harry Whittaker

How the West Was Stolen, by Hopalong Harry Whittaker, is a rip-roaring polemic from an old gunslinger and former UCATT shop steward now living south of the river, but hailing originally from Glasagae way. We hope readers enjoy the gallop as he ranges from historical polemic to cinephile opinionation.