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Revolution!

What it is,

what it's not,

what they looked like,

and how we get there!

Human history has been marked by many many attempts by ordinary people to take power into their own hands. A lot of crap gets talked about what a revolution is though so as well as discussing this in the abstract here we look at specific examples of revolutions each of which met with mixed success. These articles also seek to answer the questions what is the role of anarchists in a revolution and how do we get to a revolution? Above all else I am to show that revolutions are still possable .

Paris: City of revolution

The first of the modern revolutions was the Paris Commune of 1871 when the workers of Paris held the city for two months before being bloodly massacred. In Paris 1968 a student initated movement led to a general strike that saw 12 million workers join the strike, take to the streets and in many cases take over their workplaces. More recently at the end of 1995 we saw a massive strike wave in France.

The Russian Revolution (1917)

The Russian revolution was the model for many socialists this century but behind the mythology created around it were many problems, even in the early years. This long overview explains why the Russian revolution demonstrates that Freedom & Revolution are not contradictory to each other but in fact both required if either is to be a reality. Anarchists blame the failure of the Russian revolution on Lenin and indeed say that Lenin led to Stalin

Kronstadt 1921 Ida Metts Pamphlet on the Kronstadt uprising of 1921 brutally crushed by Trotsky
Defending the Bolsheviks or defending the truth?
A reply to some Trotskyists attempting to deal with anarchist criticisms of the Bolsheviks
John Rees In defence of the Truth
A review of John Rees article on Defending October published in International Socialist, focusing on his claims on the Kronstadt rising of 1921, as a way of understanding the Leninist method on the Russian Revolution
Peter Arshinov's History of the Makhnovist Movement
Review of the history of the Makhnovist Movement by Peter Arshinov. Nestor Makhno led a anarchist movement that fought the whites and was then betrayed and attacked by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution
Extracts from Peter Arshinov's History of the Makhnovist Movement dealing with Trotskyist slanders that they were a nationalist or an anti-Semitic movement

The Mexican Revolution

Anarchist influences on the Mexican Revolution

Right now there is a revolution happening is Mexico. Here's a brief discussion of the Mexican revolution and Zapata in the context of the EZLN rising in 1994. This article discusses in more detail the EZLN and their politics.

What's happening in Mexico, text of public meeting.
Who Was Zapata
Who are the EZLN
Chase bank's role in the 1995 Army offensive
Irish delegation returns from Mexico [Spring 1996]

The Irish Mexico Group have a web page with more information on it.

Links to other articles about revolutions

Here are some more articles about revolution I've found on the web, if you know of others please e-mail me with a URL for them The WSA on the Italian factory occupations of 1920 Cuba: The Anarchists & Liberty
by Frank Fernandez

Perhaps this presents a different view then what you have heard other socialists give. Here is why

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