History

On this day in 1983, revolutionary leader of the New Jewel Movement and Prime Minister of Grenada Maurice Bishop was assassinated. Six days later, the US invaded Grenada, cutting short the country’s popular socialist project. The defeat of the Grenada Revolution sands as a reminder that the capitalist world system - despite all its institutions, treaties, and agreements - is, at its core, built on violence.

From 1958 to the late 1970s, the People’s Communes combined collective production and local governance within the wider project of socialist construction in the People’s Republic of China. They transformed rural life by pooling resources, developing productive capacity, and expanding social services. In part 3 of this 6-part series, we explore how the People’s Communes emerged, how they operated, and how they contributed to the development of Chinese socialism.

The Paris Commune was the first working-class government in history. As Marx wrote, “working men’s Paris, with its Commune, will forever be celebrated as the glorious harbinger of a new society.” In part 2 of this 6-part series, we explore some of the key lessons from the Paris Commune that have shaped revolutionary struggle since.

Mao was the primary leader of the Chinese revolution, which liberated the Chinese people from feudal and imperialist oppression. “We Communists are like seeds and the people are like the soil. Wherever we go, we must unite with the people, take root and blossom among them.”

On June 25th, 1950, war broke out between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, i.e. ‘North Korea’) and the Republic of Korea (ROK, i.e. ‘South Korea’). The Korean War was a civil war over the future of a unified Korea. On the one side, the DPRK fought with the masses for a socialist Korea, while on the other side, the US-backed ROK fought for a capitalist Korea allied with Western imperialism. Over the course of the war, the US dropped 635,000 tonnes of bombs and 32,577 tonnes of napalm on the DPRK, killing between 1.5 and 2.5 million people. Today, the war continues as a frozen conflict, with the Korean people still divided due to US imperialism.

As a popular educator and sociologist, Marta Harnecker supported revolutionary processes across Latin America, including in her native Chile, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Venezuela. She has written critically important texts on the construction of 21st century socialism and remains one of the most widely read theorists in Latin America.

Alexandra Kollontai fiercely devoted her life to the struggle for collective liberation, as a leading Bolshevik revolutionary, formidable Marxist theorist, and central figure in the early Soviet government. She made countless contributions to materially improving the lives of working-class people, especially women, in the USSR and to redefining debates on gender, labour, and socialist construction.

On March 14th, 1883, the great philosopher, economist, and revolutionary, Karl Marx passed away. He gave liberation movements around the world the tools to analyse the world in order to change it - a world-historic contribution.

General strikes have been a uniquely powerful tactic in the struggle for liberation. As the ruling class accelerates its assault on the people and our planet, the general strike is once gain emerging as an effective means of fighting back.

On January 21st, 1924, Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks and the Russian Revolution, passed away. Over 100 years after his death, he continues to be a teacher - an example of coherence between words and deeds. We remember Lenin’s tremendous legacy through the words of revolutionaries the world over.

On June 27th, 1954, democratically-elected president of Guatemala, Jacobo Àrbenz, resigned following a US-backed coup. The coup ended Guatemala’s ‘Ten Years of Spring’ and reinstated a string of military dictators that were subservient to US capital. This is a quintessential example of how imperial powers shape the world system to maintain uneven accumulation. Imperial intervention of this kind continues today, as can be seen with Palestine, Iran, Venezuela, and China.

In part 2 of our 5-part series on understanding China, we look at China’s poverty alleviation efforts, which have been characterised by Antonio Guterres as “the greatest anti-poverty achievement in history.” This post pays particular attention to the Targeted Poverty Alleviation programme (2013-2020), which is situated within the much wider poverty alleviation efforts that have lifted 850 million Chinese people out of poverty since 1949.

The Carnation Revolution toppled the fascist Estado Novo regime in Portugal. The anti-fascist struggle in Portugal was powered by the national liberation movements in the Portuguese colonies, including Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Principe, and Angola. This historical period is a stark reminder that it is anti-imperialist victories in the periphery that create conditions for revolution in the core. Going in chronological order, we explore these movements through the art and culture they produced, including paintings, posters, murals, poems, and songs. Culture is not just a byproduct of struggle, but an indispensable tool for the struggle itself.

In 1949, the Communist Party of China (CPC) came to power through a successful people’s revolution. Since then, China has gone from a poor country subject to imperialist humiliation to an industrial powerhouse with the second largest economy in the world. Now, for the first time in 500 years, a country from the Global South is challenging Western hegemony. Confronted with this existential threat, the US-led Global North is mounting a dangerous new Cold War on China. As eco-socialists in the Global North, we must actively resist our ruling classes’ attempts to manufacture consent for imperialist war. Instead, we must develop our own political conclusions on China and its role in an emergent multipolar world. Without proper investigation, we have no ability to advance our struggle.

Youth have always been at the forefront of liberation struggles. Understanding this history provides important lessons for the prospect of a united youth front, capable of leading the struggle for global eco-socialism.