By the time Freedom‘s September issue hit the streets in 1914 the disaster that was to become known as World War One was already underway, and anarchists found themselves shouting sanity into a world that no longer wanted to listen ~ Rob Ray ~ The edition is a curious beast, mixing a thunderous front page
The international political grouping around Freedom was aware of the threatened onrush of what was to become World War I — and wrote with increasing desperation in its August 1914 issue, calling on workers to resist calls to arms as Austria used the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand to justify an imperial invasion. The declaration of
For its July issue Freedom of course led with the most infamous event of the moment, and as ever was not shy in its take, headlining a short, wry report with ‘Cause and Effect.’ The assassination, known for sparking the series of events that led to World War One, was worldwide news and, with the
In June 1914 much of that month’s edition of Freedom was given over to a lengthy analysis in the aftermath of the Ludlow Massacre, one of the most infamous strikebreaking incidents in United States history. The mass killing of striking coal miners and their families by National Guard soldiers and paramilitary thugs had shocked observers
With militarism and the expectation of a war in Europe on the rise, Freedom‘s approach wasn’t getting as much of a bump in readership as hoped, according to reports from the anarchists’ annual gathering in Newcastle in May 1914. Anarchism’s reach in Britain at the time was, as ever, limited compared to the greater movements
One of the most useful aspects of sometimes dry reports from gatherings is the snapshot of otherwise amorphous movements — in this case, the French syndicalists and anarchists of 1913.
The July 1913 issue of Freedom features a lengthy article hooked on a major strike of agricultural workers in Ormskirk
A speculative work by two prominent French anarcho-syndicalists, Emile Pouget and Emile Pataud, Syndicalism and the Co-operative Commonwealth (How We Shall Bring about the Revolution)
On a cold day in the wake of a war, starving Italian citizens wanted to put up a poster against raised tariffs but were told to hop it by the government – which in short order was faced with 100,000 protesters and severe rioting. Italy’s imperial excursion to Libya in 1911-12 had caused a great
In the first weeks of 1913 Russian revolutionary activity, never truly suppressed for all the violence and vindictiveness of the regime, burst once again onto the public stage. Freedom Press at this time maintained, through Peter Kropotkin, a strong link to the country and regularly reported on events and on how the various revolutionary forces
The latest piece of legislation unveiled by our government emerges not as a beacon of hope, but as a harbinger of betrayal ~ Mark McEwan ~ As the sun rises each day over the grey skies of the United Kingdom, we find ourselves staring into the abyss of a systemic failure that has plagued workers
I was trapped in Leninism and read swathes of Lenin’s rhetoric – now I know the anarchists were right all along ~ Killian Flynn ~ Amongst the shadow puppets of English radicalism, lie inert various guises of Leninism: self-perpetuating central committees run tiny irrelevant organisations and use them as a vector to punt their books
From green consumerism to degrowth and radical systemic change ~ Yavor Tarinski ~ It is a good thing that there is increasingly more talk about the looming catastrophe that threatens our societies because of climate change and deepening ecological crises.
Instead of self-righteous identity politics, our practice should oppose fake empowerment narratives ~ Anon Grata ~ A right-wing populist party has won the elections in yet another European country—but as the international media reminds us, it’s not any country: it’s both the birthplace of the leader of historical Nazi-Fascism, and the cradle of modern post-fascist
One of UK’s longest running social centres, the Cowley Club is Brighton is structured as a members-run co-operative ~ Interviewed by Zosia Brom ~ Can you tell us about who you are and how it all started and what are your activities?
Having gone mostly online in 2014, Freedom continues to publish an irregular paper today. Those and many other issues stretching back to our founding in 1886 are online above, at libcom.org, and via the Sparrow’s Nest.
The book publishing arm of Freedom Press has a history stretching back to the 19th century and continues to publish today. Check out our catalogue to order stock or you can order from Central Books.
Keep up with the news, features and interviews Freedom produces over the year with our irregular newsletters.
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