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Volume VllSpring 1984

No.6OuarterlY

Black Flag/Black Cross c/o Box ABC'"'l)i riiiriot Road, London sE24'

PunlistreJ, tYPeset & laYout bY

Black Flag Collective-

Ptini.i tv oirk Horse Collective'

o*fi 'f,iJ:fl ,'J' i, ilitHJi: ['.',,fi t "Ditil;;;'1 /b io BiokshoPs and Bulk

0rders.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES

fg or, , tut inland;.fS overseas;

f 17 overseas alrmall'

STATE OF PLAY

[ [tT ! t,:i;Ti:'J ] tll,llJxr ""FortnightlY '

Printinq (atl Paid for)

Postage

Envelopes & address

labels i 1'16

183i.00329.53

Sales and subs'

Donations*

Loss

Defic,t carried {onruard

2237.69

1038.03345.00

1383.03

854.66891 .70

r1746.36

ANARCHO oulT* London As f150; Doncaster AsfS;

'l','iln{;$'' r'f;'ff , #'Jia,\il*r'aW tti.so; atso Acw f 1'50;

I n'lrs, nn r1o; JT rlo; M t34

Total f345

f 1 700 odd is a large slide to be carrying

ir;.tJ in the hope that one daY our

."i" *irf ..re in. A good iob we all

I ^tl "ut livinq elsewhere! However'

,r.toia. af,. hJavy deficit' the amou.nt

,tlttr.f f v lose - which seems to have

,tabilised at f800 odd a quarter -'..;i i"i.f fv insurmountable. Our entire

.i"il"r, *"rrJ vanish with a couple of-

il;;;;il tuut' R larse number or

""*1rnt came in with our Stateman

;;t.if - faio for bY a sYmPathiser -.ii, *no'r.nows, some more subscribers

..1, .".. tt"m people who like to have

.n l"'*"r,itt iournal o.nce a fortnight ' '

il;;;;; ;;''louslY thought theY could

do without us'

l. ln 1942 the Germans werc planning

;';;;;,;;in SPain aiming to instar

i;.{"-"i;i'i" Stt'uno Suner (*ho

-"u.-F-ru..o's brother in lalr ) as Chicf

"isoa.. \A'hat foiled them?

2. A famous pianist became President

"t t i. c.""t'Y b"to"tt it lacked

sufficient famous politicians' lr'ho rvas"fr"^."J*ft"t caused his death?

3. For what reason would a reader at

it. rriairft Museum need to call uPon

three trustees - onc of them having^

;;. ;h. ;rchbishoP of canteburY?

4. Juan Lechin is todav leader of the

soiiriu,, miners' an Anarchist ocupy-

ino a trade uniori position rrhich is

'J;t :il;; Ji'u r.i"t"tionarl' struggle

i"i r-rt. i"tto'er of the mines' Ho*

;; A. nrini'g comPanv come to

li,,oi;;;;'o?uur' a rebel in the

first Place?

5. Someone who'has been commem-

;;;i; Israel as aJeu'ish fighter -

i"i f...a"t" because of involvement

i;';.c.ori;l.acy to kill Hitler had in

;;; ;; ties with anY. religous or

nationalist bodY.and was an

independent socralrst r'tho ltorked

.;tll;;ith anarchists' \t ho?

CONTENTS

DISORDER

.3

,4

LETTERS ' '

EDITORIAL. ' . .

i*ort uNroNrsM AND rHEsTlli^;;;lffi"^=#t-*iii *.'EMENT rN K.REA'

ANARCHY IN SWEDEN

STRIKE.BREAKING, MUTINY O*? ::Y:l:Part 1 .

.8

Parl2JOHANN MOST From Anarchy bY

BUNKER RE.OCCUPIED"

ITALY: Workers Counctls" ' ' '

TOTTENHAMOUTRAGE'""REVIEWS: Black PaPers; Sinews;

J.Most...

lnsurrectlon; Thlrd Beich;32

1016

.21

.27

.28

.31

Butldoze'; Blob ' ' 3638

ANSWERS TO OUIZ " " '

DISARMTNG THE STATE:.39

PostscriPt ' ' '

FORTHCOMING ARTICLES: Updating on the Miners;

Picketing and the nrii'union Legislatorq Muhsam:

the Man and His wo't;irl" iWn go":t:.t: - Madrid

l;iiftil, Sotdiers Councils in the British Armv

during WWll and much more' ' '

Black Flag Summer 1984 tuce 2

Answer s on Page 38

EDITORIALT'/RANNY BY CONSENT

'Tt,e Media' has become a flip phrase tocovsr the brainwashing which all govern-ments need in order to remain the rulingpo'ver. Tyranny by repression b the mostexgnnsive way of going about a lob that canbe better carried out by persuasion, Even if aState need to bring out the tanks in order torei,rforce its arguments, it still needs topersuade at least part of the population - ifonly the military - and may as well rule, ifit can, directly by persuasion,

Tyranny by percuasion b at work inall democratic countries, relying on excitingfal:e emotions by false emphais, formentingpreludices, hatreds, attachm6nts, dblikos,attrtudes. ambitions and above all trying toide,rtify State wiih the nation and nation withpec"ple.

No democatic safeguards have yet with-stocd mass conditioning; it is a condition forsocral change that the conditioning pro-gramm6 be smashed,

Of what use is it that people in Russiagenuinely believe in peace, when the Russianshav: been conditioned to believe that peacesimply means the absence of war againstRu.sia, while the Russian State's going to warwit r whomever it chooses is merely defence?

r1/hat difference does it make that inthe democratic countriBs we have the vote,wh' n all w€ can elect b a tyranny onlymo,Jif iable in its personnel?

3overnrnenB want us sattled, loyal,obedient and impressed with the need to obeyby :he 'soft police' of the media or, if we arenot forced to do so by the 'hard politicing, ofthe military or police aulfiorities, with rhisbehaviour being regarded as anti-social.

Alhen one looks at the immense problomsof .onfronting an entrenched ruling class, astrong State not in military defeat, and agov,rrnment which may or may not be strongin rolitical issues but is invariably so onmatters of security (especially against its'ow r' people), the wonder is that anyone triesto rstablish a revolutionary movement. yetthis has been done successfully, to be frustrat-ed t,y the fact that ths State then us€s its ownantiJote. Thb was done at one time byfasc,sm simulating anti-capitalist movemsntsin r,rder to bring the working class back toslavery. lt is done in our time by the univer_sity Basing itself on the premiss of marxismthat the workerc must be led by an ,educated,

clas, learned and not-so{earned professorspre-empt us with slogans and thesos andinvert socialist theoriss affording alternativeway; of entrusting themselves with leadership,or ;,t the vsry least, to trim working classideologies into respectability.

l4arxism introduced a new theme into'revoolution' - domination by a so-callededucated vanguard. Though in Russia this hasdegenerated into military rule and a central-ised leadership of ageing officials, keepingalive the Great Scholar,s momory, wo see itseffer t at its most typical in Libya, where _-

with not the slightest effect on the way of lifeof a country that has gone from feudalisrnthrough fascist rule to 'socialism' - we seeGadclafi's distortion of 'assemblyism,.

T he students are the revolutionary leader-ship but what are they supposed to berevo.ting against - excop.t the heretics fromlslanr - is hard to see, The fantasy of,workerscourcils' in Libya which means that groatcrowds of people are gathered togothor toscre.m at each othor and denounce the veryburerucracy they are working to koep, while

the Leader oks on beaming at this verydemocratic way of going about thing whichdoes not affect his autocracy in the slightost,is copied from China where Mao had thebright idea of being both Stalin and Trotskyin his own cultural revolution, and leadingboth government and opposition, hb ownadministratoE obligingly enacting tho part ofstage villains in return for starring parts.

lf as Anarchists our struggle againstthe main tendencies of the day seems hopeless,we have at least achieved a Pyrrhic victory inthat, while social conditions are ruled bysheer weight of profit and privilege, andworking lives by more stringent dictatorshipthan ever (reinforced by the threat of a non-working life if we disobey), many havemanaged to conquer loisure time living.Yes, we can be weekend Anarchists. epEcially ifwe express it by way of exuberance, music ordress! This alternative to anarchbm is at loasthalfacceptable to dre State, provided itkeeps within prescribed limits. especiallyif it adopE a pacifist restraint, particularly ifit succeeds in dividing the younger from theolder, the unemployed from those stillworking, the adventurous from those with

COMITE PRO ..PRESOS CNT . AIT

commitmen$, above all, anarchists by know-ledge away from the anarchists by instinct.lf these conditions can be maintained cynicismand apathy are bred into which much of whatpassod a few years ago for the 'Anarchist,movement lthe new, the 're-inrcnted" the'non-violent') has fallen. 'Why Work?' hasbeen followed by 'Why struggle', ,why doanything'; above all. why carry on a seeminglyhopeloss battlo by sacrificing time, leisure,money - in hard times, liberty. even life??

These qusstions are forced upon usby contemporary values, yet - thoughthey may induce many to give up in despairor f ind an illusory harbour in power politics -the people everywhere are prepared to acceptanarchist values and to reiect authoritarianones, in mainstream lif e no less than inI eisu re,

What prevents the breakthrough? Thoseadhering to the values consitently put forwardin Black Flag and its allied publications havealways maintained that the responsibility is inno way less due to those who perpetuate thefascist misreprosentation of anarchism - ascriminal of itself - than of those who havewanted to cash in on the name of anarchismwithout commitment to the revolutionaryidea of anarchism, or its means of achievement,or of the firm possibility of its reality oncethe will is there.

SOLIDARITY FUNDS

Anarchist Black CrossMutual aid fund iih f163.78;GuamSS f59.40. Redistributed to Spanishveterans of civil war in France andSpain, eight amounts of f25 - f200.Balance f23.18.CNT prisoners Liverpool As f6;Sheff ield R B f6; Surrey LD f 10;Ulster JB f 12; Cambridge pN f l0;0rlando Black Cross f1 - Balancef45.ln hand for Vancouver S - fl0.We were able to send a number ofveterans their end-of-year donation;hopefully we can do more of this infuture. Veterans of the revolution arein their seventies and eighties, w0rkingas shoeblacks or car park attendants ifthey're lucky. Maybe it's only a dropin the ocean but it's appreciated.

CNT PRISONERS FUND

Many thanks to all comrades who sentus donations for the CNT PrisonersFund. We managed to pass on f55 inJanuary 1984 when a comrade visitedthe CNT/IWA in Madrid. We shall havealso pased on another f53 by the endof April 1984 when some of us attendthe IWA Congress (again in Madrid).The fund is still open and more d0nat-ions are very welcome. All donationsreceived go to the Comite Pro-PresosCNT-AlT (lWA) - (The CNT's PrisonersSupport Committee).

Thanks again,Black Flag Collective.

Here's a list of donations received s0 far:PN (Cambridge) f5; LAG (Liverpool)f5; RB (Manchester) f6;Steve (Beading)f5; Ballymena Anarchist Group fl3;LFD (Surrey) f 10; Black Flag Collect-ive f l4;TH (London)f l0;SB (Cosham)f5; RM (London NW6) f5; MP (LondonSWI ) f2; Anarchist Prisoners Benefitfl 7.

Total: f 108

kge 3 Black Flag Summer 19g4

TBADB T]ITIOITTSM & TIID STATBGOIIQ Dilspute im oontext

The ctnllenge that the goverment issued tot}le eIIQ (@verrnent Cqnrunicaticrs tteadEnrters)staff in particular, ard to the trade uniqrnpvesent g,enerally, ras prfunarily qrerneouith the right to trade uni.qr ncnbership. Butttpre ms also a seqdary issue: nanely, thatof qle's lryalty to trade uniqrign in ryositi.anto the lcDtalty clemanded by the state, arrt ofthe subsequent cmflict thus presented.

Alnpst at the qrtset of the dispte the SpS- follq*ed alnpst i.nnediately by ttre IIrCIeadership - nade the initiaL mistake of ctroosingto fight the goverrnent qt the goverrnentsrcrn terrrs by trying to coq>ete ard be seen asbeirg 'nore loyal than ttrour. ltp tra& uniqrleaders thus pnalained lordly arrt vigororslytheir coplete lotralty to the State and ttreirurquestianing sqppct for CHe and al-l it stodfor.

Understandably ncre of the uniqr leaders wishedto say or do anlthing that rould danage theirnegotiating positicr. But their curilliatoryap4rroach ras their dqrnfall. WithiJl days ttreyhad ccnpronised the CHe star6 by offeringa no-strike agreefiEnt ard it was clear thattlreir prirre objective sas to ensure a cqrtinuat-ion of a forn of trade uniqrign - even if thattrade uniqrign was but ltErely a near irnitationof the t@thless staff asseiation so preferredby the goverrnent - wtntever the cost Eo theIabour ncveilEnt as a wtple.

To thus cqnprqnise ttrenrselves ard go, cap inharrd, must have irrleed provided the goverrnentwith th€ courage to gro the rihole trog and nraketheir victory orplete. And as soql as thegovemrEnt had a wiff of ttre sreet sre1l ofsu@ess - handed to thenr qr a plate - therewas 1itt1e holding thsn.

tlnder the circunstarres the IUC leadershipthus had littLe droice but to suggrest, rntpropose (tbat rculd lead to lega1 repercussiqrs),that ttrere be solidarity acticr. Ert this wasrge a case of ttre rar* arrt file teading tlrew;ay to fi$rt the govermEnts unicr bustingatteflIrts, rith the uniqr leaders larc1y folloingsr ard givrng thei-r unofficial bac*ilg-to autorFof sr44nat. Not weLl knen for anyth--inS to inaginatirre, the IIrc leaders grt the-idea arornd of a haLf day - rpt even i fuU&y - strike, called at sudr short rptie thatreslnirse was bourd to be limited. It rras sigrif-icant to note at the tinE that it ms the Rigtttof the TUC leadership that was 1rrqninent intaking q the mQ etployees @use. nrt thisis not surprising; after all, tpst of the eHeerrployees are wtriteqllar civil serrcnts enplq@in ttre tlpe of jd that rp sef-respectingstatist, never mird rigtrt*irg trade unicrist,xuld ever dream of questicring.

the protest took Blace and support was errtrralfing. Brt it was clear that the inqrtus forfighting against Funiqrisatiqr had by thenlcnq passed. Ttre stro of strergtb, in Ehe formof a series of wil&at natiqrdide strikes,stlould have ccne mrctr earlier qr in the dislutebefore the negotiatics, not at the eleventhhour rrhen all ras lGt. Ey the tirrE the half

day of act.iqr took place the goverrrEnt hadalreaQt sueeded in sccing a psyctrologicrrvictory as the last fs eHO enpfqfees capit-ulated to the blatent coercion.

As so ofEen with nany other irr:lustrial diqr.rtes,rhere slarpathetic actiqr is deliberately lretdback (for supposed{ tactical reasqrs) in reserveas a final. ploy, far too mEtr en5*asis endsW bins plaoed an negotiating strategy inthe initial stages ard not enough qr direcEacEion as a wealut to be used at every availableqportunity. In this part.icular instare dtectaction could have included a withdranal ofsqtr)ort ard back-rp services frcm @fe by &wnenployees in other goverrlEnt establisMents;the disqmectim of teleccnmunicatim linksto mQ by Telecun $orkers; and ttre occtrpatiarof the offices of Ehe Intelligence Services(lfI5 and UI5) - wtlo both work closely with€IA.- bry rcrkers generally.

Such actions alone cotrld rrct trope to gain arryrvictory for trade uniorisrn: ttre goverrnenthas a proven trac* record of intransigerreand mfQ would probably be able to boast sufficientloyal staff to ccd)ine with any 'ccrEingerryforce' and suitably trEet any challenge of enfoncedisolation the trade union npvenrent could irpose.A.s it was ttrere was urrcertainty as to wtrether the€HQ staff ttresselves had the will to fighta protrrcted struggle. Purtherrpre the factthat the It C nent out of its way to cqrtainthe dispute and prevent it frqn escalatirqfurther seems to suggest that they nuy havebeen *orried that other Crom erpfoyees rurldcqrE next in line for deunionisation.

€lIQ nci{ has a staff assaiation in place ofa trade union arrl pay awards and inqrroverentsare s€ttLed internally, with no re@urse tostrike rtiqr at the erplryees disposal ifthirgs don't go tbeir way. The IlrC is fulIytrare ttnt srch staff assrciatiqs are by rnneans fe and far betreen. In IIEny industriesstaff assaiatiqrs are i-rryosed and this t:endis significantly iraeasing. It is deuniqrisatiqrb1t stealth. Ard little is being &re to preventthis trerd.ilany of the r taff asseiatias are being settp with the assistare of paid cmsultantswto ryecialise 4 this ativity. And it is notjust a Etrenqrersr of the rH JatrEnese takeo\rers.@Ioiting t"he uanptoltnent situatict nanlzne+r corpanies, eqncially ttrce who have acqttro1lirtg interest abnoad, dqnrd that eployeessign a nqpuniqr agre€fiEnt as part of theircstditim of erploynent. The staff as.saiatiqsprovide rp job protectian fc erplolzees wtnt-soever. Cqrpanies harre fourrt that it is easierto pay off the (gtrall) fines fon disnissal.infringerents. Again nEnagerEnt cqEultantsare paoviding the best strategies for ranagaurtto effectively deal with any distrrtes tlatray arise with the assaiatiqs. Collectirrebargainfurg is, of @urse, protlibited and epfoy-ees end up firding ttrcmselves W against rptjust nnnag,enent but a rrear army of legal advisors.

fhe philosatry behind ttre staff assaiatiqris exactly ttre sane as that gcpqm&O by the

Black Flag Summer 1984 tuge 4

goveIIIIEnt in the ffie disgrte: wtnt is goodf"r tf,E gcrrpary is gmd for tbe staff, nhatis good for the State is right fc afi. rtri,sis corgnratign in industry and in seiety.In both cases we are asked - or rather @rced- to rept that the needs of the State ardt{e ,.9S of nunagenent naturally coirrcidewith all needs-

As a result of the goverrmentsr victory atGCIIe tre are rH faed with a situatiqr'wtercbytrade uniqrisn in Britain is rn fcrfi permissablewithin a certain sector of enpfoffii ln pEeviousP_lack Flag reporrs ue hpotlreiifiljit ttregotrerrrtEnt would fook for other State departnentsto deuniqrise. pertaps ** Uini"t y-ot-O"foo"alAre Rryal G&rare Factories (wticfr *

""_,!9 be privatised) or the p"ivite-OetG estaulistnents? With the "qruei"io" of d.f"r: irdust_rles into seia_llv y"efuf inAustries ttigtr qrthe prioriry lisr of ".* t "d";iioiit ,

-it m_av ue in rhe state;i-i.nteisiT"-il*.._,t*Ioyalties while ttrey are sti[ able. Ihe rpstrike agreeflErr,t noura ue J-L"i.r.r" ;;*t=the goverrnent n " g""it i" .rei* il

".",rri.r,gtlre protectiqr of the defere industries frcrnany enqaoactflEnt-

The enforerent of lqlalty to tlre State _ Hhichis what o@urred at GCIle - is, wtren it cqrEsdcHn to it, but a form of Berufsverbote. IneIq"V this policy covers all State industries,rot just those crerning natiqBl security.Thus a precedent, or rodel, on a far granderscale to that initiated by tte gritish State,is available stmld arqz kitish potiticianvish to stuQr reasures to strenglnen tte lryaltyof ttree-erplryed in the civil service, them.nicilnl authorities and essentiat industries.

taken in oontext, therefore, the goverrnEnthas _not 9try *f,"S.d to score a vi.to.y againsttrade uniqrisn but has also helpd to -o:eatecqditiqs for the resurgenoe oi a n++tdarthyisn.

}9 p.rt of this gcrring ctirnate of q4xessianit is rpt to unfeasible to suggest liat govem_nent eitics (eg, OD sulporteii, etc) wtrognssess. political slmpa.thies contrart/ to theprevailing goverrurEnt in porer crcufdUe subjectedto sautiny and possible disnissal fron enplo1,nent.If this sounds a bit exaggerated one only hasto look asross to tlre other side of the iu"anticald note what haFpens every tinre there is achange in Adninistration. in the USA tt. poot..t_ian against enplryees wtro side wi.tfr tne-qposit_iqr works trro ijays, but it r.or:fA be OouUtfufif Iabour, here, rculd lnve the guts-io apply:ugh.a policy in their favour if the ruriesinitiated it-In one B]ac\ Flag article, prblished i+e11 beforeEne reveratiqs in TbS_SlgIgiE! neflspalEr,re pnedicEed ttnt ttre_-urrenE-goverrnent paranoiaover nrcles and dissidents would be extendedto go well beyond their pneoeupation wi.tttrade_union rigtrts ard that, in'fact,

"o-t"._disaffection nmsures I or a' eorm-oi-pofiii""rvetting) wo{rld eventually be appfi,ea'io-i[mainstream govermrEnt, civi1 sirvi.. una-ro.."=pS.s.91r beginning with those wtro roori inErte rpst .sensitive' departrents in ttre t{inistryof DeferEe. Irb Bere partfy right in *, pr"a:."t_rons In that it was later announced that politicalvetting uas to be stepped up for s"r"i; iersonner.As a result of these arrrouncerrpnts rre thenposed the question wtether tte governrfitsprarrcia rrculd ertend even fuftfier to irrcf.uaette possibility of disaffedi; *irfi-H*Aned Fores. fte political vetting-of civif

senants rculd be insufficient to rEet thepresent gorermEnts needs - a neutralised CivilSerrrice woul.d need to be developed in tarderryiq.u politically disarned (ie, loyal) Hitirary.As it turned out it uasnrt long - Jmatterof a ueek - befone nfl r€grulations rere introdr:ceddiscouraging nertbers of ttre Anred Forces frqnbeaqning a reflber of any political or dissidentgrror,p. Attendarpe of a denpnstration by Servicepersonel could nean the instigatiqr oi discip_linary [Exlsures. In addition Service personnelare nff under an obligatiur to ensure that!=V are rpt subject to ant/ form of incitenent.The questiql re could ask here is have thegovermEnt any grounds to be crycerned ttntdisaffectiqr will becqre an issue of prcnrinerrce?

I{trictr brings us brck to the origirnl question9f lc1alty and lryalty to wtrcrn. Bluntly, isit not tine fq trade uniqrists and noir-traAeuniqdsts alike to reognise that lcryalty tothe State and loyalty to trade uniqrign arenever curplerentary (ntridrever gp\rerrltEnt isin porer) but are dianetrically ryd wepts?And that the npre workers erd W ccnparqnising-therselves in this req)ect the npre ttre traaeunion rovenent will erd rp noving ttrards thed$t, anC the oounEy to a qle party statea

Iabottr organisatias Fy. * business eeratingwithin State-sponsored institutiqs and' conniss_i6rs, or of giving orederrce to Legistiiionthat merely 1imits their capacity to fightin justice. Indrstrial tribr-rials, - arbitritloncanmittees, ,j#eeationr sctreres: afi arebut reans of cantaining labour resistad.F lorrg as the ItC continues to recognise thelegitimacy of the anti-labour fars, 6-areleft with no other choice but to re""grrt*tbat as an urberella organisatian, nofo arUnore orientated to wtrite-collar aspirationsard offering little trqe for the j;ble; andIrer pa.id, the Tt C is itself g"6,raify-bingTansfgr.ned into a gigantic stiff as#iitiqr(ur all but nallp) that bears rp relevance wtnt_soever to workingr--class needs.

Inevitahly there wiII corE a tiJne wten therpre militant unions will need to disengagefrqn this crLurbling dinosaur anA in-its'pfacer9T a seperate fighting body _ a federalionor Doth workers and -iobless _ wtpse loyaltyis to no authority, no goverrurent, no stateEqJer, or union bureaueat.

Ihat tirrp is ncnr.

T.H.

kge 5 Black Flog Summer t9g4

THE ANARCHIST TIIOYETIIENT IN KOREA

The vitality of the Korean AnarchistMovement essentially centres aroundthe country's profound desire forindependence. This strong nationalistinfluence on the anarchist movement _dating back to the most pure traditionof Bakunin and Kropotkin - hascaused, and still causes confusingaspects. On wanting to influence apotent nationalist movement fromwithin, there always exists the riskof being influenced in turn by nation-alism. Makhno also faced this problemand knew how tb cope with it. Koreananarchists continue the struggle againstpro-USA capitalist dictatorship in theSouth and the pro-USSR dictatorshipin the North.

Some HistoryKorea h rd its own culture and langu_age a thousand years before Christ butquickly el1 under the influence ofChina ar d then - like China itself _fell undt r the influence of MongoLia andManchu.ia. From the end of the 16thcentury rnwards Japan started to makeits influt nce felt. The end of the 19thcentury rnd the beginning of the 2othcentury r.rarked the height of foreignlnfluenc ,in Korea and resulted in 3wars: be ween China and Japan inI 894-1 8 )5; between Russia and Japanin 1904- 1905 and between the USAand Chira, (a war twisted to look as ifit was a , ivil war between the Northand Sourh) in 1950-1953..

The Character of KoreanNationalismBy the 1 )th century 2 tendencies hadarisen: a lairly clandestine intellectualbuild-up on one hand and a violent.anti-fore gn popular explosion on theother which included peasant revoltsin the co rntryside south of Seoul betweenI 863-18r;4 and then again between1 890-1 8()4 during the independencemovemelrt. A little later on, two moresocial mc vements would shake thervhole country in almost the samemanner: in 1919 the ,Mansei, proclam-ation of independence, and in 1 960the counr less demonstrations againstPresident Singman Rhee.

Such rratural use of direct actionoccurred wherever there were Koreans,and espet ial1y with the Korean emigrantpopulatic n in Japan, China and Man-churia (3 neighbouring zones). Between1 907-1 9 1 3 Japanese forces in Koreawere conrinually harassed by guerillas:190'7 - 323 actions; 1908 - 1449;1909 - 898; 1910 - 147;1910/t I -52; 191 \ 12 -30; 19121t3 - 5.tnthe Chinr se city of Harbin, Hirobumi

Ito (Prince and author of the JapaneseConstitution and the man responsiblefor Japanese involvement in Korea)was assassinated by An Tchounguin inOctober 1 909.

The Beginning of the AnarchistMovementAlthough social conditions in Koreawere favourable we don't have a detailedaccount of the birth of anarchism. InJapan and China, anarchist movementsarejust starting. In 1920 there areManchurian anarchist battalions fightingside by side with Korean nationalistgroups against the Jap6nssg 41n-rr.During a military parade they surround.-ed a Japanese coiumn and wiped out morethan 1,000 soldiers; while sufferinglosses of less than 200. It was thebattle of Ch'ing Shan-Li, waged by'the Anarchist General' Kim-Chwa-Jin(aka Kim-Joa-Jin) in October 1920.

The Korean presence in Manchuriawas so strong that Kim-Chwa-Jin (aIsoknown as the Korean Makhno) andChoung-Shin (among others) inspiredthe founding of libertarian communesamongst Korean refugees from March1925 onwards. until a communistagent assassinated Kim-Chwa-Jin in

The Movement Up To l94SF.ollowing the long 'Declaration ofKorean Revolutionaries' (mostly con-cerning nationalism) the first AnarchistOrganisation was founded in January1934. On 2nd November 1928 inPengouaong the Generai Confederationof Korean Anarchists was founded incland estinity.

In April 1930 in China, the EasternAnarchist League was re-organised andrenamed the Korean Youth League ofSouth China. Such activity was continuedby the Anarchist Youth League. the

Eastern Workers Federatlon (bothfounded May 1930) and the WorkersBlack Flag League (June 19,30) inJapan.

We don't know the exact reiationsbetween Korean nationalists andanarchists. From 1919 onq'ards aRepublican Government existed rnexile,led by President Singman Rheein Flawaii, the Prime Minister and otherministers residing in China. As Chinawas at civil war (between Chiang-Kai-Shek and Mao-Tse-Tung, so Koreanexiles were also divided between'liberals' and'communists', betu'eenKim-Kou and Kim-Won-Bong. In anattempt to secure increased supportfrom Chiang-Kai-Shek. Kim-Kou laun.-h-ed a violent campaign.

On 8th January' 19-il. Lee-pang-Chang (aka Yi-Bong-T;han ak: \'r-Pong-Ch'ong) tirres a'eon'o ar theJapanese Fmperor's car:tage. On t 5thApril I 931 in Shanghai. \'um-Pang-Gi1(aka Yu-Bon;-K:-r ln:es a bomb anclkilled Japar:x General Shirakawa(contmarJ::g l:oops ln Manchuriaat the :rct: r. s'ounding several othersinclu:::g r :tnister and an admiral.

L: :: -r.i .i.Je subjeclive interpret-:::: r-... Jr;anese poiice documentsi::',':l: ',rs u'ith precise figures of::::c ns Juring 1937; 'Korean AnarchistsI : , :r t he T chong-Hwa-Am group are::ilaborating with Chinese anarchists::--enIl)' released from prison; theyal: preparing terrorist acts. Theyhave already received considerable1 unds.

'Kim-Kou sent You-Tcha-Myong tovisit Tchong-Hwa-Am, carrying a

letter saying: 'Let's forget the past,overcome our theoretical differencesand unite! I have money and materials.We could work together as before.Please come and see me immediatell'as I urgently want to talk to you.'Tchong-Hwa-Am left Chenchiang Citl'and met Kim-Kou.

In January 1934 the Korean anarch-ist movement helped found a rer-oiution-ary workers union and in I 935 partici-pated in the Japanese Anarcho+ommun-ist party. It was also active in China.through the Revolutiona4 KoieanLeague.

As a result of thes: e::c-s. Koreananarchists seemed tc b::rl:emel1-close to their Chines: :nJ Japanesecomrades and ve1' --^:.e :o Kim-Kou'snationalists.

The llovement {fter 1945In 19-1-{ 'L::;:.::.:' Korea was goingthough a i-e1 :oiigh time, the Japanesegovernrn3nl handrn3 over power to a

pu?peI gcteinnent. while the Chineseautho:ltres hindered the return of

January I 930

Black Flag Summer 1984 kse 6

I.orea's exiled government whoserrembers returned in the middle ofIiovember. Finally, President Singmanl.hee arrived, as did American Occupat-i,rnal forces, while the Russians plottedi r the North.

It was during this dark period thattlre anarchists reorganised themselves.I r Anwi City (South Korean) thePreparatory Committee for the Cons-truction of a New Korea was foundedby Lee Sui-Ryung and Ha Ree-Rak. TheL tter also being President of the Uniono'Free Peasants; representing them attrre National Congress of Peasant\\ orkers in October 1945, which latertrLrned out to be manipulated by theC:mmunist Party.

In November 1945 anarchists organ-is:d a meeting in Seul, with67 comradesp'esent, and founded the Free SocialC )nstructors League (sic), whose aims\^ e reproduce below:

'We abandon our famoufhge and leaveclandestinity. Thit declaration breoks thechains of silence and proclaims our aims andptinciples to the world,

'Everybody wonts to be free. Equat.it..,is the fundamental conditions for sociolliJe. Mutual Aid is the principle factor inetolution. As a result, when these foctors orela.:king, things are deviated and socierl.cr tmbles.

'1,!e have fallen into the pit of socialruin. llhen y'e loe interest in freedom andeqwlitl' and favour our own interests throughignorance, we forget the aim ol mutual aidand ow society yeers towards impotenceand conuption.

_ 'For four centuries, from Im lim onwards,the poison dagger of Japanese oggressionpunctwd our hurts and decimated our lives.Tbe dignity of 30 million Koreorc hos beentrcmpled on, and our long history of freedomb tver.

'pnl1t by purging all the elements ofnational ruin will we leove destruction,restore life to ow people, and rebuild ourh_istory. We musr not only rid ourselves ofJapanese Imperialism, but also of our int'ernolenemies: lack of freedom. inequalitv ondreciprocal antagonism. In their place wemust put mutuol aid, aroutd which we mustbuild our future society bosd on fredom andeqyglity. No other method, no other theorywill ever guarontee happiness and prcspaii1,to our 30 million inhabitants ond theirchildren,

- 'llith the help of the people, we havebequn to spreod our ideas ond light for ourideals throughout the country, Ilowever,we con't fight, even with the people,s suppon,o_n ? fronts ot the same time: I. ioponeie'Imlterialism. 2, Capitalists lfeudaliis /collabor-ato"s ond 3. Those disgraceful revolutiorwrieswh,,

-struggle for a dictotorship. In theseconditions we make it clear that we wish tocollaborate h,ith olt truly revolutionorynationtlkt groups.

on the bottlefield givet renewd aourage toouraflny. Onseeing commdes cpreod through-out the country, we confidently coll on themto Wrticiryte positively in the task of recon-structw a new Korea.

At the.same time, we wish to assume themain role. lttill others really seek to controlthe thitst for power, and re-establish life andprosperity to pople deceivd by the past?

'The strugle continues. Attd even thoughthe main enemy, lopanese Imperialism, hasbeen cut to pieces, btack heaiy clouds stillthreaten us.'

'Our two-heoded enemy isn,t like a naturalobstocle that encowages bravery. On thecontrary, it promi.ses us future bloody battlesand demands pntlonged effort in order tocomplete notional reconstruction. So, forthe moment, vre must put ordinary mattersto one side, and strengthen our solidarity inpreporation for the fight. The blood of ourmartyrs flows in our veins. Their experienceenlightens us.

'lle raise our flog without hesitation. Anew Korea completely free, completely equaland based on mutual aid will be created onlythrough o free federation of local unitsthroughout the country. l'or this new cam-paign we must unite ourselyes with all nation-alist ormies on the left until confidence,independence ond complete liberation hasbeen achieved.

Programme:I ) We favour the collapse of all dictator-

ships and the creotion of a new Koreo,2) We reiect the market economy system

and propose a decentralised societv basedaround local units.

3) lle ospire to the realisation of the ideatof bne family throughout the world,throughthe principle of mutual oid.,

On 25 December 1945 a MoscowConference of Foreign Ministers fromUSA, USSR, GB and China passed 2resolutions:

1) That Korea would remain underthe joint control of the 4 powers for5 years.

2) An American-Soviet Committeewould administer the North and theSouth.

By 27 December all of Korea'spolitical parties had opposed theseresolutions. In the South, Americansbrutally suppressed the protests. Inthe North however, the communistsapproved of them. Because.of therepression and their willingness tocollaborate with the Japanese, theAmericans became intensely dislikedby a large majority of the population.

Oniy the Anarchists were opposedto both the Americans and the RussiansOn 23 April 1946,a Nationai AnarchistCongress was held in Anwi City, in theKyong-Sang Nando province. Comradesreturned to Korea from China, Manchur-ia, Japan and from prisons to attend.There were 100 delegates includingUu-Lim (aka Yu Hwa-yong), Shin-pi-mo, brothers Lee Eu1-Kya and LeeJung-Kyu, Pak-Sok-Hong, Bang Han-Sang, Ha Chong-Chu, Lee Shiyan, HanHa-yan, Kim Hyan-U, Yang I1-dong,U-Han-ryong, and Choi Yong-Chun,

The most controversial point duringthe Congress was the idea of an anar-chist political party, put forward byYu-Lim's group. Before the .liberation,of 1945 , Yu-Lim was a leading figurein the Chinese Branch of the GeneralLeague of Korean Anarchists. At thesame time he had been a CabinetMinister for the Korean ProvisionalGovernment, organised by severalradical and moderate groups in Shanghaiin 1919. In December 1945 he returnedto Korea with the rest of the ProvisionalGovernment, of which he was stl1l amember. The participation of anarchistsin Government has always brandedthe anarchist movement everywhere.For Yu-Lim and his followers thesituation was a follows:

'The situation in Korea is a very specialone. The Korean people hove neither a freecountry nor a free government. Without thepossibility of governing themselves - havingbeen denied this right - Korea has fallenunder the tyranny of 4 foreign powers. Inwch conditions onorchists must respottd tothe desire of the Koreon people to re-constructtheir country and to establish their owngovernment. Must arurchists sit back and donothing? If this hoppens, Koreo wouldcertainly foll, alreody being in the hands ofStalinists in the North and Capitotistsfimper.ialists in the South (. . . ).'

The Congress decided to acceptYu-Lim's proposal and its consequences.There was a split between those u'hosupported Yu-Lim and organised theIndependent Workers and PeasantsParty and those who supported rhe Lee-Kyu brothers and founded the Leagueof Autonomous Villages and the Leagueof Autonomous Workers.

In November 1 949, j ust a feq' monthsbefore the war, V. Karh. a delegate atthe International Anarchist Congress inParis declared: 'In \{a1' 1946 a 'WorkersParty' and an'Independent Workers'movement rvere founded as well as ayoung Workers Federation and a StudentFederation. The Korean AnarchistFederation has 3,000 members and600,000 sympathisers. Two daily papersare pubiished and one weekly magazrne.The Federation has started 2 Night

'When we euoke these four centuries ofstruggle, we remember how many sacrificesour commdes hove mde. Some died focingtheir enemy, others on the gallows. Thewett and blood of these comrudes, stainedby t he sadness of life behind bors, willnev,'r be forgotten. Ow triple enemy stillremembers its hesitation aid far in iront o1our bayonets. The blood shed by our mariyrs

lilillllliliililiriicH tNAllill

NORTHKO REA

SOUTHXO REA

Page 7 Black Flog Summer l9g4

Schoc ls and two more schoois in theprovlr ces.,During the war, the situation of

comrades and the Korean AnarchistMovertent is not known. Contacts withthe In ernational Movement seemed tohave been re-established rr";J-i;;i,with J rpan.

At :hat time the Korean peoplewere s rffering under a dictaiors-hipof Kin -i1-Sung in the North. The'anarch ist movement re-organised itselfunder he name of the ,Free feopt",

--

Federation,whose first six aims wereprod,rce here:

I ) Eoch of us is an indifidual, a freep_erson tnith antrol over his or hq'octions.tle aitn

.,o build a free socirty *n"i" iiii '

people.have come tugether ol their oinfree will

2) All individuals haue equal sovereisntvo-1t1y r.hgir 9yn actions. No one con ui"ioiitn:.n-gh.!.

rye reiect all politicol concepts

whic-h dtvide the people into rulers anb rukd.. s1 wr regard as criminal anyone who. bvwhateva means. seizes ,n" f*ir, ii rii'",labour of others h,ithout contribu;ing his or

her own labour.4) In this free society of free men and

y1*rn: rconomic life should be organisd1:in! ,!r, tines of,from each a""oriing ton-a_o-r het own-obility, ro each accordlng tons or her ned.'- 5) I!1 tine with these basic principles, the

free soViety ol the future will illo* in" i"r"i.o.pm_ent,of a variety of modes of life accii.tng to th" special nature of each distrid andeach occupation.

.. 6.) At the same time os transmitting thed is t in ct c u lt ura I c horo ct er ist i c s of , iii, i"i im,-i!:!.!:*:, lfn pssed thro ugi ;i; ;c;;,';;otm ar the ochievement of world p*"" ,:hro'ugithe harmt,nistion of those mony colourfulcultures-

,- 1!. Japanese comrades (see LiberoNo.1) wiro published these aims trave"noted thrt martial law explained theabsence ,rf the word anarchist and themoderatron of the aims, somethingwhich may surprise those who knlwthe old anarchist movement. One mustalso understand that anarchists areprobably only tolerated because oftheir ant -communist position.

The Federation has two tendencies:Politicat ind Co-operativist.

The p tlitical tendency has yang_Il_dong as.i s president, Chong_Hwa_a'mas nls ad\rsor and Ha_Kee_rak as presid-ent of th,r Advisory Committee. yang,as an ana.chist, founded a Koreanworkers r nion in Japan in I 926 and wasrnvolved . n the publication .Blackl lag' {got.d namel ed.) which was theOrgan o I Korean Anarchists in Japan,(before tl e war). Chong is often refeir-ed to as tlre ,father, of Korean Anarch-ism. He \4es an activist in Korea. Chinaand Mancruria before the war.

. The Cr -operativist tendency is head-ed Lee-Ju r-Kyu, the brother oi tee-iu1_Kyu, a we il known anarchist. Knownas the 'Korean Kropotkin, Lee_Eu1_Kyu was 1 resident of the famousConfuciar University of Sung KumKwan and. as a director of thi Investig-ative Institute of Culture. he exerciseia consider:rble lnfluence over teachersand young people in South Korea.

Many teachers went to the countrvsideto organise 'autonomous villages, _ inthe tradition of the Russian .Narodniks,or'populists' -,Conespottd en ce,, IheOrgan of the Movement of AutonomousVillages, is co-ordinated by farf<_ieung-han, an anarchist who lefi his job as a-geography teacher to live in the country.

..With grear difficulty, the Federationed.ited many books during 19j3_74(ali with a print run of 500), including'Anarchism 'by George Woodcock, ''Modern Science and Anarchism,byKro_potkin,,The Unknow n Revoluiio n,by Voline. a biography of Kim_Chwa_Jin (published in an official version in1963'). and the collected writing ofLee-Jung-Knyu.Translated from the Mexican Anarchist

paper El Compita (Jan_Feb l9g2)

ANARC}IYIN SWEDEN

Anarchism in Sweden in l9g3 rapidlydeveloped. For the first time in years,

'

national conferences q.ere held. Therewere groups and indivlduals from allover the country. The first meeting washeld in Stockholm, the Sri'edish capitul,was attended by more than 100 peopleand a second meeting onl-v t*.o monthslater made 60 anarchists trar.el to Uppsalaand find their way to a place in ttre mia_dle of a forest. Most had to walk rn thecold and completely dark winter nightthe last 9 kilometres, a good hint aboutthe interest.

We have started a network based onan address list of groups in S,*,eden whichis a good startingpoint for further co_operation. This means much better dis-tnbution for our papers. Our groupspaper is not very spectacuiar, and iheinformation we try to spread is mainlvot interest to people who are alreadyanarchists. We spread information atoutSrr'eden and the anarchist debates, asuell as information on the internationalmovement. .{fter several years withouta Swedish anar;hist movement there areman)'groups and activities unknown toeach other. gir.ing grounds for us to thinkthere w'ill be a great expansron in thecoming years.

The main streams of Swedish anarch_ism are: Anarchists in the peace move_ment, using civil disobedience, both toget media interest in their demands (&they do it with success) and as an ex_ample for a decent living. Anarchistshave come to play an important role inthe new music movement, that occuredwith the punk wave. New music in the'70s was dominated by maoists, butsome anarchists were included. Fromthe punkwave there sprung a wider inter-est in anarchism, and many fanzinespresented anarchism as well as music,Local groups spread anarchist propa-ganda often making local papeis. ihesepeople have now seized the opportunityto work together.

Yet another path for Sr.r.edish anarksis the experiments with ahernativeliving.

Yet another path foi Sri.edish anarch_ism is the experiments w:tn alternativeeveryday life. Man1. of the activists ofthe 60s and 70s have i:rned collectivesor even small comnures :ound farming,trying to do it in an e,-oicgical *,ay.Together thef io::: al alternativemovemenr that :s :ssentially. anarchistic.

Some ana:ch:sts are hr.olved in build_ing an altemat:ve bank and an economicnenr-ork ro suppon the alternative act-rvities. The bank has no interest on itssavilg5 and loans. They spread inform_ation about the Cisasterous effect ofinrerest on society. They argue againstthe traditional economy and casf[ght

I

Black Flag Summer l9g4 kge g

ila

rn the linking between interest andnflation,

Anarcho-syndicalism is another strongendency. The Sveriges Arbetares Cen-ralorganisation, SAC with l5,OO0nembers has through the years beennfluenced by State intervention, as anrdministrator of unemployment moneyrf which 907o is provided by the State,iAC has declined to trade unionism.itill, the programme is the same, andrrnarchists are working to reestablish it: n practice.

There are also immigrant groups suchi s the Uruguayan comrades who put outrhe paper COMM{INIDAD and a group,,f people who want to form a Swedish-section of the International Workers- tssociation.

Sweden is a country where the Social_l)emocratic Party after being in power1 cr 40 years now takes a slogan fromthe Third Reich: Arbeit Macht l,-reilIt)ork makes you free!

Sweden is a country where smallt ourgeois communists work their assesr ff to recruit wage-slaves.

Sweden is a country which is charact_erised by the strong State. On the onel and the well. developed sociai welfares /stem, on the other, a State controlc ver the individual which has noc ,mparison in Western Europe.

Working class independence has beenn,'utralised by the State, and its longs< cial democratic rule. The main tradeu:rions are tied to the State through theP;,rty, Swedish 'socialism,, in the iormsor State, Cooperative movement and thebrLsiness making peoples movement, isreaily capitalism. Swedish .democracy,is totalitarian.

Ihe party election system and thein:ernal discipline of the party, reducesthe individuals chances of influencingp<,litics to a minimum. The situationoright to be explosive. The fact that itis not, can be explained by the highstrLndard of iiving, and by the fact thatth: injustice of the social security andta ( system creates a split among thedi.;possessed wage slaves and consumers.

fhrough the vast development ofrellistration and data pr.ocessing theauthorities have the possibility to getall the information they want aboutan individual citizen. The authoritiesde.nand,'with support in Law, that acil izen declare to the State where theyliv :, how many rooms and toilets theyha.'e, where they work and so on. Theso,.ial authorities harass single parentsin :rder to get information about theirse). life, If they have sex with the samepa tner too often they will be regardedas llegal users of social securitv.

Its not a miracle that a libertarianm< vement, in opposition to Statesor ialism, has grown since the beginingof :he century.

Ir 1898 the Youngsocialists (Ungsocialist, rna) broke from the Social Democratic r'arty, and in a short time they hadformed groups all over the country,

Several publishing houses issued booksby anarchist writers, from Tolstoy and

SAC has stopped its publishing ofliterature due to economic problemsbut at least three other publisherscontinue. Among them the Commun-idad group originating from Commun-idad de Sur i Urugual' who in theirprinting shop and everyday life try topractice and advocate selfmanagementin the widest sense.

Its not possible for me to give morethana hint of the situation in whichthe Swedish anarchists are working. Weare now in a period of building up anew, collected nationwide anarchistmovement, and we as a group .inUppsala have started a new series ofBrand.

SOURCE: Brand.Box 494751 KO6 UppsalctSWEDENStirner to Kropotkin and Bakunin.

Meetings and actions were held all overthe country. The war resisters movementwas one of the greatest manifestations.

Ungsocialsterna also took part in theforming of the anarcho-syndicalist tradeunion SAC which had good success andat times organised 30,000 people beingan important part in the radical move-ment and the main working class struggle.

The Russian Revolution and the mvthof the workers Fatherland, was a badstroke for the Swedish anarchist move-ment, as it laid the ground for the start_ing point of the Communist partv. Sincethen the young socialisrs has been per-ishing. The name has in the g0s beintaken by a Trotsk)'ist association whichhas nothing in common t,rth the originalUngsocialister.

SAC has kept the anarchist ideas aliveby publishing anarchist literature andby giving direct support to the survivingungsocialist groups. The Anarchists gotreorganised in the Anarchist propagandaAssociation, but the great upswing camein the late 60s. Shadowed by many ex-treme communist groups, a strong butdivided antlauthoritarian movementgrew. Ungsocialist groups came to anew life and magazines were issued inmany towns.

Today there is a strong anarchisttendency in peace-environmental andmusic movements. But no nationwideanarchist movement was formed forthe 70s or 80s. Attempts in 1976-:,9stranded on the differences of standpoint towards the issue of violence.A,wave of repression came in 19j7,when the security forces arrested 200anarchists (4 went to prison) and triedto build up a fancy picture of ananarchist "terrorist organisation,,. Thiseffectively stopped further attempts atunity. In 1979 a conference decidedthat the publishing of BRAND, organof the anarchist movement since lbggshould be ended.

The weekly magazine published bySAC is today the biggest libertarianpaper in Sweden. Its title Arbetarenand its tendency is moderate comparedwith other anarchist periodicals. piaxisApril, Total, Think About are examplesfrom around 10 other anarchist papers.

ANGRY BLUES(tune of:

Which Side Are You On?)

The rich are getting richerthey rest while we slaveWe just keep on workingFrom cradle to the gravc,l.t'hich side are you on,then, which side are you on?

We work to pay our rent,to some landlord pigWhile u'e live in squalorHis profits are growing big,Oh, uhich side are \tou on,which side are you on?

Lung cancer and deafnessBad backs and sore kneesAII we have to remind us of w-orkIs some foul new disease,Tellme, uhich side are \,ou on,Which side orc you on?

With one of us in prison.None of us are freeIf we don't work togetherNo free world will \re see,Oh, which side are lou on,uhich side are y ou on?

I'd rather be there fightingthe rulers all my lifethan be content andsettle down and while away my life,ll'hich side are you on,II'HICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Page 9 Bhck Flag Summer l9g4

STRI KE.BREAKING, MUTINY ANDCIVIL DISORDER

(peratfuq in Britain today is a nelativelyseqet organisaticrt ej lp ny .rre.s"ive go\renF,9.nts, whose specitic turcti.cirs arc-6 dea-f --"

:rip .anp _prt &nr any ortbreak" oi .irif o.rrEusLrtaL revolt. Ttris organisatiqr has atans. hisrory, sr€ming uaci1; tr*luir", p"rtof the Fi.rst rkld rui,-wtpn-ttJ';;;,lr *.!}_..t3t* by rarse *ir.,urtini"ili"t",mass strikes and revolutiqt. ttre-H-of *risseq.et organisatiq, has crEnged ti.d*,*tthe decades. Atyavs it tas.E; i'i*"il-* inn6prssoundturg n rE so is to rpt *rltiii.. a,the organisatiqr ras gir* lroil1ffi,'it"brief ridened to oover aff qrtiffiilies rtreregoverrrEnt conld be tt..at"r,ea--nti-Lntorganisatian is kru*n as.rhe civriEti,nmrres[NII. It is fullv qerative-and'G &.Uoulo"5In9 rhe eover;menrs arterprs ro s[IEsh rhemunrs strike. The gct, is nografi lilnitt**I_l g.*ive orsanisari_,- .rGtiri*iii."everl, q*nre of th9. "ri"us ;ai-*"i JL *rri."ip.raurhorities rhar atternpr r" ;ti;-or] :.iu.".Itre cL is a ortrnratilts-arean=;"t*.

Eyi9r.ly the q, ms krqrn as the EmcElfyCRGANISATTCN. efqg rhar ir *.-lila* tr*S'PPLY AIE IRANSPORT CRGA}IiSEIIclI:il ;,Org.:."9t_rP specifically as tire goverrmentsofficial strike{reakrnS b"dy- it t=i-p"a Ur."lttx: back of rhe *..4^ryi" "oa'IiE *:o.str-ikes. rn rhe earry rgio s"t#HHo. pru*to curb civir disordr

"ra it-iI liir'L *.sqre of tttose plans*-#ir'1ffi!:ff :ii.,riffiffied, wth

Ih€ GJ is, in effeqt., a State within a State.It is c.oposed of no secrret ".rrry,

-ro fir_rightparamilibry, no inner ^ab?t ;iii; iireaainessto seize pcrrcr. I?re army afready has sufficientpor€r, rhe paradlitaries or i# l-*_Iiomare not yet needed

"I"gpt ror wUt Hssing,white_the elite nho,,raLe ure riwlTra*J! tr,"rents are yet to ue ousteo;.## positiq,of yryer Utey already hold.Lur(ed to the ArrEd pqcs Urrough the t{inistryof lEferc, the mlie.Hrrougrh ffi'#.6rtio,the neuare aser,;ies, r-.r iu-dilii"!,.,,*ri.ipurcblErtrEnrs, ana e"eirr-gruft;;; ;;;?rru..rnctstries ard rEm, *ty.a"O *!*Giifi",ltf Gr tns a retrr6rr uraal; iGfriliiJ,u"afrightening.

Or the surfac€ the .r.U aptEars to have no Iprerof irs trn. rt i.s a servi& *ii, &railar*ffi &T"::r-x..9.;'h;6.ffi ;;t:=preOeeasors have been.qrtral in aeierrniningH'i.H}'*ffiffiffif"il*i*-

tns almys relied to a large extent qr theu:e 9f troqs as a rrEans oi interventiql ardat tirEs the State has been clearly *.:..aas to whether ttre troqs could be -oefieO

,-eu,to be used for this Frpose. Ttris article also,ttnrefore, Iooks at in aetaif Urose perioasin our recent history wtren large *ui" irt*i."and instances of disaffectiqr have cpirci&dwith large scale irrtustrial actiqr.

1l Trtl"Fq r.hree periods of hisrory are-exanined in detail: Ehe afLermath of i{orldIIu. I W to the GeneraL strike, the p"ri;tunrediately after t*{2, arA l9ti:-ig6a.-it*:rt1"19 *k.? !o preterEe to uiginal o*u.rt,ncst of the informatiqr is sfurpli op"oaur"Ofron already p:blished s"urce",-t" 6;;;".,before brougrht together as one.

CRISIS, WHAT CRISIS?

Part 1STRIKE BREAKING

this article exardnes the history of the mtJ.It looks ar tq this strikdre;ir"'"ff_rsatiqrcane about and hq, i! h., been deti;-,;"dY,.X*-gr9g"lrs of rhe d.y i;A;i,#.t

1918, thr Har was drarcing to an end but thegoverrlEnt rede no attslf,ts to denobilise.Instead the Har Office naae Aternativearrangerents to extend the nar cn Eo otherfrqrts. Ihe Htrites in no"iu f,"J'u#i.o fo,assitarrce-against the gofsheviis ilE th"*Ias.3 need to quell distr:rbarrces in fnaia.Purthenrpre Ctrurchill argued tirtlt-* senselessto denpbilise when as.vi&or" ir,. iltry shouldbe willing to capitalise ,p*, i-t; ,irr;OresourcEs to the full. Ctrurchill denanded thata standing army of a million t"."p" b";tainedfor duries borh ar hcnp arrd

"bil;: ii **also hvrried rhat ssifr d.,pbiii;iiil uouraIead to revolution: ttrere rns-fitti" *.r u"awtEt $ork there was was beset t ;;;tinuousturdustrial unrest. .chu::chill ;ed;-the rrcopsto _stay rcbitised for strikebreakftliti""and to further the mr effont. BrtH*-t

"ql"bad plans of their qin.

Thrurytput the war fight up to the signing9f tt= Armistice ana for .'p".ioa'-oe-ilrrdtrcJve rsrths after, the ccfutry1re"rl.rr*a*try qr a scale never befone iff. ;*yparly_every military base in ct.-coi"t y nuaits _t^ I 9 to tell . fairy irutarres-

-*=rJ f,**f,.0p for fear of otfnr iuti.ni." U Xing';rt.In scrrE cases mutinies were crrrring-in qEpart of the iounrrv, sith ttGe;;i*J univarethat sirnilar -tic;; rere taking plc in arptherP:+. In a*ritim there rere outlreaks of nasstui!," 9.rim ard riorins. fte-@dtd#sm-the brirk of revolutiil

"na tt*--il*ir.*t"crly an*er: sas Eo give in i"-denr"r,jJ'tir.at the sarE tirrE tri

.rcHn rhe suravfty "i''ffi fffr[iHt, to prav

3^_19j]: .1olg]r,s ro scrE reports, rhere hadDeen over 40,000 recolded inslancei #irtirrv,Iui$v irdividuats rerusing to 6-;";;"thtq)r ard ger shor. Bur 19ti o"'i tir"i* **a.s@n recuirs began !9..sa"G il;;;i""began to becqre a cotlective

""ti*."il-'rt"tlarge scale @llective rutul, of fiti"t troqstt !. t$ plaoe during Hfl r"as qr ferrlr soilat Etaples in SepEenber 1917.

Ihe Etaples mutiny ms sparked off bfr an irpidentwttere a British 6fai.er ana a rerpfr'"ur,;civil ani irrtustrial r*"i'sIii[#ejf,;

Black Flag Summer l9g4 kse l0

bystander yrcre shot b1z a militarlz policernn$t f . ccrrd had gattnred to corplain aborrtthe harsh qrditiqrs in the carq>. As a resuLt*g,tnd f000 troqs staged a riot. Ttre militarypolice were forced to set rry pickets ard thenelt day the m.rtineers organised neetings andheld a demcnstratiqr. Within a cor.ple oi a.y"the picket lines had been broken ana over Z0Otroops had gane AIDL. ReinforcetrEnts frcnr theIlonourable ArEillery Cor[)any rrere sent forand they, together with a detactrrErt frcm theHTF"fl .made rnanlz arrests. Finalty the ,nilitaryauthorities threatened ttre mrtineeis that unlessorder was restored then the IIAC uould be givenlicerre to do whatever they wished in retal,L_iation. ltre threat norked ana Ure nr.rtiny subsided.C[y a matter of days before Ehe Etaples riottmk plre, thro British curqnnies based atBoulogne cane out on strike. 27 ren rere shotas a result. Four days later. another cqnpanyrent ql strike and a further 19 were shot (4died). ltre mutinies oeurred reinly arong ttroseattached to the fabour Corpanies. fnese ccnpaniesrecruited nostly Chinese, Eglptians and thelog-term un€nplcryed as shit lamur for theuse of the other troops.

81, 1918 mutinies were no longer isolated eventsbut nor @nfined to front lire carps. In mainlandFit?in trcqs @an to nake denenis for denpbil_,sir91: At pirbright Caq), for exanple, lJunnersuent AJI)L, wtrile others refused duty. Tt= strikelasted for 3 days. Despite pronisejto ttreqrtrar1, the tringlea&rs, nere arrested andmade an exanple of; others r€re s€nt to thefrmt line to be shot. ArourrC tbe salre tiretroq6 at Folkestqrc, waitirg to be shitrpedio:9ps to Frarc, matinied and prevent"a *ryfurther ships fron sailirg. Ttre-nntineersslatiqred pickets at the doc*s ancl set Lq) ablockade. An armed guard was sent to s,rUifothe pickets but w:as foroed to rmke a retreat.Ttte next day over IO,OO0 troo;ls occrpied theEqn centre ard at a ttEss rally decided tofqm a soldiers uniqr. ttley ddEnded ttat tt"unim be given recognition arxd that nqre of

the troqs there be sent to FraDc€. Ttreir demandsrere rEt. Ct hearing about h,bat. hatrpened atFolkestqp troqls statiqrcd at reartry bvercarE out in solidarity. Arourd 4000 refusedto sail for farc and oerpied the tcnrn. Ttreauthorities rere forced to capitulate and grantedextended leave, while at the sare tine brougttformrd plans for denrcbilisati.qr.I,tren the armistice ras firnlly secured thefp\rernrEnts troubles had by no npauls ceased.Milisatiqr ms stiU flDving at a slm paceand the rcrst of the m.rtinies rrcre yet to ccrrE.Purthenre, even thou,gh there had been a fullscale mr cr, irdustrial r:nrest catinued.DEing the war itself, urpfficial strikes becarcthe nGm (under the Deferre of the Realm Actstsrikes sere rade iUegal). Aonsequently thetrade uniqs 1ct fuletus arrt porer srrung totbe grqring Strcp Steuards rEveflEnt. In I9I5,for exanple, an unofficial stoS4age b1l engineershought Clydeside to a standstill. In SouthIihles a year later wer 200,000 miners eralkedotrt in desnnd of a pay fuprq/errEnt. By thetirrE the nar had oqne to a close strikes reretaking place il npst irrdustries up and fu{nthe country.

It was arourd ttris tfue that the idea of anerErgenc.y orgirnisatian to sush rass strikerctiqr was first cqreived. Itre goverrnentalso beg;an to cmsider the setting up of pernanentarbitratim bodies to ensure that disputesdid not akays end up in confrontation. Itrras around this tirc that the gtritley Ourcilsuere instigated. lttei_r furrtion sas to providea lang term negotiating s€rivice for the Civilarrt Public Service erq>lo1zees. l{any grblic servantstoday stilI have to negotiate through thesegove:rutEnt sponsorea courrils.

By the end of 1918 the frequerr:y of the mrtinieshad readed epidenic level. Ttrose who t@kpart kn* exactly vtlat ttrey nere &ing. Iheyrere not just denanding better curditions andthe rigfrt to return hore, ttrey rere challengingauthority itself. Their ccrt ined acts nerethose of revolutionaries. Ttre censequernesof their actios could nean either 1ang terminprisalent or death. Tte 4t of nrrtinlz wasan et of desperatiqr; the &cisiqr to disaffectsas rpt taken lightly. ffany took part becausetttey had had ernurgh of the war and wanted toq)eed W the demobilisatiqr prcss. Uanl, rdantedto & what thelz oottJ.d to prevent arpther frontbeing opeoed t4) agBinst the ccnrmrnists in Russia.Others rrere sid<ened at just tltr the go\rerrnentms tryfurg to use ttrern as pErrt. ot tfreir strike-blieaking plan. [ost mnted to qriead the mrtiniesbeyond ttre carps ard into the tcirrts arxl citiesard in&Etrial entres. Cr at least tco occasistsmltineers in J,arge nLEbers atteoged to takeorrerfhitetEll and disnpt the seat of govermEnt.

Tte folloing is a brief a@unt of just screof the matinies reorded betseen Noverber 19Igard August f919.

llot€flber 191.8. After Armistioe had been declaredtroqs based at Strc,etran rralked otrt of capand stressfully fored the demcbilisatiqtof all utsipts there. Within days virtuallyeverllcrc there had been sent hqre.

Decesber 1918. Several depots in Le Bavre rereburnt. dcrn {l soldiers of the tbllal Artiilerl,.Ttey nere demandirtg to go trore. fn erctrangetRssian troqs rrere arrested by dis:ffectedBritish ard fenctr trioqls wtp rere statiqEdrEarby to belp the trhites. Ttp British andffii trocpS had rp interest in hefpirg the

Page 11 Black Flag Summer l9g4

lhites to subdue the Oc:rm.nists, so they forciblyrrpnisqpd the ltrite troAs. fte m.rtiny msfi1affy- quelled by a cantingent of rhite limrs,under the cqmard of British offiers, whonprtared the bar:crc*s rhere the British trcqlswere based.

.-anuary 19f9. koops arrt tanks were sent toGlasgfr to Irrotect the m.rnicipal halls againstytslkers in Cly&side h,tlo H,ere dernandirg a40 hour Heek. Itte strike leaders rere #resteOant tso of ttrem, lGnnie shintrell ard wiilieGalacher, rrcre ctrarged with irritenent to riot.At Biggin nill air hase resuits caried fua nErch to ltritehall over the deplcabte omditiqrsin the car1r. Instead they went cr "t i[., tmLover the base and foa:rrEd a soLdiers corxriif.They sueeeded in fccing the auttronities toreognise tbeir cor:rrcil ard to ltEet all denerdsrmde. Around the sarE tine nrutinies uere aLsotaking place in Felixttre, ndinburgrh, llaidstane,Blackpool, etc. In qre incident m#rs oftirc AnrEd Servie Cup seized vehicles anddrove ttrem into yltriteha-l.l in protesi at-U.goverrnwrts lethargy over denpbilisatiqr. Arourd1500 troqs look part in the protest. in Sortf,_arptm aroud 201000 tro4s cupi.ea the ffisand attacked a @neral. IIe later retaliatedby serrdins in arned military ard the riot police.Januar!, 1919. In Catais 20,000 BriEish troqsrere joined by HierEh rail rcrkers in a mrt-iny.Ot-her troops rere sent to quell the rutinybut these rdqre rron over b1z the noly fonnedstrike cqmittee. Itre cormittee ms cqrposeaof delegates who together pnesented derands,nuny of which were IIEt. Around this tine aspectac.'.[ar denpnstratiqr took place in fhitehallwfren 3000 troqls oerpied the area and refusedto leave. In the end ChurctriU serrt in arrEdsoldiers with radrinearuns arrt ondered ttrsntr) qEn fi_re if the nr,rtineers did not disperse.February 1919. Arourrl this tine mttinies tookplace at several anqr canps in soqttr l-rdrr.AL-Roqrth in Scotland the Gq ofiquiL.refused to sail and stalzed ni+-Jr"ar,-fi tn *ryks.. F" rytirry currea as u o."dt-& trcorw being leafleted b1z doc*ers *rEtt"aorrt to th€$ that ttre euiser *" a.r[G tobe sent to Rrssia to assist er.-ftit

".-e *rufplrrry atso rook place.ar ririlford rra;; ;renEDe crew of a naval patrol boat refused dutyand raised tne red flag.lrarctr_19l9. Pertnps the npst serious rmtinyof a1L. At KirrrEl Carp, North lh1es, troopsrioted. Pive rere killed, 21 injured. SqrEof the leal civilians helped ttre m,rtineers.The riot was brought about because of extensiveFfuyg in providirg ships to send the trcqlstrcrrE (ttley were Canadians). AIso ttey had reeivedreports that qr returning to Canada ttrey uouldbe used for strikebreaking p:rposes. en6$rernmpur ras that they rould not be ffiilisedand that tbey rere destined to be sent toRrssia to fight the ccnnErnists. Itre mltinee:sts* over the canp coqfetely, except for theofficers billets. Sore priscrers were eventual.Iy!"k* urd an atteq)t ms made to rescue ttrern.As a result offioers cpened fire, strootingwiidly arxf parwoking retaliat.ion. fn tne enathere sere 75 arrests and nurpr:r has it thatnost uere sumrarily execrrted in secret. Itras later found that qre of the rleadersr ofthe :revolt had had his stqnactr-rifpeAit rybayqrets wtnn a gup of "ri*""'[rJr&r.ahuq-

llay 1919. Over 9000 resenrists had been calledrp to deal with mass irdustrial u*""4 "rrd

the Irish tror:bles. At Aldershot canp therewErs_an atterqt to begin an insurrectiqr. Severalhundred troops took part in a riot and iaterthey mar<*red to parliarent to denand dersif_iatiqr and rort. In Landon ttre m.rtineers yeregfrqt$ by 1arge nurbers of police anl handto hard fighting broke out.

June 1919. Canadian soldiers rioted at rtritleyCanp. Also Canadians took part in a skirmishat &sqn and an atteq)t was made to resqretrrriscers_frcm a police station. A police sergeantvas ki11ed in the relee. Civilian tlfegaptris[srent on strike in Cairo. Tte mifiEry [ookorrer their positions. At the sail,e tirrE truqsin the Royal e&rarrce Corp based in Cairo rentql strike and forrrEd a soldiers courril. Ttreywt qr to burn dc*n a nurnition d,rrp

""a organisea general strike unless there was fumEdiatedorEbilisation. Hany rere aI] ested.

August 1919. I\rc ccnpanies of marines rnrtiniedwhile being statiqred at tturrEnsk. I.farry bereiryrisqred ard 90 were sent to Bodnin ryisonwtrere ttrey kept W their protests and cirrieaort a canqnigr of narqEratiql. As a resultrsp served their fuII senterc and al1 rerereleased within a matter of nsrths.

EMERGENCY POWERS

In 1919 the goverrnent of Lloyd Csrge had,in response to a series of threats by the minersard the ltiple Alliare, arxt faced rith siespreadmrtinies arrcl rioting, set rp the enbryo ofan organisatim that was to beccne the saviorrof suessive go\rennEnts of the futr:re inbreaking the backs of the laboE rpv€rrEnt.Tte organisatiqr was cqpeived [l a seeetccmittee, chaired by Sir Eric @d&s, krrmas the Srply ard Transport. Cqrmittee (Src).

Ttre Src ras specificauy seated to &al withthe threat of the Triple Alliarre. Ltryd Georgems shit scared that the country would be brurghtto the brink of revolutiqr b,y tbe Alliarrce.By Sept€$ber 1919 he was faced with a mtiqriderail strike ant the SIC - at fi-rst cal,led theIrrtustrial Unrest @rmittee (h"rt this ms thoughtto be a too obviorrsly desocitrt.ive nane, soi! got ctnnqed) - began to exanine the possibilityof recqurending rw Iegislaticr to parovldethe goverrnent with dracqrian poders in theevent of a tassive strike.

nEing 1919, prior to the Rail Strike, the@untry had alreaQr witnessed a police Strikeand a ltirters Strike. Itre latter rsilised sr-pportfrcrn the slmdicalist inspired ltiple A1liarrce,but it was rpt the lack of solidarity ttntbroke ttre strikg in the erd, nor gwerrnentiltenrentiqr or manaltelElrt intransigerc, butinterfererrce frcrn a joint rrrcleoverffii ocrmiss-ifi that suooeeded in ttre end in fcnulatinga cfi[rrcmise deal and splittirg the minersuniqr in trro. E\ren so Llryd George sras afraidto the extent tbat he or&red over 900 navalratings - army ratings rere tp lqtger reliable- to take o\rer sonE of the pits wtrile the strikegas on.

Cl the eve of the polioe Strike the goverrnentissued disnissrr rpties ard in the end oner21500 polieren were sacked as a result oftaking part in bhe industrial rtiqr. Ttre strike- whid uas o\rer the right to retain a tradeuniqr as oEposed to a rrstrike staff assciat-ian - brougtrt support frcm tle Rail lfrrkers.Riotfuq ard looting to* pIrc in Liverpoolard the army $as seot there to brilg back q&r.

Black Flag Summer 1984 page l2

A n* Police BiU was passed rEking poliestrikes illegaL, as also the ircitenent ofpolice to dis:ffect frcnr duty.

As the fsler Industrial t nrest Cqrmittee theStC ras first asked to look into the possibilityof introdrcing a bill - Strikes Bill. - wtrldtuofld prwide the gmremrent rith lners tocriminal.ise strike action if this rras qrsiderednecessary, as rell as the pqrers to seize tradeunim funds. lte comdttee instead decidedtbat this rpuld be a cqttentious rpve and ttrctrghtthat it rculd better if tttey cqrentrated onrc+ing otrt cantirgerry reasures fu the erErgencyrEtwqrk. CE idea that Geddes prt fotward around -this tfue ms the use of volunteer labo:r,to be recruited in adrnrre of an ernrgerrlz,to assist in the takeover of essential serrrices.Ottrer cpEiqs lod(ed at irElLffi the use ofthe Secial Oqrstahitary (police auxiliaries)in strikebneakfug, the for:ratiqr of a CitizensGErd to polie trqrble slrcts, and even theseeking of trade unian orplicity to assistin the takewer of indr:str1z as an al.ternativet9 th. eploytrEnt of troqs. Itre latter qrtim,tilough, ms nrled out as no one Fistred at thatpoint in tfure to disclose ttre exisEerrce ofthe ercrgerry tEtlrqr* to tlre trade uniqr rcvesent.In fact outsi& of the irrrpr Cahirpt no qre,except fc a smttering of tq> civiJ. servants,knefl about this netrork or, if thel, did, whatits true furEtiqr really ras.

Ite Src neamrtrile ms carrying out its briefrith enthusia.sn. In additisr to givirg fullqsideratiqr to the plan to set up a CitizensG;ard, the Src examined a similar ptan to reeuitloyalists fron the ranks of ex-serricanern,university students and businesgren. A forceof 101000 ras cqr.sidered. Linked to this forcerould be another c€@osed of kncrrrn goverrnentsqfDrters wbo uere licensed to carry firearms.Other goup wqfld be recruited froriprofessionalassociatiqrs. The SIC, in fet, maale in atrpnoactraround this ti:re to thp suctr asseiatiqls:the Institute of Electriel Ergineers arrd tteInstitute of Civil Egineers. ftrey r.ere bothasked to subnit 1ists of nEflbers ritro cou:.abe called rpon in a natiqral €flErgency.

It uas rpt 1qlg before the SIE had organisedregicnl mdirnting cqmittees. ftre"e wereeleven il nurter - ju.t as there are elerrensudr omittees in Britain today - ard tteysere heaH by Src apointed Civil @mdssiqrers.Itte Cqmissiqnrs rere given 1mrs, urrderthe Defere of the Realm Act iwtrich Es stillin fcE), to requisitiqt lrivate rretriclesin farge nufters stpuld ttre neea arise. Sqrthe hrissiqnrs bad suceeded in aeatinga total of over 92 subqnnittes, kncrm as\btuntar!, Serrrie ftmittees (rlSt,s) to help

recruit scah l3!qur. Itp \l$'s rere to liI*edto the r,rdcipal auttrqities, but at tte saretire were indepeiilent of ttpir qttrol.

Arpther SIE i.rrpvatiqt ms the seatim ofIaaI anrs dlrps fc use by loyalists afteran erEE!rcy had been aleclared. lttese &rrpsrere un&r the qrtrol of the regicral @rmiss-iqrers nho had ttre authonity to distributethe arms qEteq/ of the 1920 Firearnrs Act.

Drring 1920 ttre go\rerrrEnt. discrssed the poss-ibility of introducing an BrErgenry PorersBiIl. Ttre bill rculd enable ttre gorerrnentto introduce ratiqrirtg, deplcy troqs to takeover strike-bomd irdustries, ban all Fblicreetings and dersstraticrs, protribit pic*et.ing,arral seq.lestrate uniqr strike funds. In theauturn of that year it seercd probable thatthe miners rere gearing ttrenrselves l4) for anotherstrike. In G'der the strike began. AhDstimediately all Forces leave was carelled,trcq)s rere toved to Istdon to protect theCapital against insurrectim, arrl rrDre battaliqsrere &plctyed to gwircial cities in readiness.

ltp rail rcrkers announced that ttrcy r{ouldprovide sq)porE to the miners. As a resultthe Src rpved irrto rctiqr. Arnpured vehiclesand tanks uere sent to the north arri a furtherqrtirEent of troqs was sent by sea (ttreycoul&rrt ge nty rail) to strategic lpints aroundthe country. Arrangeieirts uere also nede fora battleship to be sent to the ilerset/ in casea revolt broke otrt. Within days an ErergerEyPcrrers Bill (based qr tlre abandqred StrikesBill) was passed through parliarEnt ard a Stateof Ercrgerry was declared. In the end the srergerrcryturers rere not resqtat to as by then therqil rorkers had withdrarn their sr4port.Around this tfurc LIryd ceorge was forced toadnit tbat the ccnbirntiqr of wideryread mrtiaiesarrd strike actict rould br.eak ttre gorrerrnent.He appeal,ed therefce to the Allierrce leadersfor their assistarre in raintaining aenpcracy.At a seqet neeting he cqrfessed to ttrem thatin his q>inian the countrl, was at their nercy:rTte arqr is disaffected and cannot be reliedWon...In these ci_rqmstarE€s, if you carryout the threat and strike, then you wil1 defeatus.r The Alliare leaders bere not preparedfc revolution, nor did ttrey desire it. rtreytherefore obliged the pilts request and so backedoff frcrn the ratle.s of anarctryt.

THE GENERAL STRIKE

Chuc*ritl ms significantly cqrerned aboutthe irsease in trade unian militarry and thefrequerr,y of nnrtinies to the extent tbat heissued a fornal ngucrandum to all senving @,sasking for retrmt-backs m arrything that couldbe learned about any subversive plans ttEtmay h in preperatiqt ard about any Soldiers@urrcils that sere beirq forrrEd. Ttre ccnmrnistDaily Worker nanaged to get hold of a cogyof the rcro and Sublished it, mrch to Churciill'scssternatiql and enbarrassent. Churdrill yasnot fuLly amre of it at the tirrE txlt the S.EpIyarrl liansport Ocrnnittee ms also begining tothink alcg similar .lines: wtEt ttre go\rermEntneeded uas a rre efficient intelligence gather-ing facility. Ihe Civil Cqunissiqers had urlyliJnited r.esources ard the S'IO Erld have tobe expanded if it ras not to be left high ardery.

By April 1921 the STO had been suffioentlystrengthened to be able to cgianise a deferrefore of o\rs 80,000 to &al with the sisis

tuge 13 Black Flag Summer 1984

g"r9{l! about by the lock-out in tbe mines.The pit oners had taken tnis actiqr 6ou*of the miners refusal to take ; ;r"

"ut. grt

the q*ners rent too far ard the ;ii,o.*o"crr.e again prcrrdsed to erE out in "oiiaurity.Ttx-. S:IO decided tlrat troqs ousha to-be reca-Lledfrtm @rnrany, the titiddle i:ast i"a lif*n t"deal with the strike. tunk" *=..-a"piil"a tostrategic points and extra troops G."'*u"oto Lsdon. A Rryal rle"t R"s"r,rl Gttufi_,

l*".a u! Nenport, refused, tr*";,-; be used_for strikebreakirrg.- Il the dnd H*'";L trcoesrere not needed and the (arrrEd) deferrce forcems dencbilised: a corprunise aeaf-ur pay wasaccepted that effectively split tfp ruriqr anObroke the back of ttre ffpfi affi*""- _..31td.

f9.r aL1- Ttre goverrEnt nqr felt so cqrfidentthat ttle militants had been routea-iUt tiregP was rcr:nd dovn, af$ou,gh . O."i"i* *"made to retain the voluntafrr S.*i""-Co*i.tt*"and t$.SyFply DeparbrEnt, 6t ",ti"t-tt* SrOw;as officillly a part. For ttre ,rert tt.* yea."on so the SIC rarely tet, except to assure itselfg.! Lh" S:IO netyork couia Ue ltt "tir"iy rcbil_ise.t stpuld an €nErgercl, arise.

fn tfJ4 Iaborrr t@k pqrer. Ihe S:rc itself rasreactivated ano cqnnitiee'ilG; ;;;t dJE Thotas (rhe otanial s"d;"rn ii'&_s"o.tu.v:I-tF td'R),

-Banry cpri's iri.ni'"tit ka'sportand ex-kesident of the IEdi and-*dri",r"*the Fabian. tH.Iess to say the t ovenrrErrt feltit_ urpnudenr ro spitt ilre 6ea;-; G-L* narureof r:.tn SID and tuff secrecy ms naintained.

In Febnarlr, hcnever, the goverrnent decidedto lafe the urryrecedented jtep "f-i"ririrrgertain trade uniqr leaders tb Gfp o,rt-ritt,the planning of srErgencry nErsures. I€adersof both the tdrR and lgd, *=.. .ppooa"f*a o,thi-q matter. Ttre MrR leader i.rraii-tJ iLthe uculd be interestd, wtrile the IIIR i."0..

was rpt so sure. Itre approach was nade in themiddle of a natiqrwide-disgrte."inrotirrg dockers,utro rere all nsrbers of ttre IU{J. Aa # h.ight 'of the dislute the goverrnent cqrsidered i.nv&ingIt* 1?20 Ercrgency iorers Act, bui-in ttre enOthe dispute resolved itself.

t ,g"t! later the goverrtErrt orEe rDre oqrsidereddeclaring a State of Erergerry. I-rd"r, Urd..gou"arcrkers $ere threatening itri.ie acti; andth" *".9$ to get sraport from pqer Statiq,rcrk--rs. Ihe SIO as a_result placed navaf ratirrgsqr s!--and{, and extra S}ecials were entisteO.the strike cqrrErEed qr farctr Zg and- a-S+ateof Ercrgercy was funrediately declared. ftredeclaratiqr was rpt pblisheat hmver as ttregov_errnent hoped that the strike rpuld quict<lyend. BV the end of the day the gou..;=,ii h"asecut:ed a settlenrent.

By Ctober labour had lost support in the Hor,seand a General Electiqr UrouEr[- tfre fories Uacfwith-a 200 seat majority. tte S:rO *"s inst ,rt.ato.plaoe.rore enptnsis on intelligence gattrerinqusirq paid inforners in the field] a" iii"r*rI9por!, marked highly oonfidential, stressedthat rltlen ttrefr (trade unions) are di_rectlyon indi-rectly involved in the atrDarent causeof violerre arrt disorder, it rifi nearly al.raysbe found ttrat their cnrn auttrority has bienusurped by irresponsible ccnmunilts, anarchistsor lccal hot-treads... I 1tris ms a thene ofS1IO lnranoia that rrould cqrstantly and periodic_a1ly ccnre to surface tirrE anal tirnE agaii inthe dealings of the SIO arxt its futr-rie reirparrr_ations. Tte S:IO was instnrted by the Baldnincabinet that Intelligerrce Officers rere to

be circunspect about uho ttrey investiSatd.Above all, it ms told, trade union oificialsrere to be treated with reqnct and Field rwkersstptrld be careful about stiJrtrrg W antinoverrncnt,or UEse anti-state, sentinents.

Ote new plan that cane to light about this!fu *l the setting rry of laal haulage cqmit_tees, ctnired by 1eal prcmfuient transpontertrefrreneurs, to o\rersee erc4rerq, road trarrsportre{luir€rEnts and to feed back crtingerryar:rargenErt details to the regiqal Civil ernFissiqrers.

qy the surrEr of 1925 the sIO was rdilisedcrce agair, this tine to deal with arptherthreat frqn the ni.ners. Itre mine cnrners badnade it clear tbat tbef/ intenH to make areductie in rr4es ard at the sane tire crrtthe Hrking day (thus loer rrages all rotrd).Ttq q* argued that there nas orrer-prodrrticrard that there was t@ mldt fierce corpetitiql!ry, i1tnrts being received frcm noland, theUSA and Germany. Ihe miners apealed fon solidarityard rail and tr_anspu-t workeri-offered io blackar.[ rp\renEnt of oal. In tte end the disprteva-s brougtrt to a hatt as a result of an inter_ventiqr ty the qorerrnent nho put. tcsarO acorpronise solutiql of an interim state subsidy.Ttp lock<ut yas Hith&arrn.

Onc€ rcre the State had found itself at thererqg of the unions. fhe ttipte Alliance mightnot have existed i.n theory, but in practiceit was very much alive. Baldvrin vcned thatnever agaLn would he al1*r the miners ano theother unions to hol<i the goverrunent to ranscrn.What rea11y frightened him was the fiEssivesupport the miners recreived. The goverrunent@an to have doubts as to whethei an erergencryorganisati.on was sufficient to cope with nnssrevolt. In future nrcre m6:hasis would haveto be placed on winning over tire sulport ofthe union leaders.Bald*inissued instnrctions that ttre SI0 wast-o strengthened further. CoaI Erergenqy Officers(1ocaI1y resuited CoaI Herchanb ;d Suppliers)bEre to be atrpointed by the regioral Ccnmiss_ioners. ALso to be brought into the networkwere shilnners and harbour authorities, dajrycurqranies, etc. As rany private curqranies aspossible. No curtingercy would be teft to chance.The AutcmcbiLe Association was approached too.The AA -,was-aisked to draw up a tist 6f volunteerdrivers wtro nny be prepaed to help the nationrn an erergency. The SIC issued instruqtionsof its crdn to the Ctrief Constables insistingthat the c.clrqllenent of Special Constabularybe raised - it was al.ready at 101000.

Around this tine several loyatist organisationsbegan to spring up. Gre such org:anisation wasthe oUS (Onganisation for the trtaintenanc.e ofSupplies - a narrE that a]Jrpst parodies theSLate's crrn elrergenqr network). Ttre CtdS wasset up by Iord Hardinge (ex-viceroy of India)

i"t,

Black Flag Summer 1984 page l4

t,

ard Itrd Jellie (Afttiraf Of the pleet). Itspecialised in mintaining a list of lolzalistsuho would be prepared to help out in strikebreakfurg in a natiqnl erergericy. Itre SIO regardedthe CllS wiEh sore etlbarrassrErt. keferrirqto keep the activities of the SIO lcn kel,,the rre ql-frant O{S forced the goverrnent,fc prely t*tical reasons, to keep tbe CtlSat arms fength.

lte CllS Es rpt specificarly anti-€munistbuE nse anti-r.rriqr. Nevertheless it tendedto attreE. subnersive seekers, wtridr in turnerpur4|ed Oqm,nist party nrtrers to takean offensirre starr rith regard to the far-right ard the mil.itary arourd this tine andscrrE tmk part in att€trpts to irrcite disaffectim.Qtq rTh capaigri inwlved fly-posterirrg atAldershot cap. Ite poster rras entiUeai 'rsseditie to be r,evived?r Innediately therewere raids qr leading Cperts arrt nire wereaqe+ed ard c*Erged with canspir*y to prblishand utter seditious fibef (thG therc *; guestiqrras ansered in perhaps not the rray theyelq)ected) arrd offerrces under the 1797 frriterentto [utiny Act.It ms inevitable tbat the Erestian of pay- postpced because of the t€flIDrary ilterimst'hsidy - fo the mireuqters rpuld qre tothe fore frqrt qe agail until it was settledqr ard foor afl. ftre subsidy ras due to nnotrt, the nirmtnrs insisted an mintainingthe pay cut ard the rniners response was rNota PeryD/ off , rEt a secqrd qr the day'. Ttrestage ms set for qfrqrtatiqr. April 1926and the Src sent trocps to gnrard najor flast4nints.A State of ErErgenq/ was &clared. Itte Ct{S&er q a docr.urent regr:esting voLnteers; theirtrx'inters, trmver, rrefused to barrclle it andtttel, sert a ooFl, to tbe Ttrc, rho ttEn leakedit to the kess. uay 2 and llyde park was takenover as a distributicr point for nilk sr4plies.Naval ratings arrd civilian volunteers rere&spatded to take o\rer the Isdon porer Statiqr.Ttle SI0 ordered lcal haulage oontacts to ccmrErEerecruitnent of scab labotrr to take cqttrot9f rybfic Earsport. A printing firm ms requisit-iqpd fq the specific purpoce of prodrcingFEo1toverrlrEnt prcpaganda. Tte t/Srs rere toldto start recruiting volunteer labour. By Uay2 the SIO was at a full state of alert.

Cr llay 4 the Uniqrs declared ttre General Strikeofficial. In the initial stages over 3 milliqrrrcrkers carc out in sr.port. Industry tlrou(*toutthe oountry ms brougrtrt to a standstiU. Iherailrays uere balted, the &c*s closed, aswere the mines. Blrt the SIO ms qrfident:coal sEocks rere higfr, labour for transpontras plentiful and Eroops had alreaer been &plqledin sufficient ntmbers to ensure thal porersqplies rere maint-ained.

the VSts did better than ttrey expected: withina ratter of days they had sueeeded in reauitirgotrer ll4r000 scabs in Igrdon ard the llcne Cotrnties9*.. 11 aU crly 9,500 were actuaUy deplolzedfor strikebneaking $ork. Etsertrere tti vE,"scored a similar rate. Hany university studentsj:y.a up._ffiridge wrdergraduates Gre .=sigrredcnrtres as Secial CqrsLables anal were senEto the furdustrial areas Eo maintain order.

Battleshits reri sent to the [ersey, the Clyde,and to Ros1zth ard rcre trrrt an starfu. In Cardiff!.raqls marched chily thrugr the city streets.h Biminghnn troqs rere sent to takeovera qrtral park arca uhere ttrey wene billetedfc the duratiqr of ttre sErika. In Lqrfui soldiers

rere assigned duties to guard arms frctories,oil :refineries, the City finarrial arrea, and$tritehall in case of rioting. By the tirrE ttrestrike had reac*red its height the ccnplerrentof gecials had rwtred a total of over 226,@0.ltre Src tok over several firns so as to beable to put out a regular paper, the BritishC,azetEe. tlei{sprint for ttre patEr was supliedcq.rrtesy of Bomters, wtlich plant was protectedby a cqttirtgent of aned guards ard run Icivilian \rolunteers. lhe nrc in turn trlt outa rival, the British Worker, and there rerein additiqr many other bdlletins panoarcea Wstrike ccmrdttees p and dcrn the lard. Thegoverr[Ent, of @urse, made full use of ttreE to broa&ast anti-strike prqaganda.

In ttp niddle of it aII the Attorney+neralpresented plans for the introductiqr of a billto nnke the strike iUegal and to enable thegoverment to restrain tbe use of strike furds.A decisiqr w:as rade that a rw fqce - a thirdfqce - rras to be ceated, called the CivilCqtstahrlary reserive. It ms to be coposedof ncrbers of the Territorials, recruited bythe Army, but to be ptaoed urder the cqrtrolof Chief Constables. glithin trc days over 17,000ren had joined l.qr. But its existerre was tobe short lived and wtren the strike was ca1ledoff the GR rras disbanded.

Ot l{ay 7 the SIO sent in troops to the Isrdondocks; they organised fod curvoys for thedistribution of sr4plies. In the F:st Ex! policeresorted to baton clErges to break up the trostileqrrids that had gathered in resgnnse to themilitar!, oco4ntiur. An a1*y

",mp w.ts set lp

overnight in Victoria Park and rermined therefor the duratiqr of the strike. Al Uay 9 trocpsrere called to @lar to pErotect blacklegs.Etsenhere there rrcre sirnilar outbreaks of violenceagainst scab labour. In Hul1, for exarq>Ie,cr:ods attacked volunteers driving ttre city'strans.

Cr tlay 12 TtC traitors e1led the strike off.Ilre SI0 ms tround dmn. lhile the niners, wtrosegrievance renained unsettled, bravely cqrtinuedwith the irrclustrial *tiqr fc a furttrer 6rslths until, broken by hurEer, they gave in.

tuge 15 Black Flag Summer 1984

lbe A-Gts anti-@neral Strike Bill rns replacedry.Ure trades Disputes arxl ltade u"iqr iiif ,which ras.eventgally passd. Itre Act eirninafisedsylpathetic strike acticr, prevented civitselvants frun joffiing Erc_affilliated tradeunicrs, plaoed restrictiqrs -,-piJ.iiil".ramade the potitical levy a fo*, bi-*,oi"a.*in mly.For the goverr[Ent a]I the tiJrE arrd effort+ent building up the S:IO had seened a1l thenpne rorttrrhile rw that the ceneral Strikehad been broken and the fabour ,,-r.rort a""fta Gushing blqr, f:rcrn whid it would take yearsto reconer. Arourxd Lhe notiqr of keepirrq theessential senrices going, fq trwrani^tarianreasons and in the lnatiqnl interestr, thegoverrrEnt had nanaged to divide the natiqrm trro. Scabs rere d:-arm frqn the trz:ofessioalclasses, but nnny volunteers abo iane frqnttr labouring cLass and the lqrg term jobless.Betreen 1926 ard the post ltu1d t{ar Z fearsthe STO rn9 harclly needed again, excef torEle sure that the emrgerxry netrork was ina state of readiness should there be a tireof major strikes or civil disorder ane igain.In fiay 1929 tabour wqr the general electiqrand Uacdonald becane P!ll. Two years later heforned the Natiqral Cove:rnent, which .ooi"t.acf mainly $ory ministers arxl td's ard u ,ott".ingof right*ing Iabour party hacks. an era-ofcorooratisn was unveiled-

lfot lang after the outbreak of World nar 2several rrE rbers of ttre peac€ pledge Uniqr weregoseolted fm terely Hrtting rp pacifist lDstersin.a pblic plre. Ttrey wore not Ararged withery4{ danage but irEit€rrent. Tte @rrE arguedthat it ras irrelevant as to nhettrer actualsoldiers read the pGter, the intentim toirrcite ras sufficient to secure qrvictiqr.Ineritahly the or:tireak of norld mr in 1939br.ou$rt abqrt a rlg erErgerEy act - the EErgerEryPorers (Deferpe) AcE - that oncr trE:e enabledtroAs to autcrnatically take over eqsentialindustries. Itre SIO ras thus not required:urder war-tfue qrditiqrs the Src w;as nraOethe norm. Itren Churctlill becane n it mssignificant that he ctlGe Erest Bevin, ntlotook suctr a leadinq part rithin the Irc organisingthe General Strikei Lo tat<e the post oi f"Ulrliinister. It wa.s a strrend nptre. es an ex tradeunion leader Bevin ras able to use every tric*in the book to bring the ountry,s taloirr toheel. Bevin, as llinister of fabour (and ltatiqralService) ras a tyr.ant. E-lt he got ray witheverythirg because rany still thought oF himas a uniqr nnn and that he did wtlaa he didbecause tlre war required that the nation bemited within a compn plrpose.

Bevin introduced ne regulations making itcqpulsory for all trades disputes to be sentto arbitratiqr. Strikes bEre barmed. Scrre,_!o*y*, did take place an:I, as durirg lbrldEf 1l ttrlt rere organised soleIy at ;ank andfile leve1 as rp trade umlo rctrta nake ttrernofficial. Drrirrg tbe entire yar ;Eriod over5000 rorkers uere cqlicted at vario:s pointsin tirre of infringing the ns regulatic;s.In qte fustance over 1000 niners trere ccnvictedin a disgrte at Betteshanger Oolli.ery. Virtr:allyall refused to pay tteir fines ard $ the endsueeeded in densrstrating that the regulatiansr+ere weren,t uorth the paper Urey hrere writtenon.

eevin relied heavily qr the oooperatiur ofthe trade uniqr leaders. Oreir iofe auringthe trdr iras to ensure that strikes did notoTyI and ttEt any dislxttes r+ere resolved byarbitration. Any wildcat strikes sere ttrereioreblarEd qr subversives arrt troublqmkers. Urrdertfe grergerE" porcrs additiqral regrulatiorrsrere brought in to fohibit the irritsrEntof strikes tbat interfered Hith the maintenarrceof essential services. Ihe regulatiqrs atsobanned pic*etirg - paceful oi otherrise.

LABOUR AND THE DOCKERS STRIKES

After the sar ttre SIO ms restoled its fu11pclrErs. tabour wr ttre electiqr arrit afHurghttrey r€pealed the f927 1tades Diqxrtes arrdkade tniat Act, tttey cr:nningly retainea anaextended the life of sore of the rar-tine anti_unian regulatiqrs. ftese uere inmrporatedwithin a nfl act - the $Eplies and-ServiesAct 1945. lturs tbe rigtrt to strike, wittroutf-rrst going to arbitration, Els aeiiea ror*ers..Ttis rigtt ms taken may frcnr trade uniqristsbY the T(rc itself wtro gave Lheir full afpliovafto the Suplies and Seryices Act.

this tenderry of suessive Iabour adninistratiqrsto involve trade unim leaders in grwerrnentdecisiqr making wqried civil serwints andit ms arourd this tine that qre senior civiLservant &:afted a minute for Attlee, the prirrEIlinister, rhidr referred to the S.IO'and-tLneed to elrsure that details of its t ,re turctiq,

PartTHE 3O'S

Altilough the thirties did not witness any majorstrikes on tbe scale of the twenties, ttererer(: soarE instances wtrere the question of mutinyand disaffection cane 14) orre ltpre.

In .,931 there oocurred the fanpus Invergordonnut-.ny. The goverrnent, feeling csfide;t,attanpted to force ttxou,gh a crlt in pay fornaval ratings. Ratings with the ffeet it Inver_gorclon refused duty and the Fleet was leftstranded in ni&.stream. Strcrtly after the mutinythe managing director of the Gily Worker wastricked by a goverrnent agent-i;to- incitirrgan e,x-Invergordon rmrtineer to spread aisafiection.Itre rqld (together with anotherl- goi-tbo-ya.shari labour under the 1797 Act:

In 1932 WaI Eannington, head of the tiationalUnstplryed hbrkers ltovqrent, nrade a f rlil.T*9 irriting ttre r,tetropoi.itan pofice iodisaffect. rtre speech was made i" r.Jifg..square as he addressed a rally of ov..-iiO,OOOjobless wtro had converged * trc-*pitj-i"protest at rising unexrplol,rEnt. ffa;ingtmallprfled.ro lnrsuade Lhe police to ifr'&-sofidarirywith -the jobless arrd later he .fairr=a-'to t"u.3+*i .t 9* oy he did not to powof. an irrcidentbut :o ftr:" a potentialfy vloient-sit*ti*.ry y3" found guilry of irritmnt, but X""rr"9! :r* widespread sq)port in his iavour, nassenttxEed to anly 3 nsrths. ,Ihe 1797 rcl ,asagafur used in 1937 wtren an Ig year old youthwas ,Jiven l-2 nsrths lrprisqnrlnt nrereft'torlLlX r,9 to a alreary disaffecEed nAr-6rrcrafaDou? the political situatiqr in gain.In 1933 fotrr Sorlth l{ales miners $ere cqrvictedurder the lrcitefient Ast for cqspiraclr. Apa.id iqforrrEr, wtro also happened Lo O" iGlaal district secetarl, oi-Ure @ (anf i rr=rte.of tle Territorials),seL $renr up.

Black Flag Summer 1984 kge l6

did rpt fall into the r{rqrg harxts. Ttre minutecqrcluded: I Tttere is, trmver, m,rdr to besaid for...cqrfining krnle@e of the plansrithin the narrmst possible cirele. Ttre gorrerrr.:rent are prWosing to repeal the 1fadeS DiqrrteAct,,...it might be enbarassing if it becareknfin that the goverrnent rere pareparing plansfor defeating a general strike if qre cr:rred'Attlee took the hint arrct refrained frun nakingthe SIO generat knorl@e. In retrospect treras glad he acted qr that advioe for urly 3nsrths later he ms to call the STD into fu11qnratian in order to sush a doc*ers strike.

The strike paralysed lGrseyside and it soqrqread to other ports. Ttre uniqr leaders qrdernedthe acEiqr arxd ttte rank arxl file passed a mctionof no cqfiderrce in their leadership. Withindays of the csmersrent of the strike, Attleehad instructed the SIO to send over 6000 troopsto take over the docks. l{earrtrile ttte lGlf,leaders tried to rpderate by blanirtg the strikean political agitators, particularJ,y nurbersof the RCP. A rek later and the nr.urber oftroqs used for strikebneaking had doubted.Befqe the strike cqrluded - it lasEed for41 days - a total of npre than 2lr@0 troeshad been deptqaed by the SIO. Bevin, wbo hadsurvived the t{atiqta1 Goverrnent and was nein the rH Labour adninistratiqr, lErsuadedthe Cabhet rpt to brirg the SIO drt into theqEn. Ee argued Ehat it stml.d be kept secr:et.Issacs, the t{iaister of tabour and ex-kint9lcrkers unim leader, backed tp Bevinrs pleafor secrecy.

In June 1947 there was a road haulage &iversstrike. ltte SIO rade over 31500 trups andI,500 vehicles available Lo cqE with ttre dis-nptim. Ttris rpve crly sueeded in provokingan escalatiqr of strike acticr anal 28,000 dockerscrrE out in s},Ilpathy. Hr-rnilitant t{anny Shinrelt,rtp yas also a nEfiber of Ehe nerr adninistratian,requested that the SIO send troes to ensurethat st4plies of coal rere avaitable for thelmer statians. Plans rere pa:epared to requisitianprivate vehicles and the Brf)lq,rrEnt E<changeswere atfrroached over the possibility of requit-ing scabs. The goverrnent threatened to declarea St-ate of EErgerq, unless the strike erded.Finally a ccrnprcrnise solutiql ras found afterinterventim frcnr the goverErEnt.

After the &ivers strike the labor:r gove=nentdeciffi to widen ttre porers of the SIO, ncft,cmtrolled by ttre Industrial ErErgercies Cormittee,qsiderably. Ibe StO wEs to be made availableto deal with all energencies, rrct just civilon ildustrial disonder. Bad reather, naturalhazards, etc uere to be hard"led by tbe srErgerEynet$or*, so that any aticisn about the S.IO,stpuld its existerre be discovered, cotrld bedeflected. Itre IE ms therefore rernred theless qrtentious soundirg EI.IERGEIIY Gll,tIIfEE.

It ms not lurg before the goverrnrent ras facedwith anottrer docj<ers strike. Aqain the saneIEttern. rypq)s were sent to Glasgim to takeoner the docks and further pretErations serena& to serd over 7000 troqs to take overthe tsrfun ffis.Around this tine nany industries nere beingnatiatalised and this rnade it cursi&rablyeasier foar the goverment to set rp cansultationccnmittees with the bosses of these industrieson the questian of taking action to naintainessential services during fudustrial diqutes.

I9{8 saw a period of econcrnic austerity, IIrCatrproved rage restraint, ard arptber dock strike.After scabs nere resuited to take over theffis and the strike escalated the goverrnentdeclarcd a State of Erergerry. In additiqrtle Ercrgency Pcrrers Act ms anerded to ircludea furtter regulatim specifically profribitingirritertent ard seditim.In Uay 1949 the dockers care out qEe nDre- Ehis tfue in slmpathy with strikers in CarEda.Canadian ships uere blacked. In Avqrputh eriplry-ers enf@Eed a lock-or.rt in retalliatiqr. Ttre!qt, ql the goverrnents advie, tried to stashthe strike by brinSirg in blac-klegs. ftren thisfailed troqs rere sent in ard a ltinisterialbr,oadcast was nsde blanfurg the whole thingqr subversives. the strike *as broken, buta rsrth later e\rents repeated ttrenrselves in.the Isdan docks. A State of Erergrerry msdeclared, whictr crly serrred to harden attitudes.In the erd the strike ras calIed off as tttedisgte in Carnda got resolved.

Ttpre ras nore to ocrtE. In Decertter it seenedIikely that an urpfficial strike was to becalled by Lqtdan Pcrrer Station workers. TtregorerrnEnt furediately infortrEd the Horckersthat if they strud tttey rculd be liable toprosecutian under the Conspiracry and protectionof Prqerty Act. Itre strike still took placeand it yas eushed by the use of troops andblac*legs.

Iabour survived the 51 electior, but qlIy just.Within days the adninistratiqr sent in troqsto break another dakers strike. By June trco[)srere also used to break a strike by driversin Lhe ,rEat wttolesale trade. Ttte ErergencryCcrmittee gent in 400 lorries and a further1000 vehicles and 5000 troqs were put qr stan&-by. t{ten the strike escalated 3000 troops weredeplqled and the strike was finally brokenas a result of TOiU ilterventiqr.

Ttte E, clearly *prried by the dockers strikes,decided it was about tirre to nnke plan-s forthe provision of large nrlrbers of trmps tobe billeted in Isdon for long periods of tire.ltre @rmittee considered the possibitity ofreguisitioning prblic builttings to trouse ttretrcops. A short list of possible sites ircludedentertairilEnt halls, ballroons, rf,{2 deep sheltersand manicipal facilities.In 1953 ttre Tonies rul the @neral E1ectiqr.By OcEober of that year the EE was rcEivatedas a- result of a strike bry 3000 oil supplyrortErs. 6000 troops rrcre-used to Ureai-tirestrike.

By '55 Eden had taken over frcrn Churctrill asPff and in Hay of that year the gorrerrrent faceda strike b!, stevedores. Ttre strike guic*lyescalated and 601000 footplatanen carne outin sppathy. RaiI transport gound to a virtualhaIt. Ttte E arrarEed for extra lotries tobe secqr&d to the Post Office to ensure the

tuge 17 Black Flag Summer 1994

Ceilvery of mail. On 1l ltay a State of ErrErgencryiras declared. firc seeks faler ttre-strife naOceen sushed.

()ver the next fen years the number of tfures:f T,"1oea Lqp urilisins it"-..i.,L",*ftr and far betseen. rn nay fgSZ iaoU.ifanordered. rrcas qr futl staffi-ueGii'or as;trike by fsrdon bus-norkers.' f n

-if a

-oougfas_rkrus arenffi the 1920 grergerrcy -d;s-Actand widened its porrcrs.

By f966 Iabour nere in pcrrer once m)re andthey were soon faced rittr a s".*;;tike overpay. Itte goverrlent.intervened i"-p..r*t *Vinf-ringrerent of therr ntr prices and Irrcqespglic.y. kine rr{inister wilsqr-iocG-ii," **nof organising a strike ,.gi^a il-iti'a.,.Rq1 Jenkins tmk DersoiEl-charge;i il' p,=rg.r4yCqrmittee. Ar 23 ffay a_State of Erergerqz msdalared and the rc ma& pfans-fon1il'?*"o.ro-gf-tt* doc*s and the requisitiq, of strip..wilsqr caused a scandal by p".d;ft"u.tt"rbuse of ccnnsrs 'irrerutiuie

"uia.LJ'ry uis,tir.t rh" srrike had been *"ltestr;;-u| "rt o,i"t"tt> bring dq{n the oovermEnt. By the U.iinrrrSo-f {uty rhe MrS rnd negoria;;; &ffii*de-al.

THE HEATH YEARS AND AFTERIr 1970 Ednard lfeath took cqrtrol ard within?,m9nth he faced a massive do"k"."-+il".42-,000 carE out arxt the rorles--aecflt^.

"*t.of Hnrgency. Arbitratiqr ..""rtJ-t-f noa"rut.pay rise for the doc*ers ""0

tt*-"|ii-tl *ended. Ey Decsrber rbath faoed;rr"t#-d"Iterqe:electricity ssrkers rdent ql . go;il il o"".rt .l2.another Stare of ErErgerEy ;"-;;iJ.d.Itris tine the strikers Sot ti.i, ;y-urrd-.pay_rise was agf,eed.-rorr aays tei"i"-iil st t"of Brcrgencry w:as declared, ti. lri"f,i."'ltEtployrrEnt and prodrrtiviiy ras--UcmUt'Ui tt*Angy Brigade. AJlost o1e no,th faierlGctry3n"try borbirg, clained by ttre errgry ilgud.,took plaoe, this tine at the trcne if'*re ministerresponsible for the introductiqr of the-qrtreversial Industrial Relatiqs sitt, Rd; cu...Both botbings o@ured against . #"kg*tndof rassive industrial actiq,

"s"i*IiGtiu.other the next fen rsrths "tt*i ait""*":-q,irriustrial (ard ottrcr) ta.9.a"-,rer. ;I"dout ry the AB.

began to eur and sm firnrs rent m a volultary:.dal, fek. Flying picftets *.. ,"udf* tr*rlrsr rurE. At the Saltley depot g(X) policerere drafted in to deal wittr over 15,il0 pid(etsg"t-lr.d qlverged frrm all ** tt='*,_t y.PrTllV the gwerment had to "*:a"Lf*tand the miners rut a sLbstantial pay-arrard.

Ibath aftenards blarrEd HcrE Secetary RegirE]dllaudling for failing to serd in -ttre-tL+st9 break the strike and *f,rng trli il otthe E. Heath ordered that G F.*foil1 kgan_isatiqr yas to be ti$,renedG *I.SEuir,.a.rt ras rgt-rd rhe crwl- orilgiLrE1^rr.Ileath ntade sure that the GJ's facilities ueresufficiently updated to be able m aeal wittrily-Tajor elergerries and that n ..

"q.inrould he be subjecEed to blac*rmil bry iL mi.ners@ any other labour uniqr. Itre @l Gs givena sgncial office of its trn and airect iir*_qE r.ere prwided to all Chief Cqr.stables and::"i9._ ndfihry trnrscrrel. fn effect ttrioogfrthe @J every police adninistraii*-i" tf*oountry was in direct qltact with evenr militaryadninistratiqr. rf need be poli; A,i.f'" *.rfause tbe CI, facility to request Ua"f,_rp-assistarEefrqn the military in cases of nationat'srnrgerEy.

Ert all this nas to rp avail. In the end theIleath goverrrrrt ras, of @urse, Urouqirt dq.nby tle niners. Aror-nrd the winter "r-iiii ttminers arxl electri.. l rcrkers l"ti,-zu['i" f",py bids rcll @and ttre goternrent!-pna"eltree anti-inf lat.icn tfreitrota liria"ii;.At first industrial rtim U ",rfp"J-oi tt"pay clairus Here limited. &tt thd'ASLEF nenbers

y9t9.A to ban Sxrtay rcrk ard orertlne-in sppathy.fbath qrce nnne invoked the l92O A"t-_rd' inposed3 T*.. day horking Heek upcn tf,e mtiq, ,aorcter to oooserve erErlDr sr4plies. ftre pcrerworkers returned to wort, nn^t tte-r,i.={ stayd1tt... W February there ms an all out strikern Ene runes ard lfeath decided to trrlt his case:o. th" ountry. It ms either trim 'oi-tiie-niners.Pt !h€ cogntry deciH to oust ffeatt ana atEne General Electiql Iabour rere voted in porer.At hkins over labour had rp Aroie tuttgive the mfuErs Ehe pay setH.sEnt tt"y t.ddqnanaeO.

within rceks the labotlr adninistratiqr tnd-to. call in the senries of ttre Civil OontingerrciesTit.. ey ffay the Ulster thnkers 6,".il-'t dstr-ucf agqirct pcrrer straring be&een-the iqalistand repblican factiqls, arn tf,e pr.Dr".d CourEilof rretand. rhe srrj.ke ,i,"i"fv uttlr&E*.:tatigns in the rrorirc. It@ps ..".

"ia"."O!o take orrer oit @ts "na

p"t oi "t[;.er! i" rhe erd rhe [rc threale,Ed-"-;;;] stop[Egeand as a result ttp m recutive o.isrr; undpoler stnring yas shelved

tI

In L972 the G, was given the task of forrnrlatingreoqnpniations as to trqr policing, in thelight of rnssive despnstralions, iiAesp.".astrikes, etc, oul"d be inproved'i"-iffi, ofrone efficient intelligerrce gatfterirrg, .t".tu. lnit proposed thar-poJ.icins at-"#r;*a"ld E actrieved bry placrng ,,rc.. .rreiii"isat developirg better qnrunity link;: Tlre policewere advised to take npre of an i.ntereii Usocr"al work, arri were reccrrrtEnded to liaserprr: with sqre of tbe *elfare agerries-in orOerthat- their case studies and fil6s *,rfa-p=:9nt a.fuller picture as to utlat was lngnnirlgin tie^neigtrbouhoods. At the tirre-Hrcse' reoofiFrErdatials rere rnt ated r{Dn, Uut streivea.H..y.e.33 lil., afrer.rhe natianwiae iiots,rrE! rrere taken t4) again by police chief Aldersqr.33.f:ryXf ry-91"9, ar,-,=, -ffi,iitvHorrcutg (fater ilulti_AgerEy poficingy andwere later adryred as oiticiai *iG: -l?72 *f also the year rten Heath f*ed hisfirst mirers strika. rt," "t ii;;";;;;;an overtturc ban rhat f"rr{ f." ;;;-i; reeks.ffiffi,g::Tffi'#ril,ffi""

1974 also sas ttre }rear when pat Arrtrsnithatteryted to di,strj.bute leaflets infcnringsoldiers of ttreir rigtrt to disaffect. ftre trialjudge, Lauton (r*ho qe stod as a electiqrcardidate qr betralf of the British llniqr ofFascists), sentenced trer to 1g rurths (reducedto 9 rsrths cr appeal). Iater the leafiet msrtrritten, e:qarded ard addressed to rdise-_cmtented soldiers! (ie, ttrose alreary disoqttent_*1. 14 qgqle rere arrested for givi;g outU6s_1ef1et. Ttrey rere ctrarged wittr qirspiracV.San silkin as lpp briou,ght ttre case forrcra.Pq SOO trnqle signed a stat€rEnt addttingthat the!, too qrspired in the rc.tio oe wUic*rthe 14 Ere a€used. Itre verdict qr all 14was rpt gruilty - this ms totalty r.uErqEctdand cane about because of the truge aount of

Bhck Flas Summer l9g4 hge 1g

[:

I

p:blic slryFrt foac the &fere.After tlre trial nwe teafletirg took plre.In ffiridge alqre a toEal of 50fi) oqries oftbe leafl.et were dist-ri-buted. there rere instarresof prblic leafleting in nnny Frts of the ountrlz.Tte wtple caqlaigr prnwed that irriting dis-affectim ard informfug soldiers of their rightto seq:ne discfurge are trc totally differentthings.IrEit€rrEnt, tike so nany ottrer offerres, iscfly unlanrful ertren the goverrnent of tUi aay&cides so. In 1914, for e:ranple, qr the eveof the HqrE [trle Bill, TGy Uniqrists Carsonard Banar law eacfi qoke in support of officersrho sided with the Ulster VolunLeer Fre,while other Tory t{pts irEited trcces at theC.tt:ragh Eo mtirry, in Gder tbat the bitl *ouldbe scr4pered, Ftlich it duly was. There sere,of course, rrc grosecutiqrs-taken out. lteirritenent law is grr2osely designed to &awattentiqt and direct blalre for any disaffectionqr to the outside agitator. .IusE as goverturgntshave a-Iways souglt to blarE ouside eitrenistsard subversives for any farge scale irxdustrialactim.

THE EMERGENCY NETWORK TODAY

Govermcnts bave learnt their lessqr fron previorsadninistratiqs ard are less keen these daysto use ttle 1920 Act, ttEn ttrey rcre when Heathor Attlee rere in dlarge. Oeclaring a Stateof_Ercrgerry is, in itself, vieled by sorepoliticiarrs as indicati.ve of reakresi. Or tlretrhole it fras been 1torl, ruets' and Iabouritesthat harre been ,rEt reqursible fc mkilguse of tlc furgenry hgulatians.

Omservative a&tinistratiqE tenH Eo usethe emrgenc.y rEtuark as a t@l - it ras ttrere3nd it Es to be used. Iabour, qr ttp otfnrhand, tended to harbour a rnre anbivalant attitudetmrds it.. Sressive Iabo:r regirrEs wereenbarrassed b1z it, but at the sa;e tine-wistreato use it to its full potential. In the ertdit ras left to Callagnn to pereect tt" O:ard turn it frqn a trEre srerlrerrcy organisatianinto an cAanisatian that is-inv6fv#ln-counter_irg e\rery large scale irdustrial ana pofiti.cafttrreat ttnt rodern goverrrEnt tends to facein the course of its daily affairs.

q1:rlng the Winter of DiscqrtenL of t78fi9 theq, nEt atnost every day. !ror;-€ipb;i!'*"plaed m informatilr gattrering "ira

n"oi-r.fIgge,r.r. cenrres (nrcis) *r.-;-tp-Ei-**o_utate matters at g[rourrl level ard f;d-backintetliserrce m u5se. t,e Rrc,;-;;-ir,!i.-u.oP link in directty with regicrai-p"fi".-n0.".mey hrere also to mke full use of leal authorityfacilities, OeparUrental facilities u"a-U.]=l T"liEA set:ups. pertraps ttre nosttigrir-rcanE u[pvatim that took plac€, in reqectof ttre enErgency netrrut, ai-rna'tnis iifoHas tt'e Brryurs together of the €rErgencyorganisaticr rith the civil deferrce ;t"i;rk.Eveq/ RE was linked directly to every oonespqtding R$_(Regiqraf s..t of-C*rerneitl. monthen qrards the goverrnents plans to aJalwlEn a nuclear attack Here ttatched in withthe plans of the ercrgency organisation. forexaq>le the seq,et storetrousd where food- isstoc*piled in the e\rent of a nuclear attacXare nq, an essential resource under joint @rAoD9*tr_"I.. Ttre inplicatiqr is that tne$-sioretrousesane to be used a.s resene should major civifunrest break out or a protrrctea geierai-strife

elrsue. Liksise the Civil Deferrce rptuork,rhictr is designed to protect gorrerrnent andthe authorities and not the lqrrlation, isru{ at the disposal of the Gl stmld itrerearise an oeasiqr rrhereby governrent uouldneed to retreat to a plaae of safety.

CaUaghan succeeded in r44raoing the G, tothe point utnre it nfr functiqs as the Statersfrqt line srerlrencry deferrce unit, wbateverthe energerrry. For added Frotectim the RE,shave been given the facility to link in toan Ercrgerry Telecqrmunication Network, viaSy,stsn X. Itre system allqs for the auiqnaticclosure of the qsrtnrer (and business if necessar:z)netherk sbould an eilErgerEl, arise, leavirrgcrly the official telegrones qeriUfe. ri-alsoallqrs for the blanking out of teleptrone trafficfor any street, neighbourhood, areal t*rn,county or regian stlould ttre eflErggncry requireit.

Iirrougtrout the Winter of Discqrtent rhe @ttok full advantage of the indrstrial sisis. ItreRErs fed daily reports to ttre G, htich, inturn eas in cqtstant cqrtact with both theCBI and IIIC chiefs. Ttre RE,s reported informat_irm as to the prqgess of local iisputes, trorTpny lery participating in the strike, msthe strike escalatirg, ms there any ocrttictdevelqrrg betrct the strikers, reie ttrerearryt pic*eting infringerrEnts, etc. The pJEtsbecaaie the eyes arxl ears of the Gr. RE staffHcorted cleely with lll5 sunreillarrce teanrsand with Secial Branc*,. RE offices tendedto keep lists of l@al voluntary associiiicrs(the HVS, Round Table, etc) ana-cqrtacts-inanti-uniqt lpoulrs, such as tt fte.aor,-A".*i"t_1on, the honqdc L€ague, etc. In additiqrthe RE's maintained ifqie cqrtact ,itt-iira*t Vdriefs and 1@a1 cqrtractors.

Canerally RE staff tend to be nornal civilselr/ants based yithin the regianal Ee,s ofvarious ministerial departrEnts. Itrey knoeach other, but their rcrk is rrct neaessarilyknqrn to other civil sewants. Ttrey do rrct

tuge 19 Block Flas Summer l9B4

neeessarily rrffi togetrrer in the sanrb building.RE Wint€o{t at€ tO be founa U GJ"ipuroffic€:, Polie EQrs, Eeal.th Auttrqity adnin--rstr.atiqs, the regiimr orii"., "i-]lr'trcnatiqralised inastries, ;;;;":'r#i t rH;i',11"ff"ffi*$.eu.s,lgi,*E":*s,*:tr-fi"l-l'?tdr,e to rhe bor ilii-lirusen ants in lltritetrall

The Gl,s equivalent in the police nethorki: F. National Reporrins cdE". -d[-l*

_.1Tx9o D!, ciltrrrter termirEls. Ttre NRC has a9.U liasim officer and the @l has " lft fi*i*officer. qEougb this liasion tt Ot i.l frffyaware of the fipv€rrent of police in ever1, partgf tt* @rptrry, Ihe NRc ii no new sei_ui, urthas been in existerr.e for sorc tine.

-u:iingthe (crrrrent) miners strike urc leg-h,as i."poro_ible for the coordinatiqr of p"fi* ;.";r..":nd the feloryent of police i" r*s"-ilb"r"to control flVinS pickets. Brrt rhe ffc

-i" *tused solely for mass irxtustrial actions.-

I1: uas the main cqrtrol centre during if* fg8frutiorride riots. ttrousands of poii# weiebussed_to troublespots trr NRc iiltructi;.IIf qC got local reports on the progress of::T :'9!"-*t crly frcn locat fuecial Branch,DUE arso frcrn the REfts. el the wtrole thoughthe furrtiqr of the RErs durirg tte-'gi-.iotssas to maintain a cqrstant asseisrent oi r,c*,thinsg were developing and to act *-u-Uuf._l.q: unit in case ttre prergency negulations reretc be brought in.

Itotauy transfonned thg_C, today is no longerjust the govenrEnrs _off iciai -Jiil*LLur,i.g

boq/, it is na the lyrchpin anA oorainat.rrgunit betren all the goverrnEnt detrErtjrents,the security forces, police ane ruiitary intell_(;err.e, local authorities, prblic industiv anabig business, the Civil lervice and th"-;["*Deferre netuork. In itself the G, ha" ; ultinateauthority. It is, of course, reqursible toeqtral govermEnt arrd can anly irat<e reccrmen+_aticrs, produce polic.y staterneits, pfan-anacollate inforrmtion. it is a utr".iuiiuiic nractrine.

But it is a rna<*rine that has been at the forefrqrt of every major irutustrial dispute andcivil eriergerry for the last 70 yeais or so.Its &cisiorts have affected tra lueessivegoverrnEnts have dealt with varyirg qisesard its caanisatim has prwicled the Statewith a firnl bulmrk against revolt.

POSTSCRIPT : The National ReportingCentre (NRC) was also used to co"trJthe deployment of police units fromvarious,parts of the country for therecent Stop The City anti-militaristdemonstration in the City of London.The decision to use the NIRC was takenbecause the demonstration took placeon the same day as a mass demoristrat_ion at the other end of the capital byprotestors supporting the GLe causeand mass picketing by miners in theMidlands, Nottinghamshire and in otherparts of the country. On March 2gthe country's police resources werenearly stretched to their limit. If riot-ing had broken out in some of theprovincial cities, or if other workershad come out in sympathy in a nationalstoppage, the NRC would have beenforced to ask for CCU assistance.Arrangements would immediatelyhave been made to prepare the REC,stor emergenc], contingency measure.rne'war cablnet. reeentl5, referred torn the national press, is in fact thestrike breaking CCU. The CCU specialcommittee, brought in to break iheminers strike includes Norman Tebbit-Io-, ["g, Sir Michae] Havers, Do";i;.Hurd. David Michel, Michael lin"."il-'-and Lord Trefarne. This committeerepresents the armed forces, the HomeOffice,, the Attorney-General's office,L)-epartment of the Environment,M_ilrstry of Transport, Departmentof Trade and Industry and- the Scott-ish office.

I

,

The rebels are not breathingThe brutal warTheir luxurious dietof plums from the boredC hildre n b u il d in g lo nie sOut of their body spares

The common threadIs the effect of piracyObscared by the dramaThe hostages have blown upCrowdsmarched through the sffeetsShouting 'death to the assossins,

They want the right to runLeaders wdnt enormous powerPlaying their gamesChatting at the tableGin and tonic smilesBargaining for powerA precarious balanceThat eats the soulsof millions

I

I

Black Flag Summer 1994 kge 20

)

As long as I have eyes to see the horrors ofthil world, as long os my eors can hear themoans of the proletariat; as long as mybrain is alert in my head and con reflect allthe terrible impressions which are called

forrh by the injwtices of every hour; or longas ny heart has not beame insensible to thesufferings of the disinhqit&, my mouth |.eillnot remain silent to the crimes which therich ond powerful commit against the pople.

Johann Most

Johann Most has unfortunately becomea 'neglected' figure within the anarchistmovement, thanks partly to EmmaGoldman's continual slander campaignagainst him and despite over 30 yearsspent as a tireless and vigorous anarchistpropagandist. For more than those30 years though, Most endured endlessanrl unrelenting persecution in almostevery country he lived, but especiallyin \merica, the so-called home of thebrave and land of the free. To a lesserman this constant persecution andimprisonment would have been unbear-able but Most rose again and again aftereach blow the state gave him and beganhis work again with renewed vigour andenthusiasm, even though towards theend of his life he worked ahnost alone.

Most did not believe that anarchismwould come about one day as if bymagic and free everyone without astruggle. For him the only effective wayworking people could defend themselvesagainst both the brutal persecution ofthe state and the cruel exploitation ofthe capitalists was through armed selfdelence and propaganda by the deed.For this he has always been depictedby the bourgeois press (and some fellowanarchists as well) as a 'fanatic'and the'personification of criminal anarchism'.

Vost's life and work is now littleknown and his writings, for the mostpart, are unavailable (although trans-latt:d) in English. We offer this shortbiography as a much needed tributeto r great un"r"1,.:.*

* *

Joh:nn N{ost was born in thc l}lvulirn townof ]rugsburg F'ebruary 5 1846. the sonof a lawyer's copyist. Although tlle tanrilylive 1 in great poverty Most's curly chiklhoodwa! very happy thanks to tllc lovc und tcnder-nes given to him by his mothcr, ir ti)ntrergov rrness to one of the richcst l'unilicsin r,ugsburg, whose liberal id!'as and tieethfu king dominated the Most houschokl.Wh,rn Most was only ten years old his nrotherdierl during a cholera epidemio (which alsoclai ned the lives of his sister and grirndparcnts)and his father remarried. From thc beginninghis rtep mother disliked Johann intensely anddid all she could to make his life a miserv.

\lanr. times. thrngs became :o bad that he

prefered to run a\r'a]' and live rough ralherthan submit to beatiags and hard *ork. Ontop of all this, since the age of seven he hadbeen suffering liom a painful infection of theleft jaw. Various so-called doctors had triedto treat him without success, and probablyaggravating the infection to boot, until atthe age of 1 3 he finally underwent an operat-ion which resulted in the removal of 2 inchesofiawbone. Although the operation no doubtsaved his life it 1etl him with a hideousfacial disfigurement, as it involved an incis-ion on the side of his face tiom the templeto the corner of his mouth.

*****In 1858, at the age of 12, Most was apprent-iced to a bookbinder after being expelledfrom school lor organising a strike against a

particularly brutai and authoritarian teacher.The apprenticeshlp, at tirst welcomed by\Iost. soon became a repeat of his unhappyhome liie. He was forced by his master, a

man called Weber, to work long hours anduas continually starved and generally ilitreated. During this time he also served hisfirst prison term ol 24 hours for refusingto attend compulsory chur-ch services andconfessionals.Most learned his trade rveil despite Weber's

brutal behaviour, and at the age of 17 obtain-ed his journeyman's papers. With these in hispocket lre set out on his llanderschaft, a

semi compulsory rvandering from town totown in search ol employment that everyskilled worker had to undertake under themedieval traditions of the German guildsystem in order to perfect their trade. Most'sllanderschaft , which lasted for five years,took him on foot to almost every larye townand city in Germany, Austria, Switzerlandand even parts of northern Italy. Findingwork though was not easy. Many times he

was turned away by potcntial employersbecause of his twisted face, being told that hewould frighten away customers and so on.Very often, under these conditions, he was

forced to beg in order to survive. His dis-figurement which he was ail too aware of,until he managed to hide the worst of thescar with a beard, also tended to keep himapart fiom his feliow workers and he spentmuch of his time reading, immersing himselfin the classics, history and naturai sciences.

Thus he made up for his lack of tbrmaleducation.

*{.***In March 1867 Most lbund himseli work-ing in Le Locle, in the French speaking Swiss

Jura. One Sunday afternoon he walked to LaChaux de Fonds, some miles up the St. ImirValley and by chance wandered into a meet-ing being held by the local section of theInternational Workers Association (the LaClhaux de Fonds section of the Internationalhad been lbunded in 1865 by a local doctor,Pierre Coullery, and soon became one of thestrongholds of the IWMA in the area. Themembership consisted in the main part ofworkers engaged in watchmaking). N{ost rvas

immediately filled rvith both amusement and

enthusiasm by what he heard and *'hen the

meeting was finished he bought some

brochures to take home with him. Later he

recalled in his memoi-rs:-'. . . llhat I heard therc I could l'ull1'endorse.It was all perJectll' logical. Such thoughts had

often passed through nt)'ov'n head, onl"- Ihad not knou'n hov' to put them together,llow to s)'stematize them. The speaker calledthis sintple teaching socialisnt. I soort realisedthat, I too, u,as a socialist, and had been one

lbr a long time v'ithout being att'are o.f it.From that time I began to .feel that I was a

human being; tltere was an aim be.fbre nte,

w'hich went beysrrl ,r, bare struggle lbrexistence and the satisfaction o.f nontentdt't'individual rrants; I began to live in the realntof ideals. The cause of humanity becante trt.t

cause, attd each step in advartce that could be

recorded .lilled me ttith the gteatest jot . . .

Soon Most became a regular membe: .r:the rveekly meeting at La Chaux de Fcrn<i:

and participated as much as he could ir :hediscussions. At the same time he t'ecame anactive member of the local German \\'gr;kg15

Society and was soon appointed its -c:eta:1due to his restless activitl'. Th:ouih hispropaganda work the societl-'s memix:shipgrew liom l7 to 72 in on11'a leu-rrrrn:hs.Gradually Most began to deloie mL1:e andmore time to agitational u,r:k 3nd i!-r thiswas sacked by his emplcl::.

Forced on the road .lnae asain. \[ostmade his wa1' to Zuri;h rrhe:e he joined thenewly found branch o: :he I\\'\1A becom-ing good friends s'ith i:s principie animatorHermann Greulich.

In the auiumn of 1868 Most left Switzer-land. and aiter spending some time on theroad :rnalll settled in Vienna. The Austriansocialisr movement was in its childhood butgroting tast (political liberties had only been

t,

granted in 1866 after the Austrian defeatat the hands of the Prussians) and Mostimmediately became a well known and muchadmired figure in working class circles mainlyfor his direct and sarcastic way of speaking.On May l0 1869 he gave his flust big speechat Funfhaus, a suburb of Vienna, before10,000 v'orkers. For this he was charged withincitement and imprisoned for one month.

Towards the end of 1869 the Austrianauthorities became alarmed at the rapid andsuccessful spread of socialist ideas and inDecember enacted several orders in an attemptto stem it's rising tide. After these anti-socialist laws had been passed over 50,000Viennese workers protested outside thechamber of Deputies where they wereaddressecr by severai popular orators includ-ing Most. who was now referred to by thebourgeoi. press as the 'impudent bookbinder,.From tht n on the government attacked thesocialist rnovement as hard as they could.Most hirrself was arested on March 2 1970and charg ed with high treason, which carriedthe death penalty. When he was brought totrial, the government, fearing demonstmtions,deployed a whole regiment of soldiers toguard tht, court and limited spectators tosixty. Defending himself, he told the judge'when yis dccuse me of high treason, youcommit l,igh treason. . . I confess I am asocialist. I confess, I shall always be socialist. . . Coroemn me you cdn, if you will,if you mrst.. .'He was sentenced to fiveyears imprisonment. While in prison awaitingtrial Mos' tried his hand at poetry. Only oneof his po,rms from that period has survived,Die Arbe;tsmanner (The Working Man)which was sung by several generations ofGerman l,nd Austrian workels, both anarch-ist and sccialist, although socialist publishersmade the practice of omitting his name asauthor after he became an anarchist. Al-though stntenced to five years Most wasreleased f"om the prison of Suben after serv-ing only year due to a govemment amnesty.On his release Most's popularity grew by leapsand bounds due to his being singled.out asa 'danger,tus socialist'. Soon after he under-took a pr,>paganda tour of provincial townswhere he was always the main speaker andwas received by enthusiastically large crowds.The tour :ver, he was about to make anotherthrough ()erman speaking Bohemia when analarmed government intervened and expell-ed him fr rm Austria 'forever,. On May 21871 ove- 1000 workers accompanied Mostto the rai way station where he boarded thetrain for (;ermany. As he left he said withhis usual .arcasm 'is it sure that Austria willlast for erer?'

Althorrgh his stay in Austria had lastedless than rhree years he always retained fondmemories of his days there, in an atmospheredevoid of intigue, coruption and inter-partystrife.

*****Most retu'ned to Germany, where unlikeAustria, the socialist moyement was tornapart by in-fighting and joined the factionled by August Bebel and Wilhelm LiebknechtSettling ir, the Saxon industrial town ofChemnitz he took over the ailing locaisocialist n,rwspaper, the Chemnitzer FreiePresse anc within six weeks boosted itscirculation from 200 to 1200. In the autumn

of 1871, he was imprisoned for some monthsfor organising and leading a strike in Chem-nitz. By now a much sought after and popularspeaker and organiser, Most threw himselfinto propaganda work for the Social Demo-cratic Party.

In February 1873 he was imprisoned forlese-majeste and insulting the army, andwhile serving his sentence in the Saxon stateprison at Zwichan made an abstract of Marx'sDas Kapital which was published under thetitle Kapital und Arbeit (Capitai and Work).Immediately the book became popularamongst working people, who found Marxun-readable at the best of time, but broughthostile criticism from both sociaiist leadersil Germany and Marx himseif. The worstcame from Liebknecht who was outagedclaiming that Marx had made his book asshort as possible and it was sacrilege to changeanything, even a comma. Coming to Most'sdefence Eugen Duhring welcomed the booksaying that anyone who read it had no longerany need to read Marx, Needless to saythe Party leaders made sure that Kapital undArbeit was never reprinted.

On his release from prison in October1873 Most was offered the editorship ofthe Suddentschen Volkstimme of Mainzajob he undertook *ith his usual er.thusiasmuntil the following year, rvhen he rvas electedto the Reichstag as a Sociaiist Party deputyfor Chemnitz. If Most had any illusions aboutthe parliamentary system they were soon tobe shattered into a thousand pieces. Believingthat he would be able to speak on behalf ofsocialism and put the worker's cause, he wasinstead hardly given the chance the speak. Infact the only subject he was asked to speak onwas that of compulsory smallpox vaccination(which he, by the way, opposed). Much laterhe described his first days in parliament:

'In high spiits I travelled to Berlin at thebeginning of Februuy, and hastened aftermy orrivol to the saced edifice, Parliament,where the first citting hd just begun, ofwhlch in fact I pqceived little, becvuse I hadnot yet been initioted into the mysteies ofPoliomentorim,

They were, as I lurned loter, electing thebureau for the coming session, but nobodyseemd to take much notice ol vthat wastaking place.

Very fe$) members were on the floor ofthe House, ond even these dA not srike me osso solemn as I had expected to find them.One wrote letters, another read a newspaper,here and .there stood groups in two's ottdthree's evidently making rotten jokes orpa$ing inane lemarks.

But outside, in the holl and especiallyin the Restaurant of the Reichfiag, thingslooked busy. Booze wos flowing, ond thebahel of ttoices mde me think I was in theStock Exchange. Only now and then littlegroups moched in to record their votes. Ithought then that this monner of corduct-ing things was unusua| but I larned laterthat htith the exception of 'great debotes'which occarrd once in six weeks, thingsalways u)ent in the some way. The'countycowins' $tho very often came from neor ondfar to see the 'Reichstag at work'clospdtheir lwnds obove their lurups in astonish-ment ot the way things were corried on.'Most's parliamentary carce{ however was cutsllort when he was arrested and sentenced to

26 months imprisonurent for a speech he hadmade on the Jrd anuiversary of the ParisCommune and was confined in the notoriousPlotzensee prison near Berlin (a prison notunknown to tuture anarchists, including ErichMuhsam rvho rvas held there by the Nazis).

While in prison. as was his habit, Most didnot wastc time. As he told comrades later,imprisonrnent rvas his university. ,I owe mymind to imprisonment ond stored in my heddthings I auld use hter. Thoe is sharpenedmany anows for up in futwe battles.'Dtttngthis stretch he used his time in keeping adiary rvhich was later published under thetitle Die Bastille am Plotzensee and exposedthe Prussian penal system with its habitualabuse and ill-treatment of prisoners andcorrupt mismanagement. He was also res-ponsible tbr starting a clandestine postalsystem atnongst the prisoners which remainedundiscovered by the prison authorities.

Released tiom Plozensee in early i876Most remained in Berlin where he took upthe editorship of the newly founded socialistdaily, the Berlitter Freie Presse, which overthe next two years increased its circulationliom 2000 to 18000.

Most, by now more popular than ever,might well have risen in the ranks of theSocialist Party, but his lively and openlyrevolutionary articles in the Berliner Freie.Pesse were beginning to estrange him from theparty leadership, especially Leibknecht whotold him one day that the German socialistmovement had no place for his revolutionaryphraseology. ln reality Liebknecht and co.feared Most's popular appeal. Apart from theirriva.hies there were also theoretical disputesbetween the two men. For some time Mosthad much admired Eugen Dutuing, as didmany Berlin workers much to the chagrin ofMarx and Engels, and the columrs of theBerliner Freie Press carried many articlesdefending Duhring against attacks made onhim by Engels. While in Prison, Most hadwritten a sympathetic critique of Duhting'sideas, and on his release asked Liebknechtto publish it in the Party's main journalVorrearts of which Liebknecht was editorin chief. Before publication however Lieb-knecht submitted the article to his masterEngels who said it should not be published. Somewhat put out by this rejection Most publishedthe article himself in the Berliner FreiePresse. Engels responded to Most's 'affront-ery'by writing a diatribe entitled Anti-Duhringwhich Liebknecht began to serialise inVorwarts. Only a few episodes appearedhowever, because at the Gotha Party Congressof 1877, Most proposed a resolution thatwould prevent the publication of futurearticles against Duhring by Engels. Most wonthe day, but brought on his head the ever-lasting-hatred of Marx and Engels.

Now Most had bedome one of the bestpublic speakers the party had at it's disposal.Whether he was deliverying a series of lectureson "The Social Revolution and Caesarism inAncient Rome,'or publicly debating withPastor Stocker, the leader of the Christiansocialist party and forerunner of nationalsocialism, the hall was always packed byworkers, students and even academics,

In May 1878, he was again arrested, thistime for a speech he had given in Chemnitzabout the recent attempt made on the life ofthe Kaiser by Max Hodel. Although sentoncod

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o only 6 weeks, on his release he was trans_r erred to Berlin where he was tried againtor some remarks he had made in his earlier.r'ritings, and was sentenced to 5 months inr'lotzensee . This time the authorities maderure he suffered. He was confined insolitary lbr the whole time and was not allowedr isitors. Whenever he had to go near otheri rmates he was forced to wear a mask overI is face to hide his identity.

On his release in December lg7g, MostI rund the situation in Germany had changed( ramatically. Using the attempts on the life( f the Kaiser as a pretext, Bismarck hadc issolved the Reichstag and cnacted draconiani ntl-socialist laws. Alt socialist ne\vspapers,i'rcluding Most's Berliner Freie presse,-werei nmediately suppressed, except for ther rildest; and many well known socialistsi,nprisoned or tbrced into exile.

. Most himselt was given trventy_fburh rurs to leave Berlin. Going firstio Hamburg,h I met with prominent members of the parti'rr ho advised him to leave the country. Thisa.ivice though was not solely lbr his benefit.'l hose party leaders left alone by the police,ir,cluding Liebknecht, were scared stiff thattlreir association with Most u,ould land themir prison. Realising, that fbr the time beinga least, propaganda rvork in Germanl. u.aJn rt possible l\{ost decided ro so into e\ile.I:rllou.ed bv ntore Ihan Jl| deter-tii.es hecr.rssed the border inro Belgiun and ,_.n

D rcember ,, ,",t._O_ri:":a".

Ir London, Most rvas enthusiastically tvelcom_e c: by the Ko mmun is t is ch erA r b e it er b il d st, e r ei n(( ommunist Workers, Educational Union)and was invited to edit a nerv newspaperexpressly for the purpose of sending inlbrm_at on and propaganda into Germany. Withth : llnances of the Union the first issue ofFr:iheit (Freedom) appeared on January 41 8 79 rvith the epigram under the title'F' eedom is dead - long live Irreedoml,Al ll,rst Freiheit, calling irself a Social Demo-cfl tic organ, the t'irst ever to do so. lbllowedthr party line, but soon I{ost began to haveserious mis-givings about the moderatepa: liamentarianism adopted b1. Leibknechtanit co. in Germany. In a series of articles inMa v he asked the question: are the socialdeJ,rocrats a revolutionary party.) His cone-l-usl, )n was no, saying ,they

are os thick skinn.ed ds on elephont and insenitive to tendertouch. To make them react you hove to hitthern in the ribs with o choin. - - ,

[:rom the beginning Freilteit, rvritten asah.l rys in simple <iirect language and full ofsar( astic humour that Most made his orvn,was very popular Jnlungst tirc German work_tng ''tass. Althouch d isrrilrilted in Germanyunder very dift'icult contlitions (tlie firstissu.' was sent nurnl:rjl\ lrrd rr.:rs brrrned bythe ruthorities. All sub**qur.nt issues rveresmuggled into German1,. Thc story of thesmuggling of Freiheit and th!, attempt of theGerrnan police to infiltrate thc group u,ouldtake up a book in itselt). Its rcradc,rshipincr,rased between 1g79 and lgg6 tiom i200to 3,100.

l he immediate populatity ot b-reiheitalarrned both Bismarck and the socialistlead:rs in Germany, especially Liebknecht,who took every opporlunity to attack Most.He ever m46q a statement in the Reichstag

saying that the socialist party respected thelaw irrespective of its nature. To counter-act Fteiheit Liebknecht and co. began thepublicaJion of their own paper Der Soziol-demokrat from Zurich. The more mdical Mostbecame, the more he was attacked in thecolumns of Der Sozialdemokrat (who nick-named him General Bum Bum) and heaped onhis head every insult, slander and calumnythey would think of; tactics no doubt learntfrom their master Marx, who had used thesame means to attack Bakunin some yearsbefore.

Most's final break with the socialist partycame in May 1880, when he addressed anopen letter to the voters of the 5th electoraldistrict of Berlin:

'My conviction is that Germany hasreached a point of developmoi where noadvanced Wlitician can think of reforms, Itis too late for thot, and the Revolutiondemandc its rights.

Modern Society cannot be patchd up,it must be overthrown. In its place onecannot put a thing that is neither fish norflesh. Only Communism is destined to teadhumanity from thi.s vale of tears to a betterexistece-

Concerning the State, we have the choiceonly between Cosackdom and republiconism.And if , one, as I have just done, decloesCommunism stra$ht oh,ay os a necesityfor rhe developmant and hoppiaess of humon-ity, then one understands thot by repubtican.ism I do not m&n o blue, but o rd republic.

Closely relatd to the present form ofsociol slavery is the well-flourishing mantoldegradation. llho, therefore, is fighting forAberty and equality must not be ofmid offiChtinC the priesthood. We must not sporethem, we must obolish them. In place of thesystematic poisoning of the minds of thepeople by theology, we must put atheism andmaterialism, if v,)e want light in the tand ofthe thinkers.

My motto is, thtefore: ,,Down with theThrone, Altar and Moneybags! Long Livet he So cial R evo lut io n ! "

Whoever qrees vrith me, moy wte for mein this sense.'This was too much for Liebknecht and othersocialist leaders. In the beginning of 1gg1,they organised a secret congress in Zurich,and erpelled Most from the party.

\lost had nou'finally broken the viciouschain oi parliamentary socialism, and hadbecome an anarchist, a transtbrmation helpeda.long b1' Iong conversations with Victor Dave,a Belgianassociate of Bakunin, ErricoMalatesta and the many libertarian exilesfrom the Pans Commune, who like Most, hadtbund refuge in London.

On March 13 1881 Sofia perovskaya andRissakof killed Alerander II, the czar of allthe little Russians. \Iost applauded this act ofpopularjustice against this most authoritar_ian of rulers by writing an editorial n Freiheitunder the title Endlich! (At Lastl). ,One ofthe vilest tyronts anoded through andthroughwith corruption,is no more,he wrote,'The glorious bomb fell at the despot,s feet,shattering his lqs, ripping open his belly, ardinflicting mony wounds. . . Conveyd to hispalace, ond for an hour ond a half in the great.est suffering, the autocmt mditoted on hisgullt, Then he died as he deserved to dielkeadog...'

When this article was brought to theattention of Bismarck, he put pressure on theBritish government to bring a prosecutionagainst Most. Some days later the offices oiF'reiheit in Great Titchfield Street wereraided by the police. All papers and docu-ments were seized and Most was dragged of toBow Street where he was committed for trial.Bail was refused.

On Most's arrest a defence committee wasformed, made up of half a dozen Englishcomrades whose moving spirit was by f ar andaway Frank Kitz. Meetings were organisedand a fund started, but its greatest achieve_ment was the launching of an English langu_age edition of Freiheit. The second number ofThe Freiheit containcd a translation in full ofthe article for which Most r.vas being prosecut_ed, and u.'as sold outside the Old Bailev ashis trial was going on insid,e. Tlte Freiieitran to several issues from April 24 to June 5,and then folded for lack of funds.

Most was tried at the Central CriminalCourt on May 25 1881, charged rvith libeland incitement to murder. Although fbundguilty, the jury's recommendation tbr mercywas ignored by thejudge, Lord ChiefJusticeColeridge, who sentenced Most to 16 monthshard labour.

Most served his time in the ColdbathFields House of Correction at Clerkenrvell(norv long since demolished), rvhere he u,askept in solitary conilnement and tbrbiddento speak to anyone other than prison u.arders.His only contact with other prironers rrasduring the half hour exercise period each day.His hard labour consisted oi seu.ing buttonsand patches on uniforms.

While he rvas in prison, Freiheit, nov.subtitled 'An organ of the RevolutionarySocialist' continued publication under theeditorship of the more than able John Nevehelped by a handt'ul of other German com-rades. Despite his confinement, Most contin_ued to contribute articles rvritten fiom hiscell on prison lavatory paper rvith ink con-cocted from limestone and water.

In N{ay of the tbllowing year (18g2)Freiheit was again raided by the police foran article that had appeared rejoicing in theassassination of Lord Cavandish and ThomasBurke in Phoenir Park, Dublin by formermembers of the Irish Revolutionary Brother_hood called the ,Invincibles'; rvhich u,ashailed as 'a heroically bold act of popularjustice.'Although Neve was not in theotlice at the time, everything u.as takcn brthe policr'and two typesetlers (oh nu:typesetter) arrested. Despite this \er-e and rheothers continued tbr a rvhile, bui sou.n ioundit almost impossible as the authorities iraddecreed that anyone found rrriting. edirine.printing or distributing Freitteir u,,uld beprosecuted. The London Fr.e/reir rinalll. ioid-ed in October and moved to Sn itzerland.

On his release from prison ar the end otOctober, Most lbund no possibilirl. oireneu._ing the publication ol Freiheir in London.Continually follou-ed b1. the police, henow decided ro take up the invitation of alecture tour in America. extended by JustusSchwab of the Nerx. \'ork Social_RevolutionarvClub.

*****Most arrived in America on December 1g1882 and was triumphantly rvelcomed by

thousan ls of German workers who packedthe Cop:er Union Hall in Nerv york tooverfloring.

Afte . persecution in the old world, Mostcame to the nerv rvith great hope andenthusir sm.'. . . Fortutately, no counffy wosever mo'e suited for otarchist ogitatian thanpresentalay America', he wrole,,Here nobodywants t( experiment further with the people,sState. . . Whoeyer looks at Amqica,yrill seethe ship is powoed by stupidity, cotruptionand prej dice. Long hos the goyernment d,is-gusted n'tble and intelligent natures: theyavoid voting, and are now ready to listen totheanarhists...'

The evolutionary element within theAmerici .i Labour movement at this timervas don inated in the main part by Germanimmigra 1ts, and NIost immediately embarkedon a spei king tour; the lirst of many he wouldmake. cr vering much of the east and middlervest iro :.r Nerr York to Kansas City and fromBoston 1 r Baltimore spreading propagandain everl' :it1,, u'hich had a German speakingpopulati ,n.

Soon after, ['ith the financial help olJustus S, hv,ab, Freiheit re-appeared, norvsub-tit1e, an International Organ of GermanSpeakinp Anarchists, and in no time becameas popul,r as it had been in Europe.

Nou, \4ost's main aim u,as to unily, astar as po rsible, the various revolutionarysocialist :roups under the u,ing of a revivedand over ly anarchist International Working-man's Ar .;ociation. On Sundal'October 16I 883, th ough the efforts of \lost, thesevarious g oups met in Pittsburg. The outcomeof the Pi tsburg convention u'as as \lostu,ished. -

he old International rvas revivedunder th new title of International \\/ork-ing Peop es Association, and a six pointdeclarati 'n, drawn up by Most himself,together vitll Albert Parsons and AugustSpies set rut the aims of the netv organisation:'Fitst : R( itruction of the existing closs rule, by

all mtans, i.e. by energetic, relentless,reyolL tiotary and interrutionol sction.

Second: ,'stablishment of afree society basedon tfu cooperative organisotion ofprodu ction.

Thbd: Ft ee exchange of equivatent products byand b tween the productive organiutionscomn erce and profit mongery.

Fourth: (trgonisation of education on o secular,scientific, and equal bosis lor both sexes.

Fifth: Eq, ul right lor all without distinction ofsex ol race.

Sixth: Rt guhtion of all public affoirs by lreecontrccts. . . resting on o fdemliAicbasis. ,'

The delel ates also accepted a resolution fromAugust S ries saying that Trade Llnions wouidtorm the dvanceguard of the comingrevolutio r.

In 18 14, Most, unbeknown to his mostclosest c< mrades took a job in a munitionsfactory ir Jersey City near New York. Thissecret 1vc'k provided the basis for a series ofarticles ir Freiheit rvhich were later publishedin book 1:rm under the tifle RevolutionareKtiegswis senscha/r (Revolutionary WarScience). ln this 74 page handbook he setout, in sir'rple terms, instructions for themanul-ac1 rre and use of various kinds ofexplosive (although he advised against'home mr de explosives, saying it was muchsafer to s eal them from factories). 'In giving

dyrumite to the dovrntrodden million ofthe globe'he wrote, 'science has done it'sbest work. The dear stuff can be canied inthe pocket without donger, while it is o !or-midable weapon against any force of militit,police or detectives thot may want to stiflethe cry for iuttice that goes forth fromplundered slavet. It is something not veryornammtal, but exceedingly useful. It enbe used against persons or things. It is betterto use against the formq than ogainst bricksand masonry. A pound of this stufl beats abushel load ol bollots oll hollow - anddon't you |oryet it. . . '

The book also included instructions onthe preparation of invisible ink and seif-inflammable liquid compounds. He alsoexplained how you could burn down yourou'n house, shop or rvorkshop and claimthe insurance money.

(Freiheit to a certain extent was linancedin this rvay for a rvhile until Benjamin Tucker,the gentleman anarchist, denounced Most inhis nervspaper Libert)'). Most's little manualuas greatly admfued b1' Lucl' and AlbertParsons, who tried to have it translated irtoEnglish, rvithout success alas. Its popularitl,amongst Cerman speaking anarchists though.u,as immense and rvithin three months it hadgone into a third printing.

At this time also, Most wrote some of hismost popular works including Die Gottespest(The God Pestilence),.Die Eigentumbestie(The Beast of Property) and Die Freie Gesell-schoft (The Free Society). All these, especiallythe first two, have been translated in manylangua-ues and have become minor classics.

In \{ay 1886, N{ost was arrested for aspeech he had made some time before in Neu,York's Germania Gardens. rvhere he urged alarge audience of German workers to atmthemselves aeainst capitalist exploitation.'To arm is not hard'he told them holdingup a ril1e. 'Buy these, steal reyolvers, makebombs, and when you have enough rise andseize what is yours. Take the city by stormand the capitalists by the throot!'Sentencedto trveve months hard labour together u.'ith afine of $500 for 'holding an unlau ful assemb-ly'after a trial which $'as to sa) the leaststage managed (the prosecuting officer toldthe jurl' that if they failed to convict Mosthe lvould shoot him himself rvith as littlecompunction as he rvould a rattiesnake):Most was taken.to the notorious Blackrvell,sIsland prison to serve his time, a place whichhe referred to as America's arsehole. Inprison, Most rvas subjected to many indignit-ies, including the shaving off of his beard,which made him the butt of ridicule andhumiliation because of his deformity.

For some time before M<.:st's arrest, theIWPA had been putting ali its efforts intoagitation tbr an 8 hour day, an aim incident-ally that he had little enthusiasm for. Forhim it rvas a mere struggle for a'little morebufter on worker's bread.'Only the immed!ate armed expropriation of the capitaiistswas worth fighting for he believed. Whilehe t'as being held by the police prior to histrial the IWPA had declared a general strikethroughout the country as part of the 8 daystruggle. In Chicago, thanks to the influenceof the anarchists, the work stoppage was total.On May 4, a meeting as called for in theHaymarket Square to protest against policebrutality. During the course of the meeting,

which was being addressed by Parsons, Spiesand Samuel Fielden, a bomb was thrown intoa group of policemen as they attempted toclear the square, killing seven and woundingseventy. With that the police fired into thecrowd. How many workers were killed orwounded has never been ascertained. Immed-iately a reign of terror swept over Chicago.Homes of well known activists were raidedand ransacked and themselves and theirfamilies beaten. At the end of May 31 peoplewere indicted for the murder of the police-men of which only eight stood tria1. Ofthese Parsons, Spies, Engels and Fischer,all active anarchists within the IWPA, weresentenced to death on concocted and purger-ed evidence.

No sooner had the news of the Chicagomassacre broken, the press began an attackagainst the anarchists in general, and Mostin particular. The New York Times screamedon its front page, 'The villainous teachings ol'the -lrtarclists bore bloody fruit in Chicagotonighr. and beJbre daylight at least a dozenstalv'art policemen will have laid down theirlires as a tribute to tlte dociline of HerrJohann .l[ost. . . Other papers were soonto follou suit. Had he been in Chicago at thetime, no doubr lIost tr.ould have stood trial\r'ith the others, and lost his life uith them.\Iany u'ould have iiked to have seen tl1is,and attempts u ere made to get the govern-ment of New York to 'pardon' Most andhand him over to the state of Illinois. Luckilynothing came of this.

F'rom then on, until his death, the capital-ist press embarked on the most vicious cam-paign against Most accusing him of everycrime and perversion possible, and othersbeside. Even the widely circulated boy'spaper Tom Swfl singled him out as 'PublicEnemy No. 1'.

@ ES 6TN IA NO' !N DATOER. AND

Most was released from Blackwell'sIsland in April 1887 and once again threwhimself into agitational and propaganda workdespite continual agitation and propaganda.work, despite continual police surveillance.With this renewed enthusiasm, the circulat-ion of Freiheit soon reached 8,000. InNovember of the same year he was againarrested for making a protest speech against

Black FLrg Summer 1984 hge 24

th.: legal murder of Spies, Parsons, Engelsard Fischer who had been executed by thest.,te of Illinois on November 11. Sentencedto another trvelve months imprisonmentaf er a ltircical trial, where the judge recomm-ended a discharge, and thejury, who afterth ee hours were 7--5 tirr not guilty (thisrv. s at I l.30pm) were told that il theycc lld not agree within hall an hour they wouldbe locked up tor the night. Within ten minutesth : seven had changcd their minds to guilty.\I rs1 ls11'"u.r lodged an appeal and r.vas

re .'ased on bail.ln 1890 he rvrote a littlc pamphlet entitled

Ot r Position in the Lobour Morcntent inivl ich he anticipated many ol the ideas oian rrcho-syndicalism. He B,rote that it rvouldb. the role ot rerolutionrrl unions to re-rur -anise society al'ter the social revolution.In Iater years he applaudc.d u,ith great enthus-ias n the rise of revolutionary syrxlicalismin L;rance and did much to publicise itsde.elopment in the columns ol I'reiheit.Ju it before his death it gave him much pleasureto iee the fbrming of the IWW.

In .lr.trre I 89 I. his appeal auainsr impliron-m( nt l'ailed and he rvas again taken to Black-rve l's Island to serve his sentencr'. Shortlr'at'1 rr his arrival therc he sent the f i-.llori insm( isage, addressr,d to 'The \\'o:ktnr I)r.opleas: :mbled in the Copper [n:riruic. \eu \ ork'.'Iliends and commdes: you ha'e assembledto 'inally begin o camgign thot must beno longer delay,d if the enslavemat of thepet,ple is to be preventd without resoftingto 7ll Wssible mans of resistonce. It behovesus, in defence of the most rwtural andfu, damental of all rights - the rtght tothink and communicate our thoryhts tootl'ers to take action on behall of frees$ech that is in danger. The tools of therot ber and murder classes that by cunningatu'force have transformd these [TnitedStates into their private property, and themotses of the p@ple into vassols, heap shameuprtn shrma rra crime upon crime. Thebett representatiyes of the oppressed theych('ke to deoth on the gallor+,s or take theirlivt s by muns of the club, revolyer, orba,'onet. They drag strikersond boycottersto he dungeon. They use their power totra nform this so-called republic into a huge

penitentiory, Their own constitution theytrample upon. Their tymnny knows nobounds.

'My uwn use is only a symptom in thedevelopment of infamy, but it neverthelessshowt uividly to whot dqree the infomiesof these capitalistic bandits have progressed.The end, os it appears, to crqtte in the thinkingportion of the working population, thathatred o! courage, energy, and enthusiasmthat are elsential to succecsfully operateagainst the ruling mob and bandits.

'This consciousness mokes it eosy for meto bear with pride the injustices I hove beensubjected to at present. It is with enthusiosmthat I shall later on put myself in your ranksagain, to give truth its due with oll my power,and relentlessly to Wrticiryte in the warfareagaint all thot enslayes us, against the politicalscoundrels and social exploiters, ogoinstChurch and State, and for perfect Libertyand Communism.

'Comrudes, forwotd ogoinst the enemywith vehemence! Yes, it is time to check thecapitalistic concpirotors! Act before it istoo late! Hurray for the Social Revolution!'On his release fiom prison in April 1892llost continued his r.vork on Freiheit despitea talling readership.

Since he uas a child Most had a greatambition to become an actor bt"tt unfortun-atell his laciel disligurement pur pa!'rothis. ln 189-1. hoterer. his childhood dreamn as realised n hen he founded tbe Free Stagetheatre sroup ur \etr' \'ork. \l'ith this grouphe began to produce, direct and act in stageplays including Hauptmann's 'fhe lleayersand Ibsen's P/iars o.l'Socieb'. He even play-ed himself in a play called S//ike. Later heproduced a repertoire ol anti-capitalist playsthat played to packed rheatres. In 1 895, inan attenrpt to boost l:reiheit's circulation,Nlost changed its tbrmat radically. Gothicscript \ras replaced ivith Latin, the size u,asreduced and the number of pages reducedt'rom 8 to 4. This, though did little toremedr Ihe situation and in 1896. tbrced s.iththe sheer impossibilitl' of making a livine.NIost u'as forced to mLrve tr) tsuffalo t.herehe became the editor of the Gernrar daillB u./ fb lo er A r b e i t e r Z e tt u n g (Buftalo \\'o rkersNewspaper) with Freiheit appearing as a u'eek-

ly supplement to the daily. No doubt, theGerman trade union that launched theArbeiter Zeitung, thought they rvouldincrease their membership, if their paperwas edited by the famous Johann Most,but }Iost couid not get along with hisemplo1,ers, who continually demanded thalhe 'moderate his tone'. After two years

he left Buffalo and retumed to New York.Noil li,,l/relt t rs in sr'r'ious Iinancirl

dift'rculties, but still Most continued. .1/

l'reiheit dies' he said, 'The cause is lost. .

A newspaper that hos often vexed emperorsond kings; a sheet thot innumqable beadleshave pursued, vaious governments bonned,and many legislatures deboted: an oryonthat has been attacked as much as any in anylonguage; o iournol that o hundrd dema-gogues ond envious persons hove trid toslander and v)ith competing publicatiorudrive out of business - in shon, Freiheir. . . will continue until its mission isaccomplished: the making of the nciolrevolution!'

In 1 899. in an attempt to raise nroney andpublicise Freiheit. \lost embarked on hisbirgest and longest speaking tour coveringn!)t onl) the north east and middleru est but also the rvest coast fiom SanF rancisco to Washington DC. Dr.rring thistour he shared plattbrms with the tsritishanarchists Charles W. Morvbray and JohnTurner (until the latters deportation b-vAmcrican oftlcials) and Lucy Parsons.Slowly Freiheit was revived and its circul-ation gradually increased even though llosthimsell rvrote most o1' the cop!, single-handed.

In September 1901 Most, by sheer rtancr'.

, reprinted an article by Karl Heinzen. u rit:en'' elmost tifty years belbre called Mord conlra,; tr'Iord (Murder against Murder). This hld been

used as a tlller many times before bl oothFreiheit and other radical German-Amc'ri.'anpapers. and \\'as a passionalc cI] :,': :\ ::lnnlc-ide. It finished, 'Let mutdd be our sru,i"'.

lle say murder tlte murderers' Sc'.e hutrtcttit.tb1' blood, iron, poison ortd d) nan;iti''

Heinzen's article appea;ed in Fr;ilieir onthe very day that President \lcKiniev sasassassinated by' Leon C2..1:-.r.2 in BLriialo.

N{ost rvas immediatell arrested bl the autholitiesin the testerical altermarh ',t'rhe shooting andaccused him riith comglicitl even thoughHeinzen's arti.le c.uld not rt all be respon-

sible of Czolgosz's act. Sentenced to yetanother I ear's imprisonment, despite manymonrhs oi iutile appeals, during rvhich he

$'as released on bail, lllost was sent to spenda thirC term on Blackrvell's Island. Had he

Page 25 Black Flag Summer 1984

remain:d in Buffalo though it is highlylike1y that he would have stood trial withCzolgy;z and shared his fate.

Rel,:ased from prison in April 1903,during which time he continued to writeafiicles for Freiheif,Most picked things upwhere he had left them off, amid increasingpolice harassment,

In i 905, he embarked on what was tobe his lrrst speaking tour. After enthusiasticcrowds had fil1ed the halls in McKeesport andPittsbuig, he made his way to philadelphiawhere i large meeting in honour of his 60thbirth^daii organised by Voltairine de Cleynewas forcibly broken up by the police. Thrownout ol Pittsburg he went to Cincinnati. thenext st( p on his tour, but arrived there runn_ing a ve.y high temperature. Comrades caileda docto: who diagnosed malignant erypisalas(St Anttrony\ fire). Some days later, onMarch 17 1906, still insisted that he should goon u'ith his tour Johann Most died.

Paul Albert

searchfor the rights of people, etery routercads to anarchy. It cannot be otherwise: loreither one accept archy or one fighft i ;;;olu_onces its opposite, onarchy. Somethingin between is unthinkable, . .

. The trytth that goyernment (archy) isinstituted to exploit the poor is a truth theopponents of ondrchy blink at; and, countingon the ignorance they haye creoted in themosses, they odduce a hundred bagotelles inarchy's favour. They emphasize cime. lleregovernment and law abolished,they say,unpunishd crime woutd peril life-ond o*o"r_ty until chaos rendered existenie disasreejable at best.

These sorcerers! In brood daylight theyascibe to anorchy aberrations oi thiir societu.$then the basis of onorchy is the absence of 's_uch abenations. All crimes _ except mil-behaviour of madmen, which, by ?.iii;;;o",$ rne symptom of illness _ all crimes arelgloriousll the offspring of the system ofWvote property, archy,s reason for being.r n$ system mandates a struggle for exist_e_nce, by all, ogainst alt. Greid oid the lustIor power flourishd in the propertied oi Soaathe propertied to uimes tnot i, o *b ji'-"unpunished becouse archy enforces itilowsagoinst another kind of ,iri.L,, tn"ii irii,done o.ut of necessity ond in response tobr:t.t1lity. Tum the poges o! the'so.callidct.vt!.tlre: the topic is ,yours ond mine,; thectvil ts the natural result of a society ofindividuab who want to cheat os iuci ospossible because cheating is the ontv iii topoye: oltd weolth. Today's society'coniiderssucn Dehoviour normal.

Freedom and equality, the conditions ofanarchy, would end this ruinous strugle firexistence. . . Law, purposeless, woulf,no'longer be needed, not government.. . ondtney would disappear.

. More important than the atguments oIrle orghisrl qre the orguments from a sidith-at should hove the leo$ to oppose anarchy.b'nconscio.us.anarchists. pafti;;larly those'

-

ca-lled sociolists. expend untold time ande17o,n atru-cking anarchy, even though theirf,!!y-1ye tryaom and equatity (awchy) . . .t nese people maintain: anarchy is opporit, tosocialism. In truth, anarchy is socitismperfected, Because anarchits seek Trieiom yorthe individual _ the greatest hr*;, i;;i;-'-'ness - o.ther sociolists say the onarchbi{:?:tra!.i:t lhe sgtidority ol everyone. As if,:-1t?t_d:"ry of peopte did nor'pr"ruppoi"me lreectom of the individuat! .-. .

, This.wronghaddness goes so far as to:t:t:I:!: t t he anarc.his_ts ignore tichnologyana fivour cottage industry . . . gut. . ..ioanorchists wants to retersi technologicil

-

ad,vances; every anarchbt wonts more such

i!I! r_"t : A c cord ingly, anarchists re cognbe,

u,oour and production must be oryanied, 'mer,powers united. And since the lock ;ftreeclom today results from private proo"rtr,,controt of thefactors ofproduction .'. . ",:"n ylo wantlreedom (anorchy) wantthese things ourned in common; iiat is, tneywant communisnl . .

, - Contrar! to the old-style communists,

ho.weyer., the onarchists dechre for the oruanis-ation_with the sreatest wruityi fi"miiii.--. ,. Fyom it, ,over-ond-und"r;sticture _ '

that h, outhority conceiltrated in economicond.polit ica I hierorchtr r, o na pon",

""iiiiiir-ea m the state _ would be excluded. Instead,voluntary associotion would giue rise to-

---'thousands oI special organisations, inter_c-onne cted horiz ontally occording' to purposeor necesfity. . .

Organisation is poramount. Indeed, theelenies of!h9 nroletariot are so well organis_ea, so.unified,,-that the proletoriot coimitc.rtme by not gathering olt forces and direct.mg them at once ot the destruction of the

status quo by all possible means. For whetherthe propertied and ruling classes call them_setyes.conftryative or liberal, clerical or free.t h in k ing, pro te c tio nis t o r fre e- t ra de, or ii t o -cor or ctemocrot, imperialist or repubtican _their differences hiider them not from111!1s

themselvey os the propeftied ogoinstrne unproperited . . . Nor should be 6ver-tooKect the monstrous police, military, andlegol apparatus

.tnu stlnai-it the disposaloI the boutgeoisie. Nor should be firsott,of the

forgotten

l

(

iL

S

C

Is

td

tt

b

c

c.

f(tlsl

-

From oAnarchy,

b.y

Johann Most1"*e./ is.s!i! to be generol confusion, wildt1 r1n oil, o h i ch e ve ry c ivi z at io n,

"o* r.'S in-ilrha conditions renders both govern^"nt oilow unthinkable, anarchy meons the otomiz.atnn oI society into isolated individuok, ihowith impunity ottack others, until the sioti[

subiect the weak in a slavery more terrible thontle wola has ever seen. Abominable oniobsurd,-the gool of the onarchist! fout theleays by which it is to be attained. namelvt hef t,.murd er, arcon, ond oll k ind s if ;;;:;; b::: !_!::rhl t'.therefore a mixture of idiocyona.crime Agoinst it society must defendY!!!-!!.p"y", - tegauy *7* i' piiiiiir,utotenily tehen necessory, At all ivents, everv,_?r": ol,ofier

-is obliged to nip onarchy in '

rhe_buct as well os emdicote anorchisti rootand |ranat from the face of the earth. . .

ty-otr Il people would only think . . . 1ftsywould see. anorchy (autonomy or lreedomirea-uy mea4s, not the criminal chois justrefened to but the absence of the criiinalchoos.that archy (subiugatioi q gir:iii-'-ment) has brought to mankind. irchy springsfrom the desire of-the stong to oppress theweaK: ancl up to the present doy, ihatever itsJorm, oppretsion has been its gool Archy,!.y:!: ro, tool of the properiied, has Tiiverput,the.scrpws to the unpropeftied, Tie moreDarboric the society, the harsher and moreJ.tagront thc o.rchy..The htgher the civilisation,,,h1y.?u refined the clevemess of the archisitm ntlmq the_usurpotion of power _ withoutweatening .he exercise of power. . ,

.! qulrt in all forms hos brought peoplegrief, it follows thot the remedy ir r;p;;;t-iyn. Tle repudiation of orchy is anaichy.-'Anarchy is herefore the goil offreedoli_seertng people. llhoever seeks fieedom,a^d

1 L111_s a yr c h :t. rf , a m o n g f ie e d o. _, i

" *

" r r,a-yyt:itul: wo:t

?o ?art of anarchy (havingo_Iatse,notio.4 of it), that |oct does not demeino:archy. The multitude simply do not kniwtnat regardlc ss of the route taken in the

,!""A1:!*:r,:ns of the btack ;;,;;;3r;;;oI priests and the reactionary press: thebourgeoisie con turn them to it, purpin,too. . .

If the -rich stick together, why con,t the

p 90 !.

s t i c k. t oge t h er ? U nfo rtu not e ty, t h e cau seoJ awcorct among those who should be ofone heort ond a single mind, and who neLd

_l! e n rfi u ya es

1 of un ity t o o c h ie * u i" iiry,

is,lo,thinC bul [ear of the word anarchy.letott tho.t.a sociolist has to get rid of, to be ananorc.h.ts!, is t!t9 ideo of the politica[ state,to which socialists who are tenified holdfast even though Marx and Z"S"* toug'ht tnatin a trul! free society, the state would witherOV,rAy.

is the supreme joy of people? It$ tne greatest freedom possible, i.i. theopportunity to reolize intellectuol ond ph!sicolpotential. Of coune, such freedom ^in'noi-go beyond the point at which it huns some-one, for then a domination of some Oy otiersoccurs. At the same time, in a civitizebs.ocr9ty, many gook are not attainoble byindividuql*; they can be reachra onty iyossociotions with a common purpose. But isthat to say: a system must eiist'in whichan individual has by dictate to exist tuckedaytay in the bureau of a centalized stot". ir,t1er9 by o high power and told what to do frimbirth to deoth? . . .

, .Whot is needed to produce a system in

tohic.h the freedom of one and at[ b guorint_e_e-d $ slmply an agreement for a free societv!No need for a hovidence d-irecti'ng i-i*'"'1bove1

i! is onty necessary thot tniigs airenondtecl correctly from below. . ,

Ilhat is the iswe? It is not whether besidessocie.ty a state is needed? The answer, yii-'see, is.simpler thon many *ink. lle niedonly intaginewhor the state has been hitheno.Is it natuml, an eternol writy ? It it a creatureof circumstonce, used by a clique b dominatethe_masses. Let us therefore sftush the statet? bilr . . ltiothing less rmtst be the climax ofthe Revolution . .

. We do not stand alone. The really greatminds hove long been sure that, witfid)t-freedom, no perlect society is possible, ondthot no government, not even a representativeg o wrn me n t in&tres fre ed o m,

Black Flag Summer 19g4 tuge 26

-rher

2. BUNKER OCCUm No. iNo.I,r the early hours of Friday March 2nda group of eleven anarchists and anti_r rilitarists entered the RAF strikec.lmmand,High Wycombc.

Breachiig the much vaunted securitya rd eluding the MOD police we split upt ) occupy the bunker and strategice luipment.

Two men and a woman descended theb rnker to physically stop the p.opor"J-u ork in that area. Three men and twoxomen occupied the two heavy_duty,b rnker-side cranes, and two ."n uni'uucman climbed the two 160 ft towercr anes to take over their control cabins.

A11 work, other than sweeping up etcw rs halted, greatly upsetting tire niOnscuad and Taylor Woodrow site agents.

Ihe bunker and cranes were sprayedar d painted with @ and anti-militaiist11,lg3ry: Banners proctaiming .NO iON \TO WARHOLES, and ,liO SOLf-H,)LES FOR GENOCIDALGl;NERALS' were hung from the cranes,

ihortiy after dawn th; threats andin imidation started. The er.ictions came1aler, with excessir.e vrolencel .f .r"reJTar.lor Woodrow worker. under thes.uj)ervision of the MOD, climbed downthe gear shaft into one oi the h.;ry;;iycranes wielding a small axe with *ii.h -

he ;evered the straps which secured thedoors from the inside, The people in-sid,,were later forced out.

I r the other bunker-side crane thedor,1 y4s ripped from its hinges by awo kman. The occupants were pushedaro rnd and had their possessions thrownin tne mud, Two people left the cabinbut a third refused to comply, tryingto t xplain the nature of the action forthe non-unionised Taylor Woodrowwor kforce until a MOD cop draggedhin out by the throat.

D rwn the bunker a heroic resistancewas taking place. The troglodytes afterreft sing to move were given an ultim_atuln to move or have a machine turnedon 'vhich must be operated only whenwearing ear protection. A compressedair lrose sent clouds of fine dusi billow-ing oward the subterraneans. Althoughthe) tried to protect themselves withslee;;ing bags etc the dust did its damagecausing sore throats and coughs whichlasted several days. Suddenly the machinesplit into ear-splitting din but the subbieswert.not moving still! The cops gave upthe dea of forcing them out and wentdown to arrest them. They were winchedto tiie surface in cages, where they gotthrown into a waiting police van.

A'1 the end of the first day, when itbecame obvious that. those in the towercranrs were not coming down, thecranos were locked and the occupants,feeling like the.top of a reed waving inthe t0mph winds, passed their firslsleepless night.

The next day, Saturday 3rd of Marchwas uneventful, but that night the twocranes were visited by MOD policewhojeered and beat on the Cranes withiron bars.

On Sunday morning the woman,who was ill descended the crane" .iheremaining two were in radio contactuntil late afternoon, when Taylor Wood-row site manager and another man beatup and forced to the ground one of thecrane occupiers. They kicked in thedoor of the cabin, punched the man,shead, kneed and kicked him in theside, stomach and legs, and threw him outof the cabin, where he managed tograb hold. or he might have iallen160ft down the open ladder well.

The man in the other crane calledd.own to two cops who were watchingthe incident but they merely turnedtheir backs.

- Two hours 1ater, after being giventhe impression that he would be beatenup during the night. the remainingman decided to come dou.n. The policetold hint no! to mo\.e u.ithout lieht asit u'as r-erv dangerous in the dari. Hedisregarded thrs advice and startedhis decent. One third oi the wav downhe met a worker builtd like the incred_ible Hulk coming up. Ten minuteslater the police used their lights. For-tunately the workman had been in aninferior position on the ladder toprofitably use the time he had beengiven.

In the end the only charges broughtwere, criminal damage, theft andobstruction, although people weresubjected to hours of interrogationand vaginal and anal searches. Wehave proved the effectiveness of directaction using small numbers. And is wasonly the first assault of what oneheadline called a .peace Offensive,.PS. In Brighton on Thursdal, Bth Morchafter. the v)omen,s day marih, a groupof about 20 occupied the navy, recruit-menr olfice. Larer that da1, tie officeand a local Barclal'5 Bank v,ere brick_ed. The naty office was boarded up andout o.f busirtess until the followingTuesdoy afternoon.

The police in Brightort are gettingsome stick for tlte transport thet.usedto take people ro gaol x.hen thiyarrested us for blocking the roads andbringing Brightort to a standstill vetagain, The police hiiocted a Souihdownbus. Bill Moruis of TGIIU whose state-ment was quoted in the GuardianI4 March said ,This kind of action isunprecedented in my e.rperience. HasBritian now been put on d u.ar foot_ing? I understand that pqssengers wereordered off the bus and the driverordered to drive to the police station,.Insurrection can be fun.

1

Monday 26 March 1984, saw the beginning ofa u'eek of court cases against one hundred'andtllteen peace activists at High WycombeMagistrates Court.

At about three o,clock on that Mondar.morning, nine people occupied the, partiailybuiit, bunker ofthe .UK ai. prirnuiy Strit.'War HQ'at Naphill, High Wycombe. Thisu,as done as an action of solidarity with tu,oof our comrades u'ho rvere in court that day,charged u,ith criminal damage and thett,fblloi.ving our previous occupation of thebunker and cranes at Naphili at the besinninsof March.

As on previous occasions u.e l.ound itvery easy to enter and occupy the site of theproposed 'Chief European War He,. From theperimeter t-ence only trvo unitbrmed MODpolice ofTicers were in evidence. Five olus acted as decoys to draw attention awavfrom the main assault. At another section ofthe fence we encountered what appeared tobe a workman, however he later i'dentifledhimself as.a MOD police otllcer. We proceed-ed to unpick several sections of the tence,leaving large gaps. The otUcer made nodefinite attempt to prevent this, but hewarned that wc would ger hurt il u e attempt_ed to enter rhc base. Once thr, main group hadsuccesslully entered the bunker all three UODpolice concentrated on our activities at thefence. At this point rve decided that ouractions had had the desired effect so we leftrvithout being stopped.

The mixed group of nine u,ho had entr.redthe base had only to contend ri.ith on.,very irate, police ofticer. He had told rhegroup to stbp, and u.hen thel.did nor. hestarted shouting tbr assistance. to no tvail.In liustration he thret his tore-h at one ol thegroup, it missed and broke.

Once inside the base the group headedfor the bunker unhindered. Ther. climbeddown scaflolding to rhe L,uc.t Ier..l. Thebunker is half completed. a \\.arien of smallrooms some with roofs. The:e u-ete severallarge reintbrced steel doors u.ith ring locks,the whole area \\ras tlood lir. The -eroupdiscovered, and prontprll destrol.ed, detailedplans ol specific pans oi the bunier. One ofthe occupiers lett the bunker atler having agood look around. He tvalked out ol thebase unchallenged, rvhilst many newly arrived.MOD police ran around in confusion. At onetime there \r'ere over sixty police otficers onthe base.

Dtto )'1 Dr-^r- tr. d

By four fortyfive the eight remainingpeople had set up camp four storeys downwith a ferv days supply of food and alcohol.An hour later they were visited by two MODpolice who cautioned them with a chargeof criminal damage for the fence. These twoofficers tried to forcibly remove one of thewomen, but gave up their attempt afte{ afew minutes struggle.

At grc.und ieyel the workmen were be-ginning k arrive. We gave out leaflets, explain-ing our reasons for the occupation, as theworkmen entered the main gate. Over halfof the workforce accepted these and appear-ed amuse,l and sympathetic. Two of theworkmen rvent down the bunker and removedthe light lrulbs from the occupied room.leaving our comrades in complete darkness.

An hour later the police returned thebulbs, nc explanation was given for eitheraction. $t eieven oclock the attempt toremove oLlr friends begin in earnest, as theywere contonted by approx a dozen MODpolice. Ore of the officers said 'if you donot mov€ in llve munutes you will be chargedrvith obstruction as well as your original chargeoi criminal damage and we wil1 get you outby force lyou do not co-operatel' The

intimidating nature of the police encouragedsix people to cooperate and they were ledaway. The remaining marr and woman wereforcibly evicted from the room. All eightwere lifted out of the bunker in cages workedby the cranes.

Once out of the bunkel they were quest-ioned by MOD CID individually, each inter-view lasting about one hour. The CID hadphotographs fiorl a previous action at USAFUpper Heyford and they obviously recognisedcertain members of our group.

The tjrst person questioned was put intoa police van, on the base at about one o'clock.He stayed in the van for five and a half hoursbeing joined at regular intervals by the otherseven. During this time no one was allowedto smoke, doors were left open despite thecold day and baggage added to the alreadycramped conditions in the van, Repeatedrequests to leave baggage outside was ignored.This was an extremely unpleasant experienceand the police were acting very hostile duringthe whole time. Eventually the group weretaken to High Wycombe Police Station wherethe charges of criminal damage were process-ed. The mixed group were detained in onesmall room for three and a haif hours. Every-

one was eventually released at nine thirtythat night.

Throughout the day the peace actiyistsin court had received minirnal fines andsentences. The two rnernbers of our grouppleaded not guilty and their case was adjourn-ed until the 18 Apri!. The charge of theft wasdropped to prevent the cast going to CrownCourt, where they wcrrld irave been able togive evidence before ajury. The occupationof the bunker at this tir)rs encouraged andstrengthened the resolve of all of the peaceactivists who had to attend oourt.

Even though we only managed to occupythe bunker for half a day we were gratifiedto see the dramatic effect that this action hadupon the MOD police. We have proven yetagain how inadequate the secudty of thissite is by showing that we can enter Naphillat will and halt work on the bunker.NB. This was the first occasion that we haveseen operatives wearing leather bomberiackets and berets, suspected by one of ournumber of being nuclear police.

ITALYg WORKERS G0UNGILS

THE NEC,OTIATIONS ON'THECOST OF LABOUR'The five party coalition govemment, ledby 'Socialist'Craxi with the ChristianDemocrats the biggest party, held tengthynegotiations with the trade union leadersto try and reach agreement on the ScalaMobile and other economic measures.fhe CGIL, CISL and UIL union boseswerc all prepared to subordinate workerr'interests to the needs of capitalism -without of course asking their membenhow they' felt about being sacrifices.

On 8th February, while negotiationswere still continuing, workers in Milanstruck against the proposed wage reduct-ion. Union leaders expressed concern attJre 'anti-trade union tone' of the 30p00strong worft ers' demonstration.

In mid-February the Union-Government negotiations finally brokedown. The CISL and IUL leaders wereagreeable to the Government's proposals.The CGIL, however, was split. Theminority of Socialist Party leaders werein agreement. But the Communist Partymajority among tlre leadership, thoughprepared in principle to accept a cutbackin the Scale Mobile, considered thegovernment had not offered enough inreturn.

The government decided to go aheadand impose the cut in the Scala Mobileanyway, by means of a 'decree'.

TIM WORKTNG CLASS STRIKESBACK

In response the l5th February sawhundreds of spontaneous strikes break-ing out all over Italy, from Milan toSicily. Railway lines and roads wereblockaded in several places - notablyFlorence, where railway workers struckfor 24 hours. In Pozzuoli, near Naples,workers stormed and ransacked theCISL trade union offices.

This rejection of the government'sdecision to cut all wages has been maint-ained since by a continuing series ofstrikes in different ireas. Ttre followingaccount only includes some of the largerscale actions:

16th February - Stdkes and demonstrationsthroughout Italy, often accompanied by block-ades of.roads and railway lines. Big demos inTurin, Trieste and Naples with a railway block-ade at Trieste and road and motorway block-ades in Naples and Turin. Twenty-four hourrailway strike in Turin. In Palermo demons-strators, who included many building workers,clash with police.17th February - General strikes in Brescia andBologna, with an 80,000 strong demo inBologna. 50,000 demonstrate in Naples. Strikesall over Italy with the railway workersprominent.

20121 st February - 24 hour strike by rail-way workers in Milan causes a paralysis of railtraffic in $eat part of northern Italy. As theMilan strike ends,Rome railway workers alsocome out for 24 hows. CGIL Union boss andCommunist Party mernber Lama criticizes

Black Flag Summer 1984 tuge28

s:rikes without warning in the 'public seryices,.l2nd February - General strike and big demoi;r Rome, though not all sectors take action.I nion leadets express concern at presence ofl.utonomia Operai (Workers Autonomy) int le demo. Also strikes in some other citiesand towns. The CGIL-CNL-UIL United Feder-r .ion of Transport Urrions issues a statementt rat the strikes in the railways must be conduct-e1 according to the trade unions,own ,code ofc rnduct', e.g. giving plenty of waming ofs'rikes and other measures to render strikesL effective.2{th February - General strikes in Ragusa,S,cily and Florence where 80,000 demonstrate.2 i th February - The daily pap er La Republica(r bit like the Guardian) reports strong calis1l om the workplaces for a general strike.2-7th February - Meeting of the Milan FactoryC runcils. Some want a national general strikeb rt the majority opt for the proposal of a 3h rur strike and a national demo in Rome.T terefore there's not a complete break withtl e Unions says the leftist daily Il Manifesto.L,rma distances himself from the most militant tte ndencies in the strike movement.2'tth February , General strike in Bari. Lamau rrns that the Factory Councils must not comeir to conflict with the trade union organisations.l:t March - Strikes and demos at pisa andS,enna.

6i lt March - First ever nationai assemblv ofl- ctory Councrls. 6.000 reps r'rom aIl orlerIt Lly, especialll. north and centre. \Ian1. 'metalrr :chanics' (car industrl'. e tc,). e-h em ica.l industrvar J building sorkers. but also a rau number oist te emplo1'ees, e._e. hospital u,orkers. Someol the Autonomia are present. Strong critic_isr rs made of the authoritarian practices of theur ion leaders, but trade unions as such aren( t rejected. Document approved calling fordemocratic unions controlled from the base.Dt cided to hold national demo in Rome on24th. Agreed to meet again on 3Oth March't( decide on the way of organising a nationalge reral strike'if the Decree to cut the ScalaM,,bile has not been rescinded.7t.,t March - Government Minister Spadolinisal s thar behind the strikes independentlycalled by the Factory Councils is .the dangerof rreturn to a destabilising tbrm of extreriism,an,1 that there's the risk of all fornts of self_reg ulation of strikes disappearing. Break betweenC( IL and CISL/UIL !rro\\'s as CGIL announcesut,port fbr March 24th demo.8tt March General strikes in Genoa andTurin, where the 80,000 strong demo is thebiggest in the city for 30 years. The right wingdaily Resto del Carlino says that it is betterthr t C-ommunist Party member Lama is takingovr r the leadership oi thc strike movement -otl erwise extremist elements could become toostr. 'ng. While the protcst agrinst rhe culting oftht Scala Mobile is mistaken. at least undeiLa ,ta it is taking place in a legitimate forrn.9th March-- General strike paralyses Naples.Derno of 80,000 hcaded by the Bagnoli iteel-wo'kers who are in strupgle against redundancies.Als I strikes at Poscara and Canrpobasso.

I 2th March - Turin Factory Councflsemphasisethat it was the Factory Councils who calledthe March 24th national demo. They stressthat the struggle is being guided by the unitedco-ordination of CISL{HIL-UIL delegates (i.e.by the factory councils, not by the officialtrade union structure).l3th March Veneto Factory Council dele-gates decide to hold Regional General Strikeandlo press for improvement in all workplaceson the issues of working hours, employment,etc.

1411 Sth March - 24 hon strike bv Venetorailway workersISth March - 4 hour strike by many workersin the north eastern trriuli Regiorr. Discussionson the Government's measures continuing inPartament.

OTHER STRUGGLES, THE SAMESTRUGGLE

While workers all over the countryhave been striking against the cuttingof the Scala Mobile other struggles inparlicular areas and sectors are alsobeing waged - fundamentally all partof the same struggle against the sacrificesthe system is demanding. S<ime examples:o Steel workers in Genoa and Naples areresisting massive redundancies. The Naplesworkers have been involved in fierce clasheswith the police. such as on 1 3th Januarv whenthe police tired rear gas and chareed workersrn the centre ot rhe ait]. \\ rldcar strikes havebeen hittin-e rhe airport at Yenice, wherervorkers are protestin-s against the late andirregular payment of their rvages. proletariansin Monselice, Veneto have taken direct actionto oppose the local government's closure ofsocial facilities.o In Sicily anger at appalling housing condit_ions, unemployment, threatened redundancies.and exploitarion in general has twice explodedinto revolts in recent months. On 21st l.iou"m_ber 5,000 people stormed, occupied and ran_sacked the Local Government .Town Hail,in Gela. Clashes with the police continuedfrom late morning to night. In Licata on 15thDecember a demo against the closure of a localworkplace developed into large scale clasheswith the poloce. Banicades were up in the mainstreets and the railway station was blockaded.o A major cycle of struggle last autumn involv_ing thousands of Italy's 43,000 prisoners;and some of the activities of the very variedanti-militarist movement, such as school studentstrikes against the Comiso Cruise missiles, areother signs that something is moving again inItaly after the last six years of very

-heivy state

repression.

TTTE ROLE OF THE COMMUN-ISTPARTY AND THE CGIL

The greatest danger to the currentstrike movement doesn't come from theworkers' obvious enemy, the government,or the-equally transparently anti-workingclass CISL and UIL trade unions. As sooften the biggest threat is coming fromthe leftist knive in the back.

The Communist party controlledapparatus of the CGIL trade union isvery determined to take control of themovement. If they succeeded a sell_outcompromise will be on the way.

Lama, the GCCIL boss, has been explicit.He is quite prepared to accept cutbacksin the Scala Mobile, as long as the govern-ment's other economic measures are,

in his view, adequate compensation.(La Repubblica 18 February). TheItalian Communist Party (pCI) andtheir Union hacks are not at al1 oppos-ed to wage cuts in pdnciple, they justdisagree with the particular terms andmethods the government is using onthis occasion.

The CGIL had no objections to thewage reductions made last year. The 22January I 983 agreement to cutback theScala Mobile was signed by all 3 unions.This was despite massive workers, oppos-ition to a measure that opened the wayfor the current attack-

Today the PCI is opposing the govern-ment's measures in Parliament and'supporting' the strikes for its ownreasons. Berlinguer and the pCI wantto show Craxi and co. that they cannotgovern by decree, ignoring the pCL ThePCI is saying 'Look, without us involvedin government, social conflict is uncon-trollable. We are the best guarantees ofsocial peace.'

At least some government leadersobviously agree. The national demoagainst the wage cuts in Rome on 22March will be massive and .the dangersof subversive infiltration into the nlarch'are worrying Minister of the InteriorScalfaro. Who should he turn to foraid? Comrade Lama of coume. In anunprecedented visit to the CGIL LnionHQ, the minister appealed for coilaborat-ion between the 'forces of la*' and order'and the trade unions to counter thesubversive threat. The PCI paperL'Unita of 16 March reporrs that Lamawas substantially in agreement g,ith theMinister. He assured him CGIL stewardswould collaborate closel;, with the poiiceto stop any possible inhltrators. includ-ing'bad intentioned' elements andguiuanteeing'the maximum securityand liberty'. Reportedly, 50,000 CGILstewards will be on duty enforcingliberty.

toge 29 Black Flag Summer 19g4

THE POTENTIAL OF THE

MOVEMENT

The stril e wave is seen as positive andimportant by revolutionaries in Italy,while its rlso emphasised that the move-ment needs to overcome many signific-ant weaknesses.

In its rr,ilitant rejectibn of the govern-menfs au;terity p1an9 the mass of thelnovemer t differs from the compromisingposition rf the CGIL and the PCI. How-ever a weakness of the movement couldbe that nrany workers do not fully real-ise the real role of the PCI and CGIL &think they actually fully support themovemelrt.

The ains adopted by hundreds of work-ers assemblies, Factory Councils, and theregional lnd national ionferences of theCcunciis are headed by a complete reject-ion of anv cut in the Scala Mobile. Thisis linked to a defence of the social wage,a refusal of lay-offs, and demands for ageneral roduction of working hours withno ioss oi pay, a reduction in militaryspending and the creation of new jobsin'socialiy usefui' sectors.

But to.vhat extent are the workers andthe Fact,)ry Councils actually breakingwith the Iogic of the capitalist profiteconom] ? Here evaluations differ. Theautonomia group 'Centre of CommunistInitiativr' from Bologna consider thatthe workers are refusing to submit tothe logic of accepting a further loweringin living ;tandards in favour of theeconomi: growth of the system, andare thus rejecting the entire politicsfollowed by the CGIL/CISL/UIL UnionFederati ;ns from 1 977 until today.

The'Ar,tonomous Workers Committees'from Rome, on the other hand, considerthat the movement, particularly as man-ifested irr the Factory Councils, still hasto overc,rme many failings. It is onlycriticisin,; the union's internal regimesnot their strategy. It still has a defensiveoutlook subordinated to the demandsof 'the c:isis'. And it considers itselfpart of tre institutional set*up, notpart of a strategy for change.As to the scope of the movement, the

strikes, clemos and other actions haveinvolved many sections of the proletar.iat in large numbers - factory, chemicalindustry and building workers, raihvay,hospital and other state employees,school ard further education students,pensiont rs. But it seems that theunemplr,yed and other'precarious'workers have yet to take part on a bigscale.

I n the irst week following the announ-cement rf the wage cuts there weremany actions that went beyond thetame an I ineffective methods of unionacceptat,le struggle. Blockades of railwaylines anti stations, roads and motorways.And, eslrecially effective, the 24 hourstrikes r:lling through different geog-raphical areas of the railways, takingplace with little warning. These naturallydisrupted other areas of industry too.

Howcver the CGIL seem to have part-ially suc ceeded in limiting these actions.

The 4 and 8 hour stoppages of the pastweeks in different areas have served tokeep up the momentum - but unless thethe actions go much further soon, some

disillusionment with their ineffectivenesswill probably set in and the movementpeter out.. The workers movement has largelY

rejected all the national Trade Unionleaderships. Thousands of UIL andCISL members have been strikingdespite their leaders' total condemnationof the struggle. Though the CGIL leader-ohlp are 'supporting' most of the strikes,

they cannot count on their membersloyalty either" The worke$ would be

striking even if the CGIL had signed theagreement to cut the Scala Mobile" Andthe form of the struggle is being decidedand the strikes organised through theworkers assemblies and factory councils

- not through the official CGIL struct-ure.

Nevertheless the often bitter denun-

ciations of the union bosses have notyet led to a rejection of the trade unionsas institutions. The call from the Nation-al Assembly of Factory Councils in Milanwas for democratic trade unions control-led from the base at the workPlace.There isn't yet the realisation that gen-

uine workers'control of struggles involvescompletely breaking with the Unions -now far too integrated into this exploit-ing system to be meaningfully reformed.

But are the Factory Councils and theregional and national assemblies of theCouncils at least steps towards genuine

workers self-organisation? Some dis-

agreement amongst revolutionaries onthis. An anarchist broadsheet fromBologna argues that the movement is

one of struggle and self-organisationthat contains elements of revolutionaryand libertarian sociril transformation.Though they realise that weaknessesmake it unlikely, these anarchists con-sider that the Council movement, withits antlhierarchical and antiinstitutionalcharacteristics, could even be the basis

for a general strike of an insurrectionalnature.

And the anarchist week Umanita.,\ora thinks the national assemblies ofthe Factory Councils extremely positivein that for the first time the most com-

bative part of working class is look-ing to a way to unite, other than thoughthe official trade unions.In contrast, the'Autonomous S'orkers

Committees' consider that though themovement is oPPosed to the unionleaders, it only wants to repiace themwith "the new bureaucracl' o1 ,n.Councils". These autonomists argue

that new forms of workers self-management are needed'

Nevertheless there is a general recog-nition that this movement is at leastopening up possibilities. Ils a long time

since the "central body of the workingclass" dared to do so mur:h. Space hasop:ned up for autonomclus class warco rtroliecl by thc workcrs at the grass-roots. And this also gives the revolut-ior ary nrovemcnt a chancc to re-launchits,,1f and, aftcr tho hard and difficultye,irs ol reprcssion, brr:ak out of itssit ration of mcrc 'resistanoe' as anen-'battled minority.

TT{E WAY FORWARD?

H rw can the movement go forward?Revolutionaries and autonomouswcrkers groups are urging that todaysde:ensive struggle be transformedinto a movement to improve the ScalaMc bile and recover lost purchasingpo.ver of wages, and to win a reductionin vorking hours without loss of pay.Th-ough mounting a struggle at everyworkplace and at the same time unitingworkers throughout the country topr€ss the employers and the governmentfor these improvements.A coster jointly produced b_v several

workplace and unemploy'ed groupsfron the Veneta Regron also advocates:o A united struggle involving realact on against la5-o11t and against there-: tructuring of entire sectors, such asthe steel industry:o genuine united struggle involvingthe employed and unemployed toachieve a guaranteed income for all(th:re is no equivalent of supplement-ar1 benefit in Italy, many - perhapsmost - of the unemployed have noinc rme at a1l);

o refusing to pay increases in pricesanc charges for State services; refusingcharges for health care; resisting evictions.Ar d hoiv to organise in these struggles?

Thr analshisl Ltmanita.\roua urges thatthe temporary coming together of thediflerent Factory Councils be transform-ed nto stable co-ordinating bodies forthe direct and federated organisationof'he workers, in opposition to thehie .archy and bureaucracy of the tradeuni:n leaders. However anarchists fromBologna argue that as the movementadvrnces the proletariat in its entirety(ie rmployed and unempioyed) witlorg rnise in such a way that the Councilsare superceded, at least in their presentfor: n.Mc re fundamentally critical of theexirting Councils, the AutonomousWo:'kers Committees of Rome arguethar if the choice is only betweenthe traditional Trade Union Confeder-atic ns and a Trade Union based on theFactory Councils, then the rvorkershav: already lost. They beteve therdsa nt ed to develop organisation that willnot leave'political activity' to thepoltical parties, but which will advancethe struggles of not only factory work-em )ut other sectors such as theunemployed, etc...Thus the FactoryCor ncils could be transformed intomor e all embracing "Social Councils"unired throughout the country.

The struggle against the cutting of theScala Mobile and for the reduction ofworking hours developing into aGeneral Strike - this is the perspectiveof the Autonomous Workers Committ-ees. In such a general strike, involvingeveryone, the idea of LIBERATIONcan gather strength - liberation fromwar, from nuclear power, from missilesfrom prisons, liberation from bosses.And, say Bologna anarchists, a

general strike can enable all the socialsectom in conflict with the system tofind free space and freedom to expressthemselves - and thus in the strugglethe movement can overcome theseperation and division that makesthe creation of liberty and the destruct-ion of power impossible.

The follotuing publications were usedextensively in writing this article, somepdssages being more or less d.irecttranslations;UMANITA NOVA, Viale Monza 255,20126 Milano (anarchist weekly,UK sub. of t22 for a year worthwhileif you can read ltalian)Leaflet'LOTTA DI CLASSE' publishedby Comitati Autonomi Operai,V. Volsct 6, Roma.Leaflet published by Centro diIniziativa C o munis ta, Via Ave s e lla,5lB - Bolosna.L eaJle t' L AS C IA,\[ O I I- P E S S IMISI| OA TEMPI iIIIGLIORI' published bvanarchists front'Porta S. Stefano,I - Bologna,Poster produced by six workers groupsand unemployed groups in the Provinceof Padova, Veneto. The address isCONSELVE, PROV, Di PADOVA,VENETO,ITALY,

Iottenhum0utrogeSeventy-five years ago the 'TottenhamOutrage' took place: it was commemor-ated in the Hornsey lournal (27 Jan1984) with a feature spread DeathChase of the Anarchistr. It describeshow two 'Latvian Anarchists' held upa bank in Tottenham and made anescape by tramcar (Jan 23 1 909) saying'it would finance arms for months tocome'. The article by Ray Dudley, con-cludes: 'The horrifying bloodshed of thatday so long ago was recounted in thefiles of the Walthamstov, dnd DistrictTimes and the repercussions led to atightening of the immigration laws byParliament. Terrorists still roam ourstreets. Things don't change much, dothey?'

Well, some things change and somedon't. There are still lying joumalistswho will make up 'bullets' for corruptjudges to fire, when faced with libertar-ians. If Mr Dudley, instead of lookingup the lilalthamstow District Times,hadlooked up the contemporary TottenhamHerald (not much chance of that, itsurvived as a rival to the Hornse), lournalt.)he would have found the strange factthat the reporter - also alleging the menwere anarchists * had visited the local'Russian Anarchist' club and had foundthem divided into two camps, somedefending the hold-up mob as militantcomrades - others opposing them -and the two factions of 'Anarchists'referred to themselves as Bolsheriki andMensheviki respectiveiy I It'*'as er-identl)'a Social-Democratic club the reportervisited - but who in 1909 reaiisedSocial-Democrats, even the'ma.joritl'section' (Bolsheviki) could be gangsters?

There is even no record of the menconcerned buying arms. or usrng themfor any purpose other than bank robbery.

Yet Mr Dudle1''s lies rvil1 impressthemselves as prejudice upon judges infuture cases, of people not born, orwhose parents ma)' not have been born,when these events took place. Andmeanu'hi.le. hou' many authoritarianshave been con\"icted of crimes in thepast seventy-five years?

tuge 31 Black Flag Summer l9g4

Black Papers

STUARTCHRISTIE

STEFANODELLECHIAIEPORTRAITOFABLACKTERRORIST

BLACKPAPERSNo.t

Stefano Delle Chiaie -Portrait of a Black Terroristby Stuart ChristieBlack Papers No. I f,4.95Available from better bookshopsand Public Libraries or direct:BM RET RACT, LONDONwcl 3xxBulk orders: @ DISTRIBUTION84b WHITECHAPEL HIGH St.LONDON EI.In this, the first (of many I hope) of theBlack Papers to be published by AnarchyRefract r formerly Cienfuegos), StuartChristie ras ably documented the storyof Italiarr nazi Stefano Delle Chiaie andhence the history of post-war nazism ingeneral. it's a long and compiex storywith its roots deep in the Third Reichand Mussolini's Italy. By producingsuch a precise and detailed study, com-plete with names, dates, places and evenphone numbers, Christie has refuted alithat crap about leaving such stuff to theprofessionals (ie.Searchlight and thepolice).

It reali'r is a long story, and I won'tgo into details (read the book), butsuffice tc say it spans three decades.and a considerable chunk of the ll,rbe.It involvt s NATO, ODESSA, CIA, SID(Italian Secret Senice), various Nazigroups, tre Mafia, drugs smuggling,Latin Anrerican death squads, P2 amongothers, and with his finger in every pie,Delle Chiaie. He has a deserved reputationas untouchable, he has survived so much,thanks tc his friends and patrons.

But th. book is more than just abouta single group or individual. ifs really

REVTEWSabout the role of the fascist organisat-ions and the State. The book documentsthe links between the State and the Nazisand shows the nazis are the dirty wing ofthe state. The Strategy of Tension inItaly, which led to the PiazzaFontanamassacre and the death of Pinelli isshown to be part of a plan hatched bysections of the state from the end ofthe Second World War. In the role of'plausibly deniable' agents of the state,the nazis work to produce an atmospherein which a military coup is both possibleand agreeable to large sections of thepublic. This is the role of fascist organ-isations, no matter what individualfascists think, this why their organisat.ions exist.

The book leads to those conclusionsand draws its lessons accordingly. Thisis not the sort of book to be read andforgotten, it demands that we take alook at ourselves. The Piazza Fontanaincident was not an isolated one-off.State and fascist infiltration of theanarchist milieu no doubt already hastiiken place and will probably get worseas we get more active or the crisis getsworse. We have to be ready to counterthis and this can only be done whenwe are organised into strong and co-hesive local groups. We will learn totrust each other properly and respon-sibly. As we are now, disorganised,sectarian and frustrated we are ripefor infiltration a la Piazza Fontana.A few "anarchist outrages" wouldwork wonders for the government &police.

Anyone who doubts the sincerity ofthe fascists would do well to read thisbook and ponder what it means. Somefascists might be sincere people opento reasonable debate and arguments,but there is no doubt about their organ-isations and methods" At Black Flagwe've had approaches from the NationalFront which we've firmly rebuffed. Butsome people on the fringes of the liber-tarian milieu think its avant-garde orrevolutionary to flirt with the fascists.In a time when confusion reigns whatis vital is clarity (in whose interest isconfusion?), Anarchism and fascismhave got nothing in common, neitherin theory nor practice.

Read this book, it's well written,complete with appendices and chron-ology. Learn from its conclusions, idsimportant. Personally, I look forwardto the second of the Black papers.

Mavros Black

SinewsSINEWS Issue One,25p. SpanishInformation Network Newsletter,49a South Terrace, Esh Winning, CountyDurham DH7 9PS. Published by'independent' translators.Like tlreir pamphlet Orgortising an AnarchistS1'ndicalist Tradt' Urtbn (a 16page pamphletabout horv the 'CNT'is structured 40p) ttreauthors are clearll' tbllorvers of the CNT-V'Renovadas'u'ho let't the CNT-AIT after muchdisagreement over strategy and personalities,Instead of changing their organisation's titlethey retained C\T ldropping the affiliationwith the AITi Inrernatior.ral Workers Associ-ation the anarcho-sl ndicalist Internationaland opting tbr contacts s ith 'independent'unions in other countries e.g. the SAC inSweden). For reasons ol'patria' (i.e. themachinery, funds, oftices etc. seized by thefascists at the end of the Civil war rvhichamounts to some 310 million now) whichthe socialists will give up to the real CNT,they kept the CNT title. Further to this, theSociaiist approved'tactory council elections'were used as a 'pragmatic'reason for becom-ing obedient and denying the 'purity'ofanarchism i.e. no representation, alldelegates revocable etc. The CNT-AIT have40 members in prison who have no solidarityexcept from the CNT-AIT and AIT-IWAgroups and sympathetic anarchists inter-nationally. The case of the 'Scala'(a night-club which was firebombed and resulted inseveral deaths including 2 CNT-AIT u'aiters)which resulted in imprisonment for 5 CNT-AIT militants despite the evidence ol thepresence of a police provocateur. also is partof the background of the 'split'. Thus it isstartling to see the smug attitude of theSINEWS whose'independence' is clearlyweighted towards the CNT-\' 'renovada'.

Quotes from.4c cion Libertaria (the CNT-Vpaper) abound rrhich state their case tbrexperimenting s ith elections, seeking to nowreunify the 'tuo CNTs'etc. When the CNT-Vsplit from the AIT rhel'should have changedtheir title and then as 'syndicalists'whateverplay about s'ith elections, merging withindependent (sic) Catholic and Nazisunions and so on. Their continued interestin attempts to disrupt the CNT-AIT muchto the applause of EL PAIS (the Times ofSpain) should end. Lately some 45 unions ofthe CNT-AIT (strange we were told the1..werein decline?) have said they want to participatein elections 'using all the legal mechanisms'etc. despite the CNT-AIT delegate conferencewhich decided the oppositel Thel'have dulybeen expelled and they should be happy'rviththe Renovada family. If the C\T-.{IT isreduced in numbers (always dubious as notall sections of the organisation are legal or$r'ant to give their names to emplo;-ers, rightand left parties, the church or state) which ifyou look at recent actions seems wrong, thenso be it. This situation has arisen before. Withthe death of Franco hundreds of thousands ofpeoplejoined all the left and libertarianorganisations that had been illegal, within afew years most had drifted off. This did notstop the anarchist movement, let alone theCNT-AIT from its educational, cultural andorganisational activities though! Before the

Black Flag Summer 1984 toge 32

Ci'il War in the days of another dictatorshipthr Treintista leit the CNT-AIT 1o torm asyridicalist union undcr another name, this's1 lit' aii:'ng rvith repression lclt the CNT-AITui It verr' reduced sections in industry andto .\'ns. Brt \\,ith the basis ol anarchist comrad-es 'rom -rl.re working class rvl]o educatcdan i organised for a social revolution, thcC| T-AIT Lregan underground and cmcrgedas r social tbrce to be reckoned with! Theco nrades in the CNT-AIT today likewise dono'feel dismay at the parting ot the waysu'i h other militants as a clear, differcntch ricc of tactics has led to this separation.Inr tead of endless debatc and diplomacy thesyrrdicalist believes in and takes direct action.Th -' CNT-AIT want to organise hou they wishno as the socialist state and bourgeoisie wouldlik :, despite the carrot of the 'patria'and thepo ,sible anmesty ior the tbrty prisoners, theykn rl too u ell the stick of the state is alsorai.r.d to strike at independent uorkerso11 rnisation I

The SINEWS editors fail to grasp this andth( ir contusion - conscious or deluded per-mr.rtes their tu'o publications. For all their'gt ,rd intentions'llke l.)'eedont (at present inde lining silcnce) they are best silcnt as their'u ,rk'needs undoing and detailed rebuttalles is persuade people u e are middle-class.pa ifist, at besi 'tracle unionists'. somelhinsu l reh rnrrclri.m J\ r :e\oiutionar, *ouanrantol deas and actions ii clerrh not I Oneno rders it rhr.l applied rhemselves to thecu Ient situatirrn here u ith Tory Governorscrt r.rinalsing rrade unionism and peacefulpr( test ho\\' rhcl uould see the workingcla.s lishting back electoral competitionn i-h the Labour/SDP-Lib/Comms and Trotstbr Lnion leadc.rships perhaps? Anarcho-s1'r dicalists reject the tradc-union hierarchyo1' raid officials etc. be it in Spain or Britain,Po lnd or Cuba. Independent labour organis-ati )n is the only \\'ay to llght fascism and Stateco rmunism and at the same time build the'ne ,r' s orld in the shell ol the old'.

cltT AIT

While SINEWS proclaim both CNTs toha e 'anarchist/syndicalist goals'they very.cle rrly have different tactics. \\,e uell knowthr situation, 'anarchists' u hose "action' is atbert militant liberalism/pernitnent protcstat he $'orst e\cesses ol the s-vstcm, a goodmi idle class hobby (rnd such people areust llly' nicer tllan the To11, middle classlr'h r tlould hons and fkrq the lot of us), buthard11'revolutionarl.. Do rhe CNT-V in I'actrej('ct the State as r coal ts u.cll as a practice?On iy the CNT-I\\'.{ tl,es I \l L. the autiror of theart cle The Ch'T irt Sp,titt lrrrla.r, personallybel,eves there is a 'brothr.rhood of puristswh r refuse to allou' int!.rnill riissc'nsion'(sh rdes of Tlte Bakuninists ur lt'ttrk bvIrr,,ierick I-ngels Mrrl's llrr.l,,rr,rulnerma e - which blamed Bakunin and ()rheranrrchists for the sections of thc Fi_rst Inter-nal ronal retaining their tutrrnom) lrrlinstthe centralism of Mari and Co.). il this is sothe:r the sections who left to tbrm the CNT-\,anr those recently expelled sections $'ho \\.ant-ed o participate in elections despite thedel .sates conl-erence that decided to boycottthen - should change their name and enter

into discussions u,ith the UGT and other'pragmatic' unions instead oi trying to arguervlth those whom they admit areANARCHISTSI

The assumption that 'some of those withpositions of authority (sic!) in the organisat-ions are dogmatic and manipulative'tvhichyou can 'trace back to the exile CNT'deniesthe fact that any such position of'authority'that arose would be rviped out, revoked in ahorizontal libertarian organisation! Any CNTexiles who have gone against the delegateconsensus have been heard and then theygither agree to the consensus or leave, subse-quently sections rvho opt tbr 'elections'havebeen expelledl

Contrary to some illusions, the Spanishanarchist movement is much larger than theCNT. The anarclio-syndicalist tendency ofthe movement with its roots in the revolut-ionary section of the working class hasreilected the ebb and llou. of the combatagainst \\,age labour, lor self management ofthe industrial and community battles usingdirect action to bring about a quick solutionto social ploblenis. The larger anarchist move-ment has concerns with education/publishing,anti-nlilitarism, prisons, ecolog]., women'semancipation, youths lieedom etc. Some ofthese groups overlap with CNT militantsparticipating BUT there is an anarchist goalwhich the methods of getting to are notdifferent liom; that is: horizontal organisat-ionl To participate in vertical elections istherefore only an argument \\,hen methodsand goals are separated for 'populism' 'erpedi-ency' 'realism'etc. Til renounce anarchism,its ideas and prae-ticc. ri ould be useful onlvto thosL. s()cial clintbers,'trendies,lbureaucratsuhose pose as 'anarchists'bccomes redundantas po\\'er beckor.rs and their rou.dy originshave to be refined to be acceptable to thebo urgeo isie.

We have received letters from SINEWSu,hich they wanted us to print (even thoughthe1. admit they never read our paper!). Wedecline, those interestcd should rvrite to theiraddress themselves.

lnsurrectionINSURRECTION Issue One, 50p.Elephant Edition, London WCIV 6XX(5 copies and over, less 40%). Chequesto Jean Wear, Nat Girobank Acc. No.50 2498 307.The appearlncr. ol neu anarchist publicat-ions is alu lvs uood especialll, if they produ,:einterestinr net s. rcsearch or ideas. Insttrrect-iolr \hLluld :rimulrte all tl.rose in the move-ment ul.ro rc,:d i:. Tl.ieir uish to be'arn instru-m!'nt. not jusl a liierarr erercise lbr a smallgroup oi people' is enthusiasric. \\'here thelpropose to judre u'her is 'in touch u ithreality'and 'actions that are both possibleand comprehensible u ill hlve to be comm-ented upon. Within lt.rli . the Comiso struggleis not over and oiher rnarchist strategies arealready under rva1. Thel'oppose the anarcho-syndicalist logic as one of detence not attack,yet the General Strike s'ith a libertarian baseis surely one of the finest erpressions ot'insurrection' as it carries rvithin the possib-ility of smashing the State as well as theeducation to prevent hierarchy's triumph'a11er the rebeilion/insurrection/revolution'.

Their own autonomous groupiindepend-encL. remains, yet they advocate the 'entryism'into popular struggles that smack of the Trotsthey despise. The contradiction of this verbiageand practice when conlionted by, say thecouncil communists and other anti-Partv

Nlarxists, is obvious bu1 u hen 'anarchists'play the role of intellectual vanguard to themasses, no matter ho\\' 'realistically', u,et'ind our suspicions aroused.

The 'Stop The City' actioll does no1belong to any group nor does May Da1,the anarchist origins in bolh are obvious andour presence u,ill always dismal' the Leadersand passive critics. At1init1.'group actions arecontinuous, uninterrupted by those new tothe movement lbr self--management. Theanarcho-syndicalist tendtncy, acts 1br co-ordination, betil een strcets in nc'ighbour-hoods, betri een u orkers in it.rdustrl . l]rcrmrhis baris ol mutual eid and c(){)fr'ratjun,a I'cderal orrJni:aIion (.nlclrc5. nlcelinEregularl)' to assess the niembers situatior.rsand delcgating people to c.\tend the ideasand practice of anarchism in thr.ir com-munities and uorkplaces. Rcgional, nationaland inlernational mr'etings of delegatesas uell as publications bling pooplc- in thtmovemenl up to date. u,ith events. This canbe criticized as merely 'defensivc'butnullerous eramples of anarcho-s1-ndicalistmilitants as individuals, groups and tederat-ions reveal that u,e are also on the 'attack'against our old enemy - the State. We havemembership and the membership have triends,this nt'trvork is permanent. Br'sides this teare involvcd in 'issues' as individuals andgroups particularl]' anti-militcrism and rve

aluays seek to educate and organise thosewc meet in the struggle along libertarian linesbecause we are anarchists. rve. are tor directaction and for the selt'-management af allsocial struggles. Our organisation rel'lectsthis, it's a horizontal 'union'ol anarchistswaged and unwaged, all delegates are revoc-able and there are no paid officials. Formalcontacts exist bet\\,een groups rvithin legions,across thr. country and overse.as. Locals ateindtpendent in publications and actions butall contribute to a national and internationalfund to sustain relations. pa1' bills. prLrducethe national paper (s hich is put out on a

rotated basis) and internal bulletin (alsorotated etc. Dues are split, those waged paymore. those unu aged pa1' [ess. Members areusualll' uorking class and many anarchistsot'some erperience. To simply dismissanarcho-s)'ndicalism rvithout good analysisis one ol'the u'eaknesses of lnsuu t't'tiorr.

It rvill be intelesting to see if JW andAts and tiiends are really able to lacr. up Io'criticism' and'sel1'-criticism' u ithout'bur1'-ing heads in the sand or bristling up'as the)'seem to think anarchists apart tlom thenr-selves do.

M.B. South London DAM

Page 33 Black Flog Summer l9g4

Third Reich

The Face of the Third Reichby.f gaghim Fest (penguin 05.95)

This book has been available for sometime now, in English since 1970 and isbecomirrg more and more relevant as ourown lealers become more and mordobvious y inept, not to say daffy. Festtakes tycical examples of people notonly in :he Nazi leadership, but also inthe Stat: bureaucracy, the inteiligentsiaof the Third Reich, in the .ordinary, socialgroups and has a look at their dailv livesand thei: personalities.

In the middle of a society which to anvoutsider had gone mad, the vast majorityof the German people, including rnuny otthose who were face to face with the'more violent and manic aspects of theregime, rvere convinced that everythingwas norreal, and that they themselveswere morally no different from before.Rudolph Hess, the Commandant ofAuschwitz, sud:'I am completely normalEyen when I was carrying out the task ofextermir.ation I led a family life and soont

Fest is :areful not to give in to the hack- .

neyed id,ra that a whole nation was ledastray b1 a bunch of nutcases. He avoidsthe obvir,us examples, like the whip-bearing Julius Streicher, because, ai hepoints or,t, the tiny minority in the Naziadministlation who were genuinely insanetend to divert attention away from themajority who were, exactly like our ownleaders tc,day, extremely ordinary people,carrying rut the daily routine of g ment

'

it's a pity in a way that it,s becomecommon rant today to say things lrke'Thatchet is another Hitler,, ,K;ithJoseph laoks like Goebbels'and so on,because tre 'normal' majority read staie-ments lik: that and dismiss them out ofhand. Tht:y have been brought up tothink of rvhat happened in Germiny as abarbaric aberration, engineered by a fewevil men, and bearing no resemblincewhatever to the present state of affairsin Englan,I. However, if you look inFest's profiles for any portraits of evilincarnate, you won,t find them" Hitler,C9^eb!e]s, Hans Frank, Von Ribbentrop,Alfred Rcsenberg, Rudolf Hess, Himmier.Heydrich, and many other lesser support]ers and m.rintainers of state powerwhom Fest investigates have no demonictraits. The only thing they have in comm_on is a serse of personal inadequacy(operating at a private level, to be sure)and, in m)st cases, an ineffectual pres -

ence in pnrail-scale situations (ironicallyenough, rrrost ofthem would have look-ed ridicultus on television chat shows- ah in that case they have got somethingin commc'n with Thatcher.).

Having rooked at these personalities,Fest can lind no good reason for thetremendous power they came to hold.So he ther turns to the public itself,and there finds his answer. It was thewiiJingness of eighty million people to

\_-

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)I

Perfect Democracy:

find 'the' solution in the policies offeredthem by this particular bunch.

It was the assumption by the Germannation that it was the business of polit-icians to offer solutions to their every-day problems which invited the intrusionof the Nazi State into every aspect oftheir waking hours. It was due, as Festnotes, '/o Man's faulty understandingof himself (a pity Fest still uses the oldSexist terminology). Without a doubt,if people in Germany had assumed onthe contrary (in the face of economiccrisis) that it was up to them to findtheir own solutions; if they had remem-bered at least that some of their timewas still their own, in fact was all thevhad left and therefore worth disobeyingthe State to defend, then the WeimarRepublic might well have been repiacednot by an all-embracing iron regime(such as both the two main contenders,the National Socialists and the Commun-ists, offered) but by a more fluid andfederalised regime, not an end in itselfby any means, but preferable at leastto mass extermination and militari.sation.

What most people want, naturallyenough, is to De left alone, People lookto leaders to guarantee them a sense ofcomfort and irresponsibility. Peoplefeel cosy with their leaders, that's whythey're happy to grouse about themall the time and why none of them doanything about them.

George Grov.

The crazy thing is that the leaders ofthe regime which offered the greatestsense of security, the best sense of well-being, to an entire nation, were them-selves deeply insecure people u'ho hadto justify their reason for being thereby appealing either to the dirine rightof a leader to lead, or b1 pointing toghastly spectres which they claimedwould engulf Germanf if they, theNazis, were not given maximum power.Where would our politicians be withouta Russian threat and a general belief inthe rightness of strong leadership? Andwhere would they be if their policies(affectilg the lives of millions of people)were shown to be intimately connected*'ith their own limited private person-alities, as Fest has shown in the caseof the Nazi leaders?

There is one more aspect of the bookwhich makes it relevant to the presentday set-up in Britain. Fest again andagain points out that the.great strengthof national socialism was that it was allthings to all people. To the workingclasses it was a promise of a bettercrack at the whip and a refreshing changefrom namby-pamby bourgeois leftism;it stressed the dignity of work and theprivilege of the workers to contributeto the nation's well-being by not exer-cising his ri.ght to strike. To the bour-geoisie it offered a humble proletariatand lucrative contracts. To all.it offered

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Black Flag Summer 1984 kge 34

g eater and greater liberty while it sim-r,Ltaneously strengthened State power;t re building of larger and larger prisonc rmps was seen as a step in the directionoi freedc-rm;the destruction of the workscr people like Thomas Mann, BertoltBrecht, and the Bauhaus artists wassliown to be the prelude to the floweringo' German culture: the deportation andtlren extermination of Jews and Gipsies\4 as done in the name of humanity ande, onomic necessity. And all this timetl e public, all those supposedly thinkingir dividuals, were dazzled by a carefullyerrgineered impression of strong andc,rnfident leadership, an almost apoliticalleadership standing above the pettinesso right/left poLitics in righteous domin-ar ce. And that ishow power works: itw:11 always offer what people want , ast nse of belonging, greater freedom,a,rd improvement in the quality of life.B v it's very nature, power can only offera sense of belonging by forcibly excluding.sr 'nre and then creating enemies of them;it can only guarantee freedom by thestrengthening of coercion and punish-n ent; it can only improve the qualityo life by intruding into private lifearid dictating to it, Those lessons shouldh 've been learnt once and for all in theer tremes of \azi Germany. you onlyn ed to peer into one of the propagandasl cets currently purporting to offern, rvs information to see that the lessonsh. ve neither been iearnt nor, of cou$e,h, eded.

Sun reader.

Bloh

TIIE BANKRUPTCY OF SYNDICAL.IS\,I AND ANARCHISM'Workers'for proletarian autonomy and socialre rolution. BM BLOB, London WCIN3)X 20pW rtten in 1979 to criticise '. . . nostalgiasu rounding anarcho-syndicalism' which'inrurgent workers at one point felt a needlb ' because 'the hour of revolutionarys1 rdicalism passed a long rvhiie ago'. Anarch-isr L enjoys popularity amongst ,insurgent

rvr rkers'and instead of'nostalgia' thereser ms to be again approaching 'the hour ofre' olutionary syndicalism' despite theNIr Llist 'tin.re keepers'. In the case oi theseau hors tvhose role as 'time and motion,crt eps (lurkins around, spying on the skivingan rrchists as they, play up at work) is done inth( name of the Department of MarxistTr tth which thel call 'proletarian autonomy,(ar d is in lact neither), but is publicly knownas spontaneity'. This'ntodern' council-co nmunist-situationist-libertarian-Marxist-au onomist term is applied to themselvesby themselves as they rejcct anarcho-sy .dicalism beiausc it believes in perman-en organisation of the workers and theywa lt the workers to organise spontaneouslyat he very moment of the revolution. Thisis r con-trick designed to leave the 'revolut-ior ary movement', so-called, in the hands ofan :ducated class just as does the so-calledrer riutionary party. Yer 'ordinary workers'

are only expected to get involved whenthere's any fighting to be done, hence allstruggles are to be pissed on as 'reformist',quoting the anti-party line 'trade unions arereactionary', 'you are being diverted', 'theonly salvation is autonomy/workers councilsetc' slogans of the ultra-Lefty.

BM BLOB previously put together thebooklet llildcot Spain Encounters Democracl'which lbr al1 its radical, critical critique ofrevolutionary specialists ends up as the'revolutionary' rantings of an anonymousradical clique in specialised language - oneol the ironic/contradictory legacies ofSituationist 'methodology' of writing, acaricature of the Hegelian<arly Marx philoso-phical manuscripts. Theorising of this varietyis letl to the 'specialists'and they tind somepopularity amongst students and the intelli-gensia, understandably many workers findthese 'proletarians'a lot of posers who speakfunny and smell like Trots of some sort!

A previor-rs publication Like a Summerllith a Thousand Jull,s took a comprehensivelook at the 1981 riots, their background andaftermath. This was much better writtenand dealt with all sorts of social questions andproblems, it was at least interesting. Thetranslation of what seems to be a dismaloriginally Spanish article tlve years later, is apoor challenge to anyone's mind. Particularlywith its style of quotes. rants and numerousnotes. It, along with SINEWS, can be addedto the library ol curious critiques of anarch-ism and anarcho-syndicalism that with theprogress of tinre have revealed themselves tobe bankrupt.

@ peasant

Bulldozer

BULLDOZER No. 7 Spring 1984 7 5pThis Bulldozer is the best produced anti-prisonmagazine around, because it does not glossover issues which are important to thosepeople in the anarchist movement. Issueslike sexism, rape, exploitation, racism, theconditions under rvhich people have to live,also appraising and attaiking institutionsu{rich are used by the state to push peopleinto the ground.

The articles include, an interview withonr. of the Vancouver 5, one on the death-1'ast at Marian State Prison in Illinois whichis being undertaken by Leonard Peltier,Albert Garza, Robert Hugh Wilson whoseAmerican Indian name is Standing Deer.There is a good letter on rape inside andoutside prison written by James W. parkc.r irrTennessee State PLison in Nashville. There isalso a story about an attempt last October bysix prisonc.rs to escape tiom a Federai penit-entiary at Lompac, Calitbrnia. The guardsarmed with automatic weapons optncrd fireand sent 130 rounds torvards the six unarmedprisoners, one of rvhom died. The beatingsmeted out by the guards afterrvards r.vasindescribable. There are many subiectstouched upon in this maplazine br.rt the threadrunning throughout is resistanct' or a livingdeath.

B.M.

kge 35 Black Flag Summer t9g4

Snipe & Woodcock

Dear B ack ['lag,

Whilst in the librarytoday J plcked up a book by one CedricSalter, :a1led Northern Spain, and look-ing at t he pieces on Anarchism I got asurpris, .

In orre of the back issues of .B/ackFlag(V tl IV, No.7)there was an articleabout I trocity mongering called .Snipe

& Woo lcook ' where a reference wasmade t I Cedric Salter. In this bookCedric SaIter says the'Anarchist Leader,quoted by S. Mais is none other thanDurrut . and adds: "Perhaps a shortincident from those far off days is notout of rlace in explaining the odd seem-ing mi> ture of piety and church burning.It occu'red in August 1936, when a wildcrowd. of which I was one, pressed intothe Pla .a de Cataluna to hear the greatAnarch Lst Leader Buenaventura Durrutimake a speech. He concluded somethinglike thi , .' '...and I swear to you, that IBuenar sntura Durruti, will not rest untilevery C rurch in Spain has been burnedto the 1 round, and the power of theChurch lies finally and completelybroken And this (crossing himself) Isolemn y swear to you in the name oftho Fat'.rer, the Son and the Holy Ghost...' - n , one present, except myself,though that he had said anything inthe lear t peculiar! In short, they do notdestroy because they do not believe butbecaust they believe so completely,even, o r occasions, against their owndesires' . Is there any truth in this?

If yc,r thought that one was goodjust wa;t till you read thisl -

.....InLerida, Durruti was dealing with hisown pa"ticular military problems bymethois to which I was soon to be asickene I witness. At the outbreak ofthe Civit War in July, thousands ofwomen accompanied their menfolk

LETTERSto'the Front', and since all officers,or even discipline as we know it, hadbeen abolished, this army of campfoilowers could not be stopped. Inbrief, without their girlfriends themen would not move. Inevitably the'Milicianas',as they called themselves,caused fatal fights for ownershipamongst the men and, in a matter ofmonths, half the male fighting forcewas incapacitated with venereal dis-ease - and this was inthe days beforeantibiotics. Durruti knew that hecould not separate them by anyorders he, or the Catalan Governmentmlght give, so he commandeered allthe lorries he could lay his hands on,and let it be known that these weregoing first to withdraw the 'Milicianas'to a leave centre well behind the iines,then to bring up the reinforcementsof 'Milicianas' who. he said, wereready and waiting to take over thefight, and, finally, transport the presentfrontliners to rejoin their girl-friends in Lerida. He succeeded in per-suading several hundred of the womento accept the idea, with the permissionof their menfolk. When he got thelorry loads of cheering women sometwenty miles away from the front theyrvere turned out onto the roadside andmachine-gunned to death. When Ipassed the following day 400 bodieswere being buried in the shallow road-side ditches - but most of the men atthe front gradually regained theircapacitl'to fight. From what he himselftold me Durniti, who a few monthslater was shot in the back in what theworld was told was an inter anarcho-syndicalist fight, was personally quitecertain that he would die as an act ofvengeance from one of the men orwomen whom he had seperated here,just outside Huesia - but he died con-tent to know that his ghastly crimepostponed defeat for his side a littlelonger than otherwise would havebeen the case. I always thought ofDurn'.ti as a second Marat - unquestion-ably a monster, perhaps even insane.but completely sincere in his beliefs..."

I apoiogise for quoting at such lengthbut I thought it necessary to fill you inin case you were not aware of thesestories. I would very much like to hearwhat the Black Flag 'collective have tosay on these stories, Especially thelatter story as I've no idea where thatcould possibly have come froml

B. Gray

Dear B,In the reference to Durruti.Salter

has clearly retur'ned to his earlier ihvent-ion but imbellished it with a name thatis well known. This is often done wirhanecdotes, they are given to the most

colourful person around. For instance:Lady Astor - as a Tory, Prohibitionist(but more particularly being a woman)was the subject of many stories duringthe war - eg. that she said soldierscoming back from (whereter) shouldbe given yellow labels to show theywere likely to be suffering from VD.An obviously absurd story is thusgitten a show of credence ( oh yes,Lady Astor of course. , .)

The anarchists are often depicted byauthoritarians either as criminals, lun-atics or sometimes amiable fools.

"I swear in the name of God thelather: 'recall the mant, Irish iokes,O n e ant i- S p a nis h-a nar chis t s t oryrelated in many books /sometimesattributed to Durruti) "ltth"r- did youburn the Church" - "I thought thatthe Bishop was inside" - started lifetrith the Fitzgeralds.

The story about the prostitutes is

new to us but is a classical manuJ'acture.(a). it portrays all the women in thefront line as prostitutes,(b). it suggests no one cared aboutwhat happened to them because theywere prostitutes.(c). when did it happen, or could itpossibly have happened? llhy wasnothing said at the time by anyone?Why did none of those concernedhave relatives or friends, so that itcould be overlooked?

It is like the renegade lUoodcock'sstory about the massacre of the homo-sexuals (which no one ever heard buthimself ) - it suggests there *'eren'tenough enemies they had to go shoot-i ng homosex uals and fro st itute s....,..Iilhy' combine the two? The "undoubt-edly sincere" people are not fromChina or the other side oi the moon,One can meet all the members surt'iv-ing from t hose dav s o.f the LibertarianYouth - so o.ften accused of thesethings - and there are no ax{inen orpo iso ner s om o ng' em..,.,, These atro citystories depend on one NOT knowingthe peoT,ls concernedIt isn'r really difficult to find "tthere

tlle stories come from", There tt'ereatrocities in the Civil llar but one hasto place them in background. Look atthe English football fans going amokin Luxembourg etc and then imagineif (say) ihe German Jews in 1945 hadthen had the armsavailable to the Israelissubsequently, would then have doneto the Nazis. But people like to addand twist stories to show how cleverthey are. The renegade lltoodcock is a

typical case in point. llhen asked toissue proof of his stories he indulges inpersonal abuse and say-s "it is wellknown....."

Black Ilag Summer 1984 kse 36

r-.+

Noury Prison

Letters49th week of detention

Jail of I-a Sante 5 January 1984'll.te 'ust oyercome our rage and disgust,lle n ust share them with others so that

b'tth our action as well as our moralprintiples will be elevated and enlarged'

'Rene Chqr'Dear tlomrades.

M5 trial took place today and Iinforr r you that the servants of Statepower . the tools of repression, havecondemned me to five years imprison-ment 4 have to be served.

I .AM GOING TO APPEALAGAI\ST THE SENTENCE. ThoughI have never held any illusion on ,Just-ice', I am not feeling down because ofitl

As I have been inside for a year, Ishouk now get out about 3 1 January1987, or if I obtain conditionaldischarge about the final months of1984. Spirit is high.

I tl ank you very much for yourmoral support and I offer you thosetwo rc ses (see letter).Frater't al anarchist greetings.

'The one who is outdged, thereforeconcerned and mobilised does notscream, but reflects \uhat sf he can

do about it.U. Meinhof

50th Week of DetentionLa Sante 17 January 1984

To friends,Thank you so much for your sym-

pathetic little card. It made me feelvery happy. Yes, they (the damnedservants of the power) have stuck mefor 5 years in jail of which 4 mustbe done. Luckily one year has alreadygone by. If I obtain some pardon(grace), which I should be able toget in theory, I could be out towardsthe end of 1985 in 2 years, otherwisebeginning of I 987.

There may be also conditionaldischarge towards the end of thisyeat.

I hope so anyway. But this is notsure and for people in power, the morean anarchist stays inside the better forthem. But there is still hope regardless.One year passed quickly, the rest of thetime will pass quickly too I am sure.

I received lots of visits, lots of mail(all I do is read and write letters), thatI receive and send. Fantastic. I havetime for nothing else, and I am notbored at all. My morale is excellent,in spite of my disappointment andsadness, it stay unshaken.

But I am in a hurry to get out. . .

To meet my parents again, all myfriends, my activities. To live withChristel again, my companion, who isactually in pain and in trouble. If youcould write to her sometimes (in Frenchpreferably), I am sure she would feelcomforted and would make her happy.Melie Christel Remiatte, chez Mr Noury,24,rue Leibnitz, 75018 Paris France.

I thank you for your wishes, receivemine sincereiy,Fraternal anarchist greetings and friendlyregards.Michel Noury.

52nd week of detentionLa Sante 26 January 1984

Dear Friends,As you already know on the 5

January 1984,1 was condemned tofive years prison (4 confirmed). I havealready done one year. It seems to mea very heavy sentence in comparisonto what I was charged with. But thepolice do not agree.

In fact, yesterday they took me outof jail to be a witness of somegendames and two other police sections(OCRB and 6th section) on the subjectof theft with use of weapons whoseresponsibility they want to make meendorse and of which they accuse meof participating in.

A11 day (25 January, I repeated myinnocence to the police on thjs matter.I never committed these acts, neitherthese nor others, and it became evidentthat it was because of my being ananarchist that they are trying to fix meup with something carrying morecondemnation.

Justice cannot reproach me morethan for what I have already beencondemned. I am innocent oftheaccusations given by the police. This isan SOS to anarchist solidarity inter-nationally. Thank you for your support.Receive dear comrades my fraternalgreetings.Michel.Contact my lawyers: Me S. Riquier:74 rue d'Alesia,75014, Paris, France.Tel 543 2389).Me J. A. Michel,3 Rue, de Constantine75007 Paris. Tel 555 9212.

e'tIs God Necessary?

Dear Biack Flag,Picl up any anarchist magazine or

book - it's full ofarticles about politicalstruggl,:, atternpts to de- or refineanarchrst political theory, or newsitems a bout those who are alreadyinvolved in all this. All necessary. Butam I alcne in thinking that it is possiblefor there to be an anarchist spirituallife, a t heory and experience of lifethat is .;oth libertarian and not anchor-ed in tire mundane w.orld of order andcontro ? No, I don't think this is acontrarliction on terms. We've allheard < f the description of the Churchof EngJ rnd as the Tory Party at prayer.

Well, what is the anarchist spirituallife? Why is the left so reluctant toacknowledge a spiritual dimension tolife?

Of course, most of the problem iscontained in the notion of God, bydefinition impossible to square withany theory of individual responsibilityand autonomy. But to acknowledge theexistence, the necessity of the spirituallife, isn't the same as accepting thevarious theories that others of differentpolitical persuasions have used toexploit it.

A recent study of religious experiencein Britain found24% of atheists confess-ing to having been 'aware of or influenc-ed by a presence or power, whetheryou call it God or not' (D Hay, Explor-ing Inner.lpace Penguin 1982). So whatwere these atheists experiencing, andwhy don't anarchists have anything

to say on this subject? Surely theability to be aware of anything isindicative of a faculty in us. Why don,twe try and use this faculty, instead ofpretending that it isn't there, or isn'timportant? Why aren't we concerned toliberate this ability from the repressivetheology that usually contains it? Andto use it, like speech, to defeat theinsanities we see around us of the so-called rational life?

Isn't the spiritual or mysticai experi-ence above all an awareness of reaiityunmediated by others' concepts andterms of reference? Theory, whetherChristain, Sufi, Hindu or anything else,is an attempt to make sense of theexperience after the event, and interms which necessari_ly deny (becauseof their this-worldly desire to retainorganisational or ideological power)the essential liberating and anarchistic

kge 37 Black Flag Summer l9g4

natlrre of the expedence. (What was itBlake said? ,See a world in a grain oisantl/ And a l{eaven in a wla-nowi/Hol i Infinity in the palm of your trana./An( Eternity in an hour.)

_ l here are also now over 450 ,new

religious movements, in this country,mo1tlV small groups of people lookingto tite.occult, magic, eastern philosopi-ies a nd religions, original t.u.t ing, oi--Jesui. etc., for an explanation of theuner.plainable nature of the spirit.These are not positive steps away fromthe old spiritual authoritiis, they are

--

simply attempts to establish ,., on.r.It is the 'free market, economy allover again, this time with the ipiritualentr.preneurs peddling their tawdrvpro_ducts: Bring your visions to us andwe'il interpret them for you and makeeve4 thing make sense. Of course it,s allridicirlous. But hasn,t anarchism ttrrownout the baby and the bath? We don,tneed these authorities but why denythe_srriritual nature of men and womenat thr: same time? Just because thecapit rlist food industry dominates foodproollctlon in this country is no reasonto sturve -, it's a reason for self_sufficiency. So where are our self_suffic ient (syndicalist?) spfuitual groups?Yours.Micht,el FearsLond,rn NWl 0

W: !ur: indeed all heard of the Churcho_f Enqland as having been ,the Torypa.rty at proyer' but this hod nothiswhatt ver to do with spiritual experielnces

and everything to do with hard capital_ist'reality. It is not ,the left' or ,theanarchists' who alone are ,reluctant,

toengage in spiritual med,itotion andexperience. No one concerned withpolitical struggle and the expefiencesof the world is anything bui materialist.

The origins of religious experienceare also materialist and the mysticals_ide is very much a side-issue. it i, trrr,however, that in troubled times _ suc'has the present in which we live uncler aworld threat of destruction _ interestin mysticism and unreality growsand is seen around us induied by drugtaking. This may be taken as an escape,not as an attempt at a solution. Thenew 'religious movements,, where thet,are not induced entilely by commerciolreasons or State necessity, are in themain conferssions of failure _ or, ifyou prefer the word, copping_out.-

There is I personally regret butfind it only honest to admit - o tendencywhich calls itself anarchist and alsodrops out, not just of capitalism orStatism but of practical tife. I under-stand the appeal it has, but it is notanarch;sm, which is above all adetermination to take hold of life, astotalitarianism conversely is the cultof death.

'Ilhere are our self-sufficient(syndicalist? - [not quite!J spiritualgroups?' They are mixed up withpacifism, quietism, drug taking,drop-out cults, and you can have them.

ANSWIIRS'I'O eUlZ1 fhcrc ha<l becn an attempt onSuncr's. Iil'c bv Rcsistance fi'ght..,and hc ha<l bet.n admitted tJhospitalu'hcle il uts lotrnd out he wu, dlosuffcring ll.onr vcnereal disease andhad infcclctl his u.ife. ln the result_ant faurily rou, Iranco sacked him.

2. Padcrcu.ski, pianist-presiderrt ofPoland, esc:rpcd t,r Spain during theWar. He u.as arrested and woulihavc bcen scnt back to the Gestapobut for Anterican intervention. Heu'ent on to Poland, but the shockkilled hinr and he died of heartfailure .

3.,tf r ou u.ant to read the unpub_lr:h.S u orks of the N{arquis aiT"a.that's the-procedure vou have togo through.

4. Lechin is of mixed Svrian andRolivian parentage and so taller.than the a\.erage Bolivian _ aud thecompa-ny reckoned he would be anatural for the mining football team.5. Hilda Morrte - involved in one9{ m. anarchist attempts againstHitler, and executed by the"Nazis.

COMPUTER APPEALA Distribution needs f.500 to bu1, acomputer.

Il e've b een dis trib u tin g A narchis tbooks and popers since August l9g0 andwe've made Anarchist litetature a lotmore accessable, but *,e,ve now reachedour limits.

A computer y'ould store our records;make up our invoices, stotements anddelivery notes and address our labels.This would give us the time we need tofind nev'shops to sell to, and new booksto sell. lt'e'd also like to improve ouradvertising.. A computer disc drivef pinter and theight softwear would cost usaround f500.l|e've already been given { I 3 5 and a smoltamount can be raised from among thepublishers, but inevitqbly v,e havi tolook_outside for most of this money.

Can you contibute? A donationhowever small, wiil be helping a largen.u mbe-r of anarc his t p r oi e c t s ;. in cl udi ngAnarchy, Autonomy press, Black FlaglBratach Dubh, Cienfuegos, FreedomPress, Freedom, Insurre ction, RebelPre s s, R e fract Pu bli ca t to n s,. andSolidarity. llho knotps, you msy evenneed us yourself sometime.

Cheques, cash etc. to A Distibution84b llhitechapel High Street, LondonEI. See Anarchist press to see how theappeol is going.

MINERS STRIKE AND CIVILLIBERTIESBreathings of shock horror from MrKaufnann, Shadow Home Secretary,about rhe way in which the Tories aieusing t he police in the miners' strike.Picket. stopped on their lawful way.along the roads, cars turned back _withor t any legal authority _ as farfrom t le Staffordshire piti as theDartfo-d Tunnel - people detained onttlmsy lxcuses and held over the week-end, ar d actually questioned on theirpoliticr I beliefs. Supposing this hadhappered in poland, what a to_dothere r.r ould have been! _ echoes theLabour I eft, unused to this treatment,proud o f its respectibility, feelingsecure vith its participation injustices,courts rnd feeling phone tapping, thedigging up of political records andthe iike, ls a slur on their integrity. . .

, But io not let us suppose if thishappen:d in Poland, it happens all thetime here. It happens under LabourGovern nents too. Anarchists couldentghte n Mr Kaufmann on the wayin which even if detained for totallynon-poiitical offences _ they are notonly qu:stioned about their politicalbeliefs, tut efforts are made io relatethe incirient to a mythical nationalconspira cy. Mrs Thatcher,s .firmness'consists of giving the respectable

Labourites what Governments normallyresen'e for'dissidents,, and treating themto only a taste of what they can expectfrom Special Branch, which is .rr.r,iiulythe armed wing of the ConservativeParty, if they step outside Shadowp olitics.

THE SOLATIONAfter the Uprising on June l TthThe Secretary of the Authors' (JnionHad leadlets distributed in the StalindlleeI,lhich saitl that the peopleHad forfeited the government's confidenceAnd could only win it backBy redoubled labour. Wouldn't itBe simpler in that case if the governmentDissolved the people andElected another?

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Black Ftag Summer l9g4 fuse 3g

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DISARMING THE STATEPOSTSCRIPT

In Lhe last issue of the gnrterly re publishedan article flH. Gandrir qr the issue of disann-aIIEnt, wtrich criticised ttre strategies artdtactics of the peace flp\renent, advrcated wifqrread offensive actiqrs as an alterrativeand gave a restrrrE of lnssible milita4r arrl relatedtargets in the t K. Itle article rdent on to argruethat the UK has be@rE a satellite of the USAard that aryr antirnilitarist act.ion re takemust be seen within the wider context ofa) fighting statisn, and b) fighting colqrialism.

Tte article briefly touched qsl s€tre of thereascns wtry, Iike the CllD of the r50rs andearly r60's, the tEace flpveilEnt today is dmredto failure wtren cqrfrqrting the porer of thestate. The state has all the resources at itsdisposaf to courter any protest nDverrEnt, whereryfto1ic protest can only trqe to engage ina conflict of propaganda. At the sane tinean effective resistarr.e fiDveflEnt cannot bebuilt tp overniglht arrd therefore we all haveto face the fact that any offensive actiqrsby ccmnitted revolutiqraries have to be bothselective (talgeted) arrt g,eneralised (uidespread).FurtherlDre a resistarrce trpverrpnt that is unarnedcannot fight an arIIEd state cr equal terms.Activists either need to arm thenrselves orinvent alternative leans of posrng an effectivethreat to the states' weu-beinq. I{e a.re neittrershort of targets or otportunities: the military-capitalist set-up pr.ovides an ideal backdropfor offensive actions ained at political, ecorxnFic, industrial institutiqs Ehat are the nninstayof the state and the propertied class.

Ihe article rent on to dessibe the US nilitarlzas an @r4rying porer and its personnel as theagents of oeqntion. Sbielded as they arewithin Upir we! guarded bases, tt=V-onfybectre vulnerable if given ttre li-berty to travelalglrrd at will. At present US troes have beenalloied that liberty.

I'lutinies and disaffection was also tqrchedupon: the article detailed sqrc of the instances,but was sceptiel of any significant dis:ffectiqrfor ttre future, given that ttre mifi.tary authorit_ies are neadays far npre selective in-tt=uay trErsquel are chosen for duties of a tsens_itive nature!.

The abserpe of the organised labour rrD\renentin anti<nilitari.st stnrggles is painfully obvior:s.Hifitary hardd;dre cannot be buill wittmi Urecorplicity of orgirnised labour. Ard the problenrof wtnt tnppens to ttree irdustries that'areto be qlerted to nqr--rnilitary prodrctiantns m]y be touctred r_rpon. arnttrer point: alabour militant is rpt used to k*toing topol,iae violerre ard intirnidatiqr, trerne ftrerr:ason yor doo,t see &oves of rnirers siEtingin frqrt of military bases raiting to be arrested.Ito & so rculd be like saying to a boss tplease(an re have higtrer nages' wtrile allqing yorrselfto be ralked all oner. O(, a policlz of peacetul

non-cooperatiqr can casiqnfly get over apoint, but what exactly have peace protestersgot to bargain with? they are saying to thefroverrlrEnt, tdon't do that, otherrise we willdo this' - but what is the rthis' that ttreyare threatenirg: tte withdrawal of their labour?the effective sabotage of the natiqst deferres?a massive boltcott of the ewrcnqr? If thereis no effective threat, then it all gets reducedto beirg a prqagarxta battle, fonght out inthe pqrlar press and qr ttre 11/ sceens.put it-arptler rlat: trc*{ can 1Eace p:otesterstrc1n for wider solidarity fron the labour npve-nent wten, in so nnny cases, ttpir *rn practiceof solidarity is limited, in the first place,to the ant-i-nilitarist struggle? Thos€ peaceprotesters wtro spend rearly all of their tirrein ogposition to militarign and the nuclearar:flLs rarcle e4nrierne a luxury fs can affordto sqage in. lltrile nnny others have no choicebut to try and earn wtEt living they can inthe cqstant strugEle against Capital, is itnot sheer arrcEarEe for scne people to definetheir o*n contri5ution in the resistance agairstauthority at the exlEnse of those v*ro in theerut sr4port the peae protesters livelihod?Ihis inbalarpe will probably only be correctedwten full tire activists disengage frun synboli.cractionsr and, instead, are able to collectivelyIDse a threat equal to the rnss withfrawalof labour. Itren, perhaps, will labour militantshave nore of an irrlirntiqr to pnovide solidarityto the rprofessiornl' activist.In reality qtly a prolonged general strike,and,/or a series of leali,sed irsurrectians,could, the article argued, trope to have anyeffect qr a natiqts' deferce poticy. enythingelse rpuld be of pro6nganda value only. Ihepic*et of Greenham Couron, for exanple, succeededin draring attentiqr to ttre fruise issue andto the problem of mass protest versus Lhe AErEdForces. But wtren it becaflE clear that the Guiseconvoys cpuld rpt be stopped fron leaving thebase, reargr.nrd attacks on rrn:e penetrabletargets stronld have been made in order to denon-strate tbat the Staters deferces Lrere not inper-vious. Cl the other hand the goverrflEnt mayHe1l have thought again about deployrng tlreconvqfs a seoqd tilE had, say, trxrblic transportrcrkers, in a strc*r of solidarity, deciH to briDgthe country to an indefinite standstilf. perhapsthe real turning point wiII qrc wtren re seeantiqnilitarists in large nrrbers actirrelysq4nrting industrial acEion by, for exarple,instigating a canpaign of sabotage againsttroqs enplqped in strike*reaking on againstpolicr cr anti-picket &rty. Ttre niqhtmare ofany politician is realised at that poilt whenstrikers, anti-nilitarists and jobless ccnbireard fight together out of m.rtual stpport. Ttrisis the point wtren the State @ins Lo e:<periercef.?r urd wtren political leaders, capitalistsard all those rrho have elnnt their lives shittirrgqr the uorking class desgrerately start to lok!9r_ways of,esca5n frqn ttre sid(inS ship ttreyfind therselves in.

Page 39 Black Flag Summer l9g4

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