The top 25 most important historical moments in the anti-capitalist struggle

[Barry Lyndon]

These are, in my biased and totally subjective view, the 25 most important developments in the history of the global anti-capitalist movement over the last 150 years. Their in chronological order, not in order of importance.
Feel free to debate. Let the sectarianism begin!

1. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels write 'The Communist Manifesto': 1848
(The call to arms)

2. American Civil War: 1861-65
(The last great progressive act of the capitalist class being the destruction of American slavery)

http://ap3111.k12.sd.us/Events/gettysburg.jpg

3. Karl Marx writes 'Das Kapital': 1867
(Bedrock of scientific socialist theory)

http://poznamnik.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/das-kapital1.jpg

4. The Paris Commune: 1871
(First socialist revolution, capitalist class takes on reactionary role)

http://recollectionbooks.com/bleed/images/BB/stein04.jpg

5. Mikhail Bakunin expelled from the International Workingmen's Association: 1872
(Marxist/Anarchist split)

http://libcom.org/files/images/library/marxbakunin.jpg

6. Great Railroad Strike of 1877 in the United States
(Labor vs. Capital struggle comes to America)

http://cla.calpoly.edu/~lcall/204/5-7/1877strike2.jpg

7. Haymarket affair: 1886
(Exposed to millions the farce that is the bourgeois 'justice' system)

http://dancull.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/haymarketmartyrs.jpg

8. International Women's Day declared: 1911
(The inseparable connection made between socialism and women's liberation)

http://en.internationalism.org/files/en/images/intnl-womens-day.jpg

9. The Betrayal of the Second International: 1914
(The split between reformists and revolutionaries over the First World War)

10. The Russian Revolution and Civil War: 1917-22
(First country to overthrow capitalism)

http://iconicphotos.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/lenin-trotsky_1920-05-20_sverdlov_square_original-jpg.jpeg

11. The defeat of the Spartacist rising: 1919
(Failure of revolution to spread to advanced capitalist nation, isolation of Soviet state leads to Stalinism)

http://static.open.salon.com/files/spartakus1243823307.jpg

12. Chinese Revolution: 1927-49
(The overthrow of capitalism in the most populous nation in the world)

http://www.politicalinformation.net/encyclopedia/China,_Mao_(2).jpg

13. The Wall Street Crash: 1929
(Crises of capital leads to 'good cop' welfare state policies such as New Deal and 'bad cop' fascism)

http://static.guim.co.uk/Guardian/business/gallery/2008/oct/28/1/[email protected]

14. The Spanish Civil War: 1936-39
(Sectarianism causes the Left to defeat itself)

http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/visfront/imagelarge/snake2.jpg

15. Red Army defeats Nazi Germany: 1941-45
(The destruction of Fascism)

http://garibaldy.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/reichstag-red-flag.jpg

16. Vietnamese liberation war: 1945-75
(People's war defeats two empires)

http://www.hanscomfamily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/1975-the-south-vietnamese-capital-of-saigon-ho-chi-minh-city-fell-to-north-vietnamese-troops-during-the-vietnam-war.jpg

17. Cuban Revolution: 1953-61
(Socialist revolution arrives in the Western hemisphere)

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/PT-AK583_cubbas_G_20081226181607.jpg

18. Massacre of the Indonesian communists: 1965
(People's Republic of China is left isolated, effect similar to that on Soviet Union after defeat of Spartacists)

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/media/blogs/blog/14/indonesia_suharto_terror_jpg.JPG

19. Cultural Revolution: 1966-69
(Uprising against bureaucracy, defeat of Leftist forces paves way for capitalist restoration)

http://wilsonsalmanac.com/images2/destroy_old_world1.gif

20. May 1968 events in France
(Mass revolutionary upheaval in heart of Western Europe)

21. Collapse of the Soviet bloc: 1989-91
(Capitalism restored to Eastern Europe, global capitalism's great moment of triumph)

http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2008/8/15/saupload_yeltsin_tank500.jpg

22. Formation of the World Trade Organization: 1994
(The New World Order of capitalist domination institutionalized)

23. Peoples War in Nepal and India: 1996-present
(The red flag of revolution goes up in the most populous region on earth)

http://southasiarev.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/nepal-peoples-liberation-army.jpg

24. Bolivarian revolution: 1998-present
(Socialist politics rise again in Latin America)

http://media.cnsnews.com/resources/51187.jpg

25. World economic crises: 2008-present
(Greatest financial crises of capitalism since the 1930's)

*Note: They won't let me post more then 20 pics for some reason.

[bricolage]

4. The Paris Commune: 1871
(First socialist revolution, capitalist class takes on reactionary role)

The Paris Commune wasn't socialist, even Marx admitted this, 'the majority of the Commune was in no wise socialist, nor could it be'


10. The Russian Revolution and Civil War: 1917-22
(First country to overthrow capitalism)

12. Chinese Revolution: 1927-49
(The overthrow of capitalism in the most populous nation in the world)

I'll let others handle this.


14. The Spanish Civil War: 1936-39
(Sectarianism causes the Left to defeat itself)

If by sectarianism you mean Stalinist betrayal then yes.


15. Red Army defeats Nazi Germany: 1941-45
(The destruction of Fascism)

Thank God we have no fascists today...


17. Cuban Revolution: 1953-61
(Socialism arrives in the Western hemisphere)

Because there were no socialists there before 1953 ay?

[bricolage]

All this aside I don't really see the point to this divisive periodisation and categorisation. I also don't see the point in reducing struggle to 'great moments' in time, it implies they exist in vacuums and undermines the multitude of everyday struggles and act of resistance that both preceded and followed these 'important historical moments'.

[Barry Lyndon]

The Paris Commune wasn't socialist, even Marx admitted this, 'the majority of the Commune was in no wise socialist, nor could it be'



I'll let others handle this.



If by sectarianism you mean Stalinist betrayal then yes.



Thank God we have no fascists today...



Because there were no socialists there before 1953 ay?

Sorry about that, I guess your right- but it certainly was the first revolution led by the proletariat, wasn't it?

I get it. Your an anarchist or council communists or something of the sort. You don't recognize these as socialist revolutions.

Yes, I do mean Stalinist betrayal.

Of course there are still fascists, but they are either fringe elements with no real political power, or if they do make a serious bid for power they have to at least try to conceal what their real agenda is and use code words. In some ways, that's worse I agree, but the fact that 'fascism' is a dirty word has been made possible by the destruction and discrediting of Nazi Germany. Although the capitalists have made it out that they defeated fascism and not the Soviet Union, which is a revision of history that must always be challenged.

Sorry, I meant 'socialist revolution'. There have been socialists in Latin America for a long time, going back to the 19th century.

[bie]

Yes, I do mean Stalinist betrayal.

???? http://www.revleft.com/vb/poum-nazi-collaborationi-t54032/index2.html?highlight=poum+nazi+collaboration (Post No.23)

[Barry Lyndon]

???? http://www.revleft.com/vb/poum-nazi-collaborationi-t54032/index2.html?highlight=poum+nazi+collaboration (Post No.23)

He's your source for everything, isn't he? Why are there no actual historians claiming this, and just this one random English professor that no one knows about? It is merely alleged that some members of the POUM met with one German agent in one book, based on NKVD documents that were probably part of the massive Stalinist smear campaign against the anarchists and Trotskyists who were heroically holding back fascism in Spain.
That photograph of your hero signing a pact with the Nazis isn't going away, hypocrite.

[Killer Enigma]

I think your list is really solid. I commend you for including the American Civil War, because while I completely agree that it was the final revolutionary act of the American bourgeoisie, Reconstruction led to workers, freedmen, and other oppressed classes organizing against capitalist oppression almost immediately. The betrayal of Radical Reconstruction by Andrew Johnson and the rise of American fascism in the South constituted a massive counterrevolution that halted revolutionary progress that could have bypassed many aspects of capitalism, but it doesn't change the significance of that period. Kudos!

I might have included the Great Leap Forward in the mix somewhere, but you paid adequate homage to the Chinese Revolution. Props on striving for the objective importance of the events in the fight against capitalism, rather than only identifying periods of triumph.

[Dimentio]

2003 - The Federal Commonwealth of Malatora is formed. Beware the Cytran dragons XD

[Zanthorus]

Of course there are still fascists, but they are either fringe elements with no real political power, or if they do make a serious bid for power they have to at least try to conceal what their real agenda is and use code words. In some ways, that's worse I agree, but the fact that 'fascism' is a dirty word has been made possible by the destruction and discrediting of Nazi Germany. Although the capitalists have made it out that they defeated fascism and not the Soviet Union, which is a revision of history that must always be challenged.

Neither the Soviet Union nor the west destroyed fascism during world war two. General Franco carried on til '75.

[Palingenisis]

Neither the Soviet Union nor the west destroyed fascism during world war two. General Franco carried on til '75.

Was Franco an actual fascist though? Wasnt he more an "Authoritarian" conservative who crushed the fascist movement in Spain once he was in a secure position and kept out of WWII?

[Antifa94]

No, pallingenisis, he was a fascist that alligned with conservative monarchists. look at his national syndicalist/corporatist economic system.

WE FORGOT A LOT OF DATES IN THE STRUGGLE COMRADES.
Lemme just do the 20th century reallllll quick

1905 revolution- social democratic revolution in Russia.
1918-1919 German civil war and revolution,
1919- Munich Soviet Republic proclaimed
1919- Budapest Soviet Republic proclaimed
1918(?) 0r 19 Alsace soviet republic created
1919 First Red Scare America
1920 Ruhr Red Army suppresses the Kapp Putsch
1921 March fighting in Central germany
1923 Hamburg uprising
1926 General Strike England
1927 Purging of 50000 communists in shanghai, start of Jiangxi Soviet republic in China.
1929 Blutmai Germany Social Democrats kill many communists during Mayday.
1932 transportation strike Berlin
1933-45 Internment of millions of communists, of which 30,000+ german leftists are killed.
1934- Uprising in andalucia and castille, suppressed by Franco
1936-1939 Spanish Civil War
1939-65 Maquis anti-franco rebels
1936- Battle of cable street, Popular Front France
1940 General Strike Netherlands
1942 general strike Luxembourg
1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising
1944 Slovak national uprising Warsaw uprising
1945 Defeat of the Nazis by the Red Army
1946-49 Greek Civil War
1949 Creation of Communist China
1945 Anti-colonial revolutions in Indochina
1953 East Berlin protests

And many more.

[Ocean Seal]

WWI is also an important event it caused the fall of 4 empires.

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

26.) 2010 First man made organism created and reproduces. God is dead.

Good list, many hallmarks were hit.

[Barry Lyndon]

No, pallingenisis, he was a fascist that alligned with conservative monarchists. look at his national syndicalist/corporatist economic system.

WE FORGOT A LOT OF DATES IN THE STRUGGLE COMRADES.
Lemme just do the 20th century reallllll quick

1905 revolution- social democratic revolution in Russia.
1918-1919 German civil war and revolution,
1919- Munich Soviet Republic proclaimed
1919- Budapest Soviet Republic proclaimed
1918(?) 0r 19 Alsace soviet republic created
1919 First Red Scare America
1920 Ruhr Red Army suppresses the Kapp Putsch
1921 March fighting in Central germany
1923 Hamburg uprising
1926 General Strike England
1927 Purging of 50000 communists in shanghai, start of Jiangxi Soviet republic in China.
1929 Blutmai Germany Social Democrats kill many communists during Mayday.
1932 transportation strike Berlin
1933-45 Internment of millions of communists, of which 30,000+ german leftists are killed.
1934- Uprising in andalucia and castille, suppressed by Franco
1936-1939 Spanish Civil War
1939-65 Maquis anti-franco rebels
1936- Battle of cable street, Popular Front France
1940 General Strike Netherlands
1942 general strike Luxembourg
1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising
1944 Slovak national uprising Warsaw uprising
1945 Defeat of the Nazis by the Red Army
1946-49 Greek Civil War
1949 Creation of Communist China
1945 Anti-colonial revolutions in Indochina
1953 East Berlin protests

And many more.

I actually listed a lot of those, If you had bothered to look.

[Ocean Seal]

For the Vietnamese liberation movement we shouldn't forget that Vietnam defeated three empires. The Japanese at their height, the colonial French, and the Americans.
edit: I suppose that that's nitpicking, change it only if you'd like.

[AK]

24. Bolivarian revolution: 1998-present
(Socialist politics rise again in Latin America)

http://media.cnsnews.com/resources/51187.jpg

Nationalism = fail.

Anyway...
26) Anarchists and MLs in Greece? Maoists in Nepal and the Phillipines?

[Barry Lyndon]

Nationalism = fail.

Anyway...
26) Anarchists and MLs in Greece? Maoists in Nepal and the Phillipines?

I guess you should disqualify the Vietnamese too. They were also nationalists, and also socialists. I'm sick of leftists throwing around that word to disqualify Third World revolutionary movements.

Yes, the other stuff is very important too. I would have up Nepal and Greece but ran out of space.

[Robocommie]

I personally like to include the French Revolution. It's influence on Hegel, Marx and everything can't really be overstated. It's also very interesting to me how the sans culottes represented a sort-of early proletarian movement, as well.

[Antifa94]

I did look. you listed three of the aforementioned.
there are so many post 1945 I can hardly list them all

1968 Paris
1968 Prague
the RAF 1968-1990
Miner's strike 1984/85
weather underground
many more that i am too lazy to list at this time but shall post.
1999 seattle

[AK]

I did look. you listed three of the aforementioned.
there are so many post 1945 I can hardly list them all

1968 Paris
1968 Prague
the RAF 1968-1990
Miner's strike 1984/85
weather underground
many more that i am too lazy to list at this time but shall post.
1999 seattle
May '68 was already mentioned in the OP's post.

[Tavarisch_Mike]

Good initiative, I want to include the zapatistas to, date; 1 january 1994.