Nationalism and the 'national question'

The IRA in a West of Ireland Town in the 1930s

Below the great political generalities - opposition to British Imperialism, Partition, the "sell-out of Republican principles" by De Valera's constitutional Republican party, Fianna Fail - what was the IRA? Let us look at what it was in the 1930s in one area, Clare, and particularly in one town, Ennis, part of Eamonn De Valera's constituency. We are not, in this excursion, in which we will look at the labour movement in that town, wandering off the subject: we are trying to bring the IRA of that time and of such places, and the sort of people who joined it, into clearer focus. Republicanism is...

The IRA in a West of Ireland Town in the 1930s

Below the great political generalities - opposition to British Imperialism, Partition, the "sell-out of Republican principles" by De Valera's constitutionalRepublican party, Fianna Fail - what was the IRA? Let us look at what it was in the 1930s in one area, Clare, and particularly in one town, Ennis, part of Eamonn De Valera's constituency. We are not, in this excursion, in which we will look at the labour movement in that town, wandering off the subject: we are trying to bring the IRA of that time and of such places, and the sort of people who joined it, into clearer focus. Republicanism is...

The Russians Withdraw from Afghanistan (1988)

The withdrawal of Russian troops from Afghanistan must be perplexing for those on the left who supported their invasion or did not oppose their presence. They argued that Afghanistan was a different case from Vietnam or other battles against imperialism. The USSR claims to be socialist; and even if we reject this claim we can point to the frankly reactionary prograrnme of the Afghan rebels and the support for them from the United States. In comparison the Afghan government and its Russian backers are , if no more, 'progressive'. The People's Democratic Party (PDP) government which took power...

Teach yourself socialism

Marxism and nationalism (Mark Sandell) We must study the inter-relations (Edward Conze; continued) Download PDF

The Prague Spring and after

1: April 1968: A "Cultural Revolution"? The unique liberalisation of the long frozen Stalinist regime in Czechoslovakia and the echoes across the border in Poland inevitably recall the events of 1956. That time, a series of shocks and explosions, beginning with the 20th. Congress of the CPSU and continuing with the workers' uprising in Posnan and the formation of the Polish Workers Councils, rapidly led to the Hungarian Revolution: a spontaneous rising of the working class to take power from the bureaucratic regime and the Russian Army. The spark which ignited Hungary was not only the mass...

Czech Imperialism and the National Question in Central Europe (1938)

Between the two imperialists world wars the Marxists considered Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Poland to be imperialist powers, because in these three states there were oppressed national minorities – Croats, Kosovars and others in Yugoslavia, Slovakians and Sudeten ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia, Ukrainians in Poland. If it could be taken apart from the entire context which in fact it had, and if German imperialism had not been German imperialism, Hitler's claim to the Sudetenland, where the majority wanted to unite with Germany, would have been more or less reasonable. In reality it was...

In Defence of Ukrainian Independence

Ukraine: Russian troops out! Seamus Milne's shoddy arguments for Putin Putin: hands off Ukraine! East Ukraine: it’s mostly Russian imperialism, not democratic protest Why socialists should side with Ukraine against Russia Ukraine is not just a token Russian Imperialism threatens Ukraine The Crimean Tatars: the nation Stalin deported The left and Maidan Leon Trotsky: Marxism and Ukrainian independence

Leon Trotsky: Marxism and Ukrainian independence

Trotsky's 1939 call for Ukrainian independence Democratic feudalists and the independence of the Ukraine Independence of the ukraine and sectarian muddle-heads The Fenians: Rise and Decline(1967) Stalin the temporary holder of the ukraine

I once knew a man who was shot by a Provisional IRA gang which included Adams ( 2002) [missing text replaced version]

Seeing pictures of Gerry Adams grinning his Cheshire-cat-who-has-eaten-six-mice grin in triumph at SF/PIRA's latest success reminded me that I once knew a man who was shot by a Provisional IRA gang which included Adams. His name was John Magennis. Who was he? A British soldier? A member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary? A member of an Orange paramilitary group? One of the Northern Ireland workers shot by the Provisional IRA in the early 1990s for doing repair work on RUC stations? No, John Magennis was a Republican. He belonged to the then mainstream Republican movement from which the...

I once knew a man who was shot by a Provisional IRA gang which included Adams ( 2002) [missing text replaced version]

Seeing pictures of Gerry Adams grinning his Cheshire-cat-who-has-eaten-six-mice grin in triumph at SF/PIRA's latest success reminded me that I once knew a man who was shot by a Provisional IRA gang which included Adams. His name was John Magennis. Who was he? A British soldier? A member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary? A member of an Orange paramilitary group? One of the Northern Ireland workers shot by the Provisional IRA in the early 1990s for doing repair work on RUC stations? No, John Magennis was a Republican. He belonged to the then mainstream Republican movement from which the...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.