In the early 20th Century, anarchism entrenched itself as a mass organisational movement in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland - anarchists having already been active in the 1873 uprisings in Bosnia and Herzegovina against Austro-Hungarian control. But it was primarily in Bulgaria and its neighbour Macedonia that a remarkable case of anarchist organising arose, in the midst of the power-play between the great powers.

This poorly-studied movement not only blooded itself in national liberation struggles and armed opposition to both fascism and Stalinism, but developed a notably diverse and resilient mass movement, the first to adopt the controversial 1926 Platform of the Ukrainian Makhnovist exiles in Paris 2 as its lodestone. For these reasons it is vital that the revived anarchist-communist movement in the new millennium re-examine the legacy of the Balkans. This article, which begins mid-stream in 1919, is a version of an extract from the two-volume work on anarchism & syndicalism, Counter-Power, co-written by Lucien van der Walt, a global history and theory of the movement, which is due to be published in book form by AK Press in the USA in 2008.

[Italiano] [Ελληνικά]

The 18th January 1934 - the aborted general strike - was the "final stand" of independent class-oriented, anarchist-inspired syndicalism in Portugal.

The government decree that sparked off the 18th January general strike implied that all the independent unions (those that were not government creations) would lose their recognition as workers' associations, becoming in practice legally extinct, as they were forbidden to bargain and to represent the workers of their respective professional branch.

The causes of the failures are the theme of some discussions and polemics, with some anarchists accusing the communist party of a plot to act in a separate way and give signals that alerted the political police, causing some worker leaders such as Mário Castelhano and many others to be framed on the eve of the scheduled day for the strike.

Whatever the reasons for the failure, the fact is that this general strike would not have had the strength to overthrow a consolidated regime, as the military and other repressive forces were all on the side of the government and many (bourgeois) political opposition figures were in prison, exile, or under strict surveillance.

[ Türkçe ] [ Ελληνικά ]

En el Centenario de la Masacre de Santa María de Iquique, reproducimos el siguiente artículo, publicado en el número 22 de la revista Hombre y Sociedad de Chile.

To commemorate 100th anniversary of the Anarchist Congress held in Amsterdam in August 1907, the FdCA has produced an online English translation of the 1978 book "Dibattito sul sindacalismo: Atti del Congresso Internazionale anarchico di Amsterdam (1907)", in which labour historian Maurizio Antonioli examines the process that led to the Amsterdam Congress and its significance both within the labour movement and the anarchist movement. He then goes on to compile the various reports in anarchist journals of the time, producing what is possibly the most complete record of the Congress and the debates that lasted six days.

We present here Antonioli's introduction together with a slightly abridged version of the rest of the book, having omitted some of the lesser debates and introductory speeches. With time we hope to include these also. The footnote numbers are those in the original text. Translation from Italian to English is by Nestor McNab.

Anarchism and/or Syndicalism, by Maurizio Antonioli
The International Anarchist Congress

El siguiente es un breve análisis, desde una perspectiva anarco-comunista, de la trascendencia y la importancia del debate llevado a efecto, hace un siglo, en Ámsterdam en el Congreso Anarquista celebrado desde el 24 al 31 de agosto de 1907. No nos interesa realizar una descripción lineal de tal evento, sino que explorar algunos de los debates y polémicas que nos permiten clarificar algunas de nuestras posiciones hoy en día.