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Republic of India

2025-11-10T12:35:50Z

RedWedge1917: Minor changes: major edits incoming to cover some of the gaps

{{Infobox country|name=Republic of India|leader_title1=President|image_flag=Flag of India.svg|leader_name2=Jagdeep Dhankar|leader_name1=Droupadi Murmu|leader_name3=[[Narendra Modi]]|leader_title4=Chief Justice|leader_name4=Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud|leader_title3=Prime Minister|leader_title2=Vice President|government_type=Federal parliamentary bourgeois republic|native_name=भारत गणराज्य|mode_of_production=[[Capitalism]]|area_km2=3,287,263|population_estimate_year=2018|currency=Indian rupee (₹) (INR)|population_estimate=1,352,642,280|image_coat=Emblem of India.svg|capital=New Delhi|largest_city=Mumbai|image_map=India_Map.svg|map_width=290|map_caption=|official_languages=Hindi English|religion=79.8% Hinduism 14.2% Islam 2.3% Christianity 1.7% Sikhism 0.7% Buddhism 0.4% Jainism 0.23% unaffiliated 0.65% other}}

'''India''', officially the '''Republic of India''', is a [[bourgeois]] country in [[South Asia]] and the most populated country in the world before the [[People's Republic of China]].<ref>{{Citation|author=Philip B. Calkins|year=2022|title=India|chapter=|section=|page=|quote=|pdf=|city=|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica|isbn=|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=https://www.britannica.com/place/India|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref> Hundreds of languages are spoken in India, and the country has a large [[Islam|Muslim]] minority that makes up 10% of the world's Muslim population.<ref>{{Web citation|date=2014-05-22|title=The election of Narendra Modi and the dangerous rise of India’s far-right|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/the-election-of-narendra-modi-and-the-dangerous-rise-of-indias-far-right/|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714163244/https://www.liberationnews.org/the-election-of-narendra-modi-and-the-dangerous-rise-of-indias-far-right/|archive-date=2019-07-14|retrieved=2023-02-11|author=Mike Wang}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Bronze Age ===
{{Main article|Indus Valley civilisation}}
An urban civilization developed in the Indus Valley around 2600 BCE. Its major cities included Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. The Indus civilization collapsed around 1900 BCE, and archaeologists found many unburied remains showing signs of violent death.<ref name=":02222">{{Citation|author=Neil Faulkner|year=2013|title=A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals|chapter=The First Class Societies|page=19–21|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedljwr5izotdclz23o3c5p4di4t3ero3ncbfytip55slhiz4otuls?filename=Neil%20Faulkner%20-%20A%20Marxist%20History%20of%20the%20World_%20From%20Neanderthals%20to%20Neoliberals-Pluto%20Press%20%282013%29.pdf|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=9781849648639|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=91CA6C708BFE15444FE27899217FBA8E}}</ref>

=== Iron Age ===
{{Main article|Maurya Empire}}16 states dominated northern India by 500 BCE, and the [[Kingdom of Magadha]] conquered the others by 321 BCE to form the Maurya Empire.<ref>{{Citation|author=Chris Harman|year=1999|title=A People's History of the World|page=49|chapter=Iron and empires|isbn=9781898876557|city=London|publisher=Bookmarks Publications Ltd|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=F247C9051030CCBA52C1E5A4468834E9|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacea6om2gf2ixovddv7moyuv3i4rj2ggii7gta4x4h4rk4ebpqdvd6i?filename=Chris%20Harman%20-%20A%20People%27s%20History%20of%20the%20World.pdf}}</ref>

=== Classical period ===
{{Main article|Gupta Empire}}After the fall of the Maurya Empire, the Gupta dynasty was the second to attempt to unite India. However, it lacked centralization, and thus, quickly collapsed. Agriculture was highly organized and irrigation was widespread during this period. India participated in a global market with Arabia, Western Asia, and China and traded metals, gems, textiles, spices, salt, and exotic animals.<ref name=":690222">{{Citation|author=Neil Faulkner|year=2013|title=A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals|chapter=The Medieval World|page=64–65|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedljwr5izotdclz23o3c5p4di4t3ero3ncbfytip55slhiz4otuls?filename=Neil%20Faulkner%20-%20A%20Marxist%20History%20of%20the%20World_%20From%20Neanderthals%20to%20Neoliberals-Pluto%20Press%20%282013%29.pdf|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=9781849648639|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=91CA6C708BFE15444FE27899217FBA8E}}</ref>

=== Early modern period ===
{{Main article|Mughal Empire}}

=== Colonization ===
{{Main article|British Raj}}
The [[British East India Company]] took control of India in 1765 and established a trade monopoly. The [[British Raj (1858–1947)|British Raj]] took control of India in 1847 and suppressed a rebellion in 1857. The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|British]] stole at least $44.6 trillion from India, while the population of India dropped by 20% between 1870 and 1920 and tens of millions died from famine under British rule.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Jason Hickelby|newspaper=[[Black Agenda Report]]|title=How Britain Stole $45 Trillion From India And Lied About It|date=2019-01-09|url=https://blackagendareport.com/how-britain-stole-45-trillion-india-and-lied-about-it|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106033311/https://blackagendareport.com/how-britain-stole-45-trillion-india-and-lied-about-it|archive-date=2022-01-06|retrieved=2022-09-08}}</ref>

==== Independence movement ====
In the early 1900s, following the defeat of the Swadeshi movement, Indians began boycotting British goods and picketing their shops. In 1908, the workers of Mumbai went on [[Strike action|strike]].<ref name=":0">{{Citation|author=[[Vijay Prashad]]|year=2017|title=Red Star over the Third World|chapter=Follow the Path of the Russians!|page=|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacecu7gb2ei65us6ip3r2ugcgkblneqcftbm456mb6bzvprkbqk55qm?filename=Vijay%20Prashad%20-%20Red%20Star%20Over%20the%20Third%20World-LeftWord%20Books%20%282018%29.pdf|city=New Delhi|publisher=LeftWord Books}}</ref>:34 Following the [[Jallianwallah Bagh massacre]], the [[Indian National Congress]] met in 1919 at Amritsar. [[Jawaharlal Nehru|Nehru]] wanted to redistribute land to the peasants, but [[Mohandas Gandhi|Gandhi]] prevented the Congress from following that path.<ref name=":0" />:40 In February 1946, strikes took place within the Royal Indian Navy and mutinies within various army units; along with the assistance of 300k workers. British ruling circles soon admitted that the colonial model in India was unsustainable, accepting that the anti-colonialist movement had assumed a mass character.<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=M. Alexeyev|year=1948|title=Indian Union and Pakistan After the Partition of India|page=1-2|pdf=https://www.marxists.org/subject/india/ci/after-partition.pdf|publisher=Bolshevik}}</ref>

=== Independence ===

==== Nehru government ====
Nehru's first two five-year plans, which ended in 1961, failed to lessen inequality.<ref name=":122">{{Citation|author=[[Vijay Prashad]]|year=2008|title=The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World|chapter=Arusha|page=199|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceascnzh26r5d6uitjjs2z7rflhaxlt7rboz5whzdf76qg6xxvecqq?filename=%28A%20New%20Press%20People%27s%20history%29%20Vijay%20Prashad%20-%20The%20darker%20nations_%20a%20people%27s%20history%20of%20the%20third%20world-The%20New%20Press%20%282008%29.pdf|publisher=The New Press|isbn=9781595583420|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9B40B96E830128A7FE0E0E887C06829F}}</ref> He ousted a [[Communist Party of India|Communist]] government from power in [[Kerala]].<ref name=":12222">{{Citation|author=[[Vijay Prashad]]|year=2008|title=The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World|chapter=Bali|page=162|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceascnzh26r5d6uitjjs2z7rflhaxlt7rboz5whzdf76qg6xxvecqq?filename=%28A%20New%20Press%20People%27s%20history%29%20Vijay%20Prashad%20-%20The%20darker%20nations_%20a%20people%27s%20history%20of%20the%20third%20world-The%20New%20Press%20%282008%29.pdf|publisher=The New Press|isbn=9781595583420|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9B40B96E830128A7FE0E0E887C06829F}}</ref> India fought wars against socialist [[People's Republic of China|China]] in 1962 and against [[Islamic Republic of Pakistan|Pakistan]] in 1947-48 and 1965.<ref name=":1222" />:215

==== Indira Gandhi Government ====
Nehru died in 1964, and [[Indira Gandhi]] became prime minister in 1966. She ruled under martial law from 1975 to 1977, when she left office. She returned to power in 1980. The INC lost the 1983 elections in several southern states, with [[N. T. Rama Rao]] taking power in [[Andhra Pradesh]] and the [[Janata Party]] taking power in [[Karnataka]]. It won in [[Assam]], where only 2% of the population voted among widespread ethnic violence.<ref name=":1222">{{Citation|author=[[Vijay Prashad]]|year=2008|title=The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World|chapter=New Delhi|page=|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceascnzh26r5d6uitjjs2z7rflhaxlt7rboz5whzdf76qg6xxvecqq?filename=%28A%20New%20Press%20People%27s%20history%29%20Vijay%20Prashad%20-%20The%20darker%20nations_%20a%20people%27s%20history%20of%20the%20third%20world-The%20New%20Press%20%282008%29.pdf|publisher=The New Press|isbn=9781595583420|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9B40B96E830128A7FE0E0E887C06829F}}</ref>:208

==== Liberalization ====
In 1989, India introduced economic changes that allowed capitalists to take control of scarce natural resources.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[Monthly Review]]|title=‘India after Naxalbari: Unfinished History’|date=2022-07-14|url=https://mronline.org/2022/07/14/india-after-naxalbari-unfinished-history/|retrieved=2022-07-14}}</ref> Following the [[overthrow of the Soviet Union]] and the [[Gulf War]], Indian Prime Minister [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]] instituted a policy of LPG (Liberalization-Privatization-Globalisation) in 1991 to secure funding from the [[IMF]] and [[World Bank]]. Contrary to popular belief within the nation, these neo-liberal reforms did not improve the quality of life for many.<ref name=":69">{{Web citation|author=Jayati Ghosh|newspaper=[[Janata Weekly]]|year=2021|title= The Neoliberal Reforms of 1991 Didn’t Work as Claimed|quote=[I]ndia’s HDI rank slipped from No. 114 to No. 131, a dismal performance even allowing for the increased number of countries. Even this was largely because of per capita income; other indicators remained woeful even compared to poorer countries like Bangladesh. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) shows 28% of India’s population in multidimensional poverty, with another 20% vulnerable to it, much higher proportions than the developing-country average.

The stated goals of the 1991 reforms were higher rates of income growth with more employment generation and diversification into higher value-added activities. Of these, only higher income growth was achieved, but at the expense of massive environmental destruction and without enabling structural change. Employment stagnated and then fell from 2011; industrialization did not take off beyond what was already achieved before 1991; most workers remain stuck in low-paying informal work; women’s employment participation declined significantly. Nutrition indicators are poor, with declining per capita calorie consumption, and worse outcomes for women and young children, even before covid hit. Farming is under threat, and small and micro enterprises that employ the bulk of workers face an extreme crisis.|url=https://janataweekly.org/the-neoliberal-reforms-of-1991-didnt-work-as-claimed/}}</ref>

==== BJP Government ====
[[File:India joins G7.png|thumb|alt=India joins G7 in "free speech" campaign|India joins G7 in "free speech" campaign]]
[[Narendra Modi]]'s far-right [[Indian People's Party|Bharatiya Janata Party]] won 303 out of 543 seats in parliament in 2019 and 240 seats in 2024. His [[National Democratic Alliance]] won a total of 293 seats, which is enough to form a government and give him another term as Prime Minister.<ref name=":1">{{Web citation|author=Vijay Prashad|newspaper=The Tricontinental|title=Democracy Will Not Come through Compromise and Fear: The Twenty-Fourth Newsletter (2024)|date=2024-06-13|url=https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/year-of-elections/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613110144/https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/year-of-elections/|archive-date=2024-06-13}}</ref> However, this time, the authority of the BJP will be significantly reduced due to coalition politics.

== Demographics ==
40% of India's 1.4 billion people are under 25 years old.

== Economy ==
=== Employment ===
Youth [[unemployment]] is 45.4% while overall unemployment is only 7.5%.<ref name=":1" />

=== Income Inequality ===
Income inequality has been rising ever since the 2000s. A minimum wage worker in rural India would need to work 941 years to earn what the top-paid executive at a leading Indian garment company earns in a year, and income inequality has become worse than the British Raj.<ref name=":1666">{{Web citation||newspaper=[[Oxfam International]]|title=India: extreme inequality in numbers|url=https://www.oxfam.org/en/india-extreme-inequality-numbers}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation|author=Astha Rajvanshi|newspaper=Time Magazine|title=India’s Income Inequality Is Now Worse Than Under British Rule, New Report Says|date=2024-3-7|url=https://time.com/6961171/india-british-rule-income-inequality/}}</ref>

=== Debate over the character of the bourgeoisie ===
There has been debate within the Indian communist movement over the character of the Indian Big bourgeoisie and the chief bourgeois party, the Indian National Congress.

== Living Standards ==
=== Housing and Construction ===
There are about 1.77 million homeless people (0.15% of the total population) residing in India <ref name=":17">{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Business Standard]]|author=Somesh Jha|title=1.77 million people live without shelter, albeit the number decline over a decade|date=2013-12-06|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/1-77-million-people-live-without-shelter-albeit-the-number-decline-over-a-decade-113120600835_1.html}}</ref> and around 11.09 million vacant homes.<ref name=":18">{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Mint]]|author=Ashwini Kumar Sharma|title=11.09 mn homes are lying vacant in India: Report|date=2019-10-15|url=https://www.livemint.com/news/india/11-09-million-vacant-houses-in-india-says-report-11571053150289.html}}</ref>

=== Education ===
Between 2018-2019, India possessed 1,083,678 government schools but that number declined to 1,022,386 in 2021-22. Similarly, government-aided schools declined from 84,614 to 82,480. At the same time, the number of private schools increased from 325,760 to 335,844. The BJP-led states of Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh pursued this policy of education privatization aggressively; marking a decline in the number of government schools by 26,074, 5,227, and 22,904 respectively.<ref name=":28">{{Web citation|newspaper=[[CPIM]]|date=2023-09-05|title= How BJP is Pushing for Privatisation of Education|url=https://cpim.org/how-bjp-pushing-privatisation-education/}}</ref>

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has revised the curriculum of the school textbooks to make them suit the terms laid out in the National Education Policy 2020. These revisions purged the theory of evolution from Biology <ref name=":1857">{{Web citation|author=Dinesh C. Sharma|newspaper=[[The Wire]]|year=2023|title= Biology Without Darwin. Next, Physics Without Newton and Einstein?|quote=The removal of Darwin from the school syllabus is not an innocuous change. Seen in the context of revivalism and a return to the so-called ancient science, it is a retrograde step for the teaching of science and an onslaught on rational thinking and scientific temper.|url=https://thewire.in/education/biology-without-darwin-next-physics-without-newton-and-einstein}}</ref>, remove mentions of caste-based discrimination <ref name=":1947">{{Web citation|author=Hemant Waje|newspaper=[[Rediff]]|year=2024|title= NCERT axes caste-based discrimination in Class 6 books|quote=The textbook, titled "Exploring Society India and Beyond", has details on the Vedas without mentioning the caste system and that women and Shudras were not allowed to study these scriptures.

According to the new book, "Many professions are mentioned in the vedic texts, such as agriculturist, weaver, potter, builder, carpenter, healer, dancer, barber, priest, etc."

The previous textbook said, "Some priests divided people into four groups called varnas.... Shudras could not perform any rituals. Often women were grouped with Shudras. Both women and Shudras were not allowed to study the Vedas."

"The priests also said that these groups were decided based on birth. For example, if one's father and mother were Brahmins, one would automatically become a Brahmin and so on...," the old book said.

The references were also tweaked in the COVID-19 rationalisation, which was earlier termed temporary by the NCERT to reduce burden..|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/report/ncert-axes-caste-based-discrimination-in-class-6-books/20240721.htm}}</ref>, deny the existence of the Babri masjid, whitewash atrocities committed in BJP-led states, removed content on the Mughal Empire, and added Islamophobic dog whistles. <ref name=":19">{{Web citation|author=Puniti Pandey|newspaper=[[NDTV]]|year=2021|title= Explained: What Are The Latest Changes In The NCERT Books?|quote=The revised Political Science textbooks for class 12 do not mention the Babri masjid but refer to it as a 'three-domed structure'.

Many sections have also been deleted from the book. These include BJP's 'rath yatra' from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya; the role of kar sevaks; communal violence in the wake of the demolition of the Babri masjid; President's rule in BJP-ruled states; and the BJP's expression of 'regret over the happenings at Ayodhya'.
...
A two-page table detailing achievements of Mughal emperors such as Humayun, Shah Jahan, Akbar, Jahangir and Aurangzeb have also been removed.

The new Political Science textbook of Class 11, now says that political parties 'give priority to the interests of a minority group' with an eye on 'vote bank politics', which leads to 'minority appeasement'.|url=https://www.ndtv.com/education/explained-what-are-the-latest-changes-in-the-ncert-books-5916113}}</ref>

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Global south]]
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Asian countries]]

Zohran Mamdani

2025-09-07T22:55:52Z

RedWedge1917: Added family detail since it feels relevant

{{Infobox politician|name=Zohran Mamdani|birth_date={{birth date and age|1991|10|18}}|birth_place=[[Kampala]], [[Uganda]]|political_orientation=[[Democratic socialism]]|political_party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]|image=Zohran Mamdani.jpg}}

'''Zohran Kwame Mamdani''' (born October 18, 1991) is an [[United States of America|Statesian]] politician who has served as the 36th district member of the New York State Assembly since 2021 and is the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for mayor of [[New York City]] in the 2025 election. A member of the [[Democratic Socialists of America]] (DSA), Mamdani ran on a [[Progressivism|progressive]] platform of policies such as freezing rents and affordable housing, fast, free buses, no cost childcare and city-owned grocery stores.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Monica Moorehead|newspaper=[[Workers World]]|title=Zohran Mamdani’s victory: What we know and don’t know|date=2025-07-01|url=https://www.workers.org/2025/07/86566/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250704163541/https://www.workers.org/2025/07/86566/|archive-date=2025-07-04}}</ref> In the short term Mamdani's policies may alleviate the conditions of the [[proletariat]] in New York, however, due to the limits of bourgeois institutions Mamdani can achieve no lasting change and his progressive policies will be undone by future administrations.

== Personal Life ==
Zohran was born to Indian-Ugandan post-colonial Marxist scholar [[Mahmood Mamdani]] and progressive filmmaker Mira Nair.[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/education/news/mahmood-mamdani-education-and-career-path-how-zohran-mamdanis-father-built-a-legacy-of-revolution-through-ideas-and-exile/articleshow/122064130.cms]

== Mayoral platform ==

* '''Housing''': He plans to freeze rents for the over 2 million people who live in rent stabilized apartments. Additionally he plans to build affordable housing, crack down on bad landlords, end deed theft and fix the property tax system.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|newspaper=Zohran for New York City|title=The Platform|url=https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250905182224/https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform|archive-date=2025-09-05}}</ref>
* '''Affordability''': He plans to open low priced, city owned grocery stores as well make buses both faster and free. Mamdani also plans on introducing a range of child welfare benefits, including free childcare and baby baskets with essential supplies for newborns.<ref name=":0" />
* '''Labor''': Mamdani says he will support workers and unions in their fight for better wages and working conditions. Specifically, he plans to raise the minimum wage to $30 by 2030 as well as regulate delivery apps and protect delivery workers.<ref name=":0" />
* '''Budget''': To fund his policy plans, Mamdani plans to tax the wealthy by introducing a 2% on those earning more then $1 million a year and increasing corporate tax from 7.25% to 11.5%.
* '''Climate''': As Mayor Mamdani plans to lead a large decarbonization and climate resilience program citywide; building renewable housing and overseeing a climate prepareness program. In additions to infrastructure, Mamdani plans to renovate 500 public schools with renewable energy and HVAC upgrades.<ref name=":0" />
* '''Minority rights''': Mamdani says he will ensure immigrants are protected and remove [[United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement|ICE]] from the city. He will also make New York a LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, protect reproductive rights as well as expand and protect gender-affirming care citywide.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:1991 births]]
[[Category:Members of the Democratic Party (United States)]]
[[Category:Members of the Democratic Socialists of America]]

Indian general strike of 2020-21

2025-09-03T13:34:06Z

RedWedge1917: Added a notable event.

On 26 November 2020, a mass general strike was held across India. The strike was organized by 10 trade unions across the country and was supported by the Indian National Congress, [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]], farmers' mass organisations and other left-wing parties. The strike saw an estimated 250 million people involved, making it the largest in history.<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/largest-strike-world-history-millions-india-protest/263999/</ref><ref>https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/01/08/why-are-200-million-workers-on-strike-in-india/</ref><ref>https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/10/indi-j10.html</ref>

The worker's unions presented a list of seven demands:

# Direct cash transfer of Rs 7,500 (US $101) to all families who earn less than the income tax threshold
# 10kg free grain ration per person every month to all in need.
# Expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to provide employment from the current 100 days to 200 days work in rural areas with enhanced wages, and extension of this programme to urban areas
# Withdrawal of all anti worker labour code changes and anti-farmer laws
# Stop privatization of public sector corporations, including those in the finance sector. Stop the corporatization of government-run manufacturing and services entities in railways, ordinance manufacturing, ports and similar areas.
# Withdraw the draconian circular of forced premature retirement of government and public sector employees.
# Provide a pension to all, restore earlier pension scheme and improve EPS 95.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-11-26|title=Over 250 million workers join national strike in India|url=http://www.industriall-union.org/over-250-million-workers-join-national-strike-in-india|access-date=2020-12-02|website=IndustriALL|language=en}}</ref>

== Response of Government ==
The response from the Indian government has been one of apathy to the suffering of farmers as they braved the unforgiving cold weather to demonstrate.

Harpal Singh, organising secretary of non-partisan farmers' organisation BKU(Chaduni) remarked upon observing the insincerity of the government despite the deaths of 60 farmers at the time :

“It seems like the Centre wants more farmers – martyrs – to lose their lives… only God knows how many are enough to make the government reconsider its position,”[https://www.newsclick.in/with-no-faith-ongoing-talks-farmers-prepare-step-up-pressure-centre]

On October 3 2021 in the Lakhimpur Kehri district, a speeding SUV was rammed by BJP-linked persona into a crowd of farmers, who had gathered to protest the appearance of a BJP politician. 4 farmers and a journalist died, 10 were injured and two BJP members were lynched in the aftermath.[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/lakhimpur-kheri-incident-no-less-than-a-terror-attack-says-jayant-chaudhary-seeks-uapa-against-minister-son/articleshow/86846660.cms]

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Indian general strike of 2020}}

== References ==

2022 Russo-Ukranian conflict

2022-02-28T13:44:06Z

RedWedge1917: extending article, created background section

The '''2022 Russo-Ukranian conflict''' is an on-going conflict between the [[Russian Federation]] and [[Ukraine]].

In 2014, the US installed a pro-Western coup government<ref>{{News citation|title=How and Why the US Government Perpetrated the 2014 Coup in Ukraine|url=https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/06/03/how-why-us-government-perpetrated-2014-coup-ukraine/}}</ref> which resulted in the rise of neo-nazism.<ref>{{News citation|date=2018-03-19|title=Commentary: Ukraine’s neo-Nazi problem|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cohen-ukraine-commentary-idUSKBN1GV2TY}}</ref> (so much so that the Ukrainian army includes a neo-nazi battalion, the [[Azov Battalion]]) This right-wing pro-West government maintained hostilities towards ethnic Russians in the Donbass region of Ukraine.<ref>{{News citation|date=2022-02-17|title=Ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine say attacked by govt. forces|url=https://parstoday.com/en/news/world-i166324-ethnic_russians_in_eastern_ukraine_say_attacked_by_govt._forces}}</ref> These hostilities led to the separatist movements to establish the [[Luhansk People's Republic]] and the [[Donetsk People's Republic]].

Tensions rose sharply in 2021 when the Brussels summit of the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (NATO) reiterated that Ukraine would become aligned with NATO,<ref>{{News citation|date=2021-04-14|title=Brussels Summit Communiqué|url=https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_185000.htm|newspaper=NATO|quote=We reiterate the decision made at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Ukraine will become a member of the Alliance with the Membership Action Plan (MAP) as an integral part of the process; we reaffirm all elements of that decision, as well as subsequent decisions, including that each partner will be judged on its own merits.}}</ref> sparking outrage from Russian officials who considered the expansion of NATO a threat of their national security.<ref>{{News citation|date=2022-01-16|title=NATO expansion one of main threats to Russia’s national security - ambassador|url=https://tass.com/russia/1388653|newspaper=Russian News Agency TASS|retrieved=2022-01-24|quote="After the collapse of the USSR, the security situation in Europe deteriorated sharply. Five ‘waves’ of NATO expansion have brought the Alliance States forces closer to our borders," [the Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov] stated. "NATO is constantly building up its offensive potential, demonstrating military force along the perimeter of the Russian territory. [...]}}</ref> Russia began to build up troops closer to their borders, demanding that NATO stop its expansion towards Russia.<ref>{{News citation|date=2022-02-18|title=West promised not to expand NATO|url=https://www.rt.com/news/549921-nato-expansion-russia-document/|newspaper=[[RT (TV Network)|RT]]}}</ref>

In 1990, on a meeting between [[United States of America|United States]] secretary of state James Baker and [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], the US official guaranteed that "not an inch of NATO’s present military jurisdiction will spread in an eastern direction."<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Svetlana Savranskaya & Tom Blanton|date=2017-12-12|title=NATO expansion: what Gorbachev heard|url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2017-12-12/nato-expansion-what-gorbachev-heard-western-leaders-early|newspaper=National Security Archive}}</ref>

The [[bourgeois media]] of the [[United States of America|United States]] has been hypocritically feigning support for the citizens of Ukraine while completely disregarding the humanity of those who suffer under their own heinous wars.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=[[Richard Medhurst]]|title=Hypocrisy of the West Is Unbelievable" {{!}} Richard Medhurst on Ukraine|url=https://youtu.be/lwkMBge05IA}}</ref><ref>{{News citation|journalist=Daniel McAdams|date=2022-02-25|title=Washington's Crocodile Tears Over Ukraine's Destruction|url=http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2022/february/25/washingtons-crocodile-tears-over-ukraines-destruction/|newspaper=Ron Paul Institute}}</ref>

Former UN inspector [[Scott Ritter]] has said that NATO is too weak to face Russia.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=[[Richard Medhurst]]|date=2022-02-24|title=NATO Too Weak to Face Russia: Scott Ritter on Russian Offensive|url=https://youtu.be/3GkmdCaBECs}}</ref>

== Background ==
While Russia was distracted with the Sochi Olympics, the US supported the Maidan coup which overthrew recently re-elected pro-Russian president Victor Yanukovych. Fearing for themselves, Crimeans held a vote on whether to remain a part of Ukraine or to secede and join Russia. An overwhelming amount of Crimeans voted for the latter, and Crimea joined Russia. Additionally, Donetsk and Luhansk seceded too. These breakaway republics had been locked in war with the Ukrainian army, which included outright nazi regiments like the Azov battalion.

=== 2019 Minsk agreements ===

== Reaction ==

== References ==
<references />

Library:DPRK Study Guide

2022-01-18T16:18:22Z

RedWedge1917: spelling correction

Important sources about the [[Democratic People's Republic of Korea|DPRK]] helping to debunk the endless stream of [[Imperialism|imperialist]] [[propaganda]] used to discredit it.

[https://dprkstudyguide.wordpress.com/author/dprkstudyguide/ Source] from dprkstudyguide on wordpress.

== Articles ==
* [https://gowans.blog/2007/03/03/understanding-north-korea/ Understanding North Korea] - Crucial introductory read on the DPRK’s historical background.
* [https://invent-the-future.org/2013/11/understanding-north-korea/ Interview: Understanding and Defending North Korea] - Very insightful must read interview with Yongho Thae, Minister of the DPRK embassy in London.
*
* [http://syriatimes.sy/index.php/news/local/30732-n-korean-diplomat-syrian-army-s-achievements-against-terrorism-make-us-feel-happy North Korean diplomat on the Syrian War]
*
* [https://www.mintpressnews.com/north-korea-foreign-minister-on-what-is-needed-for-negotiations-with-us/233161/ North Korea Foreign Minister On What Is Needed For Negatiations With US]
*
* [https://www.liberationnews.org/my-trip-to-north-korea-13-misconceptions-corrected/ My trip to North Korea: 13 misconceptions corrected]
*
* [https://espressostalinist.com/2016/12/10/dprk-death-of-fidel-castro-ruz-is-great-loss-to-korean-people/ DPRK mourning Fidel Castro]
*
* [https://espressostalinist.com/2017/01/30/bruce-cumings-on-the-north-korean-economy/ Bruce Cummings on the North Korean Economy]
*
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/05/world/asia/koreas-tricky-task-digging-up-past-treachery.html Korea’s Tricky Task: Digging Up Past Treachery] - On the imperialist puppets who were installed by the US: [[Syngman Rhee]] and a legion of former collaborators with the Japanese colonialists.
*
*
* [https://journal-neo.org/2016/03/18/north-korea-punished-for-helping-to-liberate-africa/ North Korea Punished for Helping to Liberate Africa]
*
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/19/black-panthers-north-korea-us-imperialism How Black Panthers turned to North Korea in fight against US imperialism]
*
* [https://thediplomat.com/2016/06/the-north-korea-cuba-connection/ The North Korea – Cuba Connection]
*
* [https://www.latintimes.com/fidel-castro-says-north-korea-sent-cuba-free-weapons-during-cold-war-130279 Fidel Castro Says North Korea Sent Cuba Free Weapons During Cold War]
*
* [https://www.globalresearch.ca/americas-war-against-the-people-of-korea-the-historical-record-of-us-war-crimes/5350591 America’s War against the people of Korea: The Historical Record of US War Crimes]
*
* [https://journal-neo.org/2017/03/13/north-korea-the-grand-deception-revealed/ North Korea: The Grand Deception Revealed]
*
* [https://www.exutopia.com/on-smoking-weed-in-north-korea/ On Smoking Weed in North Korea]
*
* [https://medium.com/defiant/a-lot-of-what-you-know-about-north-korea-is-racist-nonsense-a625256b51cc A Lot Of What You Know About North Korea Is Racist Nonsense]
*
* [https://jucheireland.wordpress.com/2017/01/16/the-importance-of-international-solidarity-dprks-support-for-hezbollah/ The Importance of International Solidarity: DPRK’s Support for Hezbollah]
*
* [https://jucheireland.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/the-importance-of-international-solidarity-dprk-palestine/ The Importance of International Solidarity: DPRK – Palestine]
*
* [https://jucheireland.wordpress.com/2014/07/12/dprk-on-palestine/ DPRK on Palestine]
*
* [https://jucheireland.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/a-friend-of-all-progressive-people/ Kim Jong Il – a Friend of all Progressive Peoples]
*
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/20/north-korea-unlikely-champion-fight-against-climate-change North Korea: an unlikely champion in the fight against climate change]
*
* [https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/monicamark/the-dream-of-north-korea-is-alive-in-west-africa The Dream Of North Korea Is Alive In West Africa]
*
* [https://www.nknews.org/2014/06/interview-thousands-of-north-korea-juche-supporters-exist-in-nigeria./ Interview: Thousands of North Korea Juche supporters exist in Nigeria]
*
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/20/-sp-north-korea-matthew-miller Freed American Matthew Miller: ‘I wanted to stay in North Korea’]
*
* [https://maoistrebelnews.com/2011/10/01/north-korean-medical-care-is-good/ North Korean Medical Care is Good]
*
* Health Care in North Korea
*
* Brazen American Imperialist Aggressors: Seeing the World from the DPRK
*
* [https://www.globalresearch.ca/north-korea-un-double-standards-pertaining-to-sanctions-and-their-devastating-social-impacts/5364484 North Korea, “Genocide by Sanctions”: UN Double Standards Pertaining to Sanctions and their Devastating Social Impacts]
*
* [https://www.globalresearch.ca/know-the-facts-north-korea-lost-close-to-30-of-its-population-as-a-result-of-us-bombings-in-the-1950s/22131 KNOW THE FACTS: North Korea lost close to 30% of its population as a result of US bombings in the 1950s]
*
* [https://gowans.blog/2010/12/07/war-crimes-investigation-of-north-korea-ludicrous-beyond-words/ War Crimes Investigation of North Korea Ludicrous Beyond Words]
*
* [https://journal-neo.org/2014/11/30/north-korea-the-un-and-war-propaganda-2/ North Korea, The UN, And War Propaganda]
*
* The origins of the DPRK: From Division to Reunification ([https://stalinsmoustache.org/2015/06/30/the-origins-of-the-dprk-from-division-to-reunification/ broken link])
*
* [https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-wales-40078961 Disabled North Korean musicians showcase talent on UK tour]
*
* [https://theduran.com/truth-north-korea-booming/ The truth about North Korea: it’s booming]
*
* [https://www.38north.org/2016/05/rfrank052016/ The 7th Party Congress in North Korea: A Return to a New Normal]
*
* [https://gowans.blog/2017/07/05/the-real-reason-washington-is-worried-about-north-koreas-icbm-test/ The Real Reason Washington is Worried about North Korea’s ICBM Test]
*
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/08/north-korea-will-only-use-nuclear-weapons-if-sovereignty-is-threatened North Korea will not use nuclear weapons first, says Kim Jong-un]
*
* [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/18/pyongyang-us-customs-agents-mugged-north-korean-di/ Pyongyang: U.S. customs agents ‘mugged’ North Korean diplomats at JFK airport]
*
* [https://www.38north.org/2017/07/hferon071817/ Pyongyang’s Construction Boom: Is North Korea Beating Sanctions?]
*
* [https://www.dw.com/en/north-korea-defector-returns-home-calling-south-capitalist-hell/a-39745918 North Korean defector returns home calling South ‘capitalist hell’]
*
* [https://www.liberationschool.org/why-north-korea-is-developing-html/ Why North Korea is developing nuclear weapons]
*
* [https://globalnews.ca/news/3620192/north-korea-digging-up-bombs/ North Korea still digging up U.S. bombs 64 years after the war]
*
* Expert Exposes Us Biological Warfare During Korean War (broken link)
*
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/13/why-do-north-korean-defector-testimonies-so-often-fall-apart Why do North Korean defector testimonies so often fall apart?]
*
* [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39170614 South Korea boosts reward for defectors from North to $860,000]
*
* [https://libya360.wordpress.com/2017/04/17/president-kim-il-sungs-immortal-contributions-to-african-liberation/ President Kim Il Sung’s Immortal Contributions to African Liberation]
*
* [https://www.nknews.org/2017/09/why-two-north-korean-defectors-want-to-go-back/ Why two North Korean defectors want to go back]
*
* [https://www.nknews.org/2017/10/former-defector-back-in-north-korea-describes-painful-life-in-the-south/ Former defector back in North Korea describes ”painful” life in the South]
*
* [https://anti-imperialism.org/2013/11/18/towards-a-concrete-analysis-of-the-dprk/ Towards a concrete analysis of the DPRK]
*
* [https://greekreporter.com/2017/10/14/exclusive-the-greek-who-lived-in-north-korea-tells-her-story/ Exclusive: The Greek Who Lived in North Korea Tells Her Story]
*
* [https://www.mintpressnews.com/north-korea-neither-trump-nor-western-media-wants-world-see/233355/ The North Korea Neither Trump Nor Western Media Wants the World to See]
*
* [https://anticonquista.com/2017/10/27/why-latinx-must-defend-the-dprk/ Why Latinx Must Defend the DPRK]
*
* [https://www.nknews.org/2017/11/xi-jinping-says-pyongyang-beijing-should-develop-sustainable-relations/ Xi Jinping says Pyongyang, Beijing should develop ”sustainable” relations]
*
* [https://www.mltranslations.org/Russia/andreeva.htm Speech delivered by Nina Andreyeva at Kim Il Sung University in 1992 about the fall of the Soviet Union]
*
* S. Koreans Opposed To War On N. Korea Banned From Entering US ([https://wordpress.redirectingat.com/?id=725X1342&isjs=1&jv=15.2.1-stackpath&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fdprkstudyguide.wordpress.com%2Fauthor%2Fdprkstudyguide%2F&url=http%3A%2F%2FS.%20Koreans%20Opposed%20To%20War%20On%20North%20Korea%20Banned%20From%20Entering%20US&xs=1&xtz=360&xuuid=8dc707d55ca31ab1a03ebbed442763ab&xcust=8982&cci=a2f0caed819e66924f2e2694b4ce1872 broken link])
*
* [https://www.38north.org/2017/11/bksilberstein111417/?utm_source=38+North+Bulletin+111417 Between Sanctions, Drought and Tensions: How Bad is North Korea’s Food Situation?]
*
* [https://qz.com/1004330/north-korea-is-sitting-on-trillions-of-dollars-on-untapped-wealth-and-its-neighbors-want-a-piece-of-it/ North Korea is sitting on $6 trillion-$10 trillion of untapped minerals]
*
* [https://medium.com/@bcloud__/north-korea-in-the-eyes-of-turkey-s-socialist-s-c673510e64db North Korea in the eyes of Turkey’s Socialists]
*
* [https://jucheireland.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/kim-il-sung-and-salvador-allende/ Kim Il Sung and Salvador Allende]
*
* [http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20171120000740 NK envoy: We want peace but ready for war with US]
*
* [https://www.rt.com/news/410698-cuba-north-korea-coercive-us/ Cuba, N. Korea unite in rejecting ‘unilateral & arbitrary’ US pressure]
*
* [https://www.vice.com/en/article/ywnnyv/north-koreas-bitcoin-crash-course-has-experts-worried North Korea’s bitcoin crash course has experts worried]
*
* [https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-social-and-economic-achievements-of-north-korea/5594234 The Social and Economic Achievements of North Korea]
*
* [https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-15/north-korean-defectors-returning-to-the-hermit-kingdom/9254654 After fleeing North Korea, some defectors want to go back to life under Kim Jong-un]
*
* [https://mg.co.za/article/2017-12-14-coach-enjoys-the-suite-life-in-pyongyang/ Interview with the Norwegian coach of the DPRK men’s football team who lives in Pyongyang]
*
* [http://www.lalkar.org/article/2776/the-present-situation-in-the-dprk The Present Situation in the DPRK]
*
* [https://prolefoods.wordpress.com/2017/12/12/the-hypocrisy-of-western-aggression-against-korea-from-truman-to-trump/ The Hypocrisy of Western Aggression Against Korea: from Truman to Trump]
*
* [https://theintercept.com/2015/10/26/pentagon-missionary-spies-christian-ngo-front-for-north-korea-espionage/ U.S. Military Used Christian NGO as Front for North Korea Espionage]
*
* [https://www.rt.com/news/416572-north-korea-executed-kim-return/ Zombie Nation? ‘Executed’ North Koreans return to life]
*
* [https://www.sbs.com.au/news/north-korean-defector-confesses-to-murder-report/ea2a2c62-8b18-4f76-9bb8-49be15d8a000 North Korean defector confesses to murder]
*
* The Olympics Has Exposed Every US Lie About North Korea ([http://www.eurasiafuture.com/2018/01/21/olympics-exposed-every-us-lie-north-korea/ broken link])
*
* [https://www.newsweek.com/north-korea-white-paper-trump-racist-billionaires-club-796881 North Korea Calls Trump Administration Racist Billionaires’ Club]
** Full paper on which this article is based here: White Paper on the Human Rights Violations in the US in 2017 ([http://naenara.com.kp/en/news/news-viewer.php?0+103474 broken link])
*
* [https://sana.sy/en/?p=132377 Syria and DPRK: An excellent example of strong bilateral cooperation]
*
* North Korean Special Forces in Syria; A Look at Pyongyang’s Assistance to Damascus’ Counterinsurgency Operations ([https://militarywatchmagazine.com/read.php?my_data=70673 broken link])
*
* [https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/03/281_246214.html Jeju Island marks 70th anniversary of 1948 massacres]
*
* Kim Jong Un’s speech during his visit to China in March 2018 ([https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1522245645-835046775/kim-jong-uns-speech-at-banquet/ broken link])
*
* [http://chinaplus.cri.cn/news/politics/11/20180508/128253.html Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un hold talks in Dalian]
*
* [https://au.news.yahoo.com/seoul-tricked-n-korea-waitresses-defecting-manager-080159062--spt.html Twelve north Korean waitresses kidnapped in operation by south Korean spy agency]
*
* [https://leftistcritic.wordpress.com/2018/05/15/comrades-in-arms-the-drpk-and-venezuelas-bolivarian-revolution/ Comrades-in-arms: The DPRK and Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution]
*
* [https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3048193 Pyongyang officials go to study China reforms]
*
* [https://www.mintpressnews.com/dermot-hudson-north-korea-motives-negotiating/242048/ Dermot Hudson on North Korea’s Motives and Likely Moves in Negotiations]
*
* [https://leftistcritic.wordpress.com/2018/05/22/advancing-the-cause-of-socialism-the-dprk-and-the-cuban-revolution/ ”Advancing the cause of socialism”: The DPRK and the Cuban Revolution]
*
* [https://cym.ie/2018/05/28/a-conversation-with-a-north-korean-citizen/ A Conversation with a North Korean citizen]
*
* [https://leftistcritic.wordpress.com/2018/06/01/standing-against-zionism-the-dprks-support-for-palestinian-liberation/ Standing against Zionism: the DPRK’s support for Palestinian Liberation]
*
* [https://leftistcritic.wordpress.com/2018/06/05/the-same-trench-of-the-anti-imperialist-struggle-dprks-solidarity-with-syria/ The ”same trench of the anti-imperialist struggle”: DPRK’s solidarity with Syria]
*
* [http://chinaplus.cri.cn/news/world/10/20180727/163087.html Kim Jong Un pays tribute to martyrs of Chinese People’s Volunteers]
*
* [https://www.rt.com/news/434777-north-koreans-japan-diaspora/ ‘We can’t use Korean names’: Japan’s large pro-Pyongyang diaspora lives amid suspicion & isolation]
*
* [https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2018/10/46a852b7c627-n-koreas-economy-grows-37-in-2017-professor.html North Korea’s economy grows 3.7% in 2017: professor]
*
* [https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/cuban-military-modernisation-underway-with-full-russian-and-north-korean-support Cuban Military Modernisation Underway – With Full Russian and North Korean Support]

== Documentaries ==
* [https://youtu.be/nSd48emp0lI My Brothers and Sisters in the North] - Best documentary on the DPRK I have seen from a non-DPRK source, depicting everyday life of the working class in the DPRK, including soldiers, water park workers, students, teachers, football coaches, painters, textile workers and farmers
*
*
* The Propaganda Game (also available on Netflix) - Good introductory documentary that shatters some of the most blatant imperialist propaganda. Still has to be viewed critically, as the Western ‘experts’ in it make their living from being dishonest.
*
*
* [https://youtu.be/2BO83Ig-E8E The Haircut]
*
* Best political commentators of this moment, check out their other videos as well.
*
* [https://youtu.be/OyFH19nm2e4 The West Through the Eyes of North Korea]
*
* [https://youtu.be/ztcLh-cTJfs The Happiest People on Earth]
*
* Crossing The Line
*
* [https://youtu.be/sDTPhT8mZ9o They Choose China]
*
*
* [https://youtu.be/e1-2dju0cNM My Socialist Country]
*
* [https://youtu.be/ucOf013G4QE Korea: The Imposed Divide]
*
* [https://youtu.be/NTi5Ma1F7zM An African-American’s Journal Inside North Korea] - Short documentary on the DPRK made by journalist Andre Vltchek
*
*
* [https://youtu.be/6YtTd31I15g Homegrown Outcasts: North Koreans in Japan]
*
* [https://youtu.be/ktE_3PrJZO0 Loyal Citizens of Pyongyang in Seoul]

== Videos ==
* [https://youtu.be/kztC4kIj1AM Living in North Korea]: Greek woman who lived in the DPRK for two years
*
*
* North Korean Propaganda: A Cavalcade of Comedy ([https://wordpress.redirectingat.com/?id=725X1342&isjs=1&jv=15.2.1-stackpath&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fdprkstudyguide.wordpress.com%2Fauthor%2Fdprkstudyguide%2F&url=http%3A%2F%2FNorth%20Korean%20Propaganda%3A%20A%20Cavalcade%20of%20Comedy&xs=1&xtz=360&xuuid=8dc707d55ca31ab1a03ebbed442763ab&xcust=8982&cci=cae979da5231c9bc90bdd79e584de558 broken link])
*
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f22QGIWXGw The propaganda war against North Korea]
*
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLw1v-xQA7I Eid Al-Fitr in North Korea | Muslim in North Korea]
*
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO4M1U_2bmk Surfing in North Korea]
*
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfk0mPADJXY North Korean Smartphone]
*
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkegD7V9E6g Why do North Korean defectors keep changing their stories?]
*
* Press TV in the DPRK: videos on various subjects
*
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKPtMQaRVak Mr. Kim from the DPRK embassy in London gives a speech on the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution]
*
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e41cmw-GUko Sons of US defector to North Korea James Dresnok speak out after father’s death]
*
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR5hjJzyN1Y Eva Bartlett speaks on North Korea & Syria]
*
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnzBEbuZPIw Women’s Status in the DPRK]

== Websites ==
* [https://kcnawatch.co/ KCNA Watch] - DPRK news articles directly translated to English. DPRK media are generally far more truthful than Western media, see for instance [https://kcnawatch.co/newstream/1489962702-463610874/u-s-anti-terrorism-war-denounced-by-kcna/ this] article on the US war on terror or [https://kcnawatch.co/newstream/1497952844-884200563/u-s-western-countries-are-to-blame-for-worlds-biggest-refugee-crisis-dprk-human-rights-institute/ this] one on how the West caused the world’s biggest refugee crisis.
*
*
* [http://www.rodong.rep.kp/en/ Rodong Sinmun] - More news, official DPRK site.
*
*
* [http://www.pyongyangtimes.com.kp/ The Pyongyang Times] - More news, official DPRK site.
*
*
* [http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/ Naenara] - More news, official DPRK site.
*
*
* [http://www.exploredprk.com/ Explore DPRK]
*
* [https://dprkarchive.imgur.com/ Big archive of around 500 works of art from the DPRK]
*
* [http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/malnutrition/by-country/ World malnutrition death rates, with the DPRK ranked #95]
*
* [http://www.pyongyanginternationalfilmfestival.com/ Pyongyang International Film Festival]
*
* [http://tourismdprk.gov.kp/ Official DPRK Tourism Site]
*
* [https://koreaisone.wordpress.com/ International Network for the Defence of Socialist Korea]
*

== System ==
* [http://i.imgur.com/Jm075Ij.jpg Governmental structure]
*
* [https://www.pdf-archive.com/2017/05/27/constitution-of-the-dprk/ Constitution of the DPRK]
*
* [https://leftistcritic.wordpress.com/2017/03/08/elections-in-the-socialist-motherland-democracy-in-the-dprk/ Elections in the socialist motherland: democracy in the DPRK]
*
* [https://vngiapaganda.wordpress.com/2015/09/05/democracy-us-vs-dprk-towards-the-annihilation-of-a-narrative/ Democracy: US vs DPRK – Towards Annihilation of a Narrative]
*
* [https://return2source.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/korea-resilient-socialism-in-democratic-korea/ Korea Resilient! Socialism in Democratic Korea]
*
* [http://writetorebel.com/2017/03/28/socialism-and-democracy-in-the-dprk/ Socialism and Democracy in the DPRK]
*
* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yjDhZ61NfOxqHYAlGDGKYxCRp5jpcRoL/view?fbclid=IwAR1tx_JQ7gUzKHypE7nCF0WYV9yVaFlo3_bjM2-1osHkGPUsVcYH0mUUZQo Understanding the Workers’ Party of Korea]

== Juche ==
* [http://www.korean-books.com.kp/en/ Official DPRK site with free books, periodicals, pictures, leaflets, etc.] - Greatest source there is for books about all kinds of DPRK related subjects.
*
*
* [http://www.korea-dpr.com/e_library.html Korea DPR E-Library] - Large collection of Juche texts.
*
*
* [https://www.marxists.org/archive/kim-il-sung/index.htm Kim Il Sung on Marxists.org] - Handful of Kim Il Sung texts.
*
*
* [https://de.scribd.com/document/355145202/Kim-Jong-Un-Aphorisms-1 Kim Jong Un Aphorisms]
*
* [http://www.korea-dpr.info/lib/106.pdf Kim Jong Il – Socialism is a Science]
*
* [http://www.korean-books.com.kp/en/packages/xnps/download.pg.php?306 Kim Jong Il – On the Juche Idea]
*
* [https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8E-ucthI07ic19CbUxuVDRmSEU/view Juche Idea: Answer to Hundred Questions]
*
* [https://allpowertothesoviets.wordpress.com/2017/11/05/kim-il-sung-the-october-revolution-koreas-independence-struggle/amp/ Kim Il Sung on his father Kim Hyong Jik, who was a leading figure in the national liberation movement and steered them towards Communism]
*
* [https://jucheireland.wordpress.com/2017/02/26/on-having-a-correct-understanding-of-nationalism-kim-jong-il/ Kim Jong Il – On Having a Correct Understanding of Nationalism]
*
* [https://ia800607.us.archive.org/31/items/ForTheIndependentPeacefulReunificationOfKorea/For%20the%20Independent%2C%20Peaceful%20Reunification%20of%20Korea.pdf Kim Il Sung – For the Independent, Peaceful Reunification of Korea]
* [[Category:Reading lists]]

Overthrow of the Soviet Union

2022-01-15T11:28:38Z

RedWedge1917: added historiography off reference

The '''overthrow of the Soviet Union''' was the process of [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] [[counter-revolution]] which culminated in the disintegration of the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] (USSR) into independent states in December of 1991. Among the various causes for dissolution was the organization of a bourgeois class inside the USSR under a 'shadow economy' which effectively guaranteed their interests through corrupt officials of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU). It's generally accepted that the political and economic policies of [[Nikita Khrushchev|Khrushchev]], [[Leonid Brezhnev|Brezhnev]] and ultimately [[Mikhail Gorbachev|Gorbachev]] paved the way for counter-revolution in the USSR.

== Background ==
After [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]'s death, Khrushchev was elected general secretary of the CPSU, and began a "de-Stalinization" campaign. Khrushchev and later reformers had ideological ties with [[Nikolai Bukharin|Bukharin]],<ref>{{Citation|author=Roger Keeran & Thomas Kenny|doi=|quote=In general, the analysis of the economic problems fell into the two traditional camps: the camp with ideological links to Bukharin and Khrushchev and the camp with links to Lenin and Stalin. The former saw the problems as due to over-centralization, and for it the solution was decentralization, the use of market mechanisms, and the allowance of certain forms of private enterprise.|trans-lang=|trans-title=|pdf=|mia=|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=EB8A647627A86692FB1AA43916CE6A02|publisher=|year=2010|city=|isbn=|chapter-url=|title-url=|chapter=|page=46|title=Socialism betrayed: behind the collapse of the Soviet Union|section=}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|author=Moshe Lewin|year=1974|title=Political undercurrents in Soviet Economic debates: from Bukharin to the modern reformers|chapter=|section=|page=xii-xiii|quote=Moreover, the literature pertinent to the economic debates of the 1960s and later, the evaluations of the performance of the economic model in the past and present, and the criticisms and proposals for change, show an amazing parallelism, even similarity, to the debates of the 1920s in theme, wording, and phraseology. As the intellectual map of the present controversy unfolded, it became entirely clear that it contained hints, allusions, plagiarized quotations, unnamed authorities, and direct and indirect use of ideas of personalities of the 1920s, who were apparently irrelevant and long forgotten and some of whom were executed and buried in infamy in the 1930s. It was not difficult to find the missing pieces in this jigsaw puzzle: central among them is N. I. Bukharin, the leader of the last important opposition to Stalin. [...] It was astonishing to discover how many ideas of Bukharin's anti-Stalinist program of 1928-1929 were adopted by current reformers as their own and how much of their critique of past practices followed his strictures and prophecies even in their expression|pdf=|city=|publisher=|isbn=|doi=|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=41BD3D316AE470BA537556E576A83503|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref> who supported the [[New Economic Policy|NEP]] and the bourgeois elements it created.<ref>{{Citation|author=Roger Keeran & Thomas Kenny|year=2010|title=Socialism betrayed: behind the collapse of the Soviet Union|chapter=|section=|page=24|quote=Stalin’s main opposition on this point came from Bukharin, who in 1919 had made an about-face from opposing self-determination to embracing it. By 1923, Bukharin not only supported the NEP and the petty capitalists created by it but also advocated a hands-off approach toward this class’ growing nationalism.|pdf=|city=|publisher=|isbn=|doi=|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=EB8A647627A86692FB1AA43916CE6A02|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref> Under Khrushchev, the sixth five-year plan advocated for wage equalizations which would eventually cause discontent among the Soviet intelligentsia, which earned less than skilled workers.<ref>{{Citation|author=Roger Keeran & Thomas Kenny|doi=|quote=The very success of socialism had created a vast urbanized and educated intelligentsia in the Soviet sense of white-collar, non-manual workers. Some of this intelligentsia felt disadvantaged by the wage equalization that had occurred since the 1950s. For example, doctors, teachers, engineers, and administrators typically earned less than skilled workers did. Moreover, increased travel and communication had made the intelligentsia aware that they enjoyed a lower standard of living than their counterparts in the West.|trans-lang=|trans-title=|pdf=|mia=|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=EB8A647627A86692FB1AA43916CE6A02|publisher=|year=2010|city=|isbn=|chapter-url=|title-url=|chapter=|page=84|title=Socialism betrayed: behind the collapse of the Soviet Union|section=}}</ref> This prompted many workers to pursuit alternative sources of income through illegal private economic activity for personal gain.<ref>{{Citation|author=Roger Keeran & Thomas Kenny|doi=|quote=After 1953, a new economic basis for bourgeois ideas began growing within socialism. This basis was the population engaged in private economic activity for personal gain, in a so-called second economy that existed beside the first, socialist economy. At first, the very existence of a second economy was disguised by its interpenetration of the first or socialized economy. The second economy usually did not involve a separate class of people, but rather workers and farmers in the primary economy who spent time making money on the side in legal or illegal, private activity. Increasingly, however, in the post-war years, the second economy embraced more and more people and accounted for more and more of their income and in effect re-created a petty bourgeois stratum.|trans-lang=|trans-title=|pdf=|mia=|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=EB8A647627A86692FB1AA43916CE6A02|publisher=|year=2010|city=|isbn=|chapter-url=|title-url=|chapter=|page=63|title=Socialism betrayed: behind the collapse of the Soviet Union|section=}}</ref> Over time, these personal gains amounted to concentrations of wealth and gave rise to a [[Petty-bourgeoisie|petty-bourgeois]] class of people who depended on private economic activity for most or all of their income.<ref>{{Citation|author=Roger Keeran & Thomas Kenny|doi=|quote=Most scholars agreed that by the 1980s the second economy reached into every nook and cranny of the society and touched almost everyone. In a reference to private money-making, Brezhnev himself remarked, “No one lives on wages alone.” What was important, however, was not petty pilfering or the purchase of black market goods, but the emergence of a layer of people who depended upon private activity for all or a substantial portion of their income. Some people became exceedingly wealthy and acquired the name, the “Brezhnev new rich.” Such people could rightly be considered a nascent class of petty bourgeoisie.|trans-lang=|trans-title=|pdf=|mia=|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=EB8A647627A86692FB1AA43916CE6A02|publisher=|year=2010|city=|isbn=|chapter-url=|title-url=|chapter=|page=75|title=Socialism betrayed: behind the collapse of the Soviet Union|section=}}</ref> Thus began the development of a "second economy" in parallel to socialist economy.

In 1985, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] was elected general secretary of the CPSU by the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]] after [[Konstantin Chernenko]]'s death. His [[Liberalism|liberal]] policies led to nationalism and ethnic conflict.<ref>{{Citation|author=Mark R. Beissinger|year=2017|title=Nationalism and the Collapse of Soviet Union|chapter=|section=|page=5–6|quote=|pdf=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928150043/http://www.princeton.edu/~mbeissin/beissinger.ceh.article.pdf|city=|publisher=Princeton University|isbn=|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref> Eventually, all of the soviet republics proclaimed sovereignty, although they did not secede until later. This started with [[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic|Estonia]] on November 16, 1988, and ended with [[Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic|Kyrgyzstan]] on December 15, 1990.

== Breakup ==
In 1990 and 1991, the now-sovereign republics seceded from the Soviet Union, starting with the Baltic states. A referendum was held in March of 1991 in which 78% of the population voted to keep the Soviet Union, but this referendum was later ignored.<ref>{{Citation|author=Dieter Nohlen, Philip Stöver|year=2010|title=Elections in Europe: A data handbook|chapter=|section=|page=1647|quote=|pdf=|city=|publisher=|isbn=9783832956097|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref> In August, several CPSU officials attempted to overthrow Gorbachev but the coup collapsed after three days.<ref>{{Citation|author=A. V. Ostrovskiy|year=2011|title=Stupidity or treason? Investigation into the death of the USSR|chapter=|section=|page=864|quote=|pdf=|city=|publisher=|isbn=|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=Глупость или измена? Расследование гибели СССР|trans-lang=Russian}}</ref> On September 6, 1991, the secession of the Baltics was recognized. On December 25, Gorbachev resigned and gave his power to the neoliberal [[Boris Yeltsin]]. The next day, the Soviet Union was dissolved.

== Results ==
After the USSR was overthrown, wars began in [[Chechnya]], [[Transnistria]], [[Nagorno-Karabakh]], [[Republic of South Ossetia|South Ossetia]], [[Republic of Abkhazia|Abkhazia]], and [[Republic of Tajikistan|Tajikistan]]. These conflicts led to nearly 200,000 deaths, plus additional deaths from ethnic conflicts and pogroms.<ref>{{Citation|author=Gordon M. Hahn|year=2017|title=Ukraine Over the Edge: Russia, the West and the "New Cold War"|chapter=|section=|page=|quote=|pdf=|city=|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476628752|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref>

There is growing nostalgia for the Soviet era in many countries. In 2020, only 18% of Russians disagreed that the Soviet Union was the best time in Russia's history.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Andrei Nikerichev|date=2020-03-24|title=75% of Russians Say Soviet Era Was 'Greatest Time' in Country’s History – Poll|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/03/24/75-of-russians-say-soviet-era-was-greatest-time-in-countrys-history-poll-a69735|newspaper=The Moscow Times|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=2022-01-02}}</ref> 78% of Russians 35 years or older said that the overthrow of the USSR was bad for their country.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=David Masci|date=2017-06-29|title=In Russia, nostalgia for Soviet Union and positive feelings about Stalin|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/06/29/in-russia-nostalgia-for-soviet-union-and-positive-feelings-about-stalin/|newspaper=Pew Research Center|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=2022-01-02}}</ref>

== Causes ==
The overthrow of the Soviet Union came across as a shock to most people and there have been several attempts to explain the debacle. The causes behind the fall have been said to be external pressure by imperialism, economic stagnation and the rise of black markets, the defeatist policies of Gorbachev and even the entire socialist project being too authoritarian, bureaucratic,etc.

The external pressure argument is upheld by hawkish conservatives who celebrate Ronald Reagan's hostile policies towards the Soviet Union. It, however, doesn't account ofr the fact that the Soviet Union had suffered similar hostility earlier but wasn't shattered.

Although economic growth of the Soviet Union had been falling, pinning its fall to the stagnation ignores the fact that the Soviet Union was then at its apex of power in terms of influence and living standards of its citizens.

== Attempts to Restore the USSR ==

=== Black October ===
In September and October of 1993, the Supreme Soviet and many opposition protesters attempted to remove Yeltsin from power. Yeltsin responded by sending tanks to shell the parliament building. 147 people were killed and over 400 were wounded and Yeltsin abolished the Soviets.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Jonathan Steele, David Hearst|date=1993-10-05|title=Yeltsin crushes revolt|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1993/oct/05/russia.davidhearst|newspaper=The Guardian|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref>

=== 1996 election ===
By 1996, Yeltsin was very unpopular and had an approval rate below 10% in the polls.<ref>{{Citation|author=Lilia Shevtsova|year=1999|title=Yeltsin's Russia Myths and Reality|chapter=|section=|page=156|quote=|pdf=|city=Washington|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace|isbn=|doi=|lg=|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}</ref> He was given a $10 billion loan from the [[United States of America|United States]] that made him win the election against [[Gennady Zuganov]], the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation|KPRF]] candidate.

== Further reading ==

* {{Citation|author=Roger Keeran & Thomas Kenny|year=2010|title=Socialism betrayed: behind the collapse of the Soviet Union|chapter=|section=|page=|quote=|pdf=|city=|publisher=|isbn=|doi=|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=EB8A647627A86692FB1AA43916CE6A02|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=|trans-lang=}}
== References ==

Indian general strike of 2020-21

2021-11-29T20:50:43Z

RedWedge1917: Updating article with recent information

{{External article cleanup|date=November 2021}}
On 26 November 2020, a mass general strike was held across India. The strike was organized by 10 trade unions across the country and was supported by the Indian National Congress, [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]], farmers' mass organizations and other left-wing parties. The strike saw an estimated 250 million people involved, making it the largest in history.<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/largest-strike-world-history-millions-india-protest/263999/</ref><ref>https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/01/08/why-are-200-million-workers-on-strike-in-india/</ref><ref>https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/10/indi-j10.html</ref>

The worker's unions presented a list of seven demands:

# Direct cash transfer of Rs 7,500 (US $101) to all families who earn less than the income tax threshold
# 10kg free grain ration per person every month to all in need.
# Expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to provide employment from the current 100 days to 200 days work in rural areas with enhanced wages, and extension of this programme to urban areas
# Withdrawal of all anti worker labour code changes and anti-farmer laws
# Stop privatization of public sector corporations, including those in the finance sector. Stop the corporatization of government-run manufacturing and services entities in railways, ordinance manufacturing, ports and similar areas.
# Withdraw the draconian circular of forced premature retirement of government and public sector employees.
# Provide a pension to all, restore earlier pension scheme and improve EPS 95.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-11-26|title=Over 250 million workers join national strike in India|url=http://www.industriall-union.org/over-250-million-workers-join-national-strike-in-india|access-date=2020-12-02|website=IndustriALL|language=en}}</ref>

== Response of Government ==
The response from the Indian government has been one of apathy to the suffering of farmers as they braved the cold weather. Farmers have been left dissatisfied with the conditions reached at the end of each talk.

Harpal Singh, organizing secretary of non-partisan farmers' organization BKU(Chaduni) remarked upon observing the insincerity of the government despite the deaths of 60 farmers at the time :
:“It seems like the Centre wants more farmers – martyrs – to lose their lives… only God knows how many are enough to make the government reconsider its position,”<ref>https://www.newsclick.in/with-no-faith-ongoing-talks-farmers-prepare-step-up-pressure-centre</ref>
As the Farmers' protests remained persistent, they were victims of mob attacks,<ref>https://www.newsclick.in/farm-laws-singhu-border-tense-goons-attack-protesting-farmers</ref> internet shutdowns<ref>https://www.newsclick.in/Internet-Disabled-Singhu-Ghazipur-Tikri-Borders-Support-Swells-Protesting-Farmers</ref> and silencing of supportive voices on the internet.<ref>https://amp.scroll.in/latest/986422/youtube-removes-two-songs-about-farmers-protest-after-centres-legal-complaint</ref>

===== Lakimpur Kheiri incident =====
Farmers protesting at Lakimpur Kheiri,Uttar Pradesh were deliberately run over by the vehicle of Ashish Mishra, the son of a BJP official, in a planned incident at October 3.In turn, the vehicle was set aflame and nine died in the ensuing violence with several injured. The local government, also run by the BJP, failed to conduct a transparent inquiry into the massacre.<ref>https://hindi.caravanmagazine.in/crime/i-was-definitely-targeted-in-the-lakhimpur-violence-farmer-leader-tajinder-singh-virk</ref>

After almost an year of protests, the BJP-ruled central government decided to relent (possibly in consideration of state elections in Punjab, where BJP candidates were prevented from entering villages to campaign) and (temporarily) repeal the farm laws. In an address of eve of Guru Nanak's birth anniversary at November 19, 2021, Indian prime minister [[Narendra Modi]] announced the decision to repeal the pro-corporate laws citing their inability to "convince" the farmers, maintaining that the laws would be beneficial.<ref>https://www.newsclick.in/cabinet-approves-farm-laws-repeal-bill-2021-sources</ref><ref>https://cpim.org/pressbriefs/farmers’-struggle-salute-historic-victory</ref> While being a significant success, the farmers' movement is to continue over other demands and issues.<ref>https://www.newsclick.in/Punjab-Farmer-Leaders-Centre-Must-Reply-Demands-Nov-30-SKM-Meet-Dec-1</ref>

==References==
<references />

Fascism

2021-11-09T07:55:44Z

RedWedge1917:

'''Fascism''' is a [[reactionary]] movement that rises in the [[Imperialism|imperialist]] stage of capitalism, based on policies that favors the ever-growing concentration of capital.<ref>''“No, fascism is not a power standing above class, nor government of the petty bourgeoisie or the lumpen-proletariat over finance capital. '''Fascism is the power of finance capital itself.''' It is the organization of terrorist vengeance against the working class and the revolutionary section of the peasantry and intelligentsia.”'' {{Citation|author=Georgi Dimitrov|year=1935|title=The fascist offensive and the tasks of the Communist International in the struggle of the working class against fascism|chapter=The class character of fascism|page=|pdf=|city=|publisher=Main Report delivered at the 7th World Congress of the Communist International|isbn=|doi=|lg=|mia=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/dimitrov/works/1935/08_02.htm|title-url=|chapter-url=}}</ref> As a political movement, it is marked by pervasive [[anti-communism]], a profound aversion towards [[democracy]], the justification and glorification of class society through [[class collaboration]], and [[Chauvinism|chauvinistic]] tendencies, namely ultranationalism, [[racism]] and [[sexism]]. Fascist ideologues usually promote [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]], irrationalist myths and manipulative distortions of truth to gather support of their popular base.

Throughout history, the fascists promoted policies that caused even more [[exploitation]] of the [[Proletariat|working class]], allowing the ''“[[free market]]”'' to take over every aspect of society. So much so that ''The Economist'' magazine introduced the term ''privatization'', unseen in political discourse at the time, to describe [[German fascism|Nazi Germany]]'s economic policies.<ref>{{Citation|author=Germà Bel|year=2006|title=Retrospectives: the coining of “privatization” and Germany's National Socialist Party|chapter=|page=|pdf=|city=|publisher=Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(3), 187–194|isbn=|doi=10.1257/jep.20.3.187|lg=|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=}}</ref> The most well-known historical examples of fascism are Nazi Germany and [[Italian fascism|Fascist Italy]], but there has been various historical examples of fascism, such as [[Japanese fascism]], [[Spanish fascism]] and [[Portuguese fascism]].

==History==

===Origins===
The term "fascism" comes from the [[Italian Republic|Italian]] National Fascist Party,<ref group="lower-alpha">Italian: ''Partito Nazionale Fascista''</ref> a party founded by [[Benito Mussolini]] in 1921, whose practices and ideology would later define this [[reactionary]] movement as a whole. The origins of fascism as a counter-revolutionary movement, however, can be traced as far as the [[French Republic|French]] far-right French Action,<ref group="lower-alpha">French: ''Action Française''</ref> which was an openly anti-[[Marxism|Marxist]] political organization established in 1899 proposing an "integral nation" for French society through [[class collaboration]].<ref>{{Citation|author=Ernst Nolte|year=1966|title=Three faces of fascism: Action Française, Italian Fascism, National Socialism|chapter=|page=|pdf=|city=New York|publisher=New American Library|isbn=9780451008619|doi=|lg=http://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=082DBA3CA0FEE611DCDB8D2CC1DF350C|mia=|title-url=|chapter-url=|trans-title=Der Faschismus in seiner Epoche: Die Action française, Der italienische Faschismus, Der Nationalsozialismus|trans-lang=German}}</ref>

===Fascist Italy===
===Nazi Germany===
[[Nazi Germany]], officially the Third Reich (Third Empire), was beaten into dissolution by the [[Soviet Union]] after the Battle of Berlin in May 1945.

=== Japan ===

=== Francoist Spain ===
Following the victory of the United Front in 1936, a fascist revolt led by General Franco and assisted by invading Germany and Italy, tacitly backed by the rest of the allies,broke out. A civil war lasting three years followed, culminating in the crushing of Republican forces. The regime went on to last three more decades and it is said that the current "reformed" Spanish state is a continuation of the same regime.

===Modern fascist movements ===

====Bolsonarism in Brazil====

====Trumpism in USA====

====2019 coup in Bolivia====
President [[Evo Morales]] of Bolivia was reelected to this office in October 2019 with 47,08% of total votes. Soon after, opposing fascists called the results into question, helped by fraudulent reports from the [[Organisation of American States]] (OAS), which led to their paramilitary wing causing violence in the streets. After three weeks, Morales agreed to step down and left the country.

Later, accusations of electoral fraud were completely debunked by the same journals that initially reported on them, trusting the OAS.

The new government, led by Jeanine Añez, established a military junta in the country so as to dismantle popular support for MAS (Morales' party). They pushed elections back three times, eventually having them take place in November 2020, a full year after the coup. Their efforts failed, as MAS won the presidential election in 2020 with 55% of all votes (under candidate Luis Arce).

Since his election, Arce's government has announced that they would effectively purge the military's leadership, as their treason was pivotal in letting the coup succeed.

== Ideology and practice ==
According to Communist writer and politician Rajani Palme Dutt, fascism was simply the result of a 'negative approach to marxism' with borrowing some tenets from older reactionary schools and ideologies in the respective country. Fascism aims to violently defend decaying capitalism, differing from other capitalist parties only in its methods.

==References==
<references />

===Notes===
<references group="lower-alpha" />

Federal Republic of Germany

2021-10-19T23:34:38Z

RedWedge1917:

{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Federal Republic of Germany
| native_name = Bundesrepublik Deutschland
| image_flag = File:Flag of Germany.svg
| image_coat = File:Coat of arms of Germany.svg
| image_map = Germany (ortographic projection).svg
| map_width = 220px
| capital = Berlin
| largest_city = capital
| government_type = [[Federation|Federal]] [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[Bourgeois state|bourgeois state]]
| established_event1 = Proclamation of the German Empire
| established_date1 = 18 January 1871
| established_event2 = Proclamation of the Weimar Republic
| established_date2 = 9 November 1918
| established_event3 = Establishment of Nazi Germany
| established_date3 = 23 March 1933
| established_event4 = Division of Germany
| established_date4 = 23 May 1949
| established_event5 = German reunification
| established_date5 = 3 October 1990
| population_estimate = 83,190,556
| population_estimate_year = 2020
| leader_title1 = President
| leader_name1 = Frank-Walter Steinmeier
| leader_title2 = Chancellor
| leader_name2 = Angela Merkel
}}'''Germany''', officially the '''Federal Republic of Germany''', is a country in Central Europe. It is the second-most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union.
==History==

=== Foundation ===
During the aftermath of the defeat of Axis forces during the Second World War, Germany was divided into four zones occupied by the Soviet Union, USA, France and Great Britain. As cold war tensions started to erupt during the so-called Berlin "Blockade", territory occupied by the latter three was merged to form the Federal Republic.

==Economy==
==Politics==
Unlike the later formed DDR, the constitution was passed without ratification of citizens and a thorough denazification policy wasn't implemented.

==Infrastructure==
==Demographics==
==Culture==
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Imperialist countries]]
[[Category:Global north]]
[[Category:Outline needs additional content]]

Anna Louise Strong

2021-10-11T22:40:23Z

RedWedge1917: Added a travelogue

{{Infobox person|name=Anna Louise Strong|image=Anna Louise Strong NYWTS.jpg|caption=Ms. Strong in Moscow, 1937|birth_date={{birth date|1885|11|24}}|birth_place=Friend, Nebraska, U.S.|death_date={{death date and age|1970|3|29|1885|11|24}}|death_place=Beijing, China|spouse=Joel Shubin (1931–1942)|alma_mater=Bryn Mawr College Oberlin College University of Chicago}}
'''Anna Louise Strong''' (November 24, 1885 – March 29, 1970) was a [[Statesian]] journalist and activist, best known for her reporting on and support for [[Communism|communist]] movements in the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[People's Republic of China]].<ref name="ArchivesWest">Archives West, "[http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv20539/op=fstyle.aspx?t=k&q=WAUStrongAnnaLouise1309_1444.xml Anna Louise Strong papers, 1885-1971]," deriving from [http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/search/results.aspx?t=k&q=WAUStrongAnnaLouise1309_1444.xml this page], accessed January 26, 2018. Archived here.</ref><ref name="Britannica">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, "[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anna-Louise-Strong Anna Louise Strong: American journalist and scholar], accessed January 26, 2018.</ref><ref name="cory">John Cory, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/22/arts/tv-witness-to-revolution-anna-louise-strong.html TV: 'WITNESS TO REVOLUTION,' ANNA LOUISE STRONG], ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 22, 1986.</ref><ref name="peoplesworld">"[http://www.peoplesworld.org/article/today-in-history-anna-louise-strong-is-born-changes-worlds/ Today in history: Anna Louise Strong is born, changes worlds]," [[People's World]], November 24, 2015.</ref> She wrote over 30 books and varied articles.<ref>University of Pennsylvania, "[http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Strong%2c%20Anna%20Louise%2c%201885%2d1970 Online Books by Anna Louise Strong]," accessed January 26, 2018.</ref>

== Biography ==

=== Early years ===
Strong was born on November 14, 1885 to parents who were middle class liberals active in the Congregational Church and missionary work.<ref name="Andrews">Mildred Andrews, "[http://www.historylink.org/File/255 Strong, Anna Louise (1885-1970)]," HistoryLink, November 7, 1998.</ref><ref name="Clinker">B. K. Clinker, "[http://www.knoxhistory.org/index.php/local-history/authors/107-government-politics/127-anna-louise-strong Anna Louise Strong (1885-1970)]," Knox Historical Society, 2004, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref><ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref name="reuters">Reuters, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/30/archives/anna-louise-strong-dies-in-peking-at-84-anna-louise-strong-defender.html Anna Louise Strong Dies in Peking at 84]," reprinted in ''The New York Times'', March 30, 1970, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref><ref name="selter">Darren Selter, "[http://depts.washington.edu/labhist/cpproject/AnnaStrong.shtml Witness to Revolution: The Story of Anna Louise Strong]," [[University of Washington]], accessed January 26, 2018.</ref> Her father, Sydney Dix Strong, was a [[Social Gospel]] minister in the Congregational Church, active in missionary work, and dedicated [[pacifist]].<ref name="dube">{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Heather|title=First President: A Life of John Dube, Founding President of the ANC|year=2011|publisher=Jacana Media|location=Auckland Park, South Africa|isbn=978-1770098138|page=116|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1770098135}}</ref><ref name="ArchivesWest" /><ref name="selter" /> Strong worked quickly through grammar and high school, and then studied languages in Europe.<ref name="Andrews" />

She first attended Pennsylvania's Bryn Mawr College from 1903 to 1904, then graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio in 1905 where she later returned to speak many times.<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="Clinker" /><ref name="reuters" /> In 1908, at the age of 23, she finished her education and received a PhD in philosophy from the University of Chicago with a thesis later published as ''The Social Psychology of Prayer''.<ref name="ArchivesWest" /><ref name="Clinker" /><ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref name="cndaily">[[China Daily]], "[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/19thcpcnationalcongress/2010-09/29/content_29715736.htm Anna Louise Strong]," September 29, 2010, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref><ref>Anna Louise Strong, "[https://archive.org/details/aconsiderationp00strogoog A Consideration of Prayer from the Standpoint of Social Psychology]," 1908, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref><ref name="reuters" /><ref name="selter" /> Being an advocate for child [[Social welfare|welfare]] while she worked for the United States Education Office, joining the National Child Labor Committee around the same time, she organized an exhibit and toured it extensively throughout the United States and abroad.<ref name="ArchivesWest" /><ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="Clinker" /> When she brought it to Seattle, in May 1914, 6,000 people came to visit it every day, culminating with an audience, on May 31, of 40,000 people.<ref name="Andrews" />

At this point, Strong was still convinced that capitalism was responsible for poverty, and sufferings of the working class.<ref name="Andrews" /> She was 30 years old when she returned to Seattle to live with her father, then pastor of Queen Anne Congregational Church.<ref name="peoplesworld" /> Living with her father from 1916 to 1921, she favored the political climate there, which was pro-[[Labour (economics)|labor]] and [[Progressivism|progressive]], with "radicalizing events" like the [[Seattle General Strike]] and [[Everett massacre]].<ref name="ArchivesWest" /><ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="peoplesworld" />

=== Political career ===
[[File:Anna_Louise_Strong_1918.jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anna_Louise_Strong_1918.jpg|thumb|Anna Louise Strong at the time of her recall from the Seattle School Board in 1918.|290x290px]]
In 1916, Strong ran for the Seattle School Board and won easily due to the support she garnered from women's groups and [[Trade union|organized labor]] and to her work on child welfare.<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="Clinker" /><ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref name="selter" /> She was the only female board member.<ref name="ArchivesWest" /><ref name="Andrews" /> She argued that the public schools should offer [[social service]] programs for underprivileged children, with these schools serving as community centers, but other members wanted to "devote meetings to mundane matters like plumbing fixtures."<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="peoplesworld" />

The year she was elected to the Seattle School Board, the [[Everett massacre]] happened. The ''New York Evening Post'' hired her as a stringer to report on the conflict between armed guards, hired by Everett mill owners, and the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] (or "Wobblies").<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="peoplesworld" /> Quickly dropping her neutrality, she soon became a dedicated spokesperson for [[workers' rights]].<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="peoplesworld" />

Strong's endorsement of left-wing causes set her apart from her colleagues on the school board.<ref name="Andrews" /> She opposed war as a [[pacifist]]. When the United States entered [[World War I]] in April 1917, she spoke out against the [[Military draft|draft]].<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="peoplesworld" /> On one hand, the Parent-Teacher Association and women's clubs joined her in opposing military training in the schools, but the former military veterans of the [[Spanish–American War]], the Seattle Minute Men, took a [[jingoistic]] tone, branding her as "unpatriotic."<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="peoplesworld" /> The same year, she wrote a letter to the Department of Justice, saying<ref>Anna Louise Strong, "[http://www.marxisthistory.org/history/usa/government/justicedept/1917/1214-strong-todeptofjustice.pdf Letter to the Department of Justice in Washington, DC from Anna Louise Strong in Seattle, Dec. 14, 1917]," Marxist History, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref><blockquote>...it is quite commonly felt in this vicinity that persons with personal grudges need only call in the Department of Justice and lodge complaint, in order to make life miserable for the person they complain against...it has become increasingly evident, however, at least in this vicinity, that the activities of the Department of Justice are doing more than any other one thing to create distrust, suspicion, and dissension among the American people...Wild accusations and attempts to injure persons and organizations who cannot be prosecuted because of lack of evidence does not tend to create confidence in the government...it is my hope that somewhere in your department I may reach some person who sincerely desires to create within this country the unity of democratic loyalty, rather than the hidden disunion of fear</blockquote>The pacifist stance of the Wobblies led to mass arrests at the Seattle office where Louise Olivereau was a typist. Olivereau had been mailing mimeographed circulars to draftees urging them to become [[conscientious objectors]].<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="peoplesworld" /> In 1918, Strong stood by Olivereau's side in the courtroom as she was found guilty of [[sedition]] and sent to prison.<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="peoplesworld" />

After this, Strong's fellow school board members were quick to launch a [[Recall election|recall campaign]] against her due to her association with the IWW, and won by a narrow margin.<ref name="ArchivesWest" /><ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="selter" /> She appeared at their next meeting to argue that they must appoint a woman as her successor. Her former colleagues acceded to her request, but they made it clear that they wanted a mainstream, patriotic representative, a mother with children in the schools. They replaced Anna Louise Strong with Evangeline C. Harper, a prominent [[country club]] woman in 1918.<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref name="selter" /> As a result, Strong went "elsewhere in search of socialism in practice" with her search bringing her first to the [[Soviet Union]] where she stayed from 1921 to 1940 for part of the year, returning to the U.S. "for a lecture tour, usually between January and April."<ref name="ArchivesWest" /><ref name="cory" />

=== Journalistic career ===
Strong became openly associated with the Seattle's labor-owned daily newspaper, ''[[Seattle Union Record|The Union Record]]'', writing forceful pro-labor articles and promoting the new Soviet government.<ref name="ArchivesWest" /><ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="Clinker" /><ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref name="selter" /> On February 6, 1919, two days before the beginning of the [[Seattle General Strike of 1919]], she proclaimed in her famous editorial: "We are undertaking the most tremendous move ever made by labor in this country, a move which will lead—NO ONE KNOWS WHERE!"<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref>Anna Louise Strong, "[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1919/laborspeech.htm No One Knows Where]," The Seattle Union Record, February 4, 1919, p. 1; [[Marxists Internet Archive]], accessed January 26, 2018.</ref><ref>Rebecca G. Jackson, "[https://depts.washington.edu/labhist/strike/jackson.shtml The Politics of Gender in the Writings of Anna Louise Strong]," Seattle General Strike Project, 1999, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref> The strike shut down the city for four days and then ended peacefully and with its goals still unattained.
[[File:No-nb_bldsa_6a127.jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:No-nb_bldsa_6a127.jpg|thumb|1921 in [[Samara Oblast|Samara]], Russia, for the [[American Friends Service Committee]].]]
At a loss as to what to do she took her friend [[Lincoln Steffens]]' advice and in 1921 traveled to [[Poland]] and Russia serving as a correspondent for the [[American Friends Service Committee]].<ref name="Andrews" /><ref name="selter" /> The purpose of going was to provide the first foreign relief to the [[Russian famine of 1921|Volga famine]] victims. After a year of that, she was named Moscow correspondent for the [[International News Service]].<ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref name="selter" /> Strong drew many observations while in Europe which inspired her to write. Some of her works are ''The First Time in History'' (preface by [[Leon Trotsky]]) (1924), and ''Children of Revolution'' (1925).<ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref>Anna Louise Strong, "[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1925/children_revolution/index.htm Children of Revolution]," Piggott Printing, 1925; [[Marxists Internet Archive]], accessed January 26, 2018.</ref><ref>Anna Louise Strong, "[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1925/first_time/index.htm The First Time in History]," Boni & Liveright, 1925; [[Marxists Internet Archive]], accessed January 26, 2018.</ref>

After remaining in the area for several years, Strong grew to become an enthusiastic supporter of socialism in the newly formed Soviet Union, supporting herself as a foreign correspondent for varying "radical American newspapers" and others such as ''[[The Nation]]''.<ref name="Andrews" /><ref>Anna Louise Strong, "[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1925/12/stalin_vs_trotsky.htm Stalin 'The Voice of the Party' Breaks Trotsky: The Rubber-Stamp Secretary Versus the Fiery Idealist Sidelights on the Russian Revolution]," Gateway, mid-December 1925, pp. 18-24; [[Marxists Internet Archive]], accessed January 26, 2018.</ref><ref>Anna Louise Strong, "[https://www.thenation.com/article/moscow-looks-dumbarton-oaks/ Moscow Looks at Dumbarton Oaks]," [[The Nation]], accessed January 26, 2018.</ref> In 1925, during the era of the [[New Economic Policy]] in the USSR, she returned to the United States to arouse interest among businessmen in industrial investment and development in the Soviet Union. During this time Strong also lectured widely and became well known as an authority on "soft news" (e.g. How to get an apartment) about the USSR. As she continued to "wave the banner for the needy and downtrodden" wherever there was a revolution there was "Ms. Strong," and she became further convinced that "socialism might be the answer" to problems in the world.<ref name="Clinker" /> There were even invitations sent out to "hear Anna Louise Strong discuss her travels in Russia."<ref>[https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth-oai:9s169f711 Invitation to meet Miss Anna Louise Strong], University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries Special Collections and University ArchivesW. E. B. Du Bois Papers, 1803-1999 (bulk 1877-1963), accessed January 26, 2018.</ref>

In the late 1920s, Strong traveled in China and other parts of Asia. She became friends with [[Soong Ching-ling]] and [[Zhou Enlai]]. As always her travels led to books: ''China's Millions'' (1928), ''Red Star in Samarkand'' (1929). It was during this time that she became friends with "Communist leader Zhou Enlai."<ref name="peoplesworld" /> She visited China in 1925, meeting with [[Feng Yuxiang]] and [[Soong Qing-ling]] and again in 1927, witnessing the failure of [[KMT]]-[[Communist Party of China|CPC]] cooperation, leading to her book, " China's Millions" which was published in the United States.<ref name="cndaily" />

In 1930, she returned to Moscow and helped found ''[[Moscow News]]'', the first English-language newspaper in the city.<ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref name="Clinker" /><ref name="selter" />She was managing editor for a year and then became a featured writer. In 1931 she married fellow socialist and journalist [[Joel Shubin]], and they remained married until his death in 1942.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19840226&id=HXEaAAAAIBAJ&pg=6932,2920050|title=Strong live, strongly written|first=Louise|last=Cattoi|date=February 26, 1984|access-date=March 10, 2016}}</ref> While Shubin often accompanied Strong during her return trips to the United States, the two were often separated due to work commitments. According to [[Rewi Alley]]'s account, Strong later said: "perhaps we married because we were both so doggone lonely ... but we were very happy."

While living in the Soviet Union, she became more enthused with the Soviet government and wrote many books praising it. They include: ''The Soviets Conquer Wheat'' (1931), an updated version of ''China's Millions: The Revolutionary Struggles from 1927 to 1935'' (1935), the best-selling autobiographical ''I Change Worlds: the Remaking of an American'' (1935), ''This Soviet World'' (1936), and ''The Soviet Constitution'' (1937).<ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref name="selter" /> She also wrote several articles for ''The American Mercury'' praising Soviet life.<ref>See, e.g., "We Soviet Wives,"(August 1934), "The Soviets Fight Bureaucracy," (September 1934), and "The Soviet 'Dictatorship'" (October 1934).</ref>

In 1936, she returned once again to the United States. Quietly and privately distressed with developments in the USSR (The "[[Great Purges]]"), she continued to write for leading periodicals, including ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'', ''Harper's'', ''The Nation'' and ''Asia''.<ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref name="selter" /><ref>Anna Louise Strong, "[http://neworleans.media.indypgh.org/uploads/2007/02/the_terrorists___trial_15feb07.pdf The Terrorists' Trial]," Soviet Russia Today, Vol. 5 No. 8, October 1936, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref>

A visit to Spain resulted in ''Spain in Arms'' (1937); visits to China, visiting anti-Japanese "base areas," leading to her book ''One Fifth of Mankind'' (1938).<ref name="cndaily" /> In 1940, she published ''My Native Land'', the same year that she went to China and met [[Zhou Enlai]] several times.<ref name="cndaily" /> The following year, she exposed the plot by [[Chiang Kai-Shek]] to divide the "united front" against [[Japan]] in the 15-page article, "The Kuomintang-communist crisis in China; a first-hand account of one of the most critical periods in Far Eastern history" published in March.<ref name="cndaily" /><ref>Anna Louise Strong, "[http://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/moore/79/ The Kuomintang-communist crisis in China: a first-hand account of one of the most critical periods in Far Eastern history]," Reprinted from 'Amerasia,' March 1941, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref> Other books include ''The Soviets Expected It'' (1941); the novel ''Wild River'' (1943), set in Russia; ''Peoples of the U.S.S.R.'' (1944), ''I Saw the New Poland'' (1946) (based on her reporting from Poland as she accompanied the occupying [[Red Army]]); and three books on the success of the early [[Communist Party of China]] in the [[Chinese Civil War]].<ref name="peoplesworld" /> In her book ''The Soviets Expected It'', Strong wrote that "the unbroken rise of Stalin's prestige for twenty years both within the Soviet Union and beyond its borders is really worth attention by students of politics."<ref>Strong, "[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1941/x01/stalin.htm Stalin]," ''The Soviets Expected It'', The Dial Press, New York, 1941, pp. 46-64; [[Marxists Internet Archive]], accessed January 26, 2018.</ref>

While in the USSR she traveled throughout the huge nation, including the [[Ukraine]], [[Kuznetsk]], [[Stalingrad]], [[Kiev]], [[Siberia]], Central Asia, [[Uzbekistan]], and many more.<ref name="peoplesworld" /> She also traveled into Poland, Germany, and Britain. While in the Soviet Union, Strong met with [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Vyacheslav Molotov]], and many other Soviet officials.<ref name="peoplesworld" /> She also interviewed farmers, pedestrians, and factory workers.<ref>Anna Louise Strong, "[http://www.northstarcompass.org/nsc9903/women.htm Women in The Stalin Era]," accessed January 26, 2018.</ref> She wrote articles for newspapers and magazines, along with pamphlets as well, gaining "many friends and to become very popular throughout the world."<ref name="Clinker" /> At the same time, she created "suspicion regarding her political loyalties" among the Soviets and the [[FBI]] who gained a large file on Strong herself.<ref name="Clinker" /><ref name="cory" /><ref name="selter" /> Through all this, she stayed committed to the Soviet political project, defending the USSR from [[anti-communism]], but favoring the Chinese more than the Soviets as time went on, especially after the Soviets expelled her.<ref name="cory" /><ref name="selter" /><ref>Jack Brad, "[http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2009/10/07/9-peking-versus-moscow-case-anna-louise-strong-part-1 Peking versus Moscow: the case of Anna Louise Strong, part 1]," Worker's Liberty, October 8, 2009, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref>

In World War II, when the Red Army began its advance against [[Nazi Germany]], Strong stayed in the rear following the soldiers through Warsaw, [[Łódź]] and Gdańsk. Her overtly pro-Chinese Communist sympathies, which had been fostered by her visits to China in 1925 and until 1947 in which she interviewed Chinese Communist leaders like [[Mao Zedong]], may have led to her "arrest, imprisonment and expulsion" from the USSR in 1949, reportedly claiming she was an "American spy," a charge which reportedly was repeated years later, in 1953, by the Soviet newspaper ''[[Izvestia]]''.<ref name="ArchivesWest" /><ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref name="reuters" /><ref name="selter" /><ref>"[https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp70-00058r000100010072-0 SOVIET AUTHOR BARES RECORD OF U.S. SPIES AGAINST USSR]," CIA reprint of article, February 9, 1953, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref>

After this, she was cut off from the USSR, shunned by Communists in the United States, and denied a passport by the U.S. government, settling in California where she wrote, lectured, and "invested in real estate."<ref name="ArchivesWest" /> During the 1950s, she lived in a Tower House in [[Angelino Heights]], "Red Gulch".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Klein|first=Norman M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eJwl5U37934C&q=anna+louise+strong+red+gulch+Tower+House+Angelino+Heights&pg=PA135|title=The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory|date=1997|publisher=Verso|isbn=978-1-85984-175-4|language=en}}</ref><blockquote>"I was 72 then, living in Los Angeles where I had more friends than anywhere else. I owned a town house, a summer lodge in the mountains, a winter cabin in the desert, a car and a driver's license to take myself about. I had income to live on for life. Should I go to China now?"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Letters from China. Anna Louise Strong 1963|url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1963/letters_china/ch11.htm|access-date=2020-06-18|website=www.marxists.org}}</ref></blockquote>In 1955, she was finally cleared of Soviet charges against her, which the CIA thought was a "gesture to the Chinese Communists." By 1958 her passport was restored, after she won a case at the U.S. Supreme Court, and she immediately went back to China, where she remained until her death.<ref name="ArchivesWest" /><ref name="cndaily" /><ref name="reuters" /><ref name="selter" /><ref>CIA, "[https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp79b00970a000100030016-3 SOVIET REVERSAL OF CHARGES AGAINST ANNA LOUISE STRONG SEEN AS GESTURE TO PEIPING]," 1955, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref><ref>"[https://history.nebraska.gov/publications/strong-anna-louise Strong, Anna Louise]," Nebraska Historical Society, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref> She was one of the only Westerners to gain "the admiration of Mao Tse-tung."<ref name="Andrews" />

=== Living in China ===
[[File:1967-12_1967年_毛泽东与安娜·斯特朗.jpg|link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1967-12_1967%E5%B9%B4_%E6%AF%9B%E6%B3%BD%E4%B8%9C%E4%B8%8E%E5%AE%89%E5%A8%9C%C2%B7%E6%96%AF%E7%89%B9%E6%9C%97.jpg|thumb|Strong with Mao Zedong in 1967]]
Strong met [[W.E.B. Du Bois]], who visited Communist China during the [[Great Leap Forward]] in the late 1950s, with a photograph of Mao Zedong, Anna Louise Strong, and W.E.B. Du Bois taken on one of Du Bois's trips in circa 1959.<ref>University of Massachusetts Amherst, "[http://credo.library.umass.edu/view/full/mums312-b291-i101 Mao Zedong, Anna Louise Strong, and W.E.B. Du Bois, ca. 1959]," University of Massachusetts Amherst, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref>Neither Du Bois or Strong ever supported famine-related criticisms of the Great Leap. Strong wrote a book titled ''When Serfs Stood Up in Tibet'' based on her experience during this period, which include the [[Battle of Chamdo|Chinese incorporation of Tibet]], and criticized individuals such as [[Allen Dulles]], calling him "a man bound by dull words."<ref name="cndaily" /><ref>[[CIA]], "[https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp91-00965r000500120007-6 Anna Louise Strong]," 1958, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref> By 1966, Strong had become an "honorary member of the [[Red Guards]]" who returned to the Soviet Union from time to time.<ref name="cory" /><ref name="reuters" /><ref name="selter" />

Partly from fear of losing her passport should she return to the US, she settled permanently in China until her death, publishing a "Letter from China."<ref name="cory" /><ref name="peoplesworld" /> During that time she fostered a close relationship with [[Zhou Enlai]] and was on familiar terms with [[Mao Zedong]].<ref name="Hensley2006">''Final Approaches: A Memoir'' by Gerald Hensley, page 171 (2006, Auckland University Press)</ref> It was in an interview with her, in August 1946, that Mao propagated his famous catchphrase of "[[Paper tiger|paper tigers]]".<ref name="Lary2015">{{cite book|last=Lary|first=Diana|title=China's Civil War: A Social History, 1945-1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x2t2BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA80|year=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-1-107-05467-7|page=80}}</ref><ref name="cndaily" /><ref>Anna Louise Strong, "[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1946/talkwithmao.htm Talk with Mao]," Selected Works of Mao-Tse Tung Vol. IV, Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1969; [[Marxists Internet Archive]], accessed January 26, 2018.</ref><ref>Wilson Center, "[http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/121327.pdf?v=1f31e0e874ae55cfbc8fc1421f21ced6 Talk with the American Correspondent Anna Louise Strong]," August 1946, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref>

Two years after that, she made a keynote speech on China's realities and tried to change the stance of the U.S. government in backing the [[Chinese nationalists]].<ref name="cndaily" /> Strong lived in the old Italian Legation in Beijing which had been converted into flats for the leading "foreign friends". They were allocated on the "bleak basis" of seniority; New Zealand civil servant [[Gerald Hensley]] recalled that when he visited [[Rewi Alley]] in 1973, Alley was living in the best downstairs front apartment which had been allocated to Strong until she died, at which time Alley moved into it and everyone else moved on one place.<ref name="Hensley2006" /> Through all of this, she became "disaffected with political systems and people" but did not lose her zeal for justice, continuing to write, with Chinese publishers republishing "much of her writing as a Works set."<ref name="Clinker" /><ref name="cory" /> She was not stopped, even by her old age, in her dedication to "Marxist doctrine," especially in China and across the world, writing emotional and colorful accounts that were very popular.<ref name="reuters" />

In the later part of her life, Strong was "honored and revered by the Chinese," despite reports in the ''Toronto Star'' that the Red Guards were calling her an "imperialist agent," and even remained "in the good graces of the Chinese through the [[cultural revolution]]" with Chinese leaders considering her "their unofficial spokesperson to the English speaking world."<ref name="ArchivesWest" /><ref name="reuters" /><ref>Toronto Star, "[https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp88-01350r000200830001-2 Red Guard Accuses Anna Louise Strong]," CIA reprint, June 16, 1968, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref>

Strong died in a hospital in Beijing (then Peking) on March 29, 1970, pulling out her "intravenous tubes and had refused to eat and take medication." Before her death, she had important visitors like Premier [[Zhou Enlai]] who encouraged her to cooperate with the doctors in the hospital because "you have important things to do for us and the rest of the world," [[Guo Moruo]] and other "high government officials.<ref name="Clinker" /><ref name="peoplesworld" /><ref name="reuters" /><ref name="selter" /> After her death, there was "mourning and memorial throughout China" with Strong buried in Beijing's "Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery."<ref>[[Find A Grave]], [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2590 Anna Louise Strong memorial], accessed January 26, 2018.</ref><ref name="cndaily" />

=== Legacy ===
Strong's papers reside at the Libraries Special Collections at the University of Washington in Seattle.<ref name="peoplesworld" /> Within the papers of [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] are "reports from Anna Louise Strong during and after her visits to Russia and China" although this does not mean there was any relationship, professionally, between Strong and Eleanor.<ref>Frances M. Seeber, "[http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/erprolog.html "I Want You to Write to Me": The Papers of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt]," Summer 1987 issue of Prologue, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref> Strong's distant cousin [[Maurice Strong]], played an important role in the [[environmental movement]], including in the [[United Nations Environment Programme]] (UNEP).<ref>[http://www.mauricestrong.net/index.php/short-biography-mainmenu-6 Maurice Strong biography], mauricestrong.net, accessed January 26, 2018.</ref>

== Selected works ==

=== Fiction ===

* {{cite book|author=-|year=1904|title=Storm Songs and Fables|publisher=Langston Press|location=Chicago|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000122475?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=%22Strong%2C%20Anna%20Louise%2C%201885-1970.%22&ft=}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1908|title=King's Palace|publisher=Oak Leaves|location=Illinois|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007674331}} (one-act play)
* {{cite book|author=-|year=c. 1908|title=The Song of the City|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000868700|publisher=Oak Leaves Company|location=[[Oak Park, Illinois]]}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1937|title=Ragged Verse|publisher=Piggott-Washington|location=Seattle}} (poems, by ''Anise'')
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1943|title=Wild River|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gbEqAAAAMAAJ|publisher=[[Little, Brown]]|location=Boston}} (novel, set in Ukraine)
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1951|title=God and the Millionaires|publisher=Middlebury College|location=Montrose, California|url=https://archive.org/details/IA.GodAndTheMillionaires.410099}} (poems, by ''Anise'')

=== Religious tracts and social work ===

* {{cite book|author=-|year=1906|title=Biographical Studies in the Bible|publisher=Pilgrim Press}} (co-author with Sydney Strong, her father)
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1906–1908|title=Bible Hero Classics|publisher=Hope Publishing Company}} (co-author with Sydney Strong, her father), including The story of Jacob in words of the Scripture (found in Genesis) and likely the
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1909|title=The Psychology of Prayer|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|location=Chicago|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005779187?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=%22Strong%2C%20Anna%20Louise%2C%201885-1970.%22&ft=}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1911|title=Boys and Girls of the Bible|publisher=Howard-Severance|location=Chicago}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1914|title=On the Eve of Home Rule: snapshots of Ireland in the momentous summer of 1914|publisher=O'Connell Press|location=Austin|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007692947}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1915|title=Child-welfare Exhibits: Types and Preparation|publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office|Government Printing Office]]|location=Washington|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001687099}}

=== Reportage and travelogues ===

* {{cite book|author=-|year=1924|title=The First Time in History: Two Years of Russia's New Life|publisher=Boni & Liveright|location=New York|url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1925/first_time/index.htm}} (with preface by [[Leon Trotsky]]), also on Internet Archive.
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1925|title=Children of Revolution; story of the John Reed Children's Colony on the Volga, which is as well a story of the whole great structure of Russia|publisher=Sydney Strong|location=Seattle|url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1925/children_revolution/index.htm}}- (1929). [https://archive.org/details/redstarinsamarka0000unse/mode/2up Red Star in Samarkand]. New York: Coward McCann
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1930|title=Modern Farming – Soviet Style: The Revolution in the Russian Village|publisher=International Publishers|location=Boston|url=https://archive.org/details/30StrongModernfarming}}, also available at Hathi Trust.
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1931|title=The Road to the Grey Pamir|publisher=Little, Brown & Company|location=Boston|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001235396}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1931|title=The Soviets Conquer Wheat|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|location=New York|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003122052?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=%22Strong%2C%20Anna%20Louise%2C%201885-1970.%22&ft=}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1935|title=China's millions: the revolutionary struggles from 1927 to 1935|publisher=Knight Publishing Company|location=New York|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001267553?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=%22Strong%2C%20Anna%20Louise%2C%201885-1970.%22&ft=}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1936|title=The Soviet World|publisher=[[Henry Holt and Company]]|location=New York|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001232254?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=%22Strong%2C%20Anna%20Louise%2C%201885-1970.%22&ft=}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1937|title=Spain in Arms, 1937|publisher=[[Henry Holt and Company]]|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/SpainInArms1937}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1937|title=The New Soviet Constitution: A Study in Socialist Democracy|publisher=[[Henry Holt and Company]]|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/TheNewSovietConstitution}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1938|title=One-fifth of mankind|publisher=Modern Age Books|location=New York|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001258603?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=%22Strong%2C%20Anna%20Louise%2C%201885-1970.%22&ft=}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1941|title=Lithuania's New Way|publisher=Lawrence and Wishart|location=Boston|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001245525?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=%22Strong%2C%20Anna%20Louise%2C%201885-1970.%22&ft=}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1942|title=The Soviets Expected It|publisher=The Dial Press|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/SovietsExpectedIt}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1944|title=Soviet Farmers|publisher=National Council of American-Soviet Friendship|location=New York|url=https://ucf.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/ucf%3A5318/datastream/OBJ/view}}<ref>{{cite book|year=1944|title=Soviet Farmers|publisher=National Council of American-Soviet Friendship|location=New York|url=https://lccn.loc.gov/a45000701}}</ref>
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1944|title=Peoples of the USSR|publisher=The Macmillan Company|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/PeoplesUSSR}}, second printing in 1945.
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1946|title=I Saw The New Poland|publisher=Little, Brown, and Company|location=Boston|url=https://archive.org/details/isawthenewpoland010833mbp}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1948|title=Tomorrow's China|publisher=Committee for a Democratic Far Eastern Policy|location=New York|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001258604?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=%22Strong%2C%20Anna%20Louise%2C%201885-1970.%22&ft=}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1949|title=Inside North Korea: an Eye-witness Report|location=[[Montrose, California]]|url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1949/in-north-korea/index.htm}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1956|title=The Stalin Era|publisher=Mainstream Publishers|location=New York|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001232984?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=%22Strong%2C%20Anna%20Louise%2C%201885-1970.%22&ft=}}, also in a PDF format.
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1959|title=The rise of the Chinese people's communes|publisher=New World Press|location=Peking|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000976047?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=%22Strong%2C%20Anna%20Louise%2C%201885-1970.%22&ft=}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1959|title=Tibetan interviews|publisher=New World Press|location=Peking|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001258879?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=%22Strong%2C%20Anna%20Louise%2C%201885-1970.%22&ft=}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1960|title=When Serfs Stood Up in Tibet|publisher=New World Press|location=Peking|url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1959/tibet/index.htm}}, also on Internet Archive
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1962|title=Cash and Violence in Laos and Vietnam|publisher=Mainstream Publishers|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/details/anna-louise-strong-cash-and-violence-in-laos-and-vietnam}}
* {{cite book|author=-|year=1963|title=Letters from China, Numbers 1–10|publisher=New World Press|location=Peking|url=https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/strong-anna-louise/1963/letters_china/index.htm}}

=== Autobiography ===

* {{cite book|author=-|year=1935|title=I Change Worlds: the Remaking of an American|publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston|location=New York|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/010117602?type%5B%5D=author&lookfor%5B%5D=%22Strong%2C%20Anna%20Louise%2C%201885-1970.%22&ft=}} (republished 1979 by The Seal Press, Seattle—the Introduction by Barbara Wilson contains the statement: "She left behind a second volume of autobiography which, so far, has remained in China.")

== See also ==

* [[Agnes Smedley]]
* [[Edgar Snow]]
* [[Mikhail Borodin]]
* [[Rewi Alley]]
* [[Helen Foster Snow]]

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Statesian communists]]

Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)

2021-05-13T20:28:31Z

RedWedge1917:

{{Communist parties}}
SUCI(C) is one of the several communist parties in India. It centers around the thought of its founder Shibdas Ghosh.

== Politics ==
SUCI(C) has been a member of several CPI(M) - led Left Front governments in West Bengal . However, they allied with anti-communist Trinamool Congress Party to bring down the Left Front government in the aftermath of Nandigram incident.

The party has also questionable stances on social issues , calling homosexuality a sign of "mental deformity and morbidity."[https://pearchives.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/pe12152013.pdf]

Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)

2021-05-13T20:17:00Z

RedWedge1917:

{{Communist parties}}
SUCI(C) is one of the several communist parties in India. It centers around the thought of its founder Shibdas Ghosh.

William Z. Foster

2021-05-08T11:36:49Z

RedWedge1917: I'm reading bits from the linked autobio and drawing from there

'''William Z. Foster''' (February 25, 1881 – September 1, 1961) was a radical American labor organizer and [[Communism|Communist]] politician, whose career included serving as General Secretary of the [[Communist Party USA]] from 1945 to 1957. He was previously a member of the Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the World, leading the drive to organize the packinghouse industry during [[World War I]] and the steel strike of 1919.<ref name="obit">{{cite news|title=William Z. Foster Is Dead at 80. Ex. Head of Communists in U.S. Illness Prevented His Trial Under Smith Act. Was in Moscow for Treatment.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/09/02/archives/william-z-foster-is-dead-at-80-exhead-ot-communists-in-us-illness.html|work=[[United Press International]] in [[New York Times]]|date=September 2, 1961|access-date=2009-01-05}}</ref>

== Early Life ==
William Foster was raised by his Irish immigrant father to Fenian nationalism.

== Political career ==

=== Early Labour movement ===

=== Communist Party member ===

== Works ==

* ''[[Library:Toward Soviet America|Toward Soviet America]]''
* ''[https://archive.org/details/frombryantostalin From Bryan to Stalin]'' (Autobiographical text)

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=William Z. Foster}}

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:American communists]]
[[Category:American trade unionists]]

World War II

2021-04-07T06:16:00Z

RedWedge1917:

'''World War II''', also known as the '''Second World War''', was a global armed conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. With an estimated total of 70—85 million people dead, it's considered the deadliest military conflict in history.

== Class character of the war ==
The character of the war is subject to some contention due to the factor of the socialist [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet Union]] as a participant, unlike the [[World War I|First World War]] which was characterised as an [[Imperialism|imperialist]] war for the redivision of the world among the 'great powers' where capitalism had reached its monopoly stage. During the period from the invasion of Poland in September 1939 to the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the [[Communist International|Comintern]] designated the war as a second imperialist war and did not co-operate with their respective bourgeois governments and then seemingly reversed their position, something which they are highly maligned for. British Communist [[Rajani Palme Dutt]] clarified that the entry of the Soviet Union only augmented the 'anti-fascist, liberating character' of the war. The fascist menace had threatened to take away all bourgeois-democratic privileges - this constituted another all important factor in the war. The war consisted of a reactionary phase when the ruling classes in the relatively non-aggressive countries appeased fascism and did not co-operate with the Soviet quest for collective security and then the phase of the united struggle of the peoples against fascism when the Great Alliance was formed in 1941.[https://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv11n1/dutt.htm]

Indian general strike of 2020

2021-04-07T05:40:53Z

RedWedge1917: Aryan13AKS moved page Indian general strike of 2020 to Indian general strike of 2020-21: ongoing

#REDIRECT [[Indian general strike of 2020-21]]

Indian general strike of 2020-21

2021-04-07T05:40:53Z

RedWedge1917: Aryan13AKS moved page Indian general strike of 2020 to Indian general strike of 2020-21: ongoing

On 26 November 2020, a mass general strike was held across India. The strike was organized by 10 trade unions across the country and was supported by the Indian National Congress, [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]], farmers' mass organizations and other left-wing parties. The strike saw an estimated 250 million people involved, making it the largest in history.<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/largest-strike-world-history-millions-india-protest/263999/</ref><ref>https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/01/08/why-are-200-million-workers-on-strike-in-india/</ref><ref>https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/10/indi-j10.html</ref>

The worker's unions presented a list of seven demands:

# Direct cash transfer of Rs 7,500 (US $101) to all families who earn less than the income tax threshold
# 10kg free grain ration per person every month to all in need.
# Expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to provide employment from the current 100 days to 200 days work in rural areas with enhanced wages, and extension of this programme to urban areas
# Withdrawal of all anti worker labour code changes and anti-farmer laws
# Stop privatization of public sector corporations, including those in the finance sector. Stop the corporatization of government-run manufacturing and services entities in railways, ordinance manufacturing, ports and similar areas.
# Withdraw the draconian circular of forced premature retirement of government and public sector employees.
# Provide a pension to all, restore earlier pension scheme and improve EPS 95.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-11-26|title=Over 250 million workers join national strike in India|url=http://www.industriall-union.org/over-250-million-workers-join-national-strike-in-india|access-date=2020-12-02|website=IndustriALL|language=en}}</ref>

== Response of Government ==
The response from the Indian government has been one of apathy to the suffering of farmers as they braved the cold weather. Farmers have been left dissatisfied with the conditions reached at the end of each talk.

Harpal Singh, organizing secretary of non-partisan farmers' organization BKU(Chaduni) remarked upon observing the insincerity of the government despite the deaths of 60 farmers at the time :
:“It seems like the Centre wants more farmers – martyrs – to lose their lives… only God knows how many are enough to make the government reconsider its position,”<ref>https://www.newsclick.in/with-no-faith-ongoing-talks-farmers-prepare-step-up-pressure-centre</ref>
As the Farmers' protests have remained persistent, they have been victims of mob attacks,<ref>https://www.newsclick.in/farm-laws-singhu-border-tense-goons-attack-protesting-farmers</ref> internet shutdowns<ref>https://www.newsclick.in/Internet-Disabled-Singhu-Ghazipur-Tikri-Borders-Support-Swells-Protesting-Farmers</ref> and silencing of supportive voices on the internet.<ref>https://amp.scroll.in/latest/986422/youtube-removes-two-songs-about-farmers-protest-after-centres-legal-complaint</ref>

==References==
<references />

Left-wing anticommunism

2021-04-06T03:11:48Z

RedWedge1917:

'''Left-wing anticommunism''' is anti-communism from people and organizations at least ostensibly espousing to be left-wing. Since the split of the Communist parties from the socialist Second International to form the Marxist–Leninist Third International, social democrats have been critical of the Communist movement due to its anti-liberal nature.<ref>Rajani P. Dutt, ''The Two Internationals'' (1920) </ref>

Examples of left-wing critics of Marxist–Leninist states and parties are Friedrich Ebert, Boris Souveraine, [[George Orwell]], Bayard Rustin, Irving Howe and [[Max Shachtman]].

The American Federation of Labor has always been strongly anti-communist. The more leftist Congress of Industrial Organizations purged its Communists in 1947 and has been staunchly anti-communist ever since.<ref>Harvey A. Levenstein, ''Communism, anti-communism, and the CIO'' (1981).</ref><ref>Markku Ruotsila, ''British and American Anti-communism Before the Cold War'' (2001).</ref> In Britain, the Labour Party strenuously resisted Communist efforts to infiltrate its ranks and take control of locals in the 1930s. The Labour Party became anti-communist and Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee was a staunch supporter of [[NATO]].<ref>Paul Corthorn and Jonathan Davis (2007). ''British Labour Party and the Wider World: Domestic Politics, Internationalism and Foreign Policy''. I.B.Tauris. p. 105. [[Special:BookSources/9780857711113|<bdi>9780857711113</bdi>]].</ref> The Labour Party had resisted communist movements in the colonies during both its 1930 and 1946 governments.

== General Views ==
Left-wing anticommunists are often motivated by revolutionary/socialist idealism and individualism, which motivates them to reject existing socialist experiments and movements which improved peoples' livelihoods and brought a tremendous amount of experience. Several of them can be observed to criticise the Soviet Union as "not socialist" , "siege socialist" or "state capitalist"

American anarchist Murray Bookchin derisively remarked that he does not care about the "poor little children who were fed under communism."<ref>''Blackshirts and Reds : Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism (1997)'', Michael Parenti</ref>

Problems of the revolution are often pinned onto the leadership, which is villified. Political analyst Michael Parenti notes ,

<blockquote> The pure socialists regularly blame the Left itself for every defeat it suffers. Their second-guessing is endless. So we hear that revolutionary struggles fail because their leaders wait too long or act too soon, are too timid or too impulsive, too stubborn or too easily swayed. We hear that revolutionary leaders are compromising or adventuristic, bureaucratic or opportunistic, rigidly organized or insufficiently organized, undemocratic or failing to provide strong leadership. But always the leaders fail because they do not put their trust in the direct actions of the workers, who apparently would withstand and overcome every adversity if only given the kind of leadership available from the left critic's own groupuscule. Unfortunately, the critics seem unable to apply their own leadership genius to producing a successful revolutionary movement in their own country. </blockquote>

== Causes ==
Left-wing anticommunism is often a manifestation of ''labour aristocracy ,'' a concept brought up by Marx and Engels with reference to the English labour movement , whom attributed it to the industrial world monopoly of England which enabled the bourgeoisie to bribe the upper section of the workers.

This continued to be brought up by Vladimir Lenin with reference to the "Liberal-Labour" movement in England and the later split in the Second International induced by betrayal of the working classes of Europe by leaders of the leaders of their respective social-democratic parties upon the outbreak of the war.[https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1912/oct/00b.htm]

An anticommunist orthodoxy prevailed in countries like the US, where leftists often have to prove their anticommunist credentials to possess any political credibility.

== See also ==

* [[Non-Communist Left]]

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Anti-communism#Left-wing_anti-communism}}

== References ==

Left-wing anticommunism

2021-04-06T03:10:53Z

RedWedge1917:

'''Left-wing anticommunism''' is anti-communism from people and organizations at least ostensibly espousing to be left-wing. Since the split of the Communist parties from the socialist Second International to form the Marxist–Leninist Third International, social democrats have been critical of the Communist movement due to its anti-liberal nature.<ref>Rajani P. Dutt, ''The Two Internationals'' (1920) </ref>

Examples of left-wing critics of Marxist–Leninist states and parties are Friedrich Ebert, Boris Souveraine, [[George Orwell]], Bayard Rustin, Irving Howe and [[Max Shachtman]].

The American Federation of Labor has always been strongly anti-communist. The more leftist Congress of Industrial Organizations purged its Communists in 1947 and has been staunchly anti-communist ever since.<ref>Harvey A. Levenstein, ''Communism, anti-communism, and the CIO'' (1981).</ref><ref>Markku Ruotsila, ''British and American Anti-communism Before the Cold War'' (2001).</ref> In Britain, the Labour Party strenuously resisted Communist efforts to infiltrate its ranks and take control of locals in the 1930s. The Labour Party became anti-communist and Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee was a staunch supporter of [[NATO]].<ref>Paul Corthorn and Jonathan Davis (2007). ''British Labour Party and the Wider World: Domestic Politics, Internationalism and Foreign Policy''. I.B.Tauris. p. 105. [[Special:BookSources/9780857711113|<bdi>9780857711113</bdi>]].</ref> The Labour Party had resisted communist movements in the colonies during both its 1930 and 1946 governments.

== General Views ==
Left-wing anticommunists are often motivated by revolutionary/socialist idealism and individualism, which motivates them to reject existing socialist experiments and movements which improved peoples' livelihoods and brought a tremendous amount of experience. Several of them can be observed to criticise the Soviet Union as "not socialist" , "siege socialist" or "state capitalist"

American anarchist Murray Bookchin derisively remarked that he does not care about the "poor little children who were fed under communism."<ref>''Blackshirts and Reds : Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism (1997)'', Michael Parenti</ref>

Problems of the revolution are often pinned onto the leadership, which is villified. Political analyst Michael Parenti notes ,

The pure socialists regularly blame the Left itself for every defeat it suffers. Their second-guessing is endless. So we hear that revolutionary struggles fail because their leaders wait too long or act too soon, are too timid or too impulsive, too stubborn or too easily swayed. We hear that revolutionary leaders are compromising or adventuristic, bureaucratic or opportunistic, rigidly organized or insufficiently organized, undemocratic or failing to provide strong leadership. But always the leaders fail because they do not put their trust in the direct actions of the workers, who apparently would withstand and overcome every adversity if only given the kind of leadership available from the left critic's own groupuscule. Unfortunately, the critics seem unable to apply their own leadership genius to producing a successful revolutionary movement in their own country.

== Causes ==
Left-wing anticommunism is often a manifestation of ''labour aristocracy ,'' a concept brought up by Marx and Engels with reference to the English labour movement , whom attributed it to the industrial world monopoly of England which enabled the bourgeoisie to bribe the upper section of the workers.

This continued to be brought up by Vladimir Lenin with reference to the "Liberal-Labour" movement in England and the later split in the Second International induced by betrayal of the working classes of Europe by leaders of the leaders of their respective social-democratic parties upon the outbreak of the war.[https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1912/oct/00b.htm]

An anticommunist orthodoxy prevailed in countries like the US, where leftists often have to prove their anticommunist credentials to possess any political credibility.

== See also ==

* [[Non-Communist Left]]

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Anti-communism#Left-wing_anti-communism}}

== References ==

Non-Communist Left

2021-03-31T19:11:07Z

RedWedge1917:

The '''Non-Communist Left''' ('''NCL''') was a designation used in the [[United States Department of State]] and [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) referring mainly to leftist intellectuals who had become disillusioned by Stalin. Arthur Schlesinger Jr. highlighted the group's growing power in a popular 1948 essay titled "Not Right, Not Left, But a Vital Center".<ref>http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/schlesinger-notrightleft.html</ref> Another such publication was ''The God that Failed'' (1948), a collection consisting of six essays from former Communists who ostensibly remained on the left which was edited by R.H.S. Crossman.

Winning over and harnessing the power of the NCL became central to the US propaganda struggle against the USSR during the early [[Cold War]]. This strategy directly inspired the creation of the [[Congress for Cultural Freedom]] (CCF), as well as international journals like ''Der Monat'' and ''Encounter''; it also influenced existing publications such as the ''[[Partisan Review]]''.<ref>Saunders, ''Cultural Cold War'' (1999), pp. 162. "The headquarters of 'professional' anti-Stalinism was the American Committee for Cultural Freedom, and the magazines whose editors who sat on its board, namely ''Commentary'', the ''New Leader'' and ''Partisan Review''."</ref>

Under these auspices and consequently in fashionable intellectual circles in the United States and Europe, anti-Stalinism became "almost a professional stance", "a total outlook on life, no less, or even a philosophy of history."<ref>[[Philip Rahv]], quoted in: Saunders, ''Cultural Cold War''(1999), pp. 161–2.</ref> Prominent figures in this group include Arthur Koestler, Melvin J. Lasky, Dwight Macdonald, Sidney Hook, Stephen Spender, Nicolas Nabokov, and Isaiah Berlin. (The NCL notably excluded [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] because it could not accept his individualistic existentialist views.) Key organizers of the CIA's Non-Communist Left operation, titled QKOPERA, included Frank Wisner, Lawrence de Neufville, Thomas Braden, Charles Douglas Jackson and Michael Josselson.<ref>Saunders, ''Cultural Cold War'' (1999), pp. 99</ref> Other supporters within the intelligence community included [[George F. Kennan]], [[W. Averell Harriman]] and General [[Lucius D. Clay]].<ref>Saunders, ''Cultural Cold War'' (1999), pp. 66.</ref>

The NCL began to lose its cohesion and its appeal to the CIA during the radicalism of the late 1960s. Opposition to the Vietnam War fractured the coalition, and 1967 revelations of CIA funding (by ''Ramparts'' and others) were embarrassing for many of the intellectuals involved. Soon after the story broke, Braden (with tacit support from the CIA) wrote an article in the Saturday Evening Post which exposed CIA involvement with the Non-Communist Left and organized labor.<ref>Saunders, ''Cultural Cold War'' (1999), pp. 401–402. "Richard Helms, who was now director of the CIA, was, according to Rostow's memo, aware of the article, and conceivably of its contents also. The CIA had ample time to invoke its secrecy agreement with Braden, and prevent him publishing the piece."</ref><ref>Braden, Thomas (20 May 1967). "I'm glad the CIA is 'immoral'". ''Saturday Evening Post''. pp. 10–14. Retrieved 19 September 2012.</ref> Some argued that this article represented an intentional and final break of the CIA with the NCL.<ref>Saunders, ''Cultural Cold War'' (1999), pp. 398–399.</ref>

== See Also ==

* [[Left-wing anticommunism]]
* [[Anti-Leninism]]
* [[Anti-Stalinism]]
* [[New Left]]
* [[Eurocommunism]]

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Anti-Stalinist_left#Non-Communist_Left}}

== References ==

Patrice Lumumba

2021-03-31T19:08:21Z

RedWedge1917: removed some stuff portraying lumumba falsely as anti communist

'''Patrice Émery Lumumba''' (alternatively styled '''Patrice Hemery Lumumba''';<ref name="britannica">{{Britannica|351310}}</ref> 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first Prime Minister of the independent [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] (then [[Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)|Republic of the Congo]]) from June until September 1960. He played a significant role in the transformation of the Congo from a colony of [[Belgium]] into an independent republic. Ideologically an [[African nationalism|African nationalist]] and [[Pan-Africanism|pan-Africanist]], he led the [[Congolese National Movement]] (MNC) party from 1958 until his assassination.

== Early life and career ==
Patrice Lumumba was born on 2 July 1925 to a farmer, François Tolenga Otetshima, and his wife Julienne Wamato Lomendja, in Onalua in the Katakokombe region of the Kasai province of the [[Belgian Congo]].<ref name="Kanyarwunga4">{{cite book|last=Kanyarwunga|first=Jean I N|title=République démocratique du Congo : Les générations condamnées : Déliquescence d'une société précapitaliste|publisher=Publibook|year=2006|location=Paris|page=76|isbn=9782748333435}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lVcrDwAAQBAJ&q=patrice+lumumba+birth&pg=PT23|title=Lumumba: Africa's Lost Leader|last=Zeilig|first=Leo|date=2015-03-15|publisher=Haus Publishing|isbn=9781908323958|language=en}}</ref> A frequently anthologized poem of his is "Dawn in the Heart of Africa" (including by [[Langston Hughes]], in his 1963 collection ''Poems from Black Africa''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TyDADgAAQBAJ&pg=PA345|page=222|title=Congo Love Song: African American Culture and the Crisis of the Colonial State|first=Ira|last=Dworkin|publisher=UNC Press Books|year=2017|isbn=9781469632728}}</ref>), a poem that reminds Africans of their violent past, in which they were oppressed both by native leaders and by white colonizers, and speaks, in the last stanza, of a hopeful future: "The evil, cruel times will go never to come back again. / A free and gallant Congo will arise from black soil, / A free and gallant Congo—black blossom from black soil!"<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rienner Anthology of African Literature|editor1-first=Anthonia C.|editor1-last=Kalu|isbn=9781626375833|publisher=Lynn Rienner|location=Boulder|year=2007|chapter=Dawn in the Heart of Africa|pages=280–81|first=Patrice Emery|last=Lumumba}}</ref>

Outside of his regular studies, Lumumba took an interest in the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] ideals of [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] and [[Voltaire]]. He was also fond of [[Molière]] and [[Victor Hugo]]. He wrote poetry, and many of his works had an anti-imperialist theme.<ref name="rus">{{cite web|url=http://people.sci.pfu.edu.ru/asemenov/LUMUMBA/Lumumba.htm|title=Patrice Lumumba|publisher=[[Peoples' Friendship University of Russia]]|access-date=21 September 2016}}</ref>

In the period following World War II, young leaders across Africa increasingly worked for national goals and independence from the colonial powers. In 1955, Lumumba became regional head of the ''Cercles'' of Stanleyville and joined the [[Liberal Party (Belgium)|Liberal Party of Belgium]]. He edited and distributed party literature. After a study tour in Belgium in 1956, he was arrested on charges of embezzlement of $2500<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|title=Struggle Filled Lumumba's Life, From Tribal Days to Prominence|date=14 February 1961|work=The New York Times}}</ref> from the post office. He was convicted and sentenced one year later to twelve months imprisonment and a fine.<ref name="britannica2">{{Britannica|351310}}</ref>

== Leader of the MNC ==
After his release, Lumumba helped found the ''[[Mouvement National Congolais]]'' (MNC) party on 5 October 1958, and quickly became the organization's leader.<ref name="rus" />

The MNC, unlike other Congolese parties developing at the time, did not draw on a particular ethnic base.<ref name="gibbs79">{{harvnb|Gibbs|1991|p=79}}</ref> It promoted a platform that included independence, gradual Africanisation of the government, state-led economic development, and neutrality in foreign affairs. Lumumba had a large popular following, due to his personal charisma, excellent oratory, and ideological sophistication.<ref name="gibbs79" /> As a result, he had more political autonomy than contemporaries who were more dependent on Belgian connections.<ref name="gibbs80">{{harvnb|Gibbs|1991|p=80}}</ref>

Lumumba was one of the delegates who represented the MNC at the [[All-African Peoples' Conference]] in Accra, Ghana, in December 1958. At this international conference, hosted by Ghanaian President [[Kwame Nkrumah]], Lumumba further solidified his [[Pan-African|Pan-Africanist]] beliefs. Nkrumah was personally impressed by Lumumba's intelligence and ability.

In late October 1959, Lumumba, as leader of the MNC, was arrested for inciting an anti-colonial riot in Stanleyville; 30 people were killed. He was sentenced to 69 months in prison. The trial's start date of 18 January 1960 was the first day of the [[Congolese Round Table Conference]] in Brussels, intended to make a plan for the future of the Congo.

Despite Lumumba's imprisonment, the MNC won a convincing majority in the December local elections in the Congo. As a result of strong pressure from delegates upset by Lumumba's trial, he was released and allowed to attend the Brussels conference.

== Independence and election as prime minister ==
The conference culminated on 27 January 1960 with a declaration of Congolese independence. It set 30 June 1960 as the independence date with [[1960 Belgian Congo general election|national elections to be held from 11–25 May 1960]]. The MNC won a plurality in the election.

Six weeks before the date of independence, [[Walter Ganshof van der Meersch]] was appointed as the Belgian Minister of African Affairs. He lived in Léopoldville, in effect becoming Belgium's ''de facto'' resident minister in the Congo, administering it jointly with Governor-general [[Hendrik Cornelis]]. He was charged with advising Baudouin on the selection of a ''[[formateur]]''. On 8 June 1960, Ganshof flew to Brussels to meet with Baudouin. He made three suggestions for ''formateur'': Lumumba, as the winner of the elections; Kasa-Vubu, the only figure with a reliable national reputation who was associated with the coalescing opposition; or some to-be-determined third individual who could unite the competing blocs.

Ganshof returned to the Congo on 12 June 1960. The following day he appointed Lumumba to serve as the delegate (''[[informateur]]'') tasked with investigating the possibility of forming a [[national unity government]] that included politicians with a wide range of views, with 16 June 1960 as his deadline. The same day as Lumumba's appointment, the parliamentary opposition coalition, the Cartel d'Union Nationale, was announced. Though Kasa-Vubu was aligned with their beliefs, he remained distanced from them. The MNC-L was also having trouble securing the allegiances of the PSA, CEREA, and BALUBAKAT. Initially, Lumumba was unable to establish contact with members of the cartel. Eventually several leaders were appointed to meet with him, but their positions remained entrenched. On 16 June 1960, Lumumba reported his difficulties to Ganshof, who extended the deadline and promised to act as an intermediary between the MNC leader and the opposition. Once Ganshof had made contact with the cartel leadership, he was impressed by their obstinacy and assurances of a strong anti-Lumumba polity. By evening Lumumba's mission was showing even less chances of succeeding. Ganshof considered extending the role of ''informateur'' to Adoula and Kasa-Vubu, but faced increasing pressure from Belgian and moderate Congolese advisers to end Lumumba's assignment.

The following day, on 17 June 1960, Ganshof declared that Lumumba had failed and terminated his mission. Acting on Ganshof's advice, Baudouin then named Kasa-Vubu ''formateur''. Lumumba responded by threatening to form his own government and present it to Parliament without official approval. He called a meeting at the [[OK Bar]] in Léopoldville, where he announced the creation of a "popular" government with the support of [[Pierre Mulele]] of the PSA.

Meanwhile, Kasa-Vubu, like Lumumba, was unable to communicate with his political opponents. He assumed that he would secure the Presidency, so he began looking for someone to serve as his prime minister. Most of the candidates he considered were friends who had foreign support similar to his own, including Kalonji, Iléo, [[Cyrille Adoula]], and [[Justin Bomboko]]. Kasa-Vubu, was slow to come to a final decision. On 18 June 1960, Kasa-Vubu announced that he had completed his government with all parties except the MNC-L. That afternoon Sendwe, Gizenga, and Kashamura announced in the presence of Lumumba that their respective parties were not committed to the government. The next day. on 19 June 1960, Ganshof summoned Kasa-Vubu and Lumumba to a meeting so they could forge a compromise. This failed when Lumumba flatly refused the position of prime minister in a Kasa-Vubu government. The following day, on 20 June 1960, the two rivals met in the presence of Adoula and diplomats from [[Israel]] and [[Ghana]], but no agreement was reached.

Most party leaders refused to support a government that did not include Lumumba. The decision to make Kasa-Vubu the ''formateur'' was a catalyst that rallied the PSA, CEREA, and BALUBAKAT to Lumumba, making it unlikely that Kasa-Vubu could form a government that would survive a vote of confidence. When the Chamber met, on 21 June 1960, to select its officers, [[Joseph Kasongo]] of the MNC-L was elected president with 74 votes (a majority), while the two vice presidencies were secured by the PSA and CEREA candidates, both of whom had the support of Lumumba. With time running out before independence, Baudouin took new advice from Ganshof and appointed Lumumba as ''formateur''.

Once it was apparent that Lumumba's bloc controlled Parliament, several members of the opposition became eager to negotiate for a coalition government in order to share power. By 22 June 1960, Lumumba had a government list, but negotiations continued with Bolikango, Albert Delvaux, and Kasa-Vubu. Lumumba reportedly offered ABAKO the ministerial positions for Foreign Affairs and Middle Classes, but Kasa-Vubu instead demanded the Ministry of Finance, a minister of state, the Secretary of State for the Interior, and a written pledge of support from the MNC-L and its allies for his presidential candidacy. Kalonji was presented with the agriculture portfolio by Lumumba, which he rejected, although he was suitable due to his experience as an agricultural engineer. Adoula was also offered a ministerial position, but refused to accept it.

By the morning of 23 June 1960, the government was, in the words of Lumumba, "practically formed". At noon, he made a counter-offer to Kasa-Vubu, who instead responded with a letter demanding the creation of a seventh province for the [[Bakongo]]. Lumumba refused to comply and instead pledged to support [[Jean Bolikango]] in his bid for the Presidency. At 14:45, he presented his proposed government before the press. Neither ABAKO nor the MNC-K were represented among the ministers, and the only PSA members were from Gizenga's wing of the party. The Bakongo of Léopoldville were deeply upset by their exclusion from Lumumba's cabinet. They subsequently demanded the removal of the PSA-dominated provincial government and called for a [[general strike]] to begin the following morning. At 16:00, Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu resumed negotiations. Kasa-Vubu eventually agreed to Lumumba's earlier offer, though Lumumba informed him that he could not give him a guarantee of support in his presidential candidacy. The resulting 37-strong [[Lumumba Government]] was very diverse, with its members coming from different classes, different tribes, and holding varied political beliefs. Though many had questionable loyalty to Lumumba, most did not openly contradict him out of political considerations or fear of reprisal.

At 22:40 on 23 June 1960, the Chamber of Deputies convened in the [[Palais de la Nation (Kinshasa)|Palais de la Nation]] to vote on Lumumba's government. After Kasongo opened the session, Lumumba delivered his main speech, promising to maintain national unity, abide by the will of the people, and pursue a [[Non-Aligned Movement|neutralist]] foreign policy. It was warmly received by most deputies and observers. The Chamber proceeded to engage in a heated debate. Though the government contained members from parties that held 120 of the 137 seats, reaching a majority was not a straightforward task. While several leaders of the opposition had been involved in the formative negotiations, their parties as a whole had not been consulted. Furthermore, some individuals were upset they had not been included in the government and sought to personally prevent its investiture. In the subsequent arguments, multiple deputies expressed dissatisfaction at the lack of representation of their respective provinces and/or parties, with several threatening secession. Among them was Kalonji, who said he would encourage people of Kasaï to refrain from participating in the central government and form their own autonomous state. One Katangese deputy objected to the same person being appointed as premier and as head of the defence portfolio.

When a vote was finally taken, only 80 of the 137 members of the Chamber were present. Of these, 74 voted in favor of the government, five against, and one abstained. The 57 absences were almost all voluntary. Though the government had earned just as many votes as when Kasongo won the presidency of the Chamber, the support was not congruent; members of Kamitatu's wing of the PSA had voted against the government while a few members of the PNP, PUNA, and ABAKO voted in favor of it. Overall, the vote was a disappointment for the MNC-L coalition. The session was adjourned at 02:05 on 24 June 1960.

The Senate convened that day to vote on the government. There was another heated debate, in which Iléo and Adoula expressed their strong dissatisfaction with its composition. CONAKAT members abstained from voting. When arguments concluded, a decisive vote of approval was taken on the government: 60 voted in favor, 12 against, while eight abstained. All dissident arguments for alternative cabinets, particularly Kalonji's demand for a new administration, were rendered impotent, and the Lumumba Government was officially invested. With the institution of a broad coalition, the parliamentary opposition was officially reduced to only the MNC-K and some individuals.

At the onset of his premiership, Lumumba had two main goals: to ensure that independence would bring a legitimate improvement in the quality of life for the Congolese and to unify the country as a centralised state by eliminating tribalism and regionalism. He was worried that opposition to his government would appear rapidly and had to be managed quickly and decisively.

To achieve the first aim, Lumumba believed that a comprehensive "[[Africanization|Africanisation]]" of the administration, in spite of its risks, would be necessary. The Belgians were opposed to such an idea, as it would create inefficiency in the Congo's bureaucracy and lead to a mass exodus of unemployed civil servants to Belgium, whom they would be unable to absorb into the government there. It was too late for Lumumba to enact Africanisation before independence. Seeking another gesture that might excite the Congolese people, Lumumba proposed to the Belgian government a reduction in sentences for all prisoners and an amnesty for those serving a term of three years or less. Ganshof feared that such an action would jeopardize law and order, and he evaded taking any action until it was too late to fulfill the request. Lumumba's opinion of the Belgians was soured by this affair, which contributed to his fear that independence would not appear "real" to the average Congolese.

In seeking to eliminate tribalism and regionalism in the Congo, Lumumba was deeply inspired by the personality and undertakings of [[Kwame Nkrumah]] and by Ghanaian ideas of the leadership necessary in post-colonial Africa. He worked to seek such changes through the MNC. Lumumba intended to combine it with its parliamentary allies—CEREA, the PSA, and possibly BALUBAKAT—to form one national party, and to build a following in each province. He hoped it would absorb other parties and become a unifying force for the country.

Independence Day was celebrated on 30 June 1960 in a ceremony attended by many dignitaries, including King [[Baudouin of Belgium]] and the foreign press.<ref name="speech">{{cite web|title=Independence Day Speech|publisher=marxists.org|url=https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/lumumba/1960/06/independence.htm|access-date=20 November 2017}}[http://histotheek.classy.be/lumumba30juni.html fr,nl]</ref> Baudouin's speech praised developments under [[colonialism]], his reference to the "genius" of his great-granduncle [[Leopold II of Belgium]], glossing over [[Atrocities in the Congo Free State|atrocities]] committed during his reign over the [[Congo Free State]].<ref name="ac">[[Adam Hochschild]], ''[[King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa]]'', 1999, Mariner Books, {{ISBN|0-618-00190-5}} {{ISBN|978-0-618-00190-3}}</ref> Belgian prime minister [[Gaston Eyskens]], who checked the text, thought this passage went too far. He wanted to drop this reference to Léopold II. The King had limited political power in Belgium, but he was free to write his own speeches (after revision by the government).<ref>De Witte, Ludo (1999), ''De Moord op Lumumba'', Leuven: Uitgeverij van Halewyck</ref> The King continued, "Don't compromise the future with hasty reforms, and don't replace the structures that Belgium hands over to you until you are sure you can do better. Don't be afraid to come to us. We will remain by your side, give you advice".<ref name="De Witte">[https://books.google.com/books?id=bTdlU4yGB6YC&lpg=PA1 ''The Assassination of Lumumba''], Ludo De Witte, Trans. by Ann Wright and Renée Fenby, 2002 (Orig. 2001), London; New York: Verso; {{ISBN|1-85984-410-3}}, pp. 1–3</ref> President Kasa-Vubu thanked the King.

Lumumba, who had not been scheduled to speak, delivered [[Congolese Independence Speech|an impromptu speech]] that reminded the audience that the independence of the Congo had not been granted magnanimously by Belgium:<ref name="speech" /><blockquote>" ... For this independence of the Congo, although being proclaimed today by agreement with Belgium, an amicable country, with which we are on equal terms, no Congolese worthy of the name will ever be able to forget that it was by fighting that it has been won, a day-to-day fight, an ardent and idealistic fight, a fight in which we were spared neither privation nor suffering, and for which we gave our strength and our blood. We are proud of this struggle, of tears, of fire, and of blood, to the depths of our being, for it was a noble and just struggle, and indispensable to put an end to the humiliating slavery which was imposed upon us by force. ... "<ref name="Mwakikagile">[[Godfrey Mwakikagile]], ''Africa 1960–1970: Chronicle and Analysis'', New Africa Press, 2009, page 20</ref></blockquote>Most European journalists were shocked by the stridency of Lumumba's speech.<ref name="gibbs81">{{harvnb|Gibbs|1991|p=81}}</ref> The Western media criticised him. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine characterized his speech as a "venomous attack". In the West, many feared that the speech was a call to arms that would revive Belgian-Congolese hostilities, and plunge the former Belgian colony into chaos.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bTdlU4yGB6YC&lpg=PA1 ''The Assassination of Lumumba''], [[Ludo De Witte]], Trans. by Ann Wright and Renée Fenby, 2002 (Orig. 2001), London; New York: Verso; {{ISBN|1-85984-410-3}}, pp. 1–7</ref>

== Prime Minister ==

=== Independence ===
Independence Day and the three days that followed it were declared a national holiday. The Congolese were preoccupied by the festivities, which were conducted in relative peace. Meanwhile, Lumumba's office was overtaken by a flurry of activity. A diverse group of individuals, Congolese and European, some friends and relatives, hurried about their work. Some undertook specific missions on his behalf, sometimes without direct permission. Numerous Congolese citizens showed up at the office at whim for various reasons. Lumumba, for his part, was mostly preoccupied with a lengthy itinerary of receptions and ceremonies.

On 3 July Lumumba declared a general amnesty for prisoners, but it was never implemented. The following morning he convened the Council of Ministers to discuss the unrest among the troops of the Force Publique. Many soldiers hoped that independence would result in immediate promotions and material gains, but were disappointed by Lumumba's slow pace of reform. The rank-and-file felt that the Congolese political class—particularly ministers in the new government—were enriching themselves while failing to improve the troops' situation. Many of the soldiers were also fatigued from maintaining order during the elections and participating in independence celebrations. The ministers decided to establish four committees to study, respectively, the reorganisation of the administration, the judiciary, and the army, and the enacting of a new statute for state employees. All were to devote special attention to ending racial discrimination. Parliament assembled for the first time since independence and took its first official legislative action by voting to increase the salaries of its members to FC 500,000. Lumumba, fearing the repercussions the raise would have on the budget, was among the few to object, dubbing it a "ruinous folly".

=== Outbreak of the Congo Crisis ===
On the morning of 5 July, General [[Émile Janssens]], commander of the [[Force Publique]], in response to increasing excitement among the Congolese ranks, summoned all troops on duty at Camp Léopold II. He demanded that the army maintain its discipline and wrote "before independence = after independence" on a black board for emphasis. That evening the Congolese sacked the canteen in protest of Janssens. He alerted the reserve garrison of Camp Hardy, 95 miles away in Thysville. The officers tried to organise a convoy to send to Camp Léopold II to restore order, but the men mutinied and seized the armoury. [[Congo Crisis|The crisis]] which followed came to dominate the tenure of the Lumumba Government.

The next day Lumumba dismissed Janssens and promoted all Congolese soldiers one grade, but mutinies spread out into the Lower Congo.<ref name="young316">{{harvnb|Young|2015|p=316}}</ref> Although the trouble was highly localized, the country seemed to be overrun by gangs of soldiers and looters. The media reported those Europeans fleeing the country.<ref name="devlin">Larry Devlin, ''Chief of Station Congo'', 2007, Public Affairs, {{ISBN|1-58648-405-2}}</ref> In response, Lumumba announced over the radio, "Thoroughgoing reforms are planned in all sectors. My government will make every possible effort to see that our country has a different face in a few months, a few weeks." In spite of government efforts, the mutinies continued.<ref name="washington">{{cite web|url=http://history105.libraries.wsu.edu/spring2015/2015/01/16/white-privilege-and-its-effect-on-america/|title=U.S. foreign policy and its Deadly Effect on Patrice Lumumba|last=Sherer|first=Lindsey|date=16 January 2015|publisher=[[Washington State University]]}}</ref> Mutineers in Leopoldville and Thysville surrendered only upon the personal intervention of Lumumba and President Kasa-Vubu.<ref name="gondola118">{{harvnb|Gondola|2002|p=118}}</ref>

On 8 July, Lumumba renamed the Force Publique as the "[[Armée Nationale Congolaise]]" (ANC). He Africanised the force by appointing Sergeant Major [[Victor Lundula]] as general and commander-in-chief, and chose junior minister and former soldier [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Joseph Mobutu]] as colonel and Army chief of staff. These promotions were made in spite of Lundula's inexperience and rumours about Mobutu's ties to Belgian and US intelligence services.<ref name="nzongola-ntalaja98">{{harvnb|Nzongola-Ntalaja|2002|p=98}}</ref> All European officers were replaced, with a few retained as advisers. By the next day the mutinies had spread throughout the entire country.<ref name="young316" /> Five Europeans, including the Italian vice-consul, were ambushed and killed by machine gun fire in [[Lubumbashi|Élisabethville]] and nearly the entire European population of [[Kananga|Luluabourg]] barricaded itself in an office building for safety.<ref name="young317">{{harvnb|Young|2015|p=317}}</ref> An estimated two dozen Europeans were murdered in the mutiny.<ref name="gibbs82">{{harvnb|Gibbs|1991|p=82}}</ref> Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu embarked on a tour across the country to promote peace and appoint new ANC commanders.<ref name="young317" />

Belgium intervened on 10 July, dispatching 6,000 troops to the Congo, ostensibly to protect its citizens from the violence. Most Europeans went to [[Katanga Province]], which possessed much of the Congo's natural resources.<ref name="britannica2" /> Though personally angered, Lumumba condoned the action on 11 July, provided that the Belgian forces acted only to protect their citizens, followed the direction of the Congolese army, and ceased their activities once order was restored.<ref name="washington" /><ref name="gondola118" /><ref name="gibbs82" /> The same day the Belgian Navy bombarded [[Matadi]] after it had evacuated its citizens, killing 19 Congolese. This greatly inflamed tensions, leading to renewed Congolese attacks on Europeans. Shortly thereafter Belgian forces moved to occupy cities throughout the country, including the capital, where they clashed with Congolese soldiers.<ref name="gondola118" /> On the whole, the Belgian intervention made the situation worse for the ANC.<ref name="gibbs82" />

The [[State of Katanga]] declared independence under regional premier [[Moise Tshombe|Moïse Tshombe]] on 11 July, with support from the Belgian government and mining companies such as [[Union Minière du Haut Katanga|Union Minière]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Compatible Cultural Democracy|last=Osabu-Kle|first=Daniel Tetteh|year=2000|publisher=Broadview Press|isbn=978-1-55111-289-3|page=254}}</ref> Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu were denied use of Élisabethville's airstrip the following day and returned to the capital, only to be accosted by fleeing Belgians.<ref name="young318">{{harvnb|Young|2015|p=318}}</ref> They sent a protest of the Belgian deployment to the [[United Nations]], requesting that they withdraw and be replaced by an international peacekeeping force.

The [[UN Security Council]] passed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 143]], calling for immediate removal of Belgian forces and establishment of the [[United Nations Operation in the Congo]] (ONUC). Despite the arrival of [[United Nations peacekeeping|UN troops]], unrest continued. Lumumba requested UN troops to suppress the rebellion in Katanga, but the UN forces were not authorised to do so under their mandate. On 14 July Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu broke off relations with Belgium. Frustrated at dealing with the West, they sent a telegram to Soviet Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]], requesting that he closely monitor the situation in the Congo.<ref name="young319">{{harvnb|Young|2015|p=319}}</ref>

=== Trip abroad ===
Lumumba decided to go to [[New York City]] in order to personally express the position of his government to the [[United Nations]]. Shortly before his departure, he announced that he had signed an economic agreement with a U.S. businessman who had created the Congo International Management Corporation (CIMCO). According to the contract (which had yet to be ratified by Parliament), CIMCO was to form a [[development corporation]] to invest in and manage certain sectors of the economy. He also declared his approval of the second Security Council resolution, adding that "[Soviet] aid was no longer necessary" and announced his intention to seek technical assistance from the United States. On 22 July Lumumba left the Congo for New York City. He and his entourage reached the United States two days later after brief stops in Accra and London. There they rendezvoused with his UN delegation at the [[InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel|Barclay Hotel]] to prepare for meetings with UN officials. Lumumba was focused on discussing the withdrawal of Belgian troops and various options for technical assistance with [[Dag Hammarskjöld]].{{sfn|Kanza|1994|p=236}} African diplomats were keen that the meetings would be successful; they convinced Lumumba to wait until the Congo was more stable before reaching any more major economic agreements (such as the CIMCO arrangement). Lumumba saw Hammarskjöld and other staff of the [[UN Secretariat]] on 24, 25, and 26 July. Though Lumumba and Hammarskjöld were restrained towards one another, their discussions went smoothly. In a press conference, Lumumba reaffirmed his government's commitment to "positive neutralism".

On 27 July Lumumba went to [[Washington, D.C.]], the United States capital. He met with the US Secretary of State and appealed for financial and technical assistance. The US government informed Lumumba that they would offer aid only through the UN. The following day he received a telegram from Gizenga detailing a clash at [[Kolwezi]] between Belgian and Congolese forces. Lumumba felt that the UN was hampering his attempts to expel the Belgian troops and defeat Katangan rebels. On 29 July he went to [[Ottawa]], the capital of Canada. The Canadians rebuffed a request for technicians and said that they would channel their assistance through the UN. Frustrated, Lumumba met with the Soviet ambassador and discussed a donation of military equipment. When he returned to New York the following evening, he was restrained towards the UN. The United States government's attitude had become more negative, due to reports of the rapes and violence committed by ANC soldiers, and scrutiny from Belgium. The latter was chagrined that Lumumba had received a high-level reception in Washington. The Belgian government regarded Lumumba as communist, anti-white, and anti-Western. Given its experience in the Congo, many other Western governments gave credence to the Belgian view.

Frustrated with the UN's apparent inaction towards Katanga as he departed the US, Lumumba decided to delay his return to the Congo. He visited several African states. This was apparently done to put pressure on Hammarskjöld and, that failing, seek guarantees of bilateral military support to suppress Katanga. Between 2 and 8 August, Lumumba toured Tunisia, Morocco, Guinea, Ghana, Liberia, and Togoland. He was well received in each country and issued joint communiques with their respective heads of state. Guinea and Ghana pledged independent military support, while the others expressed their desire to work through the United Nations to resolve the Katangese secession. In Ghana Lumumba signed a secret agreement with President Nkrumah providing for a "Union of African States". Centred in Léopoldville, it was to be a federation with a republican government. They agreed to hold a summit of African states in Léopoldville between 25 and 30 August to further discuss the issue. Lumumba returned to the Congo, apparently confident that he could now depend upon African military assistance. He also believed that he could procure African bilateral technical aid, which placed him at odds with Hammarskjöld's goal of funneling support through ONUC. Lumumba and some ministers were wary of the UN option, as it would supply them with functionaries who would not respond directly to their authority.

=== Attempts at re-consolidation ===
On 9 August Lumumba proclaimed an ''[[State of emergency|état d'exception]]'' (or state of emergency) throughout the Congo. He subsequently issued several orders in an attempt to reassert his dominance on the political scene. The first outlawed the formation of associations without government sanction. A second asserted the government's right to ban publications that produced material likely to bring the administration into disrepute. On 11 August the ''Courrier d'Afrique'' printed an editorial which declared that the Congolese did not want to fall "under a second kind of slavery". The editor was summarily arrested and four days later publication of the daily ceased. Shortly afterward, the government shut down the [[Belga (news agency)|Belga]] and [[Agence France-Presse]] wire services. The press restrictions garnered a wave of harsh criticism from the Belgian media. Lumumba decreed the nationalisation of local Belga offices, creating the ''[[Agence Congolaise de Presse]]'', as a means of eliminating what he considered a centre of biased reporting, as well as creating a service through which the government's platform could be more easily communicated to the public. Another order stipulated that official approval had to be obtained six days in advance of public gatherings. On 16 August Lumumba announced the installation of a ''régime militaire spécial'' for the duration of six months, including the establishment of military tribunals.<ref name="ordinance">{{cite journal|title=Ordonnance abrogeant l'ordonnance du 16 août 1960 relative au régime militaire.|journal=Moniteur Congolais|volume=2|issue=4|page=25|publisher=Government of the Republic of the Congo|location=Léopoldville|date=31 January 1961|language=fr|url=http://www.journalofficiel.cd/jordc/adm/uploads_jo/b84271ab9648734b9b9f35346fb330b2.pdf}}</ref>

Throughout August Lumumba increasingly withdrew from his full cabinet and instead consulted with officials and ministers he trusted, such as Mpolo, Mbuyi, Kashamura, Gizenga, and Kiwewa. Lumumba's office was in disarray, and few members of his staff did any work. His ''chef de cabinet'', Damien Kandolo, was often absent and acted as a spy on behalf of the Belgian government. Lumumba was constantly being delivered rumors from informants and the [[Sûreté]], encouraging him to grow deeply suspicious of others. In an attempt to keep him informed, Michel enlisted the assistance of three Belgian [[telex]] operators, who supplied him with copies of all outgoing journalistic dispatches.

Lumumba immediately ordered Congolese troops to put down the rebellion in South Kasai, which was home to strategic rail links necessary for a campaign in Katanga. [[Invasion of South Kasai|The operation]] was successful, but the conflict soon devolved into ethnic violence. The army became involved in massacres of [[Luba people|Luba]] civilians. The people and politicians of South Kasai held Lumumba personally responsible for the actions of the army. Kasa-Vubu publicly announced that only a [[Federalism|federalist]] government could bring peace and stability to the Congo. This broke his tenuous political alliance with Lumumba and tilted the political favour in the country away from Lumumba's [[unitary state]].<ref name="gondola123">{{harvnb|Gondola|2002|p=123}}</ref> Ethnic tensions rose against him (especially around Leopoldville), and the [[Catholic Church]], still powerful in the country, openly criticised his government.<ref name="gondola124">{{harvnb|Gondola|2002|p=124}}</ref>

Even with South Kasai subdued, the Congo lacked the necessary strength to retake Katanga. Lumumba had summoned an African conference in Leopoldville from 25–31 August, but no foreign heads of state appeared and no country pledged military support.<ref name="young324">{{harvnb|Young|2015|p=324}}</ref> Lumumba demanded once again that UN peacekeeping soldiers assist in suppressing the revolt, threatening to bring in Soviet troops if they refused. The UN subsequently denied Lumumba the use of its forces. The possibility of a direct Soviet intervention was thought increasingly likely.

== Dismissal ==
=== Kasa-Vubu's revocation order ===
President Kasa-Vubu began fearing a Lumumbist [[coup d'état]] would take place. On the evening of 5 September, Kasa-Vubu announced over radio that he had dismissed Lumumba and six of his ministers from the government for the massacres in South Kasai and for involving the Soviets in the Congo.<ref name="nzongola-ntalaja108">{{harvnb|Nzongola-Ntalaja|2002|p=108}}</ref> Upon hearing the broadcast, Lumumba went to the national radio station, which was under UN guard. Though they had been ordered to bar Lumumba's entry, the UN troops allowed the prime minister in, as they had no specific instructions to use force against him. Lumumba denounced his dismissal over the radio as illegitimate, and in turn labeled Kasa-Vubu a traitor and declared him deposed. Kasa-Vubu had not declared the approval of any responsible ministers of his decision, making his action legally invalid. Lumumba noted this in a letter to Hammarskjöld and a radio broadcast at 05:30 on 6 September. Later that day Kasa-Vubu managed to secure the countersignatures to his order of Albert Delvaux, Minister Resident in Belgium, and [[Justin Marie Bomboko]], Minister of Foreign Affairs. With them, he announced again his dismissal of Lumumba and six other ministers at 16:00 over Brazzaville radio.

Lumumba and the ministers who remained loyal to him ordered the arrest of Delvaux and Bomboko for countersigning the dismissal order. The latter sought refuge in the presidential palace (which was guarded by UN peacekeepers), but early in the morning on 7 September, the former was detained and confined in the Prime Minister's residence.Meanwhile, the Chamber convened to discuss Kasa-Vubu's dismissal order and hear Lumumba's reply. Delvaux made an unexpected appearance and took to the dais to denounce his arrest and declare his resignation from the government. He was enthusiastically applauded by the opposition. Lumumba then delivered his speech. Instead of directly attacking Kasa-Vubu ''[[ad hominem]]'', Lumumba accused obstructionist politicians and ABAKO of using the presidency as a front for disguising their activities. He noted that Kasa-Vubu had never before offered any criticism of the government and portrayed their relationship as one of cooperation. He lambasted Delvaux and Minister of Finance [[Pascal Nkayi]] for their role in the Geneva negotiations and for their failure to consult the rest of the government. Lumumba followed his arguments with an analysis of the Loi Fondemental and finished by asking Parliament to assemble a "commission of sages" to examine the Congo's troubles.

The Chamber, at the suggestion of its presiding officer, voted to annul both Kasa-Vubu's and Lumumba's declarations of dismissal, 60 to 19. The following day Lumumba delivered a similar speech before the Senate, which subsequently delivered the government a vote of confidence, 49 to zero with seven abstentions. According to Article 51, Parliament was granted the "exclusive privilege" to interpret the constitution. In cases of doubt and controversy, the Congolese were originally supposed to appeal constitutional questions to the Belgian [[Council of State (Belgium)|Conseil d'État]]. With the rupture of relations in July this was no longer possible, so no authoritative interpretation or mediation was available to bring a legal resolution to the dispute.

Numerous African diplomats and newly appointed ONUC head [[Rajeshwar Dayal]] attempted to get the president and prime minister to reconcile their differences, but failed.<ref name="nzongola-ntalaja108" /> On 13 September, the Parliament held a joint session between the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Though several members short of a [[quorum]], they voted to grant Lumumba emergency powers.<ref name="young329">{{harvnb|Young|2015|p=329}}</ref>

=== Mobutu's coup ===
On 14 September Mobutu announced over the radio that he was launching a '[[1960 Republic of the Congo coup d'état|peaceful revolution]]' to break the political impasse and therefore neutralising the President, Lumumba's and Iléo's respective governments, and Parliament until 31 December. He stated that "[[Technocracy|technicians]]" would run the administration while the politicians sorted out their differences. In a subsequent press conference, he clarified that Congolese university graduates would be asked to form a government, and further declared that all Eastern Bloc countries should close their embassies. Lumumba was surprised by the coup and that evening he traveled to Camp Leopold II in search of Mobutu to try and change his mind. He spent the night there but was attacked in the morning by Luba soldiers, who blamed him for the atrocities in South Kasaï. A Ghanaian ONUC contingent managed to extricate him, but his briefcase was left behind. Some of his political opponents recovered it and published documents it supposedly contained, including letters from Nkrumah, appeals for support addressed to the Soviet Union and the [[People's Republic of China]], a memorandum dated 16 September declaring the presence of Soviet troops within one week, and a letter dated 15 September from Lumumba to the provincial presidents (Tshombe excepted) entitled "Measures to be applied during the first stages of the dictatorship". Some of these papers were genuine, while others, especially the memorandum and the letter to the provincial presidents, were almost certainly forgeries.

Despite the coup, African diplomats still worked towards a reconciliation between Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu. According to the Ghanaians, a verbal agreement of principle concerning closer co-operation between the Head of State and the government was put into writing. Lumumba signed it, but Kasa-Vubu suddenly refused to reciprocate. The Ghanaians suspected that Belgium and the United States were responsible. Kasa-Vubu was eager to re-integrate Katanga back into the Congo through negotiation, and Tshombe had declared that he would not participate in any discussions with a government that included the "communist" Lumumba.

After consultation with Kasa-Vubu and Lumumba, Mobutu announced that he would summon a round table conference to discuss the political future of the Congo. His attempts to follow through were disrupted by Lumumba who, from his official residence, was acting as though he still held the premiership. He continued to hold meetings with members of his government, senators, deputies, and political supporters, and to issue public statements. On numerous occasions he left his residence to tour the restaurants of the capital, maintaining that he still held power. Frustrated by the way he was being treated by Lumumba and facing intense political pressure, by the end of the month Mobutu was no longer encouraging reconciliation; he had aligned with Kasa-Vubu. He ordered ANC units to surround Lumumba's residence, but a cordon of UN peacekeepers prevented them from making an arrest. Lumumba was confined to his home. On 7 October Lumumba announced the formation of a new government that included Bolikango and Kalonji, but he later proposed that the UN supervise a national referendum that would settle the split in the government.

On 24 November, the UN voted to recognize Mobutu's new delegates to the [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]], disregarding Lumumba's original appointees. Lumumba resolved to join Deputy Prime Minister [[Antoine Gizenga]] in [[Kisangani|Stanleyville]] and lead a campaign to regain power.<ref name="nzongola-ntalaja110">{{harvnb|Nzongola-Ntalaja|2002|p=110}}</ref> On 27 November he left the capital in a convoy of nine cars with [[Rémy Mwamba]], [[Pierre Mulele]], his wife Pauline, and his youngest child. Instead of heading with all haste to the Orientale Province border—where soldiers loyal to Gizenga were waiting to receive him—Lumumba delayed by touring villages and making conversation with the locals. On 1 December Mobutu's troops caught up with his party as it crossed the [[Sankuru river]]{{sfn|Kanza|1994|pp=318–319}}in Lodi.<ref name="nzongola-ntalaja110" /> Lumumba and his advisers had made it to the far side, but his wife and child were left to be captured on the bank. Fearing for their safety, Lumumba took the ferry back, against the advice of Mwamba and Mulele, who both, fearing they would never see him again, bid him farewell. Mobutu's men arrested him. He was moved to [[Ilebo|Port Francqui]] the next day and flown back to Léopoldville.<ref name="nzongola-ntalaja110" /> Mobutu claimed Lumumba would be tried for inciting the army to rebellion and other crimes.

=== UN response ===
[[Secretary-General of the United Nations]] [[Dag Hammarskjöld]] made an appeal to Kasa-Vubu asking that Lumumba be treated according to [[due process]]. The [[Soviet Union]] denounced Hammarskjöld and the [[First World]] as responsible for Lumumba's arrest and demanded his release.

The [[United Nations Security Council]] was called into session on 7 December 1960 to consider Soviet demands that the UN seek Lumumba's immediate release, the immediate restoration of Lumumba as head of the Congo government, the disarming of the forces of Mobutu, and the immediate evacuation of Belgians from the Congo. The Soviets also requested the immediate resignation of Hammarskjöld, the arrests of Mobutu and Tshombe, and the withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces.<ref name="bbc_1961">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/13/newsid_2541000/2541053.stm|title=1961: Ex-Congo PM declared dead|website=news.bbc.co.uk|publisher=[[British Broadcasting Corporation]]}}</ref> Hammarskjöld, answering Soviet criticism of his Congo operations, said that if the UN forces were withdrawn from the Congo, "I fear everything will crumble."

The threat to the UN cause was intensified by the announcement of the withdrawal of their contingents by [[Yugoslavia]], the [[United Arab Republic]], [[Sri Lanka|Ceylon]], [[Indonesia]], [[Morocco]], and [[Guinea]]. The pro-Lumumba resolution was defeated on 14 December 1960 by a vote of 8–2. On the same day, a Western resolution that would have given Hammarskjöld increased powers to deal with the Congo situation was vetoed by the Soviet Union.

== Final days, execution and disposal of the body ==
Lumumba was sent first on 3 December 1960 to [[Mbanza-Ngungu|Thysville]] military barracks Camp Hardy, 150 km (about 100 miles) from Léopoldville. He was accompanied by [[Maurice Mpolo]] and [[Joseph Okito]], two political associates who had planned to assist him in setting up a new government. They were fed poorly by the prison guards, as per Mobutu's orders. In Lumumba's last documented letter, he wrote to Rajeshwar Dayal: "in a word, we are living amid absolutely impossible conditions; moreover, they are against the law".<ref name="washington" />

In the morning of 13 January 1961, discipline at Camp Hardy faltered. Soldiers refused to work unless they were paid; they received a total of 400,000 francs ($8,000) from the Katanga Cabinet.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Katanga's Communique on the Killing of Lumumba|date=14 February 1961|work=New York Times|id={{ProQuest|115317883}}}}</ref> Some supported Lumumba's release, while others thought he was dangerous. Kasa-Vubu, Mobutu, Foreign Minister [[Justin Marie Bomboko]], and Head of Security Services [[Victor Nendaka]] personally arrived at the camp and negotiated with the troops. Conflict was avoided, but it became apparent that holding a controversial prisoner in the camp was too great a risk. [[Harold Charles d'Aspremont Lynden]], the last Belgian [[Minister of the Colonies (Belgium)|Minister of the Colonies]], ordered that Lumumba, Mpolo, and Okito be taken to the [[State of Katanga]].<ref name="gondola126">{{harvnb|Gondola|2002|p=126}}</ref>

Lumumba was forcibly restrained on the flight to [[Lubumbashi|Elisabethville]] on 17 January 1961.<ref name="bbc-wkl">{{cite news|title=Correspondent:Who Killed Lumumba-Transcript|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/audio_video/programmes/correspondent/transcripts/974745.txt|work=BBC|access-date=21 May 2010}} 00.35.38–00.35.49</ref> On arrival, he and his associates were conducted under arrest to the Brouwez House, where they were brutally beaten and tortured by Katangan and Belgian officers,<ref>{{cite book|last=Prados|first=John|title=Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JokJ7K3b5fMC&q=%22Patrice+Lumumba%22+katanga+tortured&pg=PA278|year=2006|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|isbn=9781566638234|page=278}}</ref> while President Tshombe and his cabinet decided what to do with him.<ref>{{cite book|last=De Witte|first=Ludo|title=The Assassination of Lumumba|url=https://archive.org/details/assassinationofl00witt|url-access=registration|quote=Patrice Lumumba katanga tortured.|year=2001|publisher=[[Verso Books]]|isbn=978-1859844106|page=[https://archive.org/details/assassinationofl00witt/page/136 136]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/13/newsid_2541000/2541053.stm|title=BBC ON THIS DAY – 13 – 1961: Ex-Congo PM declared dead|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=23 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-43160052.html|title=Erschlagen im Busch|date=22 June 1961|work=[[Spiegel Online]]|language=de|access-date=23 November 2012}}</ref>

Later that night, Lumumba was driven to an isolated spot where, according to reports, three firing squads had been assembled and commanded by Belgian contract officer Julien Gat.<ref name="brusselstimes_20180911">{{cite web|url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/news/magazine/50661/facing-the-truths-of-belgium-s-colonial-past-the-unresolved-case-of-patrice-lumumba-s-death/|title=Facing the truths of Belgium’s colonial past: The unresolved case of Patrice Lumumba's death|work=[[The Brussels Times]]|first=Tom|last=Vanderstappen|date=11 September 2018|access-date=17 January 2021}}</ref> A Belgian commission of inquiry found that the execution was carried out by Katanga's authorities. It reported that Katanga president Tshombe and two other ministers were present, with four Belgian officers under alleged command of Katangan authorities. According to [[Ludo De Witte]]<nowiki/>however, the last stage of the operation was personally controlled and led by Belgians. Police Commissioner Frans Verscheure, who had operational command,<ref name="brusselstimes_20180911" /> led Lumumba and the other two to their place of execution, Gat ordered the firing.<ref name="brusselstimes_20180911" /> Lumumba, Mpolo, and Okito were lined up against a tree and shot one at a time. The execution is thought to have taken place on 17 January 1961, between 21:40 and 21:43 (according to the Belgian report), with the bodies been thrown into a shallow grave. Allegedly, the following morning, on orders of Katangese Interior Minister [[Godefroid Munongo]] who wanted to make the bodies disappear and thereby prevent a burial site from being created, [[Gendarmerie (Belgium)|Belgian Gendarmerie]] officer Gerard Soete and his team dug up and dismembered the corpses, and dissolved them in sulfuric acid while the bones were ground and scattered.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kinzer|first=Stephen|title=The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War|publisher=Times Books|location=New York|year=2013}}</ref>

=== Announcement of death ===
No statement was released until three weeks later, despite rumours that Lumumba was dead. Katangese Secretary of State of Information [[Lucas Samalenge]] was one of the very first individuals, or perhaps the first individual, to reveal Lumumba's death, on 18 January. According to [[Ludo De Witte]], Samalenge went to the bar ''Le Relais'' in [[Élisabethville]] and told everyone that Lumumba was murdered and he kicked his corpse. He then went around, drunkenly repeating the story until the police took him away.<ref>{{cite book|first=Ludo|last=De Witte|title=The Assassination of Lumumba|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JisyDDP6Ji8C&pg=PA126|year=2001|publisher=Verso|isbn=978-1-85984-618-6|pages=126}}</ref>

On 10 February, the radio announced that Lumumba and two other prisoners had escaped.<ref>{{Cite news|title=New York Times|last=Hofmann|first=Paul|date=Feb 1961|id={{ProQuest|115365584}}}}</ref> His death was formally announced over Katangan radio on 13 February: it was alleged that he was killed by enraged villagers three days after escaping from Kolatey prison farm.<ref name="bbc_1961" />

After the announcement of Lumumba's death, street protests were organized in several European countries; in [[Belgrade]], protesters sacked the Belgian embassy and confronted the police, and in [[London]], a crowd marched from [[Trafalgar Square]]<nowiki/>to the Belgian embassy, where a letter of protest was delivered and where protesters clashed with police.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/19/newsid_2748000/2748931.stm|title=BBC: "1961: Lumumba rally clashes with UK police"|work=BBC News|date=19 February 2001|access-date=17 January 2011}}</ref> In [[New York City]], a demonstration at the [[United Nations Security Council]] turned violent and spilled over into the streets.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mahoney|title=JFK|date=1983|page=72|quote="In the United States, the news of Lumumba's murder provoked racial riots. During an address by Ambassador Stevenson before the Security Council, a demonstration led by American blacks began in the visitors gallery. It quickly turned into a riot in which eighteen UN guards, two newsmen, and two protestors were injured. Outside of the UN building, fights between whites and blacks broke out. A large protest march into Times Square was halted by mounted police."}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kKgzAAAAIBAJ&pg=4519,3193749&hl=en|title=Screaming Demonstrators Riot in United Nations Security Council|newspaper=Lodi News-Sentinel|author=UPI|date=16 February 1961}}</ref>

== Foreign involvement in his murder ==
Both Belgium and the US were affected by the Cold War in their attitude to Lumumba, as they feared he was increasingly subject to communist influence. They thought he was gravitating toward the Soviet Union, although, according to [[Sean Kelly (journalist)|Sean Kelly]], who covered the events as a correspondent for the [[Voice of America]], that was not because Lumumba was a communist, but because he felt that USSR was the only power which would support his country's effort to rid itself of colonial rule.<ref>Sean Kelly, ''America's Tyrant: The CIA and Mobutu of Zaire'', p. 29</ref> The US was the first country from which Lumumba requested help.<ref>Kelly, p. 28</ref> Lumumba, for his part, denied being a communist, but observed, "The Soviet Union proved to be the only great power which from the very beginning supported the people of the Congo in their struggle."[https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/uk.firstwave/dutt-mt-2.pdf] He professed his initial personal preference for neutrality between the [[Eastern Bloc|East]] and [[Western Bloc|West]].<ref>Kelly, p. 49</ref>

=== Belgian involvement ===
On 18 January, panicked by reports that the burial of the three bodies had been observed, members of the execution team dug up the remains and moved them for reburial to a place near the border with [[Northern Rhodesia]]. Belgian Police Commissioner Gerard Soete later admitted in several accounts that he and his brother led the original exhumation. Police Commissioner Frans Verscheure also took part. On the afternoon and evening of 21 January, Commissioner Soete and his brother dug up Lumumba's corpse for a second time, cut it up with a hacksaw, and dissolved it in concentrated [[sulfuric acid]].<ref name="usnews">{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/mysteries/patrice.htm|title=Patrice Lumumba – Mysteries of History|publisher=Usnews.com|access-date=17 January 2011}}</ref>

In the late 20th and early 21st century, Lumumba's assassination was investigated. In a 1999 interview on Belgian television, in a program about his assassination, Soete displayed a bullet and two teeth that he claimed he had saved from Lumumba's body.<ref name="usnews" /> According to the 2001 Belgian Commission investigating Lumumba's assassination: (1) Belgium wanted Lumumba arrested, (2) Belgium was not particularly concerned with Lumumba's physical well being, and (3) although informed of the danger to Lumumba's life, Belgium did not take any action to avert his death. The report concluded that Belgium had not ordered Lumumba's assassination.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E4DF123BF934A25752C1A9679C8B63|title=Report Reproves Belgium in Lumumba's Death|location=Belgium; Congo (Formerly Zaire)|newspaper=New York Times|date=17 November 2001|access-date=17 January 2011}}</ref> In February 2002, the Belgian government formally apologized to the Congolese people, and admitted to a "moral responsibility" and "an irrefutable portion of responsibility in the events that led to the death of Lumumba".<ref name="Apology">"[https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/06/world/world-briefing-europe-belgium-apology-for-lumumba-killing.html World Briefing | Europe: Belgium: Apology For Lumumba Killing]", ''New York Times'', 6 February 2002.</ref>

Lumumba's execution was carried out by a firing squad led by Belgian mercenary Julien Gat;<ref name="The Assassination of Lumumba">[https://www.amazon.com/Assassination-Lumumba-Ludo-Witte/dp/1859844103 ''The Assassination of Lumumba''], Ludo De Witte, 2003, {{ISBN|1-85984-410-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Wolves, Jackals and Foxes: The Assassins Who Changed History|last=Hollington|first=Kris|year=2007|publisher=True Crime|isbn=978-0-312-37899-8|pages=50–65|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I8LHU4f_hkQC&pg=PA50|access-date=11 December 2010}}</ref> Katangan Police Commissioner Verscheure, who was Belgian, had overall command of the execution site.<ref name="The Assassination of Lumumba" /> The separatist Katangan regime was a surrogate of Belgian mining conglomerate [[Union Minière du Haut-Katanga]]. <ref>{{Cite web|title=Belgium’s reckoning with a brutal history in Congo|url=https://www.ft.com/content/a17b87ec-207d-4aa7-a839-8e17153bcf51|access-date=2020-12-17|website=www.ft.com}}</ref>

In the early 21st century, writer [[Ludo De Witte]] found written orders from the Belgian government that had requested Lumumba's execution, and documents on various arrangements, such as death squads.<ref name="bbc-wkl-1">{{cite news|title=Correspondent:Who Killed Lumumba-Transcript|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/audio_video/programmes/correspondent/transcripts/974745.txt|publisher=BBC|access-date=21 May 2010}} 00.36.57</ref> He published a book in 2003 about the assassination of Lumumba.

=== United States involvement ===
The 2001 report by the Belgian Commission describes previous U.S. and Belgian plots to kill Lumumba. Among them was a [[Central Intelligence Agency]]-sponsored attempt to poison him, which was ordered by U.S. President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]].<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|title=President 'ordered murder' of Congo leader|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,4049783,00.html|access-date=18 June 2006|location=London|first=Martin|last=Kettle|date=10 August 2000}}</ref> CIA chemist [[Sidney Gottlieb]], a key person in the plan, devised a poison resembling toothpaste. In September 1960, Gottlieb brought a vial of the poison to the Congo with plans to place it on Lumumba's toothbrush.<ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB222/top06.pdf 6) Plan to poison Congo leader Patrice Lumumba (p. 464)], [[Family jewels (CIA)|Family jewels CIA documents]], [[National Security Archive]] website</ref><ref name="USN">{{cite web|title=A killing in Congo|work=[[US News]]|url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/mysteries/patrice.htm|date=24 July 2000|access-date=18 June 2006}}</ref><ref name="gottliebcp">Sidney Gottlieb "obituary" {{cite web|title=Sidney Gottlieb|publisher=Counterpunch.org|url=http://www.counterpunch.org/gottlieb.html}}</ref> The plot was abandoned, allegedly because [[Larry Devlin]], CIA Station Chief for the Congo, refused permission.<ref name="USN" /><ref name="garsincp">{{cite web|title=Interview with Mark Garsin|publisher=Counterpunch.org|url=http://www.counterpunch.org/mazur01292005.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060105230238/http://www.counterpunch.org/mazur01292005.html|archive-date=5 January 2006|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

As Madeleine G. Kalb points out in her book, ''Congo Cables'', the record shows that many communications by Devlin at the time urged elimination of Lumumba.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Congo Cables: The Cold War in Africa—from Eisenhower to Kennedy|first=Madeleine G.|last=Kalb|publisher=Macmillan|year=1982|pages=53, 101, 129–133, 149–152, 158–159, 184–185, 195|isbn=978-0-02-560620-3}}</ref> As well, the CIA station chief helped to direct the search to capture Lumumba for transfer to his enemies in Katanga. Devlin was involved in arranging Lumumba's transfer to Katanga,<ref>Hoyt, Michael P. (2000). ''Captive in the Congo: A Consul's Return to the Heart of Darkness''. Naval Institute Press. p. 158. {{ISBN|978-1-55750-323-7}}.</ref>and the CIA base chief in Elizabethville was in direct touch with the killers the night Lumumba was killed. [[John Stockwell (CIA officer)|John Stockwell]], a CIA officer in the Congo and later a CIA station chief, wrote in 1978 that a CIA agent had the body in the trunk of his car in order to try to get rid of it.<ref>Stockwell, John (1978). ''In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story''. W.W. Norton. p. 105. {{ISBN|978-0-393-00926-2}}.</ref> Stockwell, who knew Devlin well, believed that Devlin knew more than anyone else about the murder.<ref>Stockwell (1978). pp. 71–72, 136–137.</ref>

The [[inauguration of John F. Kennedy]] in January 1961 caused fear among Mobutu's faction, and within the CIA, that the incoming Democratic administration would favor the imprisoned Lumumba.<ref>Mahoney, ''JFK'' (1983), pp. 69–70. "The Kasavubu-Mobutu regime began to consider the Kennedy administration a threat to its very survival. The Kennedy plan was seen as evidence of "a new and unexpected solidarity with the Casablanca powers ... (the radical [[Non-Aligned Movement|non-aligned]] African governments that supported Lumumba). The CIA station in Léopoldville bore much of the responsibility for the rupture. It had opposed any political solution to the power struggle and, worse, had fortified the resolve of Kasavubu and Mobutu, Nendaka, and the rest to use violence against others to save themselves. [...] The effect was tragic: reports that the incoming administration planned to liberate the imprisoned Lumumba on the one hand, and the CIA's deadly urgings on the other, acted like a closing vice on the desperate men in Léopoldville."</ref> While awaiting his presidential inauguration, Kennedy had come to believe that Lumumba should be released from custody, though not be allowed to return to power. Lumumba was killed three days before Kennedy's inauguration on 20 January, though Kennedy did not learn of the killing until 13 February.<ref>Mahoney, ''JFK'' (1983), p. 70. Quote: "White House photographer Jacques Lowe caught Kennedy, horror-struck with head in hand, receiving the first news by telephone a full four weeks later on 13 February. All the anguished searching for a way around Lumumba had been for naught. Forty-eight hours before Kennedy had even taken the presidential oath, Lumumba was already dead."</ref>

==== Church Committee ====
In 1975, the [[Church Committee]] went on record with the finding that CIA chief [[Allen Dulles]] had ordered Lumumba's assassination as "an urgent and prime objective".<ref>In Dulles' own words; William Blum, ''Killing Hope''. MBI Publishing Co., 2007: p. 158. {{ISBN|978-0-7603-2457-8}}</ref> Furthermore, declassified CIA cables quoted or mentioned in the Church report, and in Kalb (1982), mention two specific CIA plots to murder Lumumba: the poison plot and a shooting plot.

The Committee later found that while the CIA had conspired to kill Lumumba, it was not directly involved in the murder.<ref name="Kettle">Martin Kettle, "[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/aug/10/martinkettle President 'ordered murder' of Congo leader]", ''The Guardian'', 9 August 2000.</ref>

==== U.S. government documents ====
In the early 21st century, declassified documents revealed that the CIA had plotted to assassinate Lumumba. The documents indicate that the Congolese leaders who killed Lumumba, including [[Mobutu Sese Seko]] and [[Joseph Kasa-Vubu]], received money and weapons directly from the CIA.<ref name="USN" /><ref name="Weissman">Stephen Weissman, "[http://www.udel.edu/globalagenda/2003/student/readings/CIAlumumba.html Opening the Secret Files on Lumumba's Murder]", ''Washington Post'', 21 July 2001.</ref> The same disclosure showed that, at the time, the U.S. government believed that Lumumba was a communist, and feared him because of what it considered the threat of the Soviet Union in the Cold War.<ref>Blaine Harden, ''Africa: Dispatches from a Fragile Continent'', p. 50</ref>

In 2000, a newly declassified interview with Robert Johnson, who was the minutekeeper of the [[U.S. National Security Council]] at the time in question, revealed that U.S. President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] had said "something [to CIA chief [[Allen Dulles]]] to the effect that Lumumba should be eliminated".<ref name="Kettle" /> The interview from the Senate Intelligence Committee's inquiry on covert action was released in August 2000.<ref>{{cite news|first=Martin|last=Kettle|title=President 'ordered murder' of Congo leader|date=9 August 2000|access-date=18 January 2017|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/aug/10/martinkettle}}</ref>

In 2013, the U.S. State Department admitted that President Eisenhower authorized the murder of Lumumba.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v23/d1|title=Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XXIII, Congo, 1960–1968 – Office of the Historian|website=history.state.gov|language=en|access-date=2017-05-17}}</ref> However, documents released in 2017 revealed that an American role in Lumumba's murder was only under consideration by the CIA.<ref>{{cite web|title=JFK Assassination System Identification Form|url=https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32112745.pdf|access-date=15 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2017/oct/26/jfk-files-released-assassination-documents-conspiracy-theories|title=Government releases classified JFK assassination documents – as it happened|first=Alan|last=Yuhas|date=27 October 2017|access-date=17 December 2017|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> CIA Chief Allan Dulles had allocated $100,000 to accomplish the act, but the plan was not carried out.<ref>{{cite web|first=Herbert F.|last=Weiss|title=Review "INSIDE THE CIA: CONGO IN THE 1980s", of book by Larry Devlin. Chief of Station, ''Congo: A Memoir of 1960–67''. New York: Public Affairs|date=2007|website=Project MUSE, Johns Hopkins University|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/252471|page=143}}</ref>

=== British involvement ===
In April 2013, in a letter to the ''[[London Review of Books]],'' British parliamentarian [[David Lea, Baron Lea of Crondall|David Lea]] reported having discussed Lumumba's death with [[MI6]] officer [[Daphne Park, Baroness Park of Monmouth|Daphne Park]] shortly before she died in March 2010. Park had been posted to [[Kinshasa|Leopoldville]] at the time of Lumumba's death, and was later a semi-official spokesperson for [[MI6]] in the [[House of Lords]].<ref name="Quinn">Ben Quinn, "[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/02/mi6-patrice-lumumba-assassination MI6 'arranged Cold War killing' of Congo prime minister]", ''The Guardian'', 1 April 2013.</ref> According to Lea, when he mentioned "the uproar" surrounding Lumumba's abduction and murder, and recalled the theory that MI6 might have had "something to do with it", Park replied, "We did. I organised it."<ref name="wedidit">[http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n07/letters Letters], ''[[London Review of Books]]'', 11 April 2013, p.4</ref> The BBC reported that, subsequently, "[[Government of the United Kingdom|Whitehall]] sources" described the claims of MI6 involvement as "speculative".<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22006446 "MI6 and the death of Patrice Lumumba"], BBC News, 2 April 2013</ref>

== Political ideology and rhetoric ==
Lumumba did not espouse a comprehensive political or economic platform. He was the first Congolese to articulate a narrative of the Congo that contradicted traditional Belgian views of [[colonisation]], and he highlighted the suffering of the indigenous population under European rule. Lumumba was alone among his contemporaries in encompassing all Congolese people in his narrative (the others confined their discussions to their respective ethnicities or regions), and he offered a basis for national identity that was predicated upon having survived colonial victimisation, as well as the people's innate dignity, humanity, strength, and unity. Lumumba's ideal of [[humanism]] included the values of [[egalitarianism]], [[social justice]], [[liberty]], and the recognition of [[fundamental rights]]. He viewed the state as a positive advocate for the [[public welfare]] and its intervention in Congolese society necessary to ensure equality, justice, and social harmony.<ref name="lavdc">{{cite web|url=http://www.lavdc.net/portail/analyse-de-lheritage-politique-et-ideologique-de-patrice-emery-lumumba/|title=Analyse de L'Héritage Politique et Idéologique de Patrice Emery Lumumba.|last=Kayembe|first=Don|date=2 July 2013|website=LAVD Congo|access-date=10 April 2018|language=fr}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
=== Historiography ===
In the years after his death, misconceptions of Lumumba persisted by both his supporters and his critics.Academic discussion of his legacy was largely limited until the later stages of Mobutu's rule in the Congo. Belgian literature in the decades following the Congo Crisis portrayed him as incompetent, demagogic, aggressive, ungrateful, undiplomatic, and communist. Most Africanists of the 20th century, such as [[Jean-Claude Willame]], viewed Lumumba as an intransigent, unrealistic idealist without any tangible programme who distanced himself from his contemporaries and alienated the Western world with radical anti-colonial rhetoric. They saw him as greatly responsible for the political crisis that resulted in his downfall. A handful of other writers, such as [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], shared the belief that Lumumba's goals were unattainable in 1960 but nevertheless viewed him as a martyr of Congolese independence at the hands of certain Western interests and the victim of events over which he had little control. According to sociologist [[Ludo De Witte]], both of these perspectives overstate the political weaknesses and isolation of Lumumba.

The conventional narrative of Lumumba's premiership and downfall—that he was an uncompromising radical who provoked his own murder by angering domestic separatists—was severely challenged by De Witte's 2001 work, ''The Assassination of Patrice Lumumba'', which provided evidence that the Belgian government—with the complicity of the United States and the UN—was largely responsible for his death. Media discussion of Lumumba, spurred by the release of the book as well as a feature film in 2000, ''[[Lumumba (film)|Lumumba]]'', became significantly more positive afterwards. A new narrative subsequently emerged, holding Western espionage at fault for Lumumba's death, and emphasising the threat his charismatic appeal posed to Western interests. Lumumba's role in the Congolese independence movement is well-documented, and he is typically recognised as its most important and influential leader. His exploits are usually celebrated as the work of him as an individual and not that of a larger movement.

=== Political impact ===
Due to his relatively short career in government, quick removal from power, and controversial death, a consensus has not been reached on Lumumba's political legacy. His downfall was detrimental to African nationalist movements, and he is generally remembered primarily for his assassination. Numerous American historians have cited his death as a major contributing factor to the radicalisation of the [[American civil rights movement]] in the 1960s, and many African-American activist organisations and publications used public comment on his death to express their ideology. Popular memory of Lumumba has often discarded his politics and reduced him to a symbol. The ideological legacy of Lumumba is known as ''Lumumbisme'' (French for Lumumbism). Rather than a complex doctrine, it is usually framed as a set of fundamental principles consisting of [[Congolese nationalism (Democratic Republic of the Congo)|nationalism]], [[Pan-Africanism]], [[Non-Aligned Movement|nonalignment]], and [[social progressivism]].[[Mobutism]] built off of these principles.<ref name="lavdc" /> Congolese university students—who had up until independence held little respect for Lumumba—embraced ''Lumumbisme'' after his death. According to political scientist [[Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja]], Lumumba's "greatest legacy...for the Congo is the ideal of national unity". Nzongola-Ntalaja further posited that, as a result of Lumumba's high praise of the independence movement and his work to end the Katangese secession, "the people of the Congo are likely to remain steadfast in their defense of national unity and territorial integrity, come hell or high water."

Following the suppression of the rebellions of 1964 and 1965, most Lumumbist ideology was confined to isolated groups of intellectuals who faced repression under [[History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo#Zaire%20(1965%E2%80%9397)|Mobutu's regime]]. Centres of Lumumba's popularity in his lifetime underwent a gradual decline in fidelity to his person and ideas. According to Africanist [[Bogumil Jewsiewicki]], by 1999 "the only faithful surviving Lumumbist nucleus is located in Sankuru and Maniema, and its loyalty is questionable (more ethnical, regional, and sentimental than ideological and political)." Lumumba's image was unpopular in southern Kasai for years after his death, as many [[Baluba]] remained aware of the military campaign he ordered in August 1960 that resulted in violent atrocities against their people. At least a dozen Congolese political parties have claimed to bear Lumumba's political and spiritual heritage. Despite this, few entities have attempted or succeeded in incorporating his ideas into a comprehensible political program. Most of these parties have enjoyed little electoral support, though Gizenga's [[Unified Lumumbist Party|Parti Lumumbiste Unifié]] was represented in the Congolese coalition government formed under President [[Joseph Kabila]] in 2006. Aside from student groups, Lumumbist ideals play only a minor role in current Congolese politics.

=== Martyrdom ===
Lumumba's death began to take on great significance in the [[collective memory]] of the Congolese people in the immediate years after his passing. It is perceived that Lumumba was killed through Western machinations because he defended the Congo's [[self-determination]]. The killing is viewed in the context of the memory as a symbolic moment in which the Congo lost its dignity in the international realm and the ability to determine its future, which has since been controlled by the West. Lumumba's determination to pursue his goals is extrapolated upon the Congolese people as their own; securing the Congo's dignity and self-determination would thus ensure their "redemption" from victimisation by Western powers. Historian David Van Reybrouck wrote, "In no time Lumumba became a martyr of decolonisation...He owed this status more to the horrible end of his life than to his political successes."<ref>{{cite news|title=Sixty years since historic Lumumba speech launched Congo independence|newspaper=The Tribune|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=June 29, 2020|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/sixty-years-since-historic-lumumba-speech-launched-congo-independence-106072|access-date=July 2, 2020}}</ref> Journalist [[Michela Wrong]] remarked that "He really did become a hero after his death, in a way that one has to wonder if he would have been such a hero if he had remained and run the country and faced all the problems that running a country as big as Congo would have inevitably brought."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/en/patrice-lumumba-remembering-africas-che-guevara/a-18981406|title=Patrice Lumumba: Remembering 'Africa's Che Guevara'|last=Müller-Jung|first=Friederike|date=15 January 2016|publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]]|access-date=30 May 2018}}</ref> Historian Pedro Monaville wrote that "his globally iconic status was not commensurate with his more complex legacy in [the] Congo."

=== In popular culture ===
Lumumba is viewed as one of the "fathers of independence" of the Congo.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.congoplanet.com/news/1678/congo-celebrates-50th-anniversary-independence-patrice-lumumba-mobutu-sadc-congo-fiftieth-anniversary.jsp|title=Congo Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Independence|date=30 June 2010|website=Congo Planet|publisher=Congo News Agency|access-date=20 February 2010}}</ref> The image of Lumumba appears frequently in social media and is often used as a rallying cry in demonstrations of social defiance.<ref name="jacobin">{{cite web|url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/01/patrice-lumumba-congo-belgium-colonialism-murder/|title=Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961)|last=Jacobs|first=Sean|date=17 January 2017|website=[[Jacobin Magazine]]|access-date=18 March 2018}}</ref> His figure is prevalent in art and literature, mostly outside of the Congo. He was referenced by numerous African-American writers of the American civil rights movement, especially in their works of the post-civil rights era. Numerous songs and plays have been dedicated to him, and many praised his character, contrasting it with the alleged irresponsible and undisciplined nature of the Congolese people. Among the most prominent works featuring him are [[Aimé Césaire]]'s 1966 play, ''[[Une saison au Congo]]'', and [[Raoul Peck]]'s 1992 documentary and 2000 feature film, ''[[Lumumba, la mort d'un prophète]]'' and ''[[Lumumba (film)|Lumbumba]]'', respectively. In music, he is remembered in the song "Lumumba" by [[Miriam Makeba]], "Done too Soon" by [[Neil Diamond]] and "Waltz for Lumumba" by the [[Spencer Davis Group]]. His name is also mentioned in [[Rapping|rap]] music; [[Arrested Development (group)|Arrested Development]], [[Nas]], [[David Banner]], [[Black Thought]], [[Damso]], [[Baloji (rapper)|Baloji]], [[Médine (rapper)|Médine]], [[Sammus]] and many others have mentioned him in their work. In popular painting he is often paired with notions of sacrifice and redemption,even being portrayed as a [[Messianism|messiah]], with his downfall being [[Passion of Jesus|his passion]]. Lumumba is relatively absent from Congolese writing, and he is often portrayed with only subtle or ambiguous references. Congolese authors [[Sony Lab'ou Tansi]]'s and [[Sylvain Bemba]]'s fictional ''Parentheses of Blood'' and ''Léopolis'', respectively, both feature characters with strong similarities to Lumumba. In written tributes to Mobutu, Lumumba is usually portrayed as an adviser to the former. Writer [[Charles Djungu-Simba]] observed, "Lumumba is rather considered as a vestige of the past, albeit an illustrious past". His surname is often used to identify [[Lumumba (drink)|a long drink]] of hot or cold chocolate and rum.

== Tributes ==
* In 1966 Patrice Lumumba's image was rehabilitated by the [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Mobutu]] regime and he was proclaimed a national hero and [[martyr]] in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]. By a presidential decree, the Brouwez House, site of Lumumba's brutal torture on the night of his murder, became a place of pilgrimage in the Congo.<ref>Ludo De Witte, ''The Assassination of Lumumba'', Trans. Wright A and Fenby R, 2002 (Orig. 2001), London; New York: Verso, {{ISBN|1-85984-410-3}}, pp. 165.</ref>
* On 30th, June 2018 a Lumumba square was inaugurated in [[Brussels]], Belgium. The square is situated at the entrance of the [[Matongé (Ixelles)|Matonge]] neighborhood, and was inaugurated 58 years after the declaration of independence of the Democratic Republic of Congo.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/detail_une-nouvelle-place-lumumba-a-bruxelles?id=9960511|title=Plus de 300 personnes à l'inauguration de la nouvelle place Lumumba à Bruxelles|date=2018-06-30|website=RTBF Info|language=fr|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref>
* The [[Peoples' Friendship University of Russia|Peoples' Friendship University of the USSR]] was renamed "Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University" in 1961. In 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, it was renamed as "The [[Peoples' Friendship University of Russia]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9707/26/russia.university/|work=CNN|title=From Marxism 101 to Capitalism 101|access-date=21 May 2010}}</ref>
* Lumumba was commemorated by a street in [[Warsaw]] between 1961 and 1993.<ref>[http://tustolica.pl/do-lekarza-na-lumumby-tajemnicze-znikniecie-plockiej_76206 Gadomski (tustolica.pl) 2017 – "(...) fragment Płockiej (...) w latach 1961–1993 – nosił (...) nazwę "Lumumby" ("a fragment of Plocka St.... in years 1961–1993 was named... after Lumumba")]</ref>
* Lumumba was commemorated by a street in [[Kyiv]], [[Ukraine]] until in 2016 this street was renamed to honor [[Pope John Paul II]].<ref>[https://en.lb.ua/news/2016/11/10/2284_kyiv_renames_boulevard_honour.html Kyiv renames boulevard to honour Havel], [[LB.ua]] (10 November 2016)</ref>
* Lumumba was commemorated by a street in Artyomovsk (today [[Bakhmut]]), Ukraine.<ref>[https://kartagoroda.com.ua/%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%86%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C/%D0%91%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%BC%D1%83%D1%82/%D1%83%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B0_%D0%9F%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B0_%D0%9B%D1%83%D0%BC%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%B1%D1%8B Bakhmut: Patrice Lumumba street on the map (Бахмут: улица Патриса Лумумбы на карте )]. Kartagoroda.</ref><ref>[https://artemovsk.bankomap.com.ua/%D1%83%D0%BB-%D0%9F-%D0%9B%D1%83%D0%BC%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%B1%D1%8B-87-%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%84%D1%84%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%B7%D0%B5%D0%BD-%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BA-%D0%90%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C-%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BD.html (Банкомат по ул. П. Лумумбы, 87, Бахмут)]. Artemovsk.bankomap.</ref><ref>[https://zruchno.travel/ObjectEntity/ObjectEntity?idCrm=f355722b-9764-24e2-8b50-58de6e57f781&lang=ru ArtWinnery]. Zruchno.Travel.</ref>
* In 1964 [[Malcolm X]] declared Patrice Lumumba "the greatest black man who ever walked the African continent".<ref>{{cite book|title=By Any Means Necessary: Speeches, Interviews and a Letter by Malcolm X|last=X|first=Malcolm|author2=Breitman, George|year=1970|publisher=Pathfinder Press|isbn=978-0-87348-145-8}}</ref>

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Patrice Lumumba}}

== References ==

Korean War

2021-03-21T19:08:08Z

RedWedge1917:

The '''Korean War''', also known as the '''Fatherland Liberation War''' in DPRK, was a severely devastating armed conflict which broke out between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea. Although an armistice ceased armed conflict, the war is not officially over to the present day. The former was supported by her sister socialist nations, the USSR and the People's Republic of China. The latter was led by the United Nations, which was then controlled and manipulated by the United States since the USSR was absent boycotting the United Nations due to the non-admission of PRC.

== Events ==

=== Background ===
The Soviets had agreed to an impromptu proposal from the American side that Korea should be divided along the 38th parallel for the purpose of acceptation of military surrender. The persistence of this divide in the Korean peninsula had been the result of a class conflict which broke out following the departure of the occupying Japanese colonial forces and differing occupation regimes. A revolutionary tide was sweeping the peninsula with People's Committees being formed and a united Korean People's Republic had been formed, constituting a heavy socialist presence much to the anguish of the then-temporary American Occupation forces.
The Syngman Rhee regime was marked by mass repressions against the revolutionary movements and political activity generally - all political parties denounced the 1948 elections as. There was a lot of migration between the two occupation zones : political refugees went to the north, the dispossessed classes of landlords and merchants who supported the Japanese occupation fled to the south.

===

=== Entry of People's China ===

== International involvement/reactions ==

=== United Nations ===
At the time the Soviet Union was boycotting the Security Council due to the dispute over the Chinese seat in the UN going to the representatives of the Kuomintang regime in Taiwan, effectively disenfranchising the Chinese. While American influence already dominated the UN vis-a-vis the Marshall Plan ,taking advantage of Soviet absence the US hijacked the United Nations Security Council for its own designs upon Korea <ref>

=== United States ===

=== USSR ===

=== People's Republic of China ===

=== Non-Aligned Nations ===
The delegates of India and Egypt both initially voted in favour of the UN resolution declaring DPRK aggressor. Though the Egyptian delegate, Mahmoud Fawzi Bey, reverted to abstention. However, the Indian delegation went on to endorse even the second resolution which sanctioned the use of armed force against the DPRK, under American pressure. This achieved in deceiving the opinions of several Asian people that DPRK was indeed the aggressor here. These acts undertaken without sufficient inquiry are termed by historian Karunakar Gupta as "not consistent with its professed policy of its non-alignment." [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/china-quarterly/article/abs/how-did-the-korean-war-begin/E87C0302A6B899865E0CEA822EDD9492]
== Impact and Legacy ==
Although DPRK survived and claimed victory against American forces, the war had been very disastrous. More than 8700 factories were destroyed and 90000 hectares of farmland had been spoilt.[https://espressostalinist.com/2013/03/29/kcna-on-the-korean-war/] Even biowarfare was said to have been used against communist forces. Massive civillian losses were incurred -- approximately 4 million have been estimated. The strategic bombing operations against civilian populations is laid bare by the following words of General Curtis LeMay :<blockquote>There are no innocent civilians. It is their government and you are fighting a people, you are not trying to fight an armed force anymore. So it doesn't bother me so much to be killing the so-called innocent bystanders.<ref>Sherry, Michael (September 10, 1989). ''The Rise of American Air Power: The Creation of Armageddon'', p. 287 (from "LeMay's interview with Sherry," interview "after the war," p. 408 n. 108). Yale University Press. ISBN-13: 978-0300044140.</ref>

</blockquote>

Right of Nations to Self-Determination

2021-02-25T00:34:19Z

RedWedge1917:

The right of nations to self-determination is a revolutionary principle developed by several socialists until its final formulation and application by [[Vladimir Lenin]] and the [[Soviet Union]].

== Development of Theory ==
It was the long-proclaimed Marxist dictum that "No nation can be free if it oppresses other nations " and "A nation that enslaves another forges its own chains."[https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1870/03/28.htm]

The Second International continued to raise the colonial question and uphold the right to national self-determination of European nations, it was the

[[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], who was recognised as having the greatest expertise in he affairs of nationalities , wrote [[Library:Marxism and the National Question|Marxism and the National Question]] in 1913. The work Lenin went on to tremendously elaborate the Marxist-Leninist position when he wrote the [[Library:Right of Nations to Self-Determinations|Right of Nations to Self-Determinations]] in 1915

=== Bourgeois versions ===
As better remembered in bourgeois-propagated popular memory, the incumbent President of the United States Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the right of nations to self-determination for the central and eastern territories which had been occupied by regional imperialist powers . However, this was vision was highly limited[https://www.marxists.org/archive/chicherin/1918/league-of-nations.htm] : {{quote|...Mr President, your conception of the League of Nations with which you propose to crown the work of peace. You demand the independence of Poland, Serbia, Belgium, and liberty for the peoples of Austria-Hungary. You probably mean to say that the popular masses everywhere must first take the determination of their fate into their own hands in order afterwards to associate in a free league of nations. But, strangely enough, we have not seen among your demands the liberation of either Ireland, Egypt, India or even the liberation of the Philippines, and we greatly desire that these peoples, through their freely-elected representatives, should have an opportunity, jointly with us, to take part in the organisation of the League of Nations.|RSFSR FM Georgy Chicherin|Peace proposals to Wilson}}

Bourgeois nationalism of the post-Versailles states were highly exclusionary in nature, as shown by the oppression of Jews, Belorussians and Ukrainians in interwar Poland. Another bourgeois ideology which bastardises the concept of national self-determination is Zionism, which claims that all Jews, no matter where they live and the language they speak, constitute a single nation - and that they would attain self-determination by colonising the land of Palestine for themselves. Such views were refuted by Stalin, in response to Otto Bauer:
{{quote|The above-mentioned Jews undoubtedly lead their economic and political life in common with the Georgians, Daghestanians, Russians and Americans respectively, and they live in the same cultural atmosphere as these; this is bound to leave a definite impress on their national character; if there is anything common to them left, it is their religion, their common origin and certain relics of the national character. All this is beyond question. But how can it be seriously maintained that petrified religious rites and fading psychological relics affect the "destiny" of these Jews more powerfully than the living social, economic and cultural environment that surrounds them? And it is only on this assumption that it is possible to speak of the Jews as a single nation at all|Joseph Stalin|Marxism and the national question}}

== Theory in Practice ==
''For further information, check the article on [[Nationalities in the Soviet Union|Soviet nations]].''

On November 16 1917, Lenin issued the document which went on to be ratified by the Third Congress of Soviets on January 18,1918 and enunciated the following principles:

# Equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia.
# The Right of the peoples of Russia to self-determination, including the right to secede and form an independent national state.
# The abolition of all national and religious privileges and restrictions whatsoever
# Free Development for the national minorities and ethnographical groups inhabiting the territory of Russia.[https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/Декларация_прав_народов_России]

The Baltic provinces and Finland went on to apply for and obtain secession. This loss was more than compensated by the confidence the proclamation instilled for oppressed nations across the world.<ref>George Padmore '',How Russia Liberated Her Colonies (1945)''</ref>
The right of nations to self determination helped the Bolsheviks to gain the confidence of the oppressed nations in the imperial state and win the [[Russian Civil War]].

Right of Nations to Self-Determination

2021-02-24T15:06:01Z

RedWedge1917:

The right of nations to self-determination is a revolutionary principle developed by several socialists until its final formulation and application by [[Vladimir Lenin]] and the [[Soviet Union]].

== Development of Theory ==
It was the long-proclaimed Marxist dictum that "No nation can be free if it oppresses other nations " and "A nation that enslaves another forges its own chains."[https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1870/03/28.htm]

The Second International continued to raise the colonial question and uphold the right to national self-determination of European nations, it was the

[[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], who was recognised as having the greatest expertise in he affairs of nationalities , wrote [[Library:Marxism and the National Question|Marxism and the National Question]] in 1913. The work Lenin went on to tremendously elaborate the Marxist-Leninist position when he wrote the [[Library:Right of Nations to Self-Determinations|Right of Nations to Self-Determinations]] in 1915

=== Bourgeois versions ===
As better remembered in bourgeois-propagated popular memory, the incumbent President of the United States Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the right of nations to self-determination for the central and eastern territories which had been occupied by regional imperialist powers . However, this was vision was highly limited[https://www.marxists.org/archive/chicherin/1918/league-of-nations.htm] : {{quote|...Mr President, your conception of the League of Nations with which you propose to crown the work of peace. You demand the independence of Poland, Serbia, Belgium, and liberty for the peoples of Austria-Hungary. You probably mean to say that the popular masses everywhere must first take the determination of their fate into their own hands in order afterwards to associate in a free league of nations. But, strangely enough, we have not seen among your demands the liberation of either Ireland, Egypt, India or even the liberation of the Philippines, and we greatly desire that these peoples, through their freely-elected representatives, should have an opportunity, jointly with us, to take part in the organisation of the League of Nations.|RSFSR FM Georgy Chicherin|Peace proposals to Wilson}}

Bourgeois nationalism of the post-Versailles states were highly exclusionary in nature, as shown by the oppression of Jews, Belorussians and Ukrainians in interwar Poland. Another bourgeois ideology which bastardises the concept of national self-determination is Zionism, which claims that all Jews, no matter where they live and the language they speak, constitute a single nation - and that they would attain self-determination by colonising the land of Palestine for themselves. Such views were refuted by Stalin, in response to Otto Bauer:
{{quote|The above-mentioned Jews undoubtedly lead their economic and political life in common with the Georgians, Daghestanians, Russians and Americans respectively, and they live in the same cultural atmosphere as these; this is bound to leave a definite impress on their national character; if there is anything common to them left, it is their religion, their common origin and certain relics of the national character. All this is beyond question. But how can it be seriously maintained that petrified religious rites and fading psychological relics affect the "destiny" of these Jews more powerfully than the living social, economic and cultural environment that surrounds them? And it is only on this assumption that it is possible to speak of the Jews as a single nation at all|Joseph Stalin|Marxism and the national question}}

== Theory in Practice ==
On November 16 1917, Lenin issued the document which went on to be ratified by the Third Congress of Soviets on January 18,1918 and enunciated the following principles:

# Equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia.
# The Right of the peoples of Russia to self-determination, including the right to secede and form an independent national state.
# The abolition of all national and religious privileges and restrictions whatsoever
# Free Development for the national minorities and ethnographical groups inhabiting the territory of Russia.[https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/Декларация_прав_народов_России]

The Baltic provinces and Finland went on to apply for and obtain secession. This loss was more than compensated by the confidence the proclamation instilled for oppressed nations across the world.<ref>George Padmore '',How Russia Liberated Her Colonies (1945)''</ref>
The right of nations to self

Right of Nations to Self-Determination

2021-02-24T15:03:26Z

RedWedge1917:

The right of nations to self-determination is a revolutionary principle developed by several socialists until its final formulation and application by [[Vladimir Lenin]] and the [[Soviet Union]].

== Development of Theory ==
It was the long-proclaimed Marxist dictum that "No nation can be free if it oppresses other nations " and "A nation that enslaves another forges its own chains."[https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1870/03/28.htm]

The Second International continued to raise the colonial question and uphold the right to national self-determination of European nations, it was the

[[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]], who was recognised as having the greatest expertise in he affairs of nationalities , wrote [[Library:Marxism and the National Question|Marxism and the National Question]] in 1913. The work Lenin went on to tremendously elaborate the Marxist-Leninist position when he wrote the [[Library:Right of Nations to Self-Determinations|Right of Nations to Self-Determinations]] in 1915

=== Bourgeois versions ===
As better remembered in bourgeois-propagated popular memory, the incumbent President of the United States Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the right of nations to self-determination for the central and eastern territories which had been occupied by regional imperialist powers . However, this was vision was highly limited[https://www.marxists.org/archive/chicherin/1918/league-of-nations.htm] : {{quote|...Mr President, your conception of the League of Nations with which you propose to crown the work of peace. You demand the independence of Poland, Serbia, Belgium, and liberty for the peoples of Austria-Hungary. You probably mean to say that the popular masses everywhere must first take the determination of their fate into their own hands in order afterwards to associate in a free league of nations. But, strangely enough, we have not seen among your demands the liberation of either Ireland, Egypt, India or even the liberation of the Philippines, and we greatly desire that these peoples, through their freely-elected representatives, should have an opportunity, jointly with us, to take part in the organisation of the League of Nations.|RSFSR FM Georgy Chicherin|Peace proposals to Wilson}}

Bourgeois nationalism of the post-Versailles states were highly exclusionary in nature, as shown by the oppression of Jews, Belorussians and Ukrainians in interwar Poland. Another bourgeois ideology which bastardises the concept of national self-determination is Zionism, which claims that all Jews, no matter where they live and the language they speak, constitute a single nation - and that they would attain self-determination by colonising the land of Palestine for themselves. Such views were refuted by Stalin, in response to Otto Bauer:
{quote|...The above-mentioned Jews undoubtedly lead their economic and political life in common with the Georgians, Daghestanians, Russians and Americans respectively, and they live in the same cultural atmosphere as these; this is bound to leave a definite impress on their national character; if there is anything common to them left, it is their religion, their common origin and certain relics of the national character. All this is beyond question. But how can it be seriously maintained that petrified religious rites and fading psychological relics affect the "destiny" of these Jews more powerfully than the living social, economic and cultural environment that surrounds them? And it is only on this assumption that it is possible to speak of the Jews as a single nation at all.|Joseph Stalin|Marxism and the national question}
== Theory in Practice ==
On November 16 1917, Lenin issued the document which went on to be ratified by the Third Congress of Soviets on January 18,1918 and enunciated the following principles:

# Equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia.
# The Right of the peoples of Russia to self-determination, including the right to secede and form an independent national state.
# The abolition of all national and religious privileges and restrictions whatsoever
# Free Development for the national minorities and ethnographical groups inhabiting the territory of Russia.[https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/Декларация_прав_народов_России]

The Baltic provinces and Finland went on to apply for and obtain secession. This loss was more than compensated by the confidence the proclamation instilled for oppressed nations across the world.<ref>George Padmore '',How Russia Liberated Her Colonies (1945)''</ref>
The right of nations to self

Right of Nations to Self-Determination

2021-02-22T13:43:05Z

RedWedge1917:

Right of Nations to Self-Determination

2021-02-22T13:26:12Z

RedWedge1917: Added citation

Right of Nations to Self-Determination

2021-02-21T06:19:21Z

RedWedge1917: Started new article

Leon Trotsky

2021-02-20T01:51:20Z

RedWedge1917: made new page

Lev Davidovich Bronstein, better known as Leon Trotsky, was a controversial figure of the Russian Revolution who was later found to have disgraced himself be working in league with the fascists, as revealed during the interrogations of the [[Moscow trials|Moscow Trials]].

== Biographical Sketch ==
Trotsky was known to have a flair for making speeches and being a charismatic person. For instance, he was reported to have spoken in Russian, French and German straight for an hour each when given an hour to defend his position. He was also known to have an aristocratic and condescending attitude, being described as a "loner" by M.N. Roy.

== Pre-Revolution activities ==

=== Early Life ===

== Activities following October Revolution ==

== Theoretical Criticisms ==
Trotsky underplayed the importance of the national question He went on to stand the middle ground during the polemics between Lenin and

== Legacy ==
Trotskyism has proven to be a major diversion in the workers' movement even after his death, failing to organise

Russian revolution of 1917

2021-02-20T01:01:54Z

RedWedge1917: Added much more detail

The '''October Revolution''' (also known as the '''Great October Socialist Revolution''', the '''Bolshevik Revolution''', or simply the '''Russian Revolution''') was a socialist [[revolution]] which took place in the [[Russian Empire]] in 1917, following the abdication of [[Tsar Nicholas II]] and the establishment of the [[Russian Provisional Government]]. Brought on by the popular support for the [[Bolsheviks]] led by [[Vladimir Lenin]] and the failure of the Provisional Government to exit [[World War I]], the situation of [[Dual Power|dual power]] between the government and the worker-led [[Soviet (governmental body)|Soviets]] led to the overthrow of the state and the creation of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] (RSFSR) in the same year. It proved for the first time in history that a government entirely run by peasants, workers and soldiers was possible.

== Events ==

=== Background ===
The government of Kerensky failed to take up the task of necessary reforms and continued the imperialist war which was losing Russia her most class-conscious men and resulting in financial bondange to the Entente.

The actual seizure of power from the Kerensky government was relatively bloodless. The Winter Palace was attacked and seized on the night of 7 November 1918. Key eye-witnesses to the event include [[John Reed]].

=== Revolution in Russian Turkestan ===
The revolution took longer to build momentum in Russian Turkestan due to the lack of former socialist influence in the region . Aside from territories under direct control of the Russian Tsar, the Tsar had vassalised the Emirate of Bukhara and the Khanates of Khiva and Kokand. The population composition consisted of segregated Russian ''kulak'' settlers and the local populace, whom were stratified into the clerical nobility of the theocratic regime and the peasantry. The region was highly underdeveloped in terms of agriculture ,literacy and social progress and repression was reminiscent of the Medieval ages. The Russian occupation worsened the situation and landlessness among the peasants grew, doubling between 1909 and 1911.<ref>Joshua Konitz, ''Dawn Over Samarkand''</ref> However , the region was rife with activity of ''Djadidists (''bourgeois-nationalists''),'' whom went on to ally with the Bolsheviks''.''

== Impact and aftermath ==
The Great October Socialist Revolution inspired a number of communist and anti-colonialist movements across the globe. Underlining the importance of the unity of the revolutionaries who broke with the social-chauvinism of the [[second international]], the third international - the [[Communist International]] under whose programme disjoint communist groups found unity. The workers' state immediately showed solidarity by annulling unjust treaties imposed by the former Tsarist regime along with other colonial powers against China, Turkey and Iran - going on to assist Turkey in her liberation against the imperialist Treaty of Severing. Along with actively platforming and aiding third-world revolutionary movements in the Baku Congress of the Peoples of the East and Communist University for the Toilers of the East respectively, the Soviet state stood in solidarity with [[Weimar Germany]] against the imperialist Treaty of Versailles to subjugate the latter. Through its progressive [[Nations in the USSR|nationalities' policy of the Soviet Union]], the respect and trust of bourgeois nationalists struggling against imperialism was won (Case in point being [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Amanullah_Khan_letter_to_Vladimir_Lenin Amanullah Khan's letter to Vladimir Lenin])

== Historiography ==
Bourgeois historiography pivots around denying the necessity of the October Revolution (Richard Pipes) insisting that Kerensky's liberal-democratic revolution sufficed and denying the general incompetence of the government resulting to susceptibility to a military coup, like the one which had already been staged by Lavr Kornilov. According to such historians, if the anomaly of the first world war and the Bolshevik Revolution had not struck, Russia may have progressed out of backwardness herself or achieved stability under a liberal democracy. These historians deny the historical materialist view of history and ignore the underlying superstructure , viewing instead the [[World War I|first world war]] as well, as a result of serendipities and breakdown of diplomatic relations. As outlined by [[Joseph Stalin]] , reforms are adopted and kept afloat in response to revolutionary social movements (the limited political reforms were a result of the 1905 revolution and were quickly rescinded over the years) and Russia constituted the weakest link in the imperial system - which was only exacerbated and catalysed by the conditions of the first world war .[https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1924/foundations-leninism/ch01.htm]<ref>Walter Rodney, ''The Russian Revolution: A View from the Third World''</ref>

[[Trotsky]] and Trotskyist historians tend to exaggerate the role of Trotsky in the October Revolution and his military exploits. While he was a major figure responsible for the establishment of the Workers and Peasants' Red Army but erased out of history, it is missed that he joined the Bolshevik Party only 6 months prior to the revolution and continued to be involved in anti-party activities, like revealing party plans to a bourgeois newspaper and not following party directions for the Treaty of

Another source of contention within the bourgeois historiographical paradigm is whether or not [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] and the [[Bolsheviks]]' actions during the [[Russian Civil War]] lead (inevitably) to 'Stalinism' , a phenomenon of supposedly ossified bureaucracy, omniscient state and mass repressions - a caricature that is often painted of the Soviet history. Glossed over are the democratic advances made under Stalin. Stalin is presented as having usurped power when he held just the post of General Secretary even before Lenin's death. The humanist prison reforms aimed towards rehabilitation which were brought forth after relaxation of the red terror is missed as well.

George Orwell

2021-02-19T02:48:29Z

RedWedge1917: added a cheesy fact

'''George Orwell''' was a prominent essayist and novelist, who called himself a 'democratic socialist'. However, he was considered a [[Left-wing anticommunism|left wing anti-communist]] due to his anti-communist views, which led him to even collude with imperial Britain<ref>https://www.independent.co.uk/news/orwells-little-list-leaves-the-left-gasping-for-more-1328633.html</ref> in stark contrast to the anti-authoritarian virtues he claimed to espouse.

== Prominent Works ==

=== Homage to Catalonia ===
Orwell's first real seminal work was the 1938 ''Homage to Catalonia'', a memoir of his personal experience serving with the [[Workers' Party of Marxist Unification]] (POUM) in [[Revolutionary Catalonia]] during the [[Spanish Civil War]]. Despite mostly an anarcho-communist region at the time, Orwell cites Revolutionary Catalonia as the basis for his hardline dedication to democratic socialism, as well as his self-proclaimed anti-authoritarianism. There is likely some ingenuousness in his words though, as the POUM was famously anti-Leninist and Orwell from this point forward dedicated most of his literary career to denouncing/"satirizing" Marxism-Leninism. It is to note that Orwell initially tried to get a trip to Spain through the [[Communist International|Comintern]]-organised [[International Brigades]]. However, Harry Pollitt rejected him due to his lack of understanding party politics and lack of anti-fascist convictions.[https://archive.org/details/GeorgeOrwellAndSpain]

=== Animal Farm ===
Animal Farm is a 1945 novella that is meant to be an allegory for the founding of the Soviet Union and Stalin's rise to power. In the story, a farm of animals chase out their drunken owner and establish their own self-governing farm, only for a small group of pigs to effectively take all the power. Eventually, one particularly narcissistic pig named Napoleon sends guard dogs after the other pigs, making himself the undisputed ruler of the farm and oppressing his fellow animals into eventually acting just like humans. This is "supposed" to be an allegory for how Stalin lead the Soviet Union to effectively become a shadow of its former self - an authoritarian capitalist state just like its enemies - and to this day the book is one of the most famous and respected pieces of anti-communist fiction. This book helped solidify Orwell's identity as an anti-communist leftist, and is also arguably what gave significant rise to the "not real socialism" argument for AES.

=== 1984 ===
1984 is a novel set in a dystopian vision of the United Kingdom (referred to as Airstrip One). The novel is a thinly veiled panegyric to the plight of Trotsky, who is represented in the novel by the character Emmanuel Goldstein. He is reviled by the ruling Ingsoc Party, which is supposed to be an allegory to [[Marxism-leninism|Stalinism]]. 1984 is influential in political spheres due to concepts such as ''Newspeak'' (phrases such as ''wrongthink'' are often used by the far-right today) as well as the popularization of the ideas of Big Brother (totalitarianism) and mass surveillance.

== Criticism ==
Despite his anti-authoritarian virtues, Orwell composed lists of personalities noted to be sympathetic to the Soviet Union, the assigned comments reeking with homophobia and antisemitism.<ref>https://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv4n1/orwell.htm</ref> Orwell's allegorical criticisms of the Soviet Union were published during the Second World War, thereby providing propaganda against the USSR at a time where many socialists were defending it in the fight against [[Fascism]].

Among Leninists it is commonly pointed out that Orwell was an unashamed supporter of [[Leon Trotsky]], and wholeheartedly believed in the idea that he was an innocent man wrongly persecuted by his fellow Bolsheviks. Being a democratic socialist, Orwell was obviously not a fan of revolution in general, which explains his general disdain for vanguard movements as a whole, and why he favored the more decentralized nature of Revolutionary Catalonia.

== References ==
<references />

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

2021-02-19T02:08:17Z

RedWedge1917: added further info

The Communist Party of India(Marxist) is the largest of the several communist parties in India with over a million members in 2018 along with many more in its front organizations, having held power at state governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura along with being a party of nationwide repute. As stated in the party's constitution, "'''The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is the revolutionary vanguard of the working class of India. Its aim is socialism and communism through the establishment of the state of dictatorship of the proletariat. In all its activities the Party is guided by the philosophy and principles of Marxism-Leninism which shows to the toiling masses the correct way to the ending of exploitation of man by man, their complete emancipation. The Party keeps high the banner of proletarian internationalism.'''"[https://cpim.org/party-constitution]

== History ==
The undivided Communist Party of India was founded by a small group of Indian revolutionaries in exile in Tashkent in 1920, who were inspired by the ideas of the Russian Revolution. In its formative years, the party withstood the brunt of British repression with a number of conspiracy cases hurled against them in Peshawar (1922), Meerut (1923) and Kanpur.(1929) A number of revolts against the colonial government were either led or inspired by the communists - the Punappra Vayalar rebellion, the North Malabar rising, the Tebhaga movement, the Warli adivasi revolt and the historic Telangana struggle.[https://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/archive/Telangana.pdf]

The CPI came to power in the state government of Kerala for the first time in 1957. Due to the social changes brought by the Left Front government , the Centre imposed President's rule upon the state in 1959. The CPI(M) led Left Front won the electorate over West Bengal in 1974, after which over three decades of Left Front rule were to follow.

The Communist Party of India(Marxist) was formed in 1964 as a result of a prolonged struggle against [[Nikita Khrushchev|Khruschevite]] revisionism and [[Mao Zedong|Maoist]] dogmatism.[https://cpim.org/party-programme]

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

2021-02-19T00:19:19Z

RedWedge1917: Created new page

The Communist Party of India(Marxist) is the largest of the several communist parties in India, having held power at state governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura along with being a party of nationwide repute.

== History ==
The undivided Communist Party of India was founded by a small group of Indian revolutionaries in exile in Tashkent in 1920, who were inspired by the ideas of the Russian Revolution. The CPI came to power in the state government of Kerala for the first time in 1957. Due to the social changes brought by the Left Front government , the Centre imposed President's rule upon the state in 1959.

The Communist Party of India(Marxist) was formed in 1964 as a result of a prolonged struggle against [[Nikita Khrushchev|Khruschevite]] revisionism and [[Mao Zedong|Maoist]] dogmatism.[https://cpim.org/party-programme]

World War I

2021-02-14T01:22:30Z

RedWedge1917:

'''World War I,''' also known as the '''First World War''' and abbreviated as '''WW1''' or '''WWI''', was a conflict taking place from the years of 1914 to 1918. It is called a world war due to the fact that most countries in the world at the time directly participated in the conflict. Most of these participants were colonies of the main powers, as much of the conflict took place in Europe.

== Causes ==
[[File:World 1914 empires colonies territory.png|link=https://prolewiki.org/wiki/File:World%201914%20empires%20colonies%20territory.png|thumb|Map of colonial empires in the world in 1914. Note the relative size of each. Smaller possessions would form the Triple Alliance, while bigger possessions would form the Triple Entente.]]
Although the German 'blank check' for Austro-Hungary to initiate aggression against Serbia was the immediate cause, structural issues of the world capitalist order at the time can be identified. The main branches of bourgeois historiography pin down Imperial Germany as responsible for the war , noting the firebrand nature of Kaiser Wilhelm II (The Fischer thesis), or surmise that the war occurred due to a diplomatic breakdown, with each side 'sleepwalking' into the war. As the Industrial Revolution was winding down and several countries were turning towards imperialism to keep capitalism afloat, others were going to their industrial revolution still, which they had started at a later date (such as Germany). The former countries had already colonised the world and so had enjoyed the benefits of [[imperialism]] for decades. The latter countries on the other hand were barely reaching their imperialist phase, and as such entered the war to redistribute colonial possessions to their advantage.

== Alliances ==
Two major alliances faced off in the conflict. The '''Triple Entente''', composed of:

* France,
* the British Empire,
* and Tsarist Russia

Against the '''Triple Alliance''', composed of:

* the German Empire,
* Austria-Hungary,
* and Italy

== Major Events ==

=== The 'July Crisis' ===

=== Entry of Italy and the Battles of the Isonzo ===

=== The Brest-Litovsk Treaty and withdrawal of Russia ===

== Reliance on colonies ==
Colonies played a primordial role in this conflict, with their masters requiring soldiers and resources be sent to aid in the war effort.

A major rebellion against the Tsarist colonial government broke out in the Central Asian region in 1916. Another uprising against the British colonists, the Easter uprising also took place in 1916.

In his book ''The Wretched of the Earth'', Franz Fanon recalled a poem by Keita Fodeba, ''African Dawn'', in which a Malian youth is sent to fight for France in World War 1. Picked by the village for his bravery, he leaves in a ship soon after heading for the French front. During his time in the army, his wife receives sparse letters from him and fears for the worst every day. Eventually near the end of the war, she learns that he will be coming back. But on the day his ship arrives back in his home country, he is killed in an undisclosed altercation with two white colonial police officers.

Fanon notes that "There is not a single colonized person who will not receive the message that this poem holds." He further writes that "this is Sétif in 1945, this is Fort-le-France, this is Saigon, Dakar, and Lagos".

== Consequences of World War I ==
Ultimately, the forces of the Triple Alliance failed to upset the balance like they sought to, instead surrendering in 1918 and losing their colonial possessions. German and Turkish colonies were redistributed among the remaining imperialist powers in the following way: Syria and Lebanon mandates were taken by France, Rwanda and Burundi to Belgium , Palestine,Tanganyika, Cameroune and Togoland mandates were taken over by the British Empire (along with German Southwest Africa being absorbed by the dominion of South Africa). The infamous Versailles treaty was imposed upon members of the Alliance.

Faced with heavy penalties from the victors and coupled with the fact that they had become unable to enter an imperialist phase and sustain capitalism, fascism was able to take hold in Germany, Italy, and Austria, ultimately leading to [[World War II]]. It should be noted that fascism was already starting to appear in Italy under an ultranationalist veneer, and as such it wasn't WW1 by itself that was the triggering factor for fascism as an ideology to exist.

== Resistance to World War I ==
Several European socialist parties confirmed their commitment against the warmongering machinations of their respective ruling classes at the [[Basel Conference]] in 1912. However, most parties turned back on this commitment and joined their ruling classes to wage war against workers from other countries. Lenin organised the Zimmerwald conference in 1915 to organise remaining anti-war socialists and continued to call for the imperialist war to be turned to Russia, after having undergone the Bolshevik Revolution, withdrew from the war in 1917 and appealed to all countries to cease the war. The last phase of the war was very revelational in demonstrating the nature of the war while the Entente continued to engage with Germans on the Western front, Reichswehr soldiers were allowed to occupy the Baltics to stave off the Bolshevik "menace."

Totalitarianism

2021-02-14T00:56:26Z

RedWedge1917: A few lines added

'''Totalitarianism''' is a concept widely used by the Western bourgeois media to conflate communist and fascist governments. This term has been developed by Western scholars who defend [[liberal democracy]] as the highest form of human society, often completely ignoring the negative dimensions of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.

== History ==
In ''The Origins of Totalitarianism'', Hannah Arendt argued that Nazi and Communist governments were new forms of government and not merely updated versions of the old tyrannies. According to Arendt, the source of the mass appeal of totalitarian regimes is their [[ideology]] which provides a comforting and single answer to the mysteries of the past, present and future. For Nazism, all history is the history of [[race struggle]] and for [[Marxism–Leninism]] all history is the history of [[class struggle]]. Once that premise is accepted, all actions of the state can be justified by appeal to nature or the law of history, justifying their establishment of authoritarian state apparatus.<ref>Villa, Dana Richard (2000). ''The Cambridge Companion to Hannah Arendt''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 2–3. {{ISBN|0-521-64571-9}}</ref>

National Security Advisor for Jimmy Carter and rockefeller-connected, [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]] helped to introduce the concept of totalitarianism to university social science and professional research as a way to characterize and criticize the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet Union]] during the [[Cold War]].<ref name="Brzezinski & Friedrich 1956">Brzezinski, Zbigniew; Friedrich, Carl (1956). ''Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy''. Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|9780674332607}}.</ref>

[[Michael Parenti]] and [[James Petras]] have suggested that the totalitarianism concept has been politically employed and used for anti-communist purposes. Parenti has also analysed how "left anti-communism" attacked the Soviet Union during the Cold War.<ref>Parenti, Michael (1997). ''Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism''. San Francisco: City Lights Books. pp. 41–58. {{ISBN|9780872863293}}.</ref> For Petras, the [[CIA]] funded the [[Congress for Cultural Freedom]] in order to attack "Stalinist anti-totalitarianism".<ref>James Petras, 'The CIA and the Cultural Cold War Revisited', ''Monthly Review'', Volume 51, Issue 06, 1999</ref> More recently, [[Enzo Traverso]] has attacked the creators of the concept of totalitarianism as having invented it to designate the enemies of the West.<ref>Traverso, Enzo (2001). ''Le Totalitarisme: Le XXe siècle en débat''. Poche. {{ISBN|978-2020378574}}</ref> Historian [[Domenico Losurdo]] outlines that the horrors which supposedly equate Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union are not without historical parallel. He further outlines that they had significantly differing policies on the treatment of Eastern European nations and that Nazi rhetoric struck a chord with Western colonial ideas. In fact, Indian leader Gandhi remarked that Stalin was a "great man" and that "in India we have Hitlerian rule, however disguised it may be in softer terms.” The fact that the Soviet Union was the last to compromise and the political-historical conditions behind the [[Soviet-German non-aggression pact|Molotov-Ribbentrop pact]] must be remembered rather than using the historical event to invent such a false dichotomy.<ref>Losurdo,Domenico , (2016) '''Stalin and Hitler: Twin Brothers or Mortal Enemies''<nowiki/>' </ref>

== See also ==

* [[Left-wing anticommunism]]

== References ==

Neocolonialism

2021-02-13T23:46:30Z

RedWedge1917:

'''Neocolonialism''' is the control of another country through economic means. This typically involves giving loans and such to a country in need in exchange for things like cuts to social services as well forcing open their markets. Then the debt from the loan is leveraged to maintain control over the country forcing it to bend to the will of an imperialist power. This is mostly how modern [[Imperialism|imperialism]] is done. Although countries have been recolonised in the past (as in the case of Egypt in 1922), this became unfeasible after the post-war anti-colonial upsurge. Imperialism needed to conceal itself further and the facade of self-government to be maintained.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

2021-02-12T09:47:25Z

RedWedge1917:

The '''North Atlantic Treaty Organisation''', more often called '''NATO''', is an anticommunist international military treaty created in the [[imperial core]] following [[World War II]].

Its original aim was to defend bourgeois republics against a possible Soviet liberation of Europe. When this reality never materialized, NATO moved to funding anticommunist (more often fascist) acts in Europe and abroad.

== Members ==
The 12 founding members of NATO were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.<ref name=":0">https://archive.vn/wip/ogQgV</ref>

Since that time, other countries have joined the alliance: Greece and Turkey (1952), Germany (1955), Spain (1982), the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (1999), Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia (2004), Albania and Croatia (2009), Montenegro (2017) and North Macedonia (2020)<ref name=":0" />.

== Anticommunist projects ==
NATO took over anti-Soviet subversive activities from their predecessors when they started operating Nazi general Richard Gehlen's network of spies in the Soviet Union.

NATO is perhaps best known among European communists for [[Operation Gladio]], which is a name given to a series of operations that consisted of funding fascist groups in Europe to assassinate and destabilize communists in the 20th century.

== Imperialist acts ==
When the USA was attacked on September 11, 2001 and followed with a declaration of war against Iraq for imperialist interests, NATO -- by their own admission -- put their principle of collective defence to practice: if one member country is attacked, then all must join the war in defence. It is important to note that the government of Iraq never claimed responsibility or was ever tied to the terrorist attacks. Notably, president Bush admitted in 2006 that Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq in 2001, was not responsible for the attack<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/sep/12/september11.usa2</ref>.

The Coalition fighting in Afghanistan, in a conflict that started in 1979 when the Afghan government asked the USSR to help fight against the Mujahideen, was sent on the request of NATO.

== References ==
<references />

Indian general strike of 2020-21

2021-02-10T11:49:59Z

RedWedge1917: added references

On 26 November 2020, a mass general strike was held across India. The strike was organized by 10 trade unions across the country and was supported by the Indian National Congress, [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]], farmers' mass organisations and other left-wing parties. The strike saw an estimated 250 million people involved, making it the largest in history.<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/largest-strike-world-history-millions-india-protest/263999/</ref><ref>https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/01/08/why-are-200-million-workers-on-strike-in-india/</ref><ref>https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/10/indi-j10.html</ref>

The worker's unions presented a list of seven demands:

# Direct cash transfer of Rs 7,500 (US $101) to all families who earn less than the income tax threshold
# 10kg free grain ration per person every month to all in need.
# Expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to provide employment from the current 100 days to 200 days work in rural areas with enhanced wages, and extension of this programme to urban areas
# Withdrawal of all anti worker labour code changes and anti-farmer laws
# Stop privatization of public sector corporations, including those in the finance sector. Stop the corporatization of government-run manufacturing and services entities in railways, ordinance manufacturing, ports and similar areas.
# Withdraw the draconian circular of forced premature retirement of government and public sector employees.
# Provide a pension to all, restore earlier pension scheme and improve EPS 95.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-11-26|title=Over 250 million workers join national strike in India|url=http://www.industriall-union.org/over-250-million-workers-join-national-strike-in-india|access-date=2020-12-02|website=IndustriALL|language=en}}</ref>

== Response of Government ==
The response from the Indian government has been one of apathy to the suffering of farmers as they braved the cold weather. Farmers have been left dissatisfied with the conditions reached at the end of each talk.

Harpal Singh, organising secretary of non-partisan farmers' organisation BKU(Chaduni) remarked upon observing the insincerity of the government despite the deaths of 60 farmers at the time :
:“It seems like the Centre wants more farmers – martyrs – to lose their lives… only God knows how many are enough to make the government reconsider its position,”[https://www.newsclick.in/with-no-faith-ongoing-talks-farmers-prepare-step-up-pressure-centre]
As the Farmers' protests have remained persistent, they have been victims of mob attacks [https://www.newsclick.in/farm-laws-singhu-border-tense-goons-attack-protesting-farmers] , internet shutdowns [https://www.newsclick.in/Internet-Disabled-Singhu-Ghazipur-Tikri-Borders-Support-Swells-Protesting-Farmers] and silencing of supportive voices on the internet.[https://amp.scroll.in/latest/986422/youtube-removes-two-songs-about-farmers-protest-after-centres-legal-complaint]

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Indian general strike of 2020}}

== References ==

People's Republic of China

2021-02-01T15:57:21Z

RedWedge1917:

'''China''', officially the '''People's Republic of China''' ('''PRC'''), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of around 1.4 billion in 2019. It is led by the Communist Party of China (CPC). The Chinese constitution states that the PRC "is a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants," and that the state organs "apply the principle of democratic centralism."<ref name=":0">Constitution of the People's Republic of China ([https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/China_2018.pdf?lang=en Read in English])</ref>

The People's Republic of China is one of only four officially Marxist-Leninist states in the world today (alongside Vietnam, Laos, and Cuba). Over the last few years it has emerged as the [https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/10/06/unfavorable-views-of-china-reach-historic-highs-in-many-countries/pg_2020-10-06_global-views-china_0-10/ world's leading economic power], and as a result has been subjected to near-constant demonization from Western media and propaganda outlets. In order to gain a proper understanding of the PRC, and to distinguish legitimate points of criticism (of which there are many) from Sinophobic slanders, it is necessary to go over the history, economy, and development of the country.

== History ==
This is a general, simplistic overview of the history of the PRC, up to the present day.

=== Pre-Communist China ===
Before going over the revolutionary and post-revolutionary periods in China, it is necessary to understand what the country was like before the People's Republic was declared in 1949. According to a [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3484775/ study] in the ''Journal of Global Health'', China at this time was "one of the most impoverished nations on Earth." To quote:<blockquote>After a century of domination by Europeans, the fall of the Qing Empire was followed by partial Japanese occupation and a 38-year civil war. The vast majority of the population were engaged in subsistence agriculture, and a survey on the causes of death conducted in 1929-31 revealed that more than half of all deaths were caused by infectious diseases.</blockquote>China's state was due to the dominance of feudalism, oligarchy (most of China's affairs were controlled by a small clique of comprador capitalists ) and imperialism constantly threatening the fledgling republic founded by the Chinese nationalist revolutionary Sun Yat Sen. Suffering still from the century of humiliation which began with Western imposed treaties in [[Opium Wars|the Opium Wars]], western powers which had carved up China continued to control several settlements. Notably, outside parks the British settlement of Shanghai, signboards were hung up prohibiting Chinese and dogs inside.

In a [https://books.google.com/books?id=IZUPXjnGnhEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Amartya+Kumar+Sen%22+china+india+famine&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjGsY2Lx5fjAhVjdt8KHTRIDSoQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q&f=false book] on China and India, Nobel-winning economist Amartya Sen (Harvard University) notes that pre-communist China suffered from "high levels of mortality, undernutrition, and illiteracy." According to a [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265935983_Mao'_s_Legacy_Access_to_Land_and_Hunger_in_Modern_China study] from the London School of Economics:<blockquote>Western visitors to China in the 1920s and 1930s paint a picture where land scarcity is the predominant cause of high levels of hunger and poverty. Famines were widespread and severe and periods of hunger were a fact of life for many Chinese peasants. Ownership of land was highly unequal. The best estimates from this period suggest that, taken together, landlords (who were rich enough to avoid doing agricultural labor) and rich peasants (who did agricultural labor but also relied heavily on tenants and hire labor) typically owned upward of half the land though their share in the population typically did not exceed 10 percent. Poor peasants and agricultural laborers who owned little or no land formed the majority of the population.</blockquote>Educational standards in Kuomintang China were horrible. According to a [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4331212/ study] in the journal ''Population Studies'', in 1949 "more than 80 per cent of China's population was illiterate. Enrollment rates in primary and middle schools were abysmal: 20 and 6 per cent, respectively." In addition, women's rights were highly curtailed and patriarchal norms were widespread; according to a [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/009770047500100101 study] in the journal ''Modern China'', this trend continued as Kuomintang rule took root in Taiwan. All-in-all, KMT China can be safely said to have been one of the poorest societies in the world, plagued by starvation, patriarchy, and feudal oppression.

=== The Maoist Period (1949-1976) ===
After the PRC's founding was declared in 1949 (an event captured on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvgLUGRhuwU film], for those who are interested), the Communists quickly set to work implementing their new agenda. According to the aforementioned [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3484775/ study] in the ''Journal of Global Health:''<blockquote>The Communists were quick to make good on promises of land-reform and establishment of a national “people’s” government. In 1950 a Marriage Law was enacted, providing equal rights for women, and the first National Health Congress established a focus on rural health, disease prevention through campaigns, and collaboration between western and traditional Chinese medicine.</blockquote>According to the aforementioned [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265935983_Mao study] from the London School of Economics, the land reforms "led to the destruction of feudal power relationships in agriculture," leading to "universal and egalitarian access to land within localities." The reforms also led to a dramatic reduction in poverty and hunger. To quote:<blockquote>Mao's legacy of universal and egalitarian access to land represents a key means of avoiding hunger. This helps us to understand how China has managed to escape the high levels of hunger which typify low income countries.</blockquote>Health outcomes improved dramatically after the Communists took power. To quote from the ''Journal of Global Health:''<blockquote>China’s progress on communicable disease control (CDC) in the 30 years after establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949 is widely regarded as remarkable. Life expectancy soared by around 30 years, infant mortality plummeted and smallpox, sexually transmitted diseases and many other infections were either eliminated or decreased massively in incidence, largely as a result of CDC.</blockquote>The aforementioned [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4331212/ study] in ''Population Studies'', confirms these findings, noting that "China's growth in life expectancy between 1950 and 1980 ranks as among the most rapid sustained increases in documented global history." Another [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7123409/ study], this one from the journal ''Health Services Evaluation'', makes similar observations:<blockquote>The health of China’s population improved dramatically during the first 30 years of the People’s Republic, established in 1949. By the mid-1970s, China was already undergoing the epidemiologic transition, years ahead of other nations of similar economic status, and by 1980, life expectancy (67 years) exceeded that of most similarly low-income nations by 7 years.</blockquote>According to the ''Journal of Global Health,'' these improvements "can be attributed to population mobilization, mass campaigns and a focus on sanitation, hygiene, clean water and clean delivery," as well as "clinical care and continuing public health programs to the masses through community-funded medical schemes and the establishment of community-based health workers."

Education also improved dramatically in the Maoist era. According to the aforementioned [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4331212/ study] in ''Population Studies:''<blockquote>China made large strides in primary and secondary education under Mao. [...] During the 1950s, capital investments in primary and secondary school infrastructure increased tenfold, and dramatic increases in attendance followed. Primary school enrolment rates rose to 80 per cent by 1958 and to 97 per cent by 1975, and secondary school rates increased to 46 per cent by 1977.</blockquote>Amartya Sen makes similar observations, noting that literacy was greatly expanded under Mao:<blockquote>China's breakthrough in the field of elementary education had already taken place before the process of economic reform was initiated at the end of the seventies. Census data indicate, for instance, that literacy rates in 1982 for the 15-19 age group were already as high as 96 percent for males and 85 percent for females.</blockquote>These achievements of the Maoist era made possible China's later economic miracle. Amartya Sen states that "the accomplishments relating to education, healthcare, land reforms, and social change in the pre-reform [Maoist] period made significantly positive contributions to the achievements of the post-reform period. This is so not only in terms of their role in sustained high life expectancy and related achievements, but also in providing firm support for economic expansion based on market reforms." In his aforementioned [https://books.google.com/books?id=IZUPXjnGnhEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Amartya+Kumar+Sen%22+china+india+famine&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjGsY2Lx5fjAhVjdt8KHTRIDSoQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q&f=false book] on the topic, Sen summarizes the achievements of the Maoist period thusly:<blockquote>Because of its radical commitment to the elimination of poverty and to improving living conditions - a commitment in which Maoist as well as Marxist ideas and ideals played an important part - China did achieve many things… [including] The elimination of widespread hunger, illiteracy, and ill health… [a] remarkable reduction in chronic undernourishment… a dramatic reduction of infant and child mortality and a remarkable expansion of longevity.</blockquote>Of course, with all of this said, it should not be denied that the Maoist era saw some extremely serious problems. Most notable is the Great Leap Forward, which was a colossal failure, contributing to the Great Chinese Famine. A [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17289187/ study] in the ''Journal of Health Economics'' notes that the famine had major long-term effects on health and economic development in China, leading to reduced population height, and having a negative impact on labor supply and earnings of famine survivors. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution resulted in overzealous local cadres taking the situation out of control, destroying sites of heritage and recklessly denouncing people in their community. Even still, it cannot be denied that the Maoist period brought massive gains to the Chinese people, massively improving health, education, and nutrition, and laying the groundwork for China's later economic development.

=== Socialism with Chinese Characteristics ===
In 1978, in response to a perceived lack of necessary economic progress, the Communist Party of China embarked on an ambitious reform program, leading to the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics (SWCC). These reform programs have produced impressive results; according to a 2020 [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00213624.2020.1791579 study] in the ''Journal of Economic Issues:''<blockquote>Succinctly, in terms of economic development, the model has simultaneously achieved the following, all on unprecedented scales, particularly since the turn of the century: rapid expansion in both investment and consumption, rapid rises in both productivity and the wage rate, and rapid increases in job creation. All these have provided the necessary material conditions for broader social development: the fundamental enhancement of the power of labor, the reconstruction of a publicly-funded comprehensive healthcare system, and the acceleration of the process of urbanization.</blockquote>Despite these achievements, many leftists take little-or-no interest in SWCC, arguing that it is simply a form of "state capitalism." However, this ignores the reality of how China's economy is really structured. In her [https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-transformation-of-chinese-socialism book] ''The Transformation of Chinese Socialism'', political scientist Lin Chun (London School of Economics) lists some of the key characteristics of the Chinese economy:<blockquote>[Including] the relatively strong "human capital," accumulated through decades (including in the pre-reform period) of investment in basic needs, public education and health care; state and rural collective ownership of the land; the dominant public sector that retains the nation's strategic industries; government sponsorship of trade and technology transfer; state regulation of the movement of foreign capital, major financial transactions, and currency exchange; coordination between the center and provinces in fiscal and tax management, public spending, and developing regional comparative advantages; booming township and village enterprises (TVES); a countrywide increase in household incomes (including remittances sent home by migrant workers) and, therefore, a "consuming revolution" of a major increase in consumption.</blockquote>These characteristics (particularly the abolition of private ownership in land, the "dominant public sector," and state control of trade and foreign capital) are clearly not those of a capitalist economy, and instead point towards China pursuing a socialist model of development.

Another good discussion of this topic may be found in a 2020 [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0486613419888298?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.3 paper] in the ''Review of Radical Political Economics'', which argues that "primitive socialist accumulation - operating in conflict with capitalist accumulation - offers a more appropriate theoretical framework for studying China’s development." In other words, China is not capitalist, but is rather in the primary stage of socialism.

For those who remain unconvinced, I would remind them of what Lenin said in his [https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/ichtci/11.htm#v25zz99h-360 pamphlet] ''The Impending Catastrophe and How to Combat It:''<blockquote>You will find that, given a really revolutionary-democratic state, state-monopoly capitalism inevitably and unavoidably implies a step, and more than one step, towards socialism! For if a huge capitalist undertaking becomes a monopoly, it means that it serves the whole nation. If it has become a state monopoly, it means that the state (i.e., the armed organization of the population, the workers and peasants above all, provided there is revolutionary democracy) directs the whole undertaking. In whose interest? Either in the interest of the landowners and capitalists, in which case we have not a revolutionary-democratic, but a reactionary-bureaucratic state, an imperialist republic. Or in the interest of revolutionary democracy—and then it is a step towards socialism. '''For socialism is merely the next step forward from state-capitalist monopoly. Or, in other words, socialism is merely state-capitalist monopoly which is made to serve the interests of the whole people and has to that extent ceased to be capitalist monopoly.'''</blockquote>This perfectly describes the situation in the People's Republic of China: while there are capitalists and markets, they are under the constant control of the Communist Party and the proletarian state. In addition, state-owned enterprises continue to play an essential role in the Chinese economy, as we will shortly see.

=== Growth and Poverty Reduction Under SWCC ===
Having discussed the nature of SWCC, we can now look into some of its achievements. To begin with, poverty in the PRC has been dramatically reduced. According to a 2019 [https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20402 report] from Philip Alston (UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights):<blockquote>China’s achievements in alleviating extreme poverty in recent years, and in meeting highly ambitious targets for improving social well-being, have been extraordinary. [...] Over the past three decades, and with particular speed in recent years, China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. This is a staggering achievement and is a credit to those responsible.</blockquote>Similarly, a 2020 [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X20300626 study] in the ''China Economic Review'' notes that income growth has been "widely shared nationwide," resulting in "substantial, ongoing rural poverty reduction" throughout the country. A major milestone was reached with the recent announcement (acknowledged in Western media outlets, such as CNN) that the last poverty-stricken counties in China have been delisted, "leaving no county in a state of absolute poverty countrywide."

Malnutrition has continued to decline massively in China over the last several decades. According to the University of Oxford's Our World in Data project, China now has a lower rate of [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/malnutrition-death-rates?tab=chart&country=CHN~USA death from malnutrition] than the United States, as well as a lower rate of [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-the-population-living-in-extreme-poverty?tab=chart&time=1990..latest&country=CHN~USA&region=World extreme poverty], despite having a significantly lower GDP-per-capita.

Economic growth has also increased dramatically. According to a [https://www.nber.org/papers/w21397 study] from the National Bureau of Economic Research, "reforms yielded a significant growth and structural transformation differential. GDP growth is 4.2 percentage points higher and the share of the labor force in agriculture is 23.9 percentage points lower compared with the continuation of the pre-1978 policies." These results are remarkably impressive, and indicate that SWCC has been successful at its principal goals of developing China's productive forces and meeting the needs of the proletariat.

=== The Continued Role of Public Ownership ===
Contrary to the popular perception that China's growth has been the result of a transition to capitalism, the evidence shows that public ownership continues to play a key growth-driving role in the PRC's economy. According to the aforementioned 2020 [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0486613419888298?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.3 study] in the ''Review of Radical Political Economics'', "strategic industries, which Lenin called 'the commanding heights of economy,' are still state-owned and have played a very important role in China’s economic development." The author notes that "after decades of market reform, China’s state sector, rather than disappearing or being marginalized, has become a leader in strategic sectors and the driver of its investment-led growth." To learn more, we would recommend the [https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-13-6895-0#about book] ''The Basic Economic System of China'', which goes into this issue in much more depth.

=== Healthcare in Modern China ===
In the Maoist period, China built one of the developing world's most robust public healthcare systems, based on rural primary care, barefoot doctors, and regular mass campaigns, known as "patriotic health campaigns." Since the beginning of the reform period, China's healthcare system has gone through a number of phases. After an unfortunate period of regression and privatization, China has spent the last decade making rapid progress towards a new universal healthcare system. A 2020 [https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/3/e002086.abstract study] in the ''British Medical Journal (BMJ)'' summarizes many of the goals and programs of China's recent health reforms:<blockquote>Priority was given to expanding the scope and health service package of the basic insurance coverage, improving provider payment mechanisms, as well as increasing the financing level, fiscal subsidies and reimbursement rates. [...] The government has increased investment in primary care, with initiatives that include strengthening the infrastructure of primary healthcare (PHC) facilities, expanding human resources for primary care through incentives and supporting projects, establishing a general practitioner system and improving the capacity of PHC personnel through training and education, such as general practice training and continuous medical education programmes. [...] The ‘equalization of basic public health services’ policy implemented the national BPHS programme and the crucial public health service (CPHS) programme. [...] This policy seeks to achieve universal availability and promote a more equitable provision of basic health services to all urban and rural citizens.</blockquote>The study goes on to note that China has made significant progress towards meeting its reform goals, and building a developed and equitable universal healthcare system:<blockquote>During the past 10 years since the latest round of healthcare reform, China made steady progress in achieving the reform goals and UHC [i.e. universal health coverage].</blockquote>Another [https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/3/e002087?int_source=trendmd&int_medium=cpc&int_campaign=usage-042019 paper], also from the ''BMJ,'' summarizes the recent improvements in China's health outcomes, as well as access to, and cost of, healthcare:<blockquote>The results include the following: out-of-pocket expenditures as a percentage of current health expenditures in China have dropped dramatically from 60.13% in 2000 to 35.91% in 2016; the health insurance coverage of the total population jumped from 22.1% in 2003 to 95.1% in 2013; the average life expectancy increased from 72.0 to 76.4, maternal mortality dropped from 59 to 29 per 100 000 live births, the under-5 mortality rate dropped from 36.8 to 9.3 per 1000 live births, and neonatal mortality dropped from 21.4 to 4.7 per 1000 live births between 2000 and 2017; and so on.</blockquote>In short, while China's healthcare system is not perfect, it is certainly moving in the right direction. As with many other aspects of China's socialist construction, this provides a model for other developing nations; according to the aforementioned ''BMJ'' study:<blockquote>The lessons learnt from China could help other nations improve UHC in sustainable and adaptive ways, including continued political support, increased health financing and a strong PHC system as basis. The experience of the rapid development of UHC in China can provide a valuable mode for countries (mainly LMICs) planning their own path further on in the UHC journey.</blockquote>This is another benefit of China's rise to prominence on the world stage. China demonstrates to the world that it is possible for a desperately poor country to rise from poverty, develop its economy, and meet the needs of its people.

=== Democracy and Popular Opinion in China ===
Polls conducted by Western researchers have consistently found that the Chinese people have a high level of support for their government, and for the Communist Party. A 2020 [http://chinadatalab.ucsd.edu/viz-blog/pandemic-sees-increase-in-chinese-support-for-regime-decrease-in-views-towards-us/ analysis] by the China Data Lab (based at UC San Diego) found that support for the government has been increasing as of late. Similar results were found in a 2016 [https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/07/long-term-survey-reveals-chinese-government-satisfaction/ survey] done by Harvard University's Ash Center:<blockquote>The survey team found that compared to public opinion patterns in the U.S., in China there was very high satisfaction with the central government. In 2016, the last year the survey was conducted, 95.5 percent of respondents were either “relatively satisfied” or “highly satisfied” with Beijing. In contrast to these findings, Gallup reported in January of this year that their latest polling on U.S. citizen satisfaction with the American federal government revealed only 38 percent of respondents were satisfied with the federal government. </blockquote>It is worth noting that the Chinese people are significantly less satisfied with local government than they are with the central government. Still, these results disprove the common notion that the Chinese people are ruled by an iron fisted regime that they do not want. Indeed, one official from the Ash Center noted that their findings "run counter to the general idea that these people are marginalized and disfavored by policies." As he states:<blockquote>We tend to forget that for many in China, and in their lived experience of the past four decades, each day was better than the next.</blockquote>In addition, most Chinese people are satisfied with the level of democracy in the PRC. A 2018 [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0192512118757128 study] in the ''International Political Science Review'' notes that "surveys suggest that the majority of Chinese people feel satisfied with the level of democracy in China." However, the study notes that "people who hold liberal democratic values" are more likely to be dissatisfied with the state of democracy in China. By contrast, those who hold a "substantive" view of democracy (i.e. one based on the idea that the state should focus on providing for the material needs of the people) are more satisfied.

While the Chinese government contains authoritarian elements, it also has elements of genuine democracy. An example of this may be found in the National People's Congress, China's primary legislative body. While Western media has typically labeled the NPC as a simple rubberstamping body for the Central Committee, the facts indicate that this is not entirely true. A 2016 [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13572334.2015.1134909 study] in the ''Journal of Legislative Studies'' found that the NPC "is no longer a minimal or ‘rubber-stamp’ legislature," noting that "the NPC does play an important role in the whole political system, especially in legislation, though the NPC has typically been under the control of China's Communist Party."

Many of the other claims surrounding authoritarianism in China are highly overblown, to say the least. For instance, an [https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/16/chinas-orwellian-social-credit-score-isnt-real/ article] in ''Foreign Policy'' (the most orthodox of liberal policy journals) notes that the Chinese social credit system was massively exaggerated and distorted in Western media. An [https://www.wired.com/story/china-social-credit-score-system/ article] in the publication ''Wired'' discusses how many of these overblown perceptions came to be. None of this is to suggest that China is a perfect democracy, with zero flaws; it certainly has issues relating to transparency, treatment of prisoners, etc. That being said, it is far from the totalitarian nightmare that imperialist media generally depicts it as being.

=== Chinese "Imperialism" and the Belt and Road Initiative ===
China is often accused (typically by Western pseudo-leftists) of being an "imperialist" state, due primarily to its investments in Africa, as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. These critics ignore the actual views of the African people themselves, who [https://www.dw.com/en/africans-approve-of-china-says-afrobarometer/a-36214106 overwhelmingly approve] of China's role in their economic development. In addition, the extent of Chinese involvement in Africa is smaller than often believed; according to a 2019 [https://pedl.cepr.org/publications/chinese-investment-africa-how-much-do-we-know paper] from the Center for Economic Policy Research, "China’s influence in Africa is much smaller than is generally believed, though its engagement on the continent is increasing. Chinese investment in Africa, while less extensive than often assumed, has the potential to generate jobs and development on the continent."

A 2018 [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879933718300551 study] in the ''Review of Development Finance'' also found that Chinese investment in Africa raises incomes in the African nations that receive the investment, in a similar way to foreign investments by other nations. The author state that these results "suggest that the win-win deal China claims when investing in Africa may hold, and Chinese investment contributes to growth in Africa. Put differently, Chinese investment is mutually beneficial for both China and Africa."

For those interested in learning more, the economist Yanis Varoufakis discussed the topic in a recent lecture given at the Cambridge forum. He helpfully debunks a number of myths on the matter.

=== Marxist Political Economy in Contemporary China ===
In 2020, Xi Jinping gave a [http://en.qstheory.cn/2020-11/08/c_560906.htm speech] to the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, in which he made clear the continued importance that the CPC places on Marxist political economy. To quote:<blockquote>Marxist political economy is an important component of Marxism, and required learning for our efforts to uphold and develop Marxism. [...] There are people who believe Marxist political economy and ''Das Kapital'' are obsolete, but this is an arbitrary and erroneous judgment. Setting aside more distant events and looking at just the period since the global financial crisis, we can see that many capitalist countries have remained in an economic slump, with serious unemployment problems, intensifying polarization, and deepening social divides. The facts tell us that the contradictions between the socialization of production and the private possession of the means of production still exist, but they are manifested in ways and show characteristics that are somewhat different.</blockquote>He goes on to list a number of principles guiding the implementation of Marxist political economy in the PRC:<blockquote>First, we must uphold a people-centered approach to development. Development is for the people; this is the fundamental position of Marxist political economy. [...] Second, we must uphold the new development philosophy. Third, we must uphold and improve our basic socialist economic system. According to Marxist political economy, ownership of the means of production is the core of the relations of production, and this determines a society's fundamental nature and the orientation of its development. Since reform and opening up... we have stressed the importance of continuing to make public ownership the mainstay while allowing ownership of other forms to develop side by side, and made it clear that both the public and non-public sectors are important components of the socialist market economy as well as crucial foundations for our nation's economic and social development. [...] Fourth, we must uphold and improve our basic socialist distribution system. [...] Fifth, we must uphold reforms to develop the socialist market economy. [...] Sixth, we must uphold the fundamental national policy of opening up.</blockquote>From this, it should be quite clear that Marxism (specifically Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought) retains a dominant role in the People's Republic of China, serving as the guiding ideology of the Communist Party.
=== Xinjiang Conflict ===
Similar to Operation Cyclone, where the US supported Islamic fundamentalism to destabilize Afghanistan, the US has supported Islamic fundamentalist separatists in the Xinjiang region of China. China's response to this upsurge of terrorism and separatism has been to construct re-education camps which have been decried by the Western press in an effort to accuse China of running "concentration camps" and "death camps". Western countries have signed a letter criticizing China, while a counter-letter was signed by countries in the Muslim World as well as progressive states such as Cuba and Bolivia (under the socialist government of Evo Morales, prior to the US-backed coup)<ref>https://www.qiaocollective.com/en/education/xinjiang</ref>

== The Mao Era - A More Detailed Analysis ==
Most people (including many who call themselves socialists) have a very deceptive impression of Mao Zedong. They tend to rely on bourgeois myths and fictions as their only sources of information about him, and they thus lack a proper understanding of his immense achievements (which are ignored), as well as his flaws (which are exaggerated and mischaracterized).

Because Mao's ideology continues to be the driving force behind the most active and revolutionary sector of the international communist movement (as demonstrated by the Naxalites in India, the NPA in the Philippines, and many others), it is important that we have a correct understanding of Maoist policies, and the immense gains they made for the Chinese people.

=== General Overview of Living Standards ===
Our primary source in this section will be an in-depth [https://books.google.com/books?id=IZUPXjnGnhEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Amartya+Kumar+Sen%22+china+india+famine&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjGsY2Lx5fjAhVjdt8KHTRIDSoQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q&f=false study] conducted by Amartya Sen, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and fellow of Trinity College at Cambridge University. Sen was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to development and welfare economics, including his work comparing living standards in the People's Republic of China (particularly during the Maoist period) to those in India.

The results of Sen's study can be summarized by the following remark, in which he discusses China's decidedly superior achievements, and attributes them directly to the socialist ideology of the Maoist period:<blockquote>Because of its radical commitment to the elimination of poverty and to improving living conditions - a commitment in which Maoist as well as Marxist ideas and ideals played an important part - China did achieve many things that the Indian leadership failed to press for and pursue with any vigor. The elimination of widespread hunger, illiteracy, and ill health falls solidly in this category. When state action operates in the right direction, the results can be quite remarkable, as is illustrated by the social achievements of the pre-reform [Maoist] period.</blockquote>Another important comment summarizing the findings of the study is as follows:<blockquote>We argue, in particular, that the accomplishments relating to education, healthcare, land reforms, and social change in the pre-reform [Maoist] period made significantly positive contributions to the achievements of the post-reform period. This is so not only in terms of their role in sustained high life expectancy and related achievements, but also in providing firm support for economic expansion based on market reforms.</blockquote>Sen states here that the Maoist period saw enormous increases in quality of life for the Chinese people, as well as important economic developments, without which the economic expansion following the 1979 market reforms most likely could not have taken place.

Sen notes that during the Maoist period, a "remarkable reduction in chronic undernourishment took place," attributing this to the socialist policies implemented by Mao's government:<blockquote>The casual processes through which the reduction of undernourishment was achieved involved extensive state action including redistributive policies, nutritional support, and of course health care (since undernourishment is frequently caused by parasitic diseases and other illnesses).</blockquote>Sen focuses more attention on the remarkable advances in healthcare during the Maoist period:<blockquote>China's achievements in the field of health during the pre-reform period include a dramatic reduction of infant and child mortality and a remarkable expansion of longevity.</blockquote>It is also noted that China's life expectancy approximately ''doubled'' during the Maoist period, from approx. 35 years in 1949, to 68 years in 1981 (when Dengist reforms began to take effect). This is further elaborated on in the next source.

On the issue of education, Sen notes that the huge improvements (including dramatic increases in literacy) can be attributed primary to the pre-reform Maoist period:<blockquote>China's breakthrough in the field of elementary education had already taken place before the process of economic reform was initiated at the end of the seventies. Census data indicate, for instance, that literacy rates in 1982 for the 15-19 age group were already as high as 96 percent for males and 85 percent for females.</blockquote>Let us examine the issue of public health in more detail.

=== Further Research on Public Health and Life Expectancy ===
Another excellent source on public health in Maoist China comes from a [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4331212/ study] in the journal ''Population Studies'', in a study conducted by researchers from Stanford University and the National Bureau for Economic Research. One important comment is as follows<blockquote>China's growth in life expectancy at birth from 35–40 years in 1949 to 65.5 years in 1980 is among the most rapid sustained increases in documented global history.</blockquote>This alone goes to show the massive benefits attained by the socialist policies under Mao Zedong. More important information is provided in the study, dealing with hospital and medical resources:<blockquote>Physician and hospital supply grew dramatically under Mao due to a variety of factors (including increases in government financing, the introduction of social insurance for urban public employees, and the launch of China's Rural Cooperative Medical System in the mid-1950's). Rural Cooperative Medical Schemes (CMS) were vigorously promoted and became widespread in the late 1960's as part of the Cultural Revolution.</blockquote>The study confirms Sen's analysis of education:<blockquote>China made large strides in primary and secondary education under Mao.</blockquote>It also quotes other research which found that the rapid gains in Chinese healthcare can be attributed to the specific socialist policies implemented:<blockquote>China's mortality decline between 1953 and 1957, which resembles that of the US between 1900 and 1930, was “primarily due to the unique social organization of Chinese public health practices.”</blockquote>Note that China achieved in four years what the United States took thirty years to accomplish, due to their differing systems (i.e. socialism vs. capitalism). The study also confirms the immense success of Maoist vaccination programs:<blockquote>Systematic efforts to vaccinate the population against polio, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough, scarlet fever, and cholera were rapid and reputedly successful (China nearly eradicated smallpox within the span of only three years, with the last documented cases occurring in Tibet and Yunnan in 1960).</blockquote>Additional citations for the claims in the above quotes are provided in the original study.

=== Analysis of the Great Chinese Famine - Comparison to Capitalist India ===
In analyzing this topic, we may look to another work by Amartya Sen, his [https://scholar.harvard.edu/sen/publications/hunger-and-public-action book] ''Hunger and Public Action,'' written with John Dreze. Sen and Dreze point out that, while the Chinese famine was devastating, it pales in comparison to the ordinary mortality rates which occur under capitalism in an otherwise comparable nation like India:<blockquote>...it is important to note that despite the gigantic size of excess mortality in the Chinese famine, the extra mortality in India from regular deprivation in normal times vastly overshadows the former. Comparing India’s death rate of 12 per thousand with China’s of 7 per thousand, and applying that difference to the Indian population of 781 million in 1986, we get an estimate of excess normal mortality in India of 3.9 million per year. This implies that every eight years or so more people die in India because of its higher regular death rate than died in China in the gigantic famine of 1958 – 61. India seems to manage to fill its cupboard with more skeletons every eight years than China put there in its years of shame.</blockquote>This comes out to more than ''100 million'' excess deaths in India alone from 1947 (when India become independent) to 1980. As Paul Heideman put it in an [https://jacobinmag.com/2018/08/capitalism-socialism-khmer-rouge-cambodia-china-famine-friedersdorf article] for ''Jacobin'':<blockquote>In other words, though India experienced no concentrated period of starvation which can be easily identified and hung around the neck of a particular ideology, its ordinary conditions for the latter half of the twentieth century, in which an extraordinarily unequal distribution of land obtained, created an excess mortality that, over the long term, dwarfed that of the worst famine of the century.</blockquote>This demonstrates the effects that capitalism has on a developing nation. This is all the more shocking when compared to the immense gains made in the People's Republic of China, described in the earlier sections of this discussion.

=== Conclusion ===
The People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong made enormous strides in living standards, dramatically bettering the lives of hundreds of millions of people. While the bourgeois establishment continues to misrepresent and distort the legacy of Mao Zedong, he remains an inspirational figure to the billions of people around the world who have benefited, either directly (via the improvements mentioned above) or indirectly (via his influence on global revolutionary movements), from his work.

== References ==

* [https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/10/06/unfavorable-views-of-china-reach-historic-highs-in-many-countries/pg_2020-10-06_global-views-china_0-10/ Pew Research Center | Europeans View China as World's Leading Economic Power]
* [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3484775/ Journal of Global Health | Communicable Disease Control in China: From Mao to Now]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=IZUPXjnGnhEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Amartya+Kumar+Sen%22+china+india+famine&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjGsY2Lx5fjAhVjdt8KHTRIDSoQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Harvard University | Perspectives on the Economic and Human Development of India and China]
* [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265935983_Mao London School of Economics | Mao's Legacy: Access to Land and Hunger in Modern China]
* [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4331212/ Population Studies | An Exploration of China's Mortality Decline Under Mao: A Provincial Analysis, 1950-1980]
* [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/009770047500100101 Modern China | Women Under Kuomintang Rule: Variations on the Feminine Mystique]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvgLUGRhuwU YouTube | Mao Declares the People's Republic of China]
* [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7123409/ Health Services Evaluation | Health System in China]
* [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17289187/ Journal of Health Economics | The Long-Term Health and Economic Consequences of the 1959-1961 Famine in China]
* [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00213624.2020.1791579 Journal of Economic Issues | State-Owned Enterprises in Chinese Economic Transformation: Institutional Functionality and Credibility in Alternative Perspectives]
* [https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-transformation-of-chinese-socialism Duke University Press | "The Transformation of Chinese Socialism" by Lin Chun]
* [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0486613419888298?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.3 Review of Radical Political Economics | Primitive Socialist Accumulation in China: An Alternative View on the Anomalies of Chinese “Capitalism”]
* [https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/ichtci/11.htm#v25zz99h-360 Marxists Internet Archive | "The Impending Catastrophe and How to Combat It" by Vladimir Lenin]
* [https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20402 UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights | 2019 End-of-Mission Report on China]
* [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X20300626 China Economic Review | The Long-Term Evolution of National Income Inequality and Rural Poverty in China]
* [https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/27/asia/china-xi-jinping-poverty-alleviation-intl-hnk/index.html CNN | China Has Reached a Major Milestone in Ending Absolute Poverty. But the Communist Party Isn't Celebrating Yet.]
* [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/malnutrition-death-rates?tab=chart&country=CHN~USA Our World in Data | Malnutrition Death Rate: China and United States]
* [https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-of-the-population-living-in-extreme-poverty?tab=chart&time=1990..latest&country=CHN~USA&region=World Our World in Data | Extreme Poverty Rate: China and United States]
* [https://www.nber.org/papers/w21397 National Bureau of Economic Research | The Economy of People's Republic of China from 1953]
* [https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-13-6895-0#about Springer | The Basic Economic System of China]
* [https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/3/e002086.abstract British Medical Journal | Toward Universal Health Coverage: Lessons From 10 Years of Healthcare Reform in China (Practice)]
* [https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/3/e002087?int_source=trendmd&int_medium=cpc&int_campaign=usage-042019 British Medical Journal | Toward Universal Health Coverage: Lessons From 10 Years of Healthcare Reform in China (Analysis)]
* [http://chinadatalab.ucsd.edu/viz-blog/pandemic-sees-increase-in-chinese-support-for-regime-decrease-in-views-towards-us/ China Data Lab (UCSD) | Pandemic Sees Increase in Chinese Support for Regime, Decrease in Views Towards US]
* [https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/07/long-term-survey-reveals-chinese-government-satisfaction/ Ash Center (Harvard University) | Long-Term Survey Reveals Chinese Government Satisfaction]
* [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0192512118757128 International Political Science Review | Popular Concepts of Democracy and Democratic Satisfaction in China]
* [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13572334.2015.1134909 Journal of Legislative Studies | Is the Label 'Minimal Legislature' Still Appropriate? The Role of the National People's Congress in China's Political System]
* [https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/16/chinas-orwellian-social-credit-score-isnt-real/ Foreign Policy | China's Orwellian Social Credit Score Isn't Real]
* [https://www.wired.com/story/china-social-credit-score-system/ Wired | How the West Got China's Social Credit System Wrong]
* [https://www.dw.com/en/africans-approve-of-china-says-afrobarometer/a-36214106 DW News | Africans Approve of China, Says Afrobarometer]
* [https://pedl.cepr.org/publications/chinese-investment-africa-how-much-do-we-know Center for Economic Policy Research | Chinese Investment in Africa: How Much Do We Know]
* [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879933718300551 Review of Development Finance | On the Importance of Chinese Investment in Africa]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03l3Ra4bL_A YouTube | Yanis Varoufakis on Chinese "Imperialism"]
* [http://en.qstheory.cn/2020-11/08/c_560906.htm Qiushi | Opening Up New Frontiers for Marxist Political Economy in China in Contemporary China]
* [https://scholar.harvard.edu/sen/publications/hunger-and-public-action Harvard University | Hunger and Public Action]
* [https://jacobinmag.com/2018/08/capitalism-socialism-khmer-rouge-cambodia-china-famine-friedersdorf Jacobin | When Will Capitalism Answer For Its Crimes?]

Indian general strike of 2020-21

2021-01-28T17:43:39Z

RedWedge1917:

On 26 November 2020, a mass general strike was held across India. The strike was organized by 10 trade unions across the country and was supported by the Indian National Congress, [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]], farmers' mass organisations and other left-wing parties. The strike saw an estimated 250 million people involved, making it the largest in history.<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/largest-strike-world-history-millions-india-protest/263999/</ref><ref>https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/01/08/why-are-200-million-workers-on-strike-in-india/</ref><ref>https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/10/indi-j10.html</ref>

The worker's unions presented a list of seven demands:

# Direct cash transfer of Rs 7,500 (US $101) to all families who earn less than the income tax threshold
# 10kg free grain ration per person every month to all in need.
# Expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to provide employment from the current 100 days to 200 days work in rural areas with enhanced wages, and extension of this programme to urban areas
# Withdrawal of all anti worker labour code changes and anti-farmer laws
# Stop privatization of public sector corporations, including those in the finance sector. Stop the corporatization of government-run manufacturing and services entities in railways, ordinance manufacturing, ports and similar areas.
# Withdraw the draconian circular of forced premature retirement of government and public sector employees.
# Provide a pension to all, restore earlier pension scheme and improve EPS 95.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-11-26|title=Over 250 million workers join national strike in India|url=http://www.industriall-union.org/over-250-million-workers-join-national-strike-in-india|access-date=2020-12-02|website=IndustriALL|language=en}}</ref>

== Response of Government ==
The response from the Indian government has been one of apathy to the suffering of farmers as they braved the cold weather. Farmers have been left dissatisfied with the conditions reached at the end of each talk.

Harpal Singh, organising secretary of non-partisan farmers' organisation BKU(Chaduni) remarked upon observing the insincerity of the government despite the deaths of 60 farmers at the time :
:“It seems like the Centre wants more farmers – martyrs – to lose their lives… only God knows how many are enough to make the government reconsider its position,”[https://www.newsclick.in/with-no-faith-ongoing-talks-farmers-prepare-step-up-pressure-centre]

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Indian general strike of 2020}}

== References ==

Indian general strike of 2020-21

2021-01-28T09:31:09Z

RedWedge1917: If anyone knows how to produce the quote, do it

On 26 November 2020, a mass general strike was held across India. The strike was organized by 10 trade unions across the country and was supported by the Indian National Congress, [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]], farmers' mass organisations and other left-wing parties. The strike saw an estimated 250 million people involved, making it the largest in history.<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/largest-strike-world-history-millions-india-protest/263999/</ref><ref>https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/01/08/why-are-200-million-workers-on-strike-in-india/</ref><ref>https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/10/indi-j10.html</ref>

The worker's unions presented a list of seven demands:

# Direct cash transfer of Rs 7,500 (US $101) to all families who earn less than the income tax threshold
# 10kg free grain ration per person every month to all in need.
# Expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to provide employment from the current 100 days to 200 days work in rural areas with enhanced wages, and extension of this programme to urban areas
# Withdrawal of all anti worker labour code changes and anti-farmer laws
# Stop privatization of public sector corporations, including those in the finance sector. Stop the corporatization of government-run manufacturing and services entities in railways, ordinance manufacturing, ports and similar areas.
# Withdraw the draconian circular of forced premature retirement of government and public sector employees.
# Provide a pension to all, restore earlier pension scheme and improve EPS 95.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-11-26|title=Over 250 million workers join national strike in India|url=http://www.industriall-union.org/over-250-million-workers-join-national-strike-in-india|access-date=2020-12-02|website=IndustriALL|language=en}}</ref>

== Response of Government ==
The response from the Indian government has been one of apathy to the suffering of farmers as they braved the c

Harpal Singh, organising secretary of non-partisan farmers' organisation BKU(Chaduni) remarked upon observing the insincerity of the government despite the deaths of 60 farmers at the time :

“It seems like the Centre wants more farmers – martyrs – to lose their lives… only God knows how many are enough to make the government reconsider its position,”[https://www.newsclick.in/with-no-faith-ongoing-talks-farmers-prepare-step-up-pressure-centre]

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Indian general strike of 2020}}

== References ==

Indian general strike of 2020-21

2021-01-28T09:30:11Z

RedWedge1917:

On 26 November 2020, a mass general strike was held across India. The strike was organized by 10 trade unions across the country and was supported by the Indian National Congress, [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]], farmers' mass organisations and other left-wing parties. The strike saw an estimated 250 million people involved, making it the largest in history.<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/largest-strike-world-history-millions-india-protest/263999/</ref><ref>https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/01/08/why-are-200-million-workers-on-strike-in-india/</ref><ref>https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/10/indi-j10.html</ref>

The worker's unions presented a list of seven demands:

# Direct cash transfer of Rs 7,500 (US $101) to all families who earn less than the income tax threshold
# 10kg free grain ration per person every month to all in need.
# Expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to provide employment from the current 100 days to 200 days work in rural areas with enhanced wages, and extension of this programme to urban areas
# Withdrawal of all anti worker labour code changes and anti-farmer laws
# Stop privatization of public sector corporations, including those in the finance sector. Stop the corporatization of government-run manufacturing and services entities in railways, ordinance manufacturing, ports and similar areas.
# Withdraw the draconian circular of forced premature retirement of government and public sector employees.
# Provide a pension to all, restore earlier pension scheme and improve EPS 95.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-11-26|title=Over 250 million workers join national strike in India|url=http://www.industriall-union.org/over-250-million-workers-join-national-strike-in-india|access-date=2020-12-02|website=IndustriALL|language=en}}</ref>

== Response of Government ==
The response from the Indian government has been one of apathy to the suffering of farmers as they braved the c

Harpal Singh, organising secretary of non-partisan farmers' organisation BKU(Chaduni) remarked upon observing the insincerity of the government despite the deaths of 60 farmers at the time :

<nowiki>{{Blockquote|text=“It seems like the Centre wants more farmers – martyrs – to lose their lives… only God knows how many are enough to make the government reconsider its position,”}}</nowiki>[https://www.newsclick.in/with-no-faith-ongoing-talks-farmers-prepare-step-up-pressure-centre]

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Indian general strike of 2020}}

== References ==

Indian general strike of 2020-21

2021-01-28T09:29:32Z

RedWedge1917: Undo revision 5317 by Aryan13AKS (talk)

On 26 November 2020, a mass general strike was held across India. The strike was organized by 10 trade unions across the country and was supported by the Indian National Congress, [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]], farmers' mass organisations and other left-wing parties. The strike saw an estimated 250 million people involved, making it the largest in history.<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/largest-strike-world-history-millions-india-protest/263999/</ref><ref>https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/01/08/why-are-200-million-workers-on-strike-in-india/</ref><ref>https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/10/indi-j10.html</ref>

The worker's unions presented a list of seven demands:

# Direct cash transfer of Rs 7,500 (US $101) to all families who earn less than the income tax threshold
# 10kg free grain ration per person every month to all in need.
# Expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to provide employment from the current 100 days to 200 days work in rural areas with enhanced wages, and extension of this programme to urban areas
# Withdrawal of all anti worker labour code changes and anti-farmer laws
# Stop privatization of public sector corporations, including those in the finance sector. Stop the corporatization of government-run manufacturing and services entities in railways, ordinance manufacturing, ports and similar areas.
# Withdraw the draconian circular of forced premature retirement of government and public sector employees.
# Provide a pension to all, restore earlier pension scheme and improve EPS 95.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-11-26|title=Over 250 million workers join national strike in India|url=http://www.industriall-union.org/over-250-million-workers-join-national-strike-in-india|access-date=2020-12-02|website=IndustriALL|language=en}}</ref>

== Response of Government ==
The response from the Indian government has been one of apathy to the suffering of farmers as they braved the c

Harpal Singh, organising secretary of non-partisan farmers' organisation BKU(Chaduni) remarked upon observing the insincerity of the government despite the deaths of 60 farmers at the time :

<nowiki>{{blockquote| text=“It seems like the Centre wants more farmers – martyrs – to lose their lives… only God knows how many are enough to make the government reconsider its position,”}}</nowiki>[https://www.newsclick.in/with-no-faith-ongoing-talks-farmers-prepare-step-up-pressure-centre]

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Indian general strike of 2020}}

== References ==

Indian general strike of 2020-21

2021-01-28T09:28:47Z

RedWedge1917:

On 26 November 2020, a mass general strike was held across India. The strike was organized by 10 trade unions across the country and was supported by the Indian National Congress, [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]], farmers' mass organisations and other left-wing parties. The strike saw an estimated 250 million people involved, making it the largest in history.<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/largest-strike-world-history-millions-india-protest/263999/</ref><ref>https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/01/08/why-are-200-million-workers-on-strike-in-india/</ref><ref>https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/10/indi-j10.html</ref>

The worker's unions presented a list of seven demands:

# Direct cash transfer of Rs 7,500 (US $101) to all families who earn less than the income tax threshold
# 10kg free grain ration per person every month to all in need.
# Expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to provide employment from the current 100 days to 200 days work in rural areas with enhanced wages, and extension of this programme to urban areas
# Withdrawal of all anti worker labour code changes and anti-farmer laws
# Stop privatization of public sector corporations, including those in the finance sector. Stop the corporatization of government-run manufacturing and services entities in railways, ordinance manufacturing, ports and similar areas.
# Withdraw the draconian circular of forced premature retirement of government and public sector employees.
# Provide a pension to all, restore earlier pension scheme and improve EPS 95.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-11-26|title=Over 250 million workers join national strike in India|url=http://www.industriall-union.org/over-250-million-workers-join-national-strike-in-india|access-date=2020-12-02|website=IndustriALL|language=en}}</ref>

== Response of Government ==
The response from the Indian government has been one of apathy to the suffering of farmers as they braved the c

Harpal Singh, organising secretary of non-partisan farmers' organisation BKU(Chaduni) remarked upon observing the insincerity of the government despite the deaths of 60 farmers at the time :

{{Blockquote
|text=“It seems like the Centre wants more farmers – martyrs – to lose their lives… only God knows how many are enough to make the government reconsider its position,”}}[https://www.newsclick.in/with-no-faith-ongoing-talks-farmers-prepare-step-up-pressure-centre]

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Indian general strike of 2020}}

== References ==

Indian general strike of 2020-21

2021-01-28T09:24:17Z

RedWedge1917: extending article

On 26 November 2020, a mass general strike was held across India. The strike was organized by 10 trade unions across the country and was supported by the Indian National Congress, [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]], farmers' mass organisations and other left-wing parties. The strike saw an estimated 250 million people involved, making it the largest in history.<ref>https://www.mintpressnews.com/largest-strike-world-history-millions-india-protest/263999/</ref><ref>https://peoplesdispatch.org/2019/01/08/why-are-200-million-workers-on-strike-in-india/</ref><ref>https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/01/10/indi-j10.html</ref>

The worker's unions presented a list of seven demands:

# Direct cash transfer of Rs 7,500 (US $101) to all families who earn less than the income tax threshold
# 10kg free grain ration per person every month to all in need.
# Expansion of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to provide employment from the current 100 days to 200 days work in rural areas with enhanced wages, and extension of this programme to urban areas
# Withdrawal of all anti worker labour code changes and anti-farmer laws
# Stop privatization of public sector corporations, including those in the finance sector. Stop the corporatization of government-run manufacturing and services entities in railways, ordinance manufacturing, ports and similar areas.
# Withdraw the draconian circular of forced premature retirement of government and public sector employees.
# Provide a pension to all, restore earlier pension scheme and improve EPS 95.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2020-11-26|title=Over 250 million workers join national strike in India|url=http://www.industriall-union.org/over-250-million-workers-join-national-strike-in-india|access-date=2020-12-02|website=IndustriALL|language=en}}</ref>

== Response of Government ==
The response from the Indian government has been one of apathy to the suffering of farmers as they braved the c

Harpal Singh, organising secretary of non-partisan farmers' organisation BKU(Chaduni) remarked upon observing the insincerity of the government despite the deaths of 60 farmers at the time :

<nowiki>{{blockquote| text=“It seems like the Centre wants more farmers – martyrs – to lose their lives… only God knows how many are enough to make the government reconsider its position,”}}</nowiki>[https://www.newsclick.in/with-no-faith-ongoing-talks-farmers-prepare-step-up-pressure-centre]

== External links ==
{{External links|Wikipedia=Indian general strike of 2020}}

== References ==

Korean War

2021-01-13T21:22:28Z

RedWedge1917:

The '''Korean war''', also known as the '''Fatherland Liberation war''' in DPRK, was a severely devastating armed conflict which broke out between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea. Although an armistice ceased armed conflict, the war is not officially over to the present day. The former was supported by her sister socialist nations, the USSR and the People's Republic of China. The latter was led by the United Nations, which was then controlled and manipulated by the United States since the USSR was absent boycotting the United Nations due to the non-admission of PRC.

== Events ==

=== Prelude ===
Although the beginning of the Korean war is said to have been started by a supposedly surprise invasion of 50k North Korean soldiers on the 26th of June 1950 according to popular bourgeois propaganda, a definitive beginning of the war is much more contentious. The divide in the Korean peninsula had been the result of a class conflict which broke out following the departure of the occupying Japanese colonial forces . A revolutionary tide was sweeping the peninsula with People's Committees being formed and a united Korean People's Republic had been formed, constituting a heavy socialist presence much to the anguish of the then-temporary American Occupation forces.

=== Entry of People's China ===

== International involvement/reactions ==

=== United Nations ===

=== United States ===

=== USSR ===

=== People's Republic of China ===

=== Non-Aligned Nations ===

== Impact and Legacy ==
Although DPRK survived and claimed victory against American forces, the war had been very disastrous. More than 8700 factories were destroyed and 90000 hectares of farmland had been spoilt.[https://espressostalinist.com/2013/03/29/kcna-on-the-korean-war/] Even biowarfare was said to have been used against communist forces. Massive civillian losses were incurred -- approximately 4 million have been estimated. The strategic bombing operations against civilian populations is laid bare by the following words of General Curtis LeMay :<blockquote>There are no innocent civilians. It is their government and you are fighting a people, you are not trying to fight an armed force anymore. So it doesn't bother me so much to be killing the so-called innocent bystanders.<ref>Sherry, Michael (September 10, 1989). ''The Rise of American Air Power: The Creation of Armageddon'', p. 287 (from "LeMay's interview with Sherry," interview "after the war," p. 408 n. 108). Yale University Press. ISBN-13: 978-0300044140.</ref>

</blockquote>

Fatherland Liberation War

2021-01-13T20:43:33Z

RedWedge1917: Redirected page to Korean War

#REDIRECT [[Korean War]]

Fatherland Liberation War

2021-01-13T20:42:25Z

RedWedge1917: setting a redirect

<nowiki>#REDIRECT [[Korean War]]</nowiki>

Korean War

2021-01-13T20:35:22Z

RedWedge1917: Initiated a new page and saving it now, further content shall be added

The '''Korean war''', also known as the '''Fatherland Liberation war''' in DPRK, was a severely devastating armed conflict which broke out between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea. The former was supported by her sister socialist nations, the USSR and the People's Republic of China. The latter was led by the United Nations, which was then controlled and manipulated by the United States.