A radical history of England
This article is the first in a short series on the radical history of the UK and Ireland.
What is meant by ‘radical history’?
The term ‘radical history’ refers to the histories of social, cultural, and political movements. Radical history is the history of ordinary, working people and their struggle. Rather than focusing on the histories of the rich and powerful; Kings, Queens and Presidents, when we read radical history, we are reading about ourselves, our histories, and how we got to where we are now. In his essay ‘What is Radical History?’, the great American historian Howard Zinn argues that with a radical understanding of the past:
We can recapture those few moments in the past which show the possibility of a better way of life than that which has dominated the earth thus far. To move men to act it is not enough to enhance their sense of what is wrong, to show that the men in power are untrustworthy, to reveal that our very way of thinking is limited, distorted, corrupted. One must also show that something else is possible, that changes can take place. Otherwise, people retreat into privacy, cynicism, despair, or even collaboration with the mighty.
In this article I have hand-picked a (relatively speaking) tiny number of influential social and political movements and moments specific to radical, working class, English history.
The early days…
1. Signing of the Magna Carta, 1215
This limited the King’s power, and remained an important check on the power of the monarchy for centuries after it was signed by King John.
2. The Peasants’ Revolt (1381), London
The Peasants’ Revolt was an uprising against the King and his government. Following the devastation caused by the Black Death in the first half of the 14th Century, in addition to economic hardship and political instability, the lower classes (serfs, peasants, and the urban poor) grew increasingly unhappy. When a new Poll Tax was introduced in 1380 it triggered widespread anger, as the poorest people in the country were forced to pay disproportion amounts of money to fund the ruling class.
The revolting begun in Essex in May of 1381 and spread across the South East of England very quickly. Led by Wat Tyler, peasants from Essex, Kent and Norfolk joined the rebellion. They marched on London, demanding radical changes to their material conditions.
On June 13th, 1381, the revolters stormed into London and confronted King Richard II at his hiding place in the Tower of London. Faced with an army of peasants that outnumbered his own army by far, Richard met with the peasants just outside of London’s borders. The two sides began to negotiate, but the talks quickly broke down and a violent skirmish ensued. Eventually, the Mayor of London stabbed Wat Tyler in the neck.
Keen to avoid more violence, the King promised to make concessions to the rebellion and reform his own laws. The revolt slowly ended, and the peasants believed they had won a serious victory against the King.
Unfortunately, the King went back on his word and all of the remaining leaders of the revolt were rounded up and killed or imprisoned.
Read: The English Peasants’ Revolt gave birth to a revolutionary tradition, Dominic Alexander
3. Jack Cade’s Rebellion, 1450
Commoner Jack Cade led a rebellion against the reign of Henry VI, demanding social and economic reforms and an end to corruption.
Turmoil in the 17th Century
4. The English Civil War, 1642–1649
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts between supporters of King Charles I (the Cavaliers) and the Parliamentarians (Roundheads).
There were a variety of factors that led to the war. Charles I was a tyrant, unwilling to share power with Parliament. He plunged the crown into financial hardship, tried to enforce religious uniformity, and ruled without Parliament for 11 years after proroguing it in 1629. Anger grew, and the Parliamentarians became more powerful. In 1642, war broke out, lasting around years.
It ended in regicide: the execution of the King by the Parliamentarians and the establishing of the Commonwealth. The the interregnum period was ushered in and lasted for 11 years: England was a republic, led by Oliver Cromwell, the ruthless Puritan who ultimately failed to create a stable English republic.
5. The Levellers, 1647–1649
The Levellers were a political movement that emerged during the English Civil War and remained prominent between 1647 and 1647. They advocated for drastic social and political reforms such as universal suffrage (for men), religious freedom, and the redistribuion of power to working people.
The Levellers were fairly influential, and in 1647 released ‘The Agreement of the People’, a manifesto including their demands for a more equal society. They were popular amongst the New Model Army (the Parliamentarian’s armed forces) during the Civil War, and initially close to Oliver Cromwell.
Led by John Lilburne, Richard Overton and William Walwyn, they went on to clash a fair amount with the Parliamentarians, who viewed them as far too radical. As the war went on, the Levellers found their support from Parliament dwindling as it became more conservative.
After the defeat of the Royalists and the establishment of the Commonwealth, the Leveller movement was heavily suppressed by the authorities, which ultimately disagreed with their democratic and egalitarian principles.
Read: The Leveller Revolution by John Rees
The 19th and 20th Centuries
6. The Luddites, 1811–1817
The Luddites were a group of skilled textile workers who protested the advent of machines in the textile industry. They believed that the use of machines to manufacture textiles threatened their jobs and undermined their craft and skill.
They used direct action to protest the rapid industrialisation and mechanisation of their work, engaging in acts of sabotage and machine breaking. The movement spread across the Midlands and the North of England, where the Luddites caused widespread damage to factories and machines.
The British government reacted as to be expected, and sent the army to crush the Luddites and made machine-breaking a capital offence.
7. The Peterloo Massacre, 1819
Notation on recto: “Henry Hunt.”
Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum / by Mary Dorothy George, v. 9, no. 13266
A working class protest in Manchester advocating for more democracy and less poverty is crushed by the authorities, who used gratuitous violence against ordinary Mancunians. Several protesters died at the hands of the local authorities. The tragic event is still remembered today with annual memorial ceremonies and meetings in Manchester.
8. The Chartists, 1838–1857
Chartism was a working-class movement that sought political and social reforms. It aimed to improve material conditions for industrial workers through a People’s Charter. The Charter demanded suffrage for all male adults, annual parliamentary elections, and other democratic reforms.
Chartists organised petitions, strikes, and protests to push for change. Government clampdowns and internal splits led to the decline of this radical movement. Many of the Chartists’ goals were eventually achieved, and the movement was incredibly important due to its demands for democratisation.
9. The Suffragette Movement, early 1907–1928
This movement probably needs no introduction: between 1907 and 1928, women campaigned tirelessly for the right to vote. The leaders of the movement included the likes of Sylvia Pankhurst, the socialist feminist who went on to organise with working women in East London and New York City.
10. The International Brigades, 1933–1936
In 1933, a brutal civil war broke out in Spain. It was a war that split Spain in two, as the fascists fought the Republicans (made up of leftwing forces).
The fascists, led by General Francisco Franco, overthrew the left wing Second Republic government in a military coup. The country broke into war, with Hitler and Mussolini supporting the fascists and the Republicans left largely unaided by the rest of Europe. Not wanting to be pulled into another European war, the liberal powers in Western Europe settled on a policy of non-intervention while the fascists unleashed widespread destruction and killed many thousands of people.
Many thousands of people watched what was happening in Spain and decided they could not sit idly by while Europe descended into fascism. The war was viewed as a pre-cursor to what was happening in Europe, and thousands of ordinary people decided to take up arms and fight fascism themselves.
Between 1936 and 1939, as many as 60,000 volunteers from more than 50 countries joined the Republican forces in fighting Franco. Between 2,500 and 2,800 of these volunteers came from England, from a variety of political traditions. They were united in their hate of fascism and the courage to take on the abhorrent ideology spreading rapidly through Europe.
Watch: Tierra y Libertad (Land and Freedom), Ken Loach
11. The Battle of Cable Street, 1936
The Battle of Cable Street took place on October 4, 1936 in East London. Anti-fascists, Jewish groups, and socialists took on British Union of Fascists (BUF) led by Oswald Mosley. Unwilling to allow fascism into their neighbourhood, the anti-fascists lined up to stop the BUF from marching through what was then a predominantly Jewish area.
This led to violent clashes between the anti-fascists and the BUF, who were largely supported by the police. It is today remembered as a successful stand against racism and an example of the power of united fronts.
12. Anti-racist protests, 1978
After the racist murder of Altab Ali, a young Bengali man living in Brick Lane, large-scale anti-racist protests erupted in the UK.
Thousands marched in East London and elsewhere to denounce racism and hate crimes. The killing galvanised the Bangladeshi and wider immigrant communities, leading to greater unity and solidarity. This all happened against the backdrop of growing racism as the National Front became more powerful.
The protests played a crucial role in raising awareness about racist violence and fostering efforts to combat discrimination in English society. There remains a strong Bengali community around Brick Lane, and the Altab Ali park sits just off the popular tourist destination.
13. The Miners’ Strike, 1984–1985
The miners’ strike in the UK took place from 1984 to 1985 and was a significant industrial dispute between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher. The government sought to close uneconomic coal mines, leading to massive job losses and resistance from the miners. The strike witnessed violent clashes, police interventions, and a media battle. Ultimately, the NUM’s efforts to preserve the coal industry were unsuccessful, resulting in lasting social and economic impacts on mining communities.
Watch: Pride, 2014 (dir. Matthew Warchus)
14. Greenham Common, 1981–2000
Greenham Common was a UK military airbase where women led protests against the deployment of US cruise missiles in Europe during the Cold War. The women formed the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp, occupying the site for nearly two decades. Their peaceful protests raised awareness about nuclear disarmament, gender issues, and the peace movement.
Welcome to the 21st Century
15. The Stop the War Coalition, 2001
The Stop the War Coalition was formed in 2001 as a result of the British and American drive to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. A huge variety of campaigns came together, ranging from the Muslim Association of Britain to student groups and the Socialist Workers’ Party. They viewed the war on terror as unfair and unjustifiable, fighting hard against the unecessary killings of thousands of people in the name of American neoliberalism.
In February 2003, a million people marched through central London demanding an end to US and British imperialism in the Middle East, and for a Free Palestine. They continued to protest against the war on terror for the next decade or so, as the West waged war on the peoples of Afghanistan and Iraq. Though they were unable to prevent the death and destruction of the war on terror, the Stop the War Coalition were hugely influential in British politics, and were completely vindicated as the British and American governments achieved nothing from their invasion of the Middle East.
The Stop the War Coalition continues fighting for a peaceful world today, through protests, public meetings, and more.
Watch: We Are Many (dir. Amir Amirani)
16. The London Riots, 2011
In August 2011, the Metropolitan Police killed Mark Duggan. The act of extreme violence by the police is largely believed to have been racially motivated and triggered huge levels of anger in many working class areas of London and other major cities. Riots quickly broke out in many places, and the police struggled to control the thousands of people involved.
The killing of Mark Duggan acted as a catalyst for anger that had been brewing for a number of years, and sparked all kinds of debate on the nature of British racism, and police violence. Mark Duggan is still remembered today, along with the many other black people and people of colour who have been killed at the hands of the police in recent memory.
17. Black Lives Matter, 2014, 2020
The 2014 Black Lives Matter movement emerged in the US after the murder of Michael Brown at the hands of the police. Protests spread around the world, and thousands took to the streets in England to protest racism on this side of the Atlantic.
During the pandemic, the movement resurged following the killing of George Floyd, in the USA, and spread once again to the UK. Tens of thousands marched across England every weekend for the entire summer of 2020. Protestors in England marched in memory of Black people killed in the UK, either in racially motivated attacks or by the police. Though the protests fizzled out over time, the anti-racist movement in England remains strong.
18. The Strike Wave, 2022
Since the summer of 2022, tens of thousands of workers in England and the rest of the UK have been walking out on strike and taking other kinds of industrial action. Nurses, doctors, train drivers, Amazon workers, teachers, and many more have been fighting the government and their employers for fair pay and working conditions.
Strike action of this level has not been seen in the UK for decades, and comes as a result of the Cost of Living Crisis and the pandemic — both incredibly poorly managed by the Conservative government.
Going into the autumn, these strikes show no sign of stopping and it is likely that we will see even more fight back from even more sectors as the Cost of Living Crisis continues.
