The Socialist Party and WW1 Exhibition
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‘The Socialist Party of Great Britain and the First World War’
The premier of this exhibition to be held at the EC meeting on Saturday 2nd August 2014
It will open to the public on Monday 4th August 2014 and continue through until Saturday 9th August 2014 at Head Office.
The exhibition will feature the September 1914 Socialist Standard front page statement ‘The War and the Socialist Position’, the Defence of the Realm Act & Regulation No.27 (November 1914) and the SPGB/Socialist Standard, SPGB propaganda in WW1, Conscientious Objection and the tribunals eg Socialist Standard May 1916 – Watford Branch and Conscientious Objection tribunal ‘Crabbed Age and Youth’ article, the SPGB and the Bolsheviks in London ‘Maximovich’ (Lenin and Litvinov) – Socialist Standard March 1915, fleeing the country (Adolph Kohn & Moses Baritz – the foundation of the companion parties), and the prisoners of conscience: The case of imprisoned Party members at Dartmoor Prison.
Volunteers required to staff this exhibition between 11am and 5pm on each day of its opening.
Please contact Head Office if you can be of assistance.
Archives Committee
Campaigns Committee
UPDATEThe Exhibition will now be open from Monday 4th August 2014 and continue through until Sunday 10th August 2014 at the Party’s Head Office. It will also open on other Saturdays and Sundays throughout August.Volunteers required to staff this exhibition between 11am and 5pm on each day of its opening. Please contact Head Office if you can be of assistance.http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/event/socialist-party-and-first-world-war-exhibition-london-11am-5pm-all-days
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Socialists and the First World War – Press releaseA hundred years since the outbreak of the First World War, the one surviving political organisation that opposed the conflict is marking the events of the time. The Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) declared the war to be about access to trade routes and sources of raw materials for the owners of business and not about the interests of the vast majority in society, saying the conflict did not justify the shedding of a single drop of blood. As a result, many of its members were put in prison for their political opposition to the war. To mark this occasion, the Party is engaging in a number of activities this summer, including:the publication of a new pamphlet which contains articles from the ‘Socialist Standard’ between 1914 and 1918 which set out our principles opposition to the war, together with other material giving an overview of the war, its causes and its effects on working-class lives. This pamphlet is called ‘Strange Meeting: Socialism and World War One’ and is available for £4.50 (incl p&p)from the Socialist Party from Monday 7th July 2014. a unique exhibition ‘The Socialist Party and the First World War’ at Socialist Party Head Office in Clapham will open 11am to 5pm Monday 4th August to Sunday 10th August 2014 and weekends for the rest of August. The exhibition will include archive photographs from the war period. It will also detail how those who opposed the conflict were affected by it, with some becoming Conscientious Objectors, many being imprisoned, while others went ‘on the run’ to flee the military authorities. Our object was not to bid defiance to a world gone mad, but to place on record the fact that in this country the Socialist position was faithfully maintained by the Socialist Party.a series of public meetings about aspects of the war, including:’The Working Class Lost the First World War’ at 8.00pm on Tuesday 5th August 2014 at Chiswick Town Hall, Heathfield Terrace, London W4 4JN’The Left and the First World War’ at 3.00pm on Sunday 17th August 2014 at Socialist Party Head Office in Clapham, London SW4 7UN’The Not So Great 1914-18 War’ at 8.00pm on Wednesday 20th August 2014 at Maryhill Community Central Halls, 304 Maryhill Road, Glasgow G20 7YEResponse from one Jamie Rose, apparently an employee with the 'Kent Regional News & Media Group', upon receipt of our Press Release above:
Jamie Rose wrote:As a socialist, I would like to lodge my opinion that this nonsense only serves to damage our cause.It is the worst kind of self-promotion, in that it turns its back on basic logic.While I can agree to some extent with the assertion the war was “about access to trade routes and sources of raw materials for the owners of business”, can you really deny that opposing it would have meant accepting the rule of the Kaiser at some point down the line? His plans to move into the rest of Europe after Austro Hungary and Belgium are, by now, well documented.In general I am staunchly opposed to war – especially so when it involves capitalist regime against capitalist regime – but suggesting there was some alternative to the Kaiser’s advance will only reaffirm general opinion that all socialists are hopeless idealists, not to mention the huge insult it represents to those who gave their lives for that purpose.Can I suggest you focus on, rather than this utter claptrap, an applicable manifesto for your party?All the bestJamie RoseMr Rose can be contacted at the following email address:Jamie Rose <Jamie.rose@krnmedia.co.uk>
Jamie Rose wrote:you really deny that opposing it would have meant accepting the rule of the Kaiser at some point down the line? His plans to move into the rest of Europe after Austro Hungary and Belgium are, by now, well documented.Germany invaded Austro-Hungary in 1914? Is he a joker or an ignoramus? The second, I think.
‘THE SPGB AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR’ ExhibitionVolunteers are required to be present and speak with visitors attending the above exhibition which will take place at Head Office (52 Clapham High Street, London SW4 7UN, (nearest tube: Clapham North on the Northern line) between Monday, 4th August and Sunday, 10th August and on every Saturday and Sunday during August. It will open between 11am and 5pm each day.Please contact the Campaigns Committee as a matter of urgency if you are able to assist.spgb.campaigns@worldsocialism.orgOr phone 0207 622 3811
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