A revolutionary history of the working class in Britain, France, and the world — from the earliest struggles to the present day.
The history of the working class is a history of struggle, betrayal, and renewal. Every gain won by workers — the eight-hour day, the weekend, the right to organise — was won through militant action, often against the violent opposition of the state. And every gain is constantly under threat from the capitalist class, which never stops trying to claw back what it has conceded.
Studying this history is essential for revolutionaries. It teaches us what tactics work and which fail. It shows us the recurring pattern of social-democratic betrayal. And it proves that the working class, when organised and led by a revolutionary party, is capable of transforming the world.
Textile workers in England destroyed machinery that threatened their livelihoods. While we reject Luddism as a strategy, the Luddites expressed a real grievance: that technology under capitalism serves capital, not workers.
The first mass working-class political movement in Britain. The Chartists demanded universal male suffrage, secret ballots, and annual parliaments. Their petitions were rejected; their leaders imprisoned. But they proved that workers could organise on a national scale.
The first workers' government in history. For 72 days, the working class of Paris ran the city — abolishing the standing army, electing recallable officials, capping salaries. The Commune was drowned in blood by the French bourgeoisie, but its lessons live on.
Founded on Marxist principles, the Second International united socialist parties worldwide. It established May Day as International Workers' Day. But it collapsed in 1914 when most member parties supported their own bourgeoisies in the imperialist war.
The Bolshevik Party, led by Lenin, seized power in Russia and established the first socialist state. The Revolution proved that the working class could take power, hold it, and begin the construction of a new society.
1.7 million workers walked out in solidarity with the miners. The TUC leadership betrayed the strike after nine days, calling it off without winning any concessions. A lesson in the treachery of reformist union bureaucracies.
A wave of factory occupations swept France. Workers won paid holidays, the 40-hour week, and collective bargaining rights. But the Popular Front government ultimately served to contain the revolutionary movement.
A student revolt sparked the largest general strike in French history — 10 million workers occupied their workplaces. The PCF and CGT leadership channelled the movement into electoral politics, preventing revolution.
The NUM fought for a year against Thatcher's pit closures. Betrayed by the TUC, the Labour Party, and scab unions, the miners were defeated — but their courage remains an inspiration. The strike exposed the class nature of the British state.
A mass movement of the French working class against fuel tax hikes, austerity, and the Macron government. Violently repressed by the state. Demonstrated that class anger is alive but requires revolutionary organisation to achieve lasting change.
"The emancipation of the working classes must be conquered by the working classes themselves."
— Karl Marx, General Rules of the International Workingmen's Association (1864)The economic struggle alone cannot abolish capitalism. Trade unions fight for better terms of exploitation, not for the end of exploitation. Without revolutionary political organisation, trade unionism becomes an instrument of class peace.
From the Second International to the Labour Party, social-democratic organisations have consistently betrayed the working class at decisive moments. They serve as the left wing of the bourgeoisie, channelling revolutionary energy into parliamentary dead ends.
Every successful revolution has been led by a disciplined, theoretically armed revolutionary party operating on the principles of democratic centralism. Spontaneous uprisings, however heroic, cannot sustain themselves without organisation.
The working class has no country. Capital operates globally, and the workers' movement must do the same. British and French workers share common enemies in their own ruling classes and in the NATO imperialist alliance.
The history of the labour movement is not finished. The next chapter will be written by the organised working class. Get involved.