International
Globalisation is a buzzword now, but the feeling that the world is one, with people in different countries facing the same problems, is not new to members of working class political groups. 'Workers of the world unite' was the catchphrase of socialism when the colonial and capitalist powers were busy carving the world into competing empires. From the campaign against slavery to the current fight against sweatshop conditions, international sympathy and support has been a part of the labour movement's reasons for being.
Our collection contains a wide range of items that illustrate how and why these links were made. We also have information that shows how important events in other countries affected people in the UK.
India - from distant colony to growing economy and the home of groundbreaking civil rights campaigner Mahatma Ghandi, India and its relations with the UK have been important subjects for working class campaigners and thinkers for many years.
Ireland - the complex struggle for Southern Ireland to win independence from Britain and the ongoing ‘Troubles' in Northern Ireland have been a hot political topic for over two hundred years. Our collection contains information that shows how working people organised, campaigned, went on strike and fought to turn southern Ireland from a British colony into a Republic.
Union of Democratic Control - this organisation campaigned hard for clear control of foreign policy by the UK Parliament during the First World War, issuing many pamphlets, leaflets and books.Many MPs of the first Labour Government were UDC members. In the 1930s anti-militarism and anti-fascism were its focus. After World War 2 it was chiefly concerned with anti colonial campaigns.
Spanish Civil War (1936-39) - around 2,000 British men and women volunteered to help the democratically elected Spanish Republican government to fight the Fascist army of General Franco. Our collection contains letters, leaflets, books, posters and more that captures how ordinary working people put their principles into action to defend democracy.
The Cold War - the West's frosty relations with the communist states of the Eastern Bloc was a major fault line that British working class political organisations had to contend with from the Russian revolution of 1917 to the early 1990s. During the Second World War the Soviet bloc became a world power, competing with the United States for influence and control in the rest of the world. The previously tense relations were formalised as the Cold War.