Historic events

1985: How school students beat the Tories

30 years ago, the Tories tried to introduce a 'Youth Training Scheme' which conscripted us into working for our dole money. Young people rebelled in their millions and defeated Thatcher's plan.

Orgreave: Police violence and cover-up whitewashed by IPCC

On 18 June 1984 thousands of riot police, many on horseback, brutally attacked a mass picket of striking miners at the Orgreave coking plant in South Yorkshire. The victims are still struggling for justice.

When organised mass action defeated the Tories

Liverpool city council's historic victory over the Thatcher government has valuable lessons for today.

The lessons of Labour's 1945 victory

This summer will see the 70th anniversary of the election of the 1945 Labour government, which carried out massive improvements for the working class

VE Day: When 'liberation' meant socialism

Commemorations marking the 70th anniversary 'victory in Europe' (VE) day recently took place in Britain (and throughout the world) with establishment dignitaries saluting veteran service men and women who liberated Europe from the clutches of fascism

30 years ago: 250,000 school students walked out.

This month marks the 30th anniversary of the 1985 school student strikes. Militant, the predecessor of the Socialist Party, played a leading role in organising them

Axing Clause IV: Making Labour safe for capitalism

In April 1995 a special Labour Party conference dropped Clause IV, part 4 (the 'socialist clause') of its constitution

How we defeated Thatcher's poll tax

25 years since the poll tax battle: The battle against the so-called 'poll tax' was one of the biggest movements of working people against a modern British government. Millions refused to pay; many millions more simply could not afford to pay

"It wasn't easy, but I wanted to beat Thatcher"

30 years since the end of the miners' strike: Neal Davis, member of Mansfield Socialist Party, spoke to former Shirebrook (north Derbyshire) miner Ronnie Rodgers

1918: When German workers entered history

Last year was the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One, covered by the Socialist in previous issues. But when the war ended, it was in a wave of revolution, most notably in Russia in 1917, but also Germany in 1918

Miners' strike: vibrant array of support groups

The great 1984-85 miners' strike ended 30 years ago next month. Dave Beale, chair of Chorley and Coppull Miners' Support Committee in Lancashire during the strike, explains the vital role of support

25 years after the Berlin Wall fell

Was capitalist restoration inevitable?: While, for millions, the 1989 opening of the Berlin Wall is celebrated as a great victory for democratic rights, the official celebrations to mark its 25th anniversary have been dominated by anti-socialist propaganda

Lessons from history: 1917 Revolution in Russia

The October revolution (7-8 November in the modern calendar) of 1917 in Russia was the greatest event in human history. Under the leadership of the Bolshevik Party, it brought into existence the first, and so far the only, workers-led government to hold power for any length of time

Protests, strikes and equality: Women in World War One

In this anniversary year there is likely to be scant attention given to the militant struggles of working class women during the four years of brutal conflict, where class divisions remained a feature of everyday life

Anniversary of the 1934 Minneapolis strikes

Revolutionary US Teamsters: This year marks the 80th anniversary of one of the greatest labour revolts in US history, the strikes of the Minneapolis Teamsters, writes Alan Jones and Ty Moore, Socialist Alternative, USA.

WW1 - 100 years since the great slaughter

One hundred years ago World War One began, unleashing slaughter on an unprecedented scale. It was dubbed the 'Great War', the 'war to end wars'. For the ten million killed and more than ten million seriously injured it was certainly not great.

When Thatcher unleashed her attack dogs

30th anniversary of the miners' strike: Members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) during their year-long (1984-85) battle against pit closures and mass redundancies faced the full might of the state from the Tory Thatcher government

Tiananmen Square 1989

Counter-revolution crushes democracy movement: On 3 to 4 June 1989, Deng Xiaoping and other aged leaders of China's so-called 'communist' party, ordered 200,000 troops to crush a two-month long movement of workers and students against bureaucratic rule and for workers' democracy

The battle of Orgreave

30th anniversary of the historic miners' strike: On Saturday 14 June 2014 there will be a celebration of struggle and resistance marking the 30th anniversary of the great miners' strike

30 years ago: The Broad Left Organising Committee's huge impact

30 years ago a national conference took place in Sheffield organised by BLOC. The meeting coincided with the start of the miners' strike in March 1984, writes Bill Mullins