mutinies

The Ninety-third Division - Black US soldiers' struggles in World War II - Nelson Peery

93rd Division Infantryman Nelson Peery, Mojave Desert, California 1942

Extracts from Nelson Peery's Black Fire - The Making Of A Black Revolutionary. Peery describes here the racism and segregation encountered by black soldiers and their militancy in opposing it during WWII.

Matiushenko, Afanasy Nikolaevich 1879-1907

Afanasy Matiushenko

A biography of Afanasy Matiushenko, who was one of the key mutineers on the Battleship Potemkin, immortalised by Eisenstein's film, which helped kick-start the 1905 Revolution.

Afanasy Nikolaevich Matiushenko
Also spelled Afanasiy Matyushenko, born 1879 - Kharkov, Russia, died 20 October 1907 - Sevastopol, Russia

The Potemkin mutineer
Afanasy Matiushenko was the son of peasants from Kharkov province in the Ukraine. He was born in 1879, in the village of Dergachi. His father had to give up the unrewarding work of farming to become a shoemaker.

Somalia: Soldiers demand unpaid wages

Somali troops

Soldiers have taken control of government buldings in the Central province of Hiran after going seven months without pay.

The troops have not been paid since they were deployed to the province and are blaming corruption by local goverment. They have seized the buildings in Balet Weyne and have said they will keep them until they are paid.

Troops have also seized a barracks in Jowhar, north of the capital Mogadishu, with reports of gunfire although not of any injuries so far.

Pirate utopias: Under the banner of death, 1640-1820

An interesting look at the life and times of pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries. This article explores the somewhat libertarian and communalist values which guided the life of a pirate during those years.

"In an honest Service, there is thin Commons, low Wages, and hard Labour; in this, Plenty and Satiety, Pleasure and Ease, Liberty and Power; and who would not ballance Creditor on this Side, when all the Hazard that is run for it, at worst, is only a sower Look or two at choaking. No, a merry Life and a short one shall be my Motto" - Pirate Captain Bartholomew Roberts.(1)

Mutinies in the American army, 2004-2005 - Echanges #111

A brief discussion of incidences of dissatisfaction in the US Army during the Iraq War.

Mutinies, the word can seem excessive because Iraq is not (yet) Vietnam. However, a refusal to obey in the army, whatever the reason, is a mutiny and quite often such acts of insubordination have started with minor acts. Even isolated, such acts are indicative of "troop morale", an essential element for continuing war.

Schmitz, Hans, 1914-2007

Hans Schmitz

A short biography of German anarcho-syndicalist, militant anti-fascist and conscript to the Wehrmacht, Hans Schmitz.

Hans Schmitz was born in Wuppertal, Germany in 1914.

His father,* a leading activist in the anarcho-syndicalist union the FAUD, was a devout Catholic and a convinced pacifist from both a religious and ideological standpoint (!). Despite this, as Hans Schmitz reports, he carried a weapon as a member of the “Red Ruhr Army” during the right-wing Kapp putsch.

1973: The Skylab 4 mutiny

Skylab 4

A brief account of the 24-hour mutiny during the Skylab 4 mission in 1973/4 triggered by the astronauts' complaints of excessive workloads.

Class war in space - The Skylab 4 mutiny

1931: The Invergordon mutiny

dorsetshire.jpg

A short account of a strike by a thousand sailors of the Royal Navy that occurred in Northern Scotland in 1931 against proposed wage cuts.

The government attempted to supress all memory of the strike, and although the strikers won partial concessions, the cuts were still imposed and many sailors were punished for taking part.

Another day, another IDF Refusenik

Since 2002, soldiers and officers from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have been refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories in protest against what the Israeli military regime.

The "refuseniks" believe the occupation to be a threat to Israel's own security and inherently oppressive.

Occupation refuser Omri Evron was sentenced Sunday, Oct 15, 2006, to 14 days in military prison after he announced his refusal to enlist for regular mandatory service in the IDF. Omri was put in solitary confinement having refused to wear uniform and obey orders.

1680-1730: Pirates and Anglo-American piracy in the Atlantic

Pirate Ship.jpg

A short history of the Golden Age of Piracy and the origins and role of the pirates in the class struggle on the high seas at the time.

On the afternoon of the 26 July 1726, William Fly walked the steps of the Boston gallows. Unlike his fellow condemned, Fly had shown no fear at his fate. The great and the good who had gathered to see the pirate die were uncomfortable: he was not playing his agreed part in the moral drama. But, as Fly neared the rope, their fears it seemed were unfounded.

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