Setting a torch to a conflagration: the internationalist praxis of James Connolly and the Irish labour press in the First World War
Loading...
Citations
Altmetric:
Altmetric::
Download
Associated Records
Authors
File Licence
Editors
Date
2016
Source Title
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Melbourne Authors
Affiliation
School of Historical and Philosophical Studies
Document Type
Honours thesis
Subject Code
Citation
Access Status
Only available to University of Melbourne staff and students, login required
DOI
Access URL
Open Access URL
Open Access at PMC
Linked Resource URL
NHMRC Grant Code
ARC Grant Code
Description
© 2016 Jimmy Yan
Abstract
A century after his execution, James Connolly occupies a central position in the contested memory of the 1916 Easter Rising. Despite substantial historical engagement with Connolly's pre-war ties to the Second International, the persistance of an internationalist undercurrent to Connolly's political outlook into the First World War rarely forms an object of inquiry. Positioning the road to Easter Week in the global context of the War, this thesis explores the wartime internationalist journalism of Connolly through a transnational and materialist reading of the ITGWU press. Between August 1914 and Easter 1916, an active interpretation and dissemination of news from abroad permeated Irish Worker (June 1911- December 1914), The Worker (January 1915 - February 1915) and Worker’s Republic (May 1915 – April 1916). An identification with international labour anti-militarist movements as part of political interventions into Dublin reading publics is evidenced not only in direct political commentary by Connolly but also indirectly in the reprinting of material from the international labour press. Political solidarity with the Second International in 1915 encompassed coverage of munitions industry strikes in the United States, the 'Red Clydeside' unrest in Scotland, the Welsh Miners' Strike and anti-enlistment activities in Australia. Commentary on Germany derived from persistent ties to the Second International. By January 1916, the integration of the ICA into the Military Council embodied the culmination of a re-negotiation of the relationship between the socialist and Fenian strands of Connolly's political thought. A specific interrogation of the internationalist dimension of the Irish labour press bears implications for a memory of the Rising beyond national foundational narratives.
Notes
Terms of Use
Keywords
Irish history, James Connolly, Easter 1916, labour history