CIRCLE WITH A DOT

#OtD 18 Mar 1970 a nationwide illegal wildcat strike by federal government workers, the first major strike by government workers, later involving over 200,000 people began in New York. More info in our podcast episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e99-vietnam-war-strike-wave/

#OtD 18 Mar 1915 Mexican revolutionary Wenceslao Moguel was shot nine times by a firing squad in Halacho, Yucatan, but miraculously survived. He had fought with the army of Pancho Villa. Despite suffering permanent injury, he lived until the age of 75 https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9019/wenceslao-moguel-shot

#OtD 18 Mar 2019 Bribrí Indigenous leader, Sergio Rojas, was assassinated in Costa Rica. Rojas had been fighting for the return of Indigenous land, which settlers had illegally occupied. Attacks on Indigenous people in the area are common https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9025/sergio-rojas-murdered

#OtD 18 Mar 1978 two 18-year-old left activists, Fausto Tinelli & Lorenzo "Iaio" Iannucci, were shot dead by fascists in Milan. They had been investigating the local heroin trade run by organised crime and the far-right. Nobody was ever convicted https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9024/fausto-and-iaio-murdered

#OtD 18 Mar 1938 the German Nazi party introduced new gun laws. Contrary to claims of right-wing US gun advocates they actually relaxed previous stricter rules. Later guns were confiscated from Jews but gun ownership for everyone else was liberalised https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9020/nazi-gun-laws

#OtD 18 Mar 1871 the Paris Commune, one of the most influential working class uprisings to build socialism, organised by workers councils, was established. When the army eventually retook Paris in May they killed thousands of workers in revenge. More: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/voices-of-the-paris-commune

#OtD 18 Mar 1903 Italian anarchist tailor and anti-fascist militant, Ernesto Bonomini was born. At 21 he killed a fascist leader in Paris. After serving time in prison he fought in the Spanish Revolution before fleeing to the US as Franco took power https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9017/ernesto-bonomini-born

#OtD 18 Mar 1974 students in Bihar India seek to prevent a meeting of the state parliament. The police attacked and killed five protesters, who then responded by rioting. Government and press buildings were set on fire and looted. More on the struggle: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9023/bihar-riots

#OtD 18 Mar 1911 on the 40th anniversary of the Paris commune, the first International Women's Day was held in Europe for women's rights and suffrage. The date was later moved to 8 March https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9018/international-women's-day

#OtD 17 Mar 1876 US troops attacked sleeping Cheyenne and Oglala Lakota people in Montana in the Battle of Powder River, beginning of the Sioux wars. However the Native Americans emerged victorious from the battle. More about Indigenous resistance here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/books/products/500-years-of-indigenous-resistance-gord-hill

#OtD 17 Mar 1768 enslaved people in Montserrat, a British colony in the Caribbean, planned an uprising on St Patrick's Day. However, a white domestic servant overheard the plot, and reported it. Nine enslaved people were executed and 30 jailed https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7793/montserrat-enslaved-uprising

#OtD 17 Mar 1972 the Sexton & Everard shoe factory in Fakenham, England, was taken over by its women workers in protest at their dismissal. They began a work-in, making and selling accessories, and later started a cooperative that lasted 5 years https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8909/sexton's-shoe-factory-work-in

#OtD 17 Mar 1920, right-wing Kapp Putsch, which aimed to roll back the changes since the 1918 German revolution, collapsed due to a strike of 12 million people, biggest in German history. For more on the defeat of the Kapp Putsch: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8906/collapse-of-kapp-putsch

#OtD 16 March 1938 during over 40 hours of bombing of Barcelona, Italian fascist planes dropped a bomb on the corner of Carrer del Carme and Carrer Egipcíaques destroying a local bakery, killing five adults and a child. Over 1000 civilians were killed https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/7359/bombing-of-carrer-del-carme

#OtD 17 Mar 1916 half of the 12,000 women working at the Armstrong-Whitworth Elswick munitions factory in Newcastle went on strike for better pay. They won on 24 March, and went out again in 1917 winning more improvements including tea breaks https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8905/armstrong-whitworth-women-strike

@workingclasshistory 12 Million German workers Strike 17 March 1920 https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8906/collapse-of-kapp-putschAbout:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapp_Putsch#GeneralStrike #Germany

#Otd 17 Mar 1938 the most fatal bombing of Barcelona during the Civil War occurred. Italian fascists bombed Gran Via, which was full of pedestrians and traffic. A lorry with 4 tonnes of explosives was hit. The resulting explosion killed 500 & injured 1000 https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e39-the-spanish-civil-war-an-introduction/

#OtD 16 Mar 2003 left-wing activists were attacked in Milan by a group of fascists with knives. Two were wounded. Davide 'Dax' Cesare, was stabbed over a dozen times and died. The police attacked Dax's friends and family in the hospital waiting room https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8814/davide-%E2%80%98dax%E2%80%99-cesare-murdered

#OtD 16 Mar 1979 Dublin McDonalds workers went on strike for union recognition & higher pay. After six months of struggle against the company (and union leadership), workers forced @McDonaldsCorp to give in https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8813/dublin-mcdonald's-strike

#OtD 16 Mar 1965 mounted police in Montgomery, Alabama violently attacked a peaceful civil rights demonstration in the town. Police officers with clubs and canes rode into a crowd of 600 people, hospitalising 8 & injuring others https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8809/police-attack-montgomery-civil-rights-marchers