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Direct Action: Influential Protests of the 20th and 21st Century

  • Union Square Protest

    Union Square Protest
    One of the early May Day protests. Thousands of anarchists gather in Union square to protest labor rights and rebel against the government's decision to enter WWI.
  • The Bolshevik Revolution

    The Bolshevik Revolution
    After WWI, Russia was left in ruins and Czar Nicholas II was dethroned. A provisional government made up of capitalists and bourgeois elite was temporarily put in place to rule. The workers and peasants oppoosed it. The Bolsheviks worked to convince soldiers and peasants to seize their own land and control it. The soldiers aligned with the party and on Novermber 6, the rebels took over banks, railroad stations, electric works, and stormed the Winter Palace taking power from the Provisional gov.
  • The Spanish Revolution

    The Spanish Revolution
    Fascist leader, General Franco, is elected to government and turns Spain into a fascist dictatorship. Eventually, working class and peasants revolt. 2,000 anarchist collective are formed covering 15 acres and containing 3 million people. They moved through villages and convinced inhabitants to take over the local factories and businesses. They pooled food and rationed supplies while also evenly distributing medical care, services, and other resources for free. Franco was eventually victorious.
  • Student Protests in Paris

    Student Protests in Paris
    France at the time was under the rule of the French communist party. Students in Paris began to rebel in order to lash out against the communist government while also tyring to promote fair work treatment and unions. They marched and occupied major corporations such as the Stock Exchange and the French broadcasting company (ORTF). They set some on fire and damaged many others. Eventually the destruction led to a compromise made between the trade party unionists and the government.
  • London Angry Brigade

    London Angry Brigade
    A series of bombings by English radicals. The first at a new police station in Paddington, London. The second were multiple bombings at homes of establishment figures. The third was under an empty van at the Miss World contest. All were not meant to harm, but were symbolic protest against the increasingly strict and capitalist government. The brigade was made up of a network of radical activists involved in liberal social movements.
  • Genoa Protest

    Genoa Protest
    The anarchist protest staged by the radical group Black Bloc became violent as the group carried out premeditated attacks on banks and buildings. The event then turned into a riot when police vans straight through crowds at high speeds. Later that night the Genoa police force carried out a sneak assault on the builidng where protestors were residing. Many were beaten and severly injured.
  • May Day Protest

    May Day Protest
    The annual May Day protest in downtown Seattle was harming in 2001. When the protestors became violent: damaging banks, stores, and public statues/sidewalks, police took action. The protestors started to attack police force and three people were shot as police live fired.
  • Occupy Wall Street Movement

    Occupy Wall Street Movement
    The first Occupy Wall Street protest took place at Zucotti Park in New York. The protestors occupied banks, corporations and college campuses. By October, the movement had spread to more than 92 cities in 82 countries. The movement focuses on the social and economic inequality caused by class division and the power put in the hands of the "1%" or upper class bourgeois. The goal is to resdistribute wealth and find equality. To put the power in the working class. "We are the 99%"