Author: jeremyclarke

This event in our programme looks at two examples of how the labour movement reacted to the war. Kevin Morgan will look at trade union radicals who from the earliest months of the war took up an internationalist and anti-war stance, and who gathered increasing support as the war went on. Their contribution to the anti-war movement has often been overlooked because of the unions’ majority pro-war stance. Ian Wright introduces his new book on the Forest of Dean Miners’ Association and the war.

Trade Unions and Resistance to the Great War

Date: Saturday 8^th November
Time: 2.00pm
Venue: Hydra Bookshop, 34 Old Market St, Bristol, BS2 0EZ
Map: http://www.hydrabooks.org/location/
Price: Donations
With: Kevin Morgan & Ian Wright

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For full programme of events see here
For more information email rememberingrealww1@gmail.com

This event in our programme tells stories of Bristol families in the war – those who argued and organised against war, and, in one case, a soldier who deserted and was shot at dawn. At the same time, it will be an opportunity to reflect on how history is presented and to what extent it is possible to know the whole truth about events 100 years ago..

Deserters, Conchies and Reds: Bristolian Families in the Great War

Date: Thursday 6^th November
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Hydra Bookshop, 34 Old Market St, Bristol, BS2 0EZ
Map: http://www.hydrabooks.org/location/
Price: Donations 

“The Bristol Deserter – Alfred Jefferies – His War Story” with Geoff Woolfe

“Freedom of Soul: Bristol and opposition to the First World War” with Colin Thomas

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For full programme of events see here
For more information email rememberingrealww1@gmail.com

As part of our programme of events, the Central Reference Library will present a range of primary source documents on resistance to World War 1 in Bristol. Highly recommended.

Opening the Archives: Resistance to World War One in Bristol

Date: Wednesday 5^th November
Time: 2.00pm-5.00pm
Venue: Central Reference Library, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TL
Map: Here
Price: Free

In a long tradition of Opening the Archives events the excellent Central Reference Library staff have done us proud in presenting a collection of primary sources relating to resistance and reaction during World War One. So come on down and sample the actual sources in the Bristol Room, from anti-war posters, flyers and pamphlets to jingoist vitriol. Highly recommended.

For more details see here
For full programme of events see here
For more information email rememberingrealww1@gmail.com

In this event in our programme of events, we concentrate on the role of women in resisting the war. Well-known writer & historian Sheila Rowbotham talks about Alice Wheeldon who was framed and imprisoned, while June Hannam talks about the role of women in the anti-war movement in Bristol.

Women Resisting the Great War

Date: Tuesday 4^th November
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Trinity Centre, Trinity Rd, Bristol BS2 0NW
Map: http://www.3ca.org.uk/about/contact
Price: Donation
With: Shelia Rowbotham & June Hannam

The Friends of Alice Wheeldon

In 1917 a Derby socialist and feminist in the anti-war movement, Alice Wheeldon was sent to prison on the evidence of an agent provocateur for plotting to kill Lloyd George. The evidence was flimsy, her accuser so dubious the prosecution kept him away from the trial. In this new, revised edition of The Friends of Alice Wheeldon Sheila Rowbotham reveals how militarism and fears about security contrived to devastate the lives of an ordinary family in Derby. The Wheeldon case is both a tragic historical story and contains an immediate reminder for today of the need to protect individual freedoms.

Bristol women campaigning for peace in World War One

June Hannam will focus on women in Bristol who opposed militarism and sought a negotiated peace. The most high profile activists were Mabel Tothill, Annie Townley and Mrs Higgins, all socialists from the Independent Labour Party (ILP). Others, such as the Quaker Helen Sturge, had been involved in the pre-war suffrage movement. The talk will explore what women did to push forward their cause and the ideas that underpinned their peace activism, in particular the extent to which they were gendered. Women used spaces that brought them together as women, notably the Women’s International league, but also worked through mixed sex organisations. It will be suggested that although peace campaigning could bring women together across class and party lines, for socialist women peace would lay the foundations for a new society that could only be achieved through party politics after the war.

For more details see here
For full programme of events see here
For more information email rememberingrealww1@gmail.com

As part of our autumn programme, this afternoon event is an opportunity to hear hidden stories of World War 1 from across the world

International hidden histories of World War One

Date: Sunday 2^nd November
Time: 2.00pm-6.00pm
Venue: Friends Meeting House, Champion Square, Bristol BS2 9DB
Map: Here
Price: Donation
With: Gee Vaucher, HFB delegates

Bristol Radical History Group are hosting the international History From Below network conference which brings together historian-activists from all over Europe. This is a great opportunity to hear international perspectives, as participants in the conference give short presentations on hidden histories of World War One. In addition we will be exhibiting a collection of anti-war art by one of the most influential graphic artists of the 1980s, Gee Vaucher of CRASS, who will be discussing her work and its impact in the period.

For more details see here
For full programme of events see here
For more information email rememberingrealww1@gmail.com

In this event in our autumn programme, Bristol’s cultural links to WW1 are explored through the eyes of asylum seekers and refugees which defy the official narrative and glorification of ‘The Great War’. The impact of WW1 and its links to contemporary conflict are examined through the creation of digital stories which visibly express the real issues of displacement, identity and misery still felt today by Bristol’s residents.

Echoes of the ‘Great War’: Imperialism, displacement and migration

Date: Thursday 30th October, 2014
Time: 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Venue: Easton Community Centre, Kilburn Street, Bristol, BS5 6AW
Map: http://www.eastoncommunitycentre.org.uk/contact/
Price: Donation

For more details see here
For full programme of events see here
For more information email rememberingrealww1@gmail.com

As part of our programme of autumn events this is a talk presented by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) as part of their Arming All Sides project

World War One: Arming All Sides

Date: Wednesday 29th October
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Hydra Bookshop, 34 Old Market St, Bristol, BS2 0EZ
Map: http://www.hydrabooks.org/location/
Price: Donation

With: The Arming All Sides project

After the First World War many believed the arms trade to be a primary cause of war. The unprecedented scale of death and destruction wrought by modern weaponry led a majority of people to support disarmament and international conciliation. The Arming All Sides project questions what role the arms trade played before, during and after the war, what opposition was mounted to the trade and how the war affected what people thought about making and selling armaments. Join us to explore how the arms trade worked at the time of WW1, and to find out about modern opportunities for action against the arms trade.

For more details see here
For full programme of events see here
For more information email rememberingrealww1@gmail.com