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The Relevance of James Connolly Today

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James Connolly

James Connolly

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The Relevance of James Connolly Today

Although James Connolly was murdered by the British Empire more than a hundred years ago his analysis of the situation in Ireland then is still valid today.

The writings of James Connolly

Ireland – The Historical Background

The ‘Troubles’ – 1968-98

The Teachings of James Connolly, with a brief outline of his life, Joseph Deasy, New Books, Dublin, 1972?, 23 pages.

Connolly was a Marxist Socialist. This truth is at the heart of his life’s work; without it his struggles and sacrifice cannot be understood.

James Connolly and Irish Freedom, a Marxist analysis, Historical reprints No 1, G Schüller, Cork Workers Club, Cork, 1974, 30 pages.

When James Connolly, Marxian Socialist and Commander-in-Chief of the Irish revolutionary army of Easter Week, 1916, was awaiting his doom at the hands of a British firing squad, his last words spoken to his daughter Nora, expressed a fear that his comrades would not understand this action. And few of them did.

The Relevance of James Connolly in Ireland To-day, George Gilmore, Dochas, Dublin, 1969, 8 pages.

If we believe that working class struggle for better conditions within the society in which we live must, to achieve a worthwhile result, be pushed ahead to the overthrow of the social system that rests on the exploitation of the working classes, and to the organisation of society on a socialist basis instead then we can consider the question of the relevance of Connolly’s teaching to the tactics of today.

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The Writings of James Connolly

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James Connolly - Irish Citizen's Army

James Connolly – Irish Citizen’s Army

More on Ireland

The Relevance of James Connolly Today

The ‘Troubles’ – 1968-98

Ireland – The Historical Background

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The Writings of James Connolly

James Connolly was, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest Irish Republican and Socialist leader – but he was born in Edinburgh. Not too much of a surprise when you realise that due to the conditions under which Irish workers were forced to live under the rule of the British that running away was preferable to staying and fighting. Connolly’s parents left, he returned to take the fight to the British Imperialists.

Unlike most of the leaders that preceded him, and most that have come since, he understood that the only way that the Irish would be truly free was when the working class and peasantry took control of their own country, and not allowing Irish exploiters to take the place of the British variety. His adoption of the ideas of Marxism make him stand out in Irish Republican history. He realised that national liberation for the majority meant nothing if it did not come, at the same time, with their freedom from capitalist exploitation.

He also understood that if they remained unarmed the working class would always face defeat from a ‘armed to the teeth’ occupation force. One of his most important achievements was the formation of the Irish Citizen’s Army, an armed (although initially not with fire arms) and organised group of men who defended workers in the 1913 Great Dublin Lock Out. It was from this organisation that the Irish Republican Army (the IRA) evolved – though too often without the same ideological basis.

James Connolly also stands as one of the few who realised that the war of the capitalists, that sent millions to the slaughter fields of the First World War, was yet another ‘game’ of capitalism and imperialism and which true working class leaders should shun like the plague. Although the so-called working class leaders and parties of the Second Socialist International, had declared that they would not call upon their respective working classes to fight in an imperialist war (in The Stuttgart Resolution of 1907 and The Balse Manifesto of 1912) they almost all adopted nationalistic and jingoistic stances once war was declared in 1914 – including the British Labour Party. The two international leaders who stood on principal at this moment of decision were Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (who later led the Russian working class and peasantry to victory in the 1917 October Revolution) and James Connolly.

Despite this seeming understanding of revolutionary reality of the early part of the 20th century Connolly ended up in the futile and doomed to failure Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916. Whereas Lenin had learnt from the past Connolly still had aspects of Blanqui‘s (the 19th century French revolutionary) ‘small group who will stir the rest of the population’ mentality. They were isolated by the much more organised British Imperialist forces, even at a time when they were involved in the biggest war (at that time) in world history on the other side of the English Channel. In less than a week the uprising was crushed and 12 days later Connolly was shot by firing squad by the vengeful British.

In a chair!

Connolly had been wounded in the ankle and was unable to stand so the arrogant British provided him with a seat so he wouldn’t be inconvenienced. This attitude that the British displayed in Ireland, that they had displayed another part of the world before and since, angered the Irish working class and although the Rising was not the most astute of political moves it did result in a realisation that the British had only total contempt for the Irish and their sensibilities.

This was immortalised in a verse of the 1957 song by Dominic Behan, the Patriot Game

They told me how Connolly was shot in his chair,
His wounds from the fighting all bloody and bare.
His fine body twisted, all battered and lame
They soon made me part of the patriot game.

It’s unfortunate that revolutionary movements around the world have since made similar mistakes in ensuring the success of a proletarian revolution, perhaps most notably the idea of the ‘foco’ followed by Che Guevara in Bolivia in the late 1960s.

Nonetheless Connolly left a legacy in his writings that could be useful for revolutionaries in Ireland and other parts of the world. For that reason as many as possible are reproduced here.

Erin’s Hope – the end and the means, and The New Evangel, with an introduction by Joseph Deasy, New Book Publications, Dublin, 1968, 44 pages.

Erin’s Hope is Connolly’s first published pamphlet and is a strong exposition of the Socialist case published in 1897.

The New Evangel is a collection of short essays published in 1901.

The axe to the root and Old Wine in New Bottles, Repsol pamphlet No. 14, Republican Education Publications, Dublin, 1973?, 52 pages.

The Axe to the Root and Old Wine in New Bottles are two articles where Connolly stresses the need for solidarity, militancy and organisation in the work of Trade Unions in the class struggle.

Labour in Irish History, New Books Publications, Dublin, 1967, 180 pages.

Labour in Irish History is not an academic tract but is based upon well researched facts. Here Connolly passionately argues that for the Irish working class to know where they are going in the future they should be aware of their past.

Socialism Made Easy, Labour party Publications, Dublin, 1972, 64 pages.

Contains two articles:

Workshop Talks takes the form of statements made by a typical sceptical worker and Connolly’s refutations.

In Political Action of Labour argues for the necessity of industrial and political unity in any trade union or class struggle.

The Re-Conquest of Ireland, New Books Publications, Dublin, 1968, 92 pages.

The Re-Conquest of Ireland develops the ideas of Labour in Irish History showing that the domination of Ireland by imperialism was political, economic and social.

Workshop Talks, The Meaning of Socialism, Repsol pamphlet No. 1, Republican Education Publications, Dublin, 1973?, 32 pages.

Workshop Talks takes the form of statements made by a typical sceptical worker and Connolly’s refutations.

Revolutionary Warfare, New Books Publications, Dublin, 1968, 44 pages.

In Revolutionary Warfare Connolly analyses insurrections, revolutions and uprisings in the previous 150 years, or so, with the argument that the Irish Citizen’s Army should develop from a defensive to an offensive force of the working class.

Labour Nationality and Religion, New Books Publications, Dublin, 1969, 68 pages.

Being a discussion of the Lenten Discourses against Socialism delivered by Father Kane, S.J., in Gardiner Street Church, Dublin, 1910.

The James Connolly Songbook, Cork Workers’ Club, Cork, 1973?, 38 pages.

‘No revolutionary movement is complete without its poetical expression. If such a movement has caught hold of the imagination of the masses, they will seek a vent in song for aspirations, the fears and hopes, the loves and hatreds engendered by the struggle.’ James Connolly.

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Documents of the Party of Labour of Albania

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Documents of the Party of Labour of Albania

These pages include documents and decisions of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania and other state organisations of the Albanian state. Also there are articles that were originally published in ‘Zeri i Popullit’, the official newspaper of the CC of the PLA.

I apologise if some of the reproductions are a little messy. The paper used in the 1960/70s does not age well and I hope that the ‘staining’ doesn’t cause any problems. As far as I’m concerned the text (which, after all, is the most important) is still clear and legible.

The ideas of Marxism-Leninism will triumph on the Revisionism, no publisher, Tirana. 1962, 227 pages.

Fiftieth Anniversary of Albanian Independence, no publisher, Tirana, 1962, 71 pages. Contains three speeches by Enver Hoxha, Mehmet Shehu and Haxhi Lleshi on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Albanian Independence in November 1962.

Togliati’s ‘Testament’, the crisis of Modern Revisionism and the fight of Marxist-Leninists, reproduced from Zeri i Popullit daily, November 13, 1964, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1964, 43 pages.

Constitution of the People’s Republic of Albania, the Albanian Committee for Cultural Relations and Friendship with Foreign Countries, Tirana, 1964, 48 pages. The Constitution that was adopted in January 1946 and which was in place until it was changed in 1976 at the 7th Congress of the Party of Labour of Albania.

The Belgrade Revisionist Clique – Renegades from Marxism-Leninism and Agents of Imperialism, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1964, 325 pages. A series of articles first published in Zëri i Popullit, the official newspaper of the CC of the PLA, relating to the counter-revolutionary activities of the Yugoslav Revisionists. The articles cover the period from January 1962 to September 1963.

The Facts about Soviet-Albanian Relations, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1964, 165 pages. Documents and letters from the period 1961-63 when the Khrushchevite revisionists of the Soviet Union abandoned Albania and in the process the revolutionary road of Marxism-Leninism.

Marxist-Leninist Ideology will certainly overcome Revisionism – Volume II, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1964, 462 pages. A series of articles, first published in Zëri i Popullit, the official newspaper of the CC of the PLA, relating to the Modern Revisionism in the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and other European ‘Communist’ Parties. The articles cover the period from May 1962 to June 1963.

Twenty Years of Socialism in Albania, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1964, 127 pages.

Communist and Workers’ Parties and Marxist-Leninist Groups greet the Fifth Congress of the Party of Labour of Albania, held in Tirana from November 1 to November 8, 1966, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1966, 207 pages.

The Soviet Revisionist clique works at a quick pace towards the re-establishment of capitalism, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1967, 35 pages.

Let the storm of Revolution burst out powerfully, reproduced from Zeri i Popullit daily, May 16th 1968, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1968, 39 pages.

The Budapest Carnivals, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1968, 33 pages.

The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic caught in the grip of Soviet Revisionist invaders, reproduced from Zeri i Popullit daily, November 19, 1968, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1968, 22 pages.

The working class in Revisionist countries must take the field and re-establish the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, reproduced from the ‘Zeri i Popullit’ daily, March 24, 1968, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1968, 40 pages.

The Soviet Revisionists and Czechoslovakia, reproduced from the ‘Zeri i Popullit’ daily, July 24, 1968, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1968, 31 pages.

Soviet-US Alliance at work against the Czechoslovak people, reproduced from Zeri i Popullit daily, May 23rd 1969, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1969, 16 pages.

The demagogy of the Soviet Revisionists cannot conceal their traitorous countenance, reproduced from the ‘Zeri i Popullit’ daily, January 10, 1969, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1969, 50 pages.

Open fire on Revisionist betrayal, articles from ‘Zeri i Popullit’ daily, organ of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1969, 68 pages.

Resolution of the CC of the PLA and the Council of Ministers of the PRA on Proclaiming the 1969 Year as a jubilar year of the 25th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Fatherland and of the Triumph of the People’s Revolution, no publisher, Tirana, 1969, 4 pages.

Military Pressure – Basis of the Political Dictate and Blackmail of the Soviet Revisionist Leaders, reproduced from the April 11th 1969 issue of ‘Zeri i Popullit’ daily, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1969, 22 pages.

The Congress of capitalist restoration and Social-imperialism, reproduced from the ‘Zeri i Popullit’ daily, April 17, 1971, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1971, 33 pages.

Some questions of Socialist Construction in Albania and of the struggle against Revisionism, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1971, 229 pages. Presentations given at the National Conference of Social Studies in Tirana in November 1969, on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic. Includes contributions by Ramiz Alia and Nexhmije Hoxha.

An historic victory of Marxism-Leninism over Revisionism, reproduced from the ‘Rruga e Partise’, January 5, 1971, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1971, 59 pages. On the tenth anniversary of the Meeting of the 81 Communist and Workers Parties in Moscow in 1961.

The 6th Congress of the Albanian Labour Youth Union – held in Durres on October 23, 1972, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1972, 100 pages.

Culture People’s Heritage, Naim Frasheri Publishing House, Tirana, 1973, 88 pages. A review of Albania’s Cultural Heritage and how, after the liberation of the country from Fascism in 1944, the people were able to appreciate this historical treasury for the first time.

Albania’s Foreign Policy, speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations given by Foreign Minister Nesti Nase on October 2nd 1972, Albania Report, New York 1973, 15 pages.

A new victory of the policy of the Party of Labour of Albania in the uplift of the general well being of the people, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1976, 25 pages. Decision of the CC of the PLA and the Council of Ministers of the People’s Republic of Albania on the reduction of higher wages, on some improvements in the wage system of working people and on the furthering narrowing of differences between town and country

A Social Democratic Congress of the French Revisionists, editorial of Zeri i Popullit, organ of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, February 21, 1976, 16 pages.

The Congress of the Soviet Revisionists – a Congress of Social-Imperialist Demagogy and Expansion, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1976, 24 pages. Editorial of Zeri i Popullit, organ of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, March 12, 1976.

Draft Constitution of the People’s Republic of Albania, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1976, 42 pages. The Albanian people have found constant inspiration in the great doctrine of Marxism-Leninism, under the banner of which, united round the Party of Labour and under its leadership, they are carrying forward the construction of socialist society to pass over, later, gradually to communist society.

A meeting that sealed Revisionist betrayal, editorial of ‘Zeri i Popullit’, organ of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, July 7, 1976, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1976, 16 pages.

Two Opposing Lines In The World Trade Union Movement, Filip Kota, Gamma Publishing, New York, 1976, 178 pages. The difference between the role of the Trade Unions in capitalist countries and the part they play in the construction of Socialism in Albania. Reprint of original published in Tirana in 1974.

The Constitution of the Party of Labour of Albania, adopted at the 3rd Congress of the PLA (including amendments made at the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Congresses of the PLA), 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1977, 64 pages.

A new step in the struggle against opportunism, reproduced from the newspaper ‘Zeri i Popullit’, organ of the CC of the PLA, November 22, 1977, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1977, 19 pages.

The Albanian people have been and are with the just cause of the peoples, speech of Comrade Nesti Nase, head of the Delegation of the PSR of Albania at the 32nd Session of the General Assembly of the UNO, October 6, 1977, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1977, 22 pages.

‘Eurocommunism’ or undisguised Revisionism, article from ‘Zeri i Popullit’, organ of the CC of the PLA, dated December 4, 1977, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1977, 24 pages.

The Party of Labour of Albania on the Building and the Life of the Party, Part 1, Part 2. (This booklet is reproduced here in two parts due to file size.) 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1977, 312 pages. A selection of Resolutions, Documents and Articles produced between the first days of the Party in November 1941 until February 1972. taken from the Party archives and from the Collected Works of Enver Hoxha.

The Ideas of the October Revolution are defended and carried forward in the struggle against modern revisionism, speech delivered at the Commemorative Meeting on the Occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Great Socialist October Revolution (November 7, 1977), by Hysni Kapo, Member of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1977, 46 pages.

Some Fundamental Questions of the Revolutionary policy of the Party of Labour of Albania about the Class Struggle, by Nexhmije Hoxha, Director of Marxist-Leninist Studies at the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania in 1977, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1977, 67 pages.

The Theory and Practice of Revolution, editorial of the ‘Zeri i Popullit’, organ of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, July 7, 1977, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1977, 35 pages.

In the light of the ideas of the 7th Congress of the Party of Labour of Albania, Norman Bethune Institute, Toronto, 1977, 176 pages. Articles from ‘Zeri i Popullit’, organ of the Central Committee of the PLA, following the 7th Congress of the Party of Labour of Albania.

Photo Album of Albanian Life, Norman Bethune Institute, Toronto, 1977, 174 pages. A collection of photos showing the history of the Liberation War and the Construction of Socialism in Albania, up to 1977.

Chinese Warmongering and Hua Kuo-Feng’s Visit to the Balkans, editorial of the newspaper ‘Zeri i Popullit’, organ of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, September 3, 1978, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1978, 22 pages.

The Social Class Structure of the Working Class in Albania, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1978, 218 pages. The working class is the principal force in the production of material blessing. It is the most progressive and the most revolutionary class of the society, whose historic mission is to overthrow capitalism from its foundations and to destroy it, to put an end to any exploitation of man by man, and to build socialist and communist society.

Letter of CC of the Party of Labour of Albania and the Government of Albania to CC of the Communist Party and the Government of China, July 29th 1978, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1978, 56 pages.

Sino-American Alliance – a great threat to the peoples’ freedom, independence and security, editorials of the newspaper ‘Zeri i Popullit’, Organ of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1979, 27 pages.

Who Incites Hostility Amongst the Peoples of Yugoslavia, article from of the newspaper ‘Zeri i Popullit’, Organ of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania, April 23, 1981, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1979, 29 pages.

Soviet Revisionism and the Struggle of the PLA to Unmask it, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1981, 208 pages. This book comprises the reports and a number of papers read at the Scientific Session ‘Soviet Revisionism and the Struggle of the PLA to Unmask it’, organised by the Institute of Marxist-Leninist Studies at the CC of the PLA on 17-18 November, 1980. The reports and papers are published in an abridged form.

The Museum House of the Party, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1981, 60 pages. The house in Tirana where the Albanian Communist Party (later the Party of Labour of Albania) was formed on 8th November, 1941. After liberation converted into a museum, currently with no public access.

Socialist Albania will always remain loyal to the great cause of Socialism and the Revolution, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1982, 26 pages. Speech by Adil Çarçani at the 8th Session of the 9th Legislature of the People’s Assembly on the program and composition of the Council of Ministers, January 15, 1982.

The youth – a great force of the revolution, Htypshkronja e Re, Tirana, 1982, 46 pages. A book celebrating the role of Albanian youth in the War of Liberation and the Construction of Socialism.

The Counter-revolution within the Counter-revolution – about the events of the years 1980-1983 in Poland, Spiro Dede, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1983, 303 pages. The Revisionists started the rot in Poland and opened the way for the out and out counter-revolutionary movement under the guise of trade unionism – Solidarity. Event since show the correctness of the Albanian analysis more than thirty years ago.

Report on the 8th Five-Year Plan (1986-1990), submitted to the 9th Congress of the Party of Labour of Albania by Adil Çarçani, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1986, 89 pages.

Klasiket e Marksizem-Leninizmit – The Classics of Marxism-Leninism, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1986, 156 pages. The text of this book is in Albanian but has been posted for its photos of the great leaders and founders of Marxism-Leninism – Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin.

Although not technically statements by the PLA the following two documents were published in Tirana and therefore reflect the views of the Party at that time.

Joint Declaration of the Delegations of the Marxist-Leninist Parties of Latin America, taken from the newspaper ‘No Transar’, Organ of the Communist Party (ML) of Argentina, No 192, January 12, 1977, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1977, 15 pages.

Joint Declaration of Marxist-Leninist Communist Parties of Europe – Communist Party of Germany (ML), Communist Party of Spain (ML), Communist Party of Greece (ML), Communist Party of Italy (ML) and the Portuguese Communist party (Reconstructed), reprinted from the newspaper ‘Zeri i Popullit’, central organ of the CC of the PLA, November 4, 1977, 8 Nëntori Publishing House, Tirana, 1977, 32 pages.

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