The new issue of Black Flag: Anarchist Review is now available:
This year’s third issue has the usual mix of articles, re-prints and reviews, starting with the first of a two-part marking of the founding of Freedom in 1886. Founded by, amongst others, Peter Kropotkin and Charlotte M. Wilson, this monthly paper was a mainstay of the British Anarchist movement for decades (monthly, albeit with the occasional break or bimestrial issue). This issue covers its first 21 years – an anniversary the paper itself marked – with the following 20 years (1908-1927) covered in our next issue.
Previous issues of Black Flag Anarchist Review have included articles by regular contributors to the paper:
- L. S. Bevington, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 5 Number 3 (Autumn 2025)
- Alexander Berkman, Black Flag Anarchist Review Vol. 6 No. 1 (Spring 2026)
- Voltairine de Cleyre, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 2 Number 1 (Spring 2022)
- Emma Goldman, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 4 Number 2 (Summer 2024)
- Harry Kelly, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 3 Number 3 (Autumn 2023)
- Peter Kropotkin, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 2 Number 3 (Autumn 2022)
- Errico Malatesta, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 2 Number 2 (Summer 2022)
- Lucy Parsons, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 2 Number 1 (Spring 2022)
- Rudolf Rocker, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 3 Number 2 (Summer 2023)
- John Turner, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 4 Number 2 (Summer 2024)
- Charlotte M. Wilson, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 4 Number 1 (Spring 2024)
Also of note are:
- “1914: World War or Class War”, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 4 Number 3 (Autumn 2024)
- “Anarchism and the General Strike”, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 3 Number 1 (Spring 2023)
- “Socialists and Workers: The 1896 London Congress”, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 1 Number 3 (Autumn 2021)
- “Tom Mann and British Syndicalism”, Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 1 Number 3 (Autumn 2021)
Here, we concentrate on articles published anonymously (although we do find room for three by Kropotkin and one by Henry Glasse). These reflect the general anarchist communist perspective of the paper on a range of subjects – including the social revolution, the labour movement, Marxism as well as current affairs. These will be read with great interest by today’s anarchists.
We then move on to Guy A. Aldred (1886-1963), someone who initially worked with the Freedom Group before ploughing his own furrow. A stalwart of the anarchist and anti-parliamentarian communist movements as well as the Glasgow radical scene, he was a somewhat idiosyncratic person but with an admirable energy and persistence. Unfortunately, this included when he was wrong and so, unfortunately, took far too long to admit the reality of the Bolshevik regime (slandering those who did, such as Emma Goldman and Freedom, before acknowledging the facts). Still, he should be remembered for his contributions to the British libertarian movement over the decades.
Then we publish a recent translation of the Charter of Lyon adopted by the CGT-SR in 1926 While the 1906 Charter of Amiens is well-known in the history of French revolutionary syndicalism, this post-war charter is less so. However, it is of note for it sought to learn the lessons of the failure of the pre-war CGT and its descent into reformism and shameful support of the Allied war effort.
Next is a discussion of the Factory Occupations which swept France in 1936 and the Popular Front. Given that today we hear calls for a new Popular Front to combat the right, it is useful to recall how French anarchists responded to the original. As the article indicates, they argued that a “popular front” on the streets and in the workplaces, using direct action and solidarity, would be more effective than relying upon politicians to do our resisting for us.
We re-print a rare article by Murray Bookchin (1921-2006) written to mark the 50th anniversary of the Spanish Revolution. Given Bookchin’s break with anarchism in 1999 and his subsequent anti-anarchist comments, including this article is problematic. However, while Bookchin happily destroyed his own legacy in his final years, we think that his contributions to anarchism over the decades outweigh the shamefulness of his final years.
Bookchin’s account does have flaws. He does indulge in some regional stereotypes to explain anarchism’s appeal but that does not explain why there were CNT and UGT unions in the same areas. Also, while he rightly laments the decision of the CNT to collaborate with the other anti-fascist groups (and so, eventually, the Republican State), he focuses too much on the post-hoc rationales issued (rightly labelled as confused) rather than the social context the decision to ignore anarchist theory was made. We then mark the death of Durruti.
The example of the Spanish anarchist movement was one Kropotkin, for one, always pointed to and has important lessons for radicals today. Suffice to say, if that Spanish Labour movement had been completely Marxist with a large Communist or Trotskyist Party (the latter being admittedly extremely unlikely) then the Spanish Revolution would not have taken place. The movement would have degenerated into reformism decades before and if fascism sought power it would have met the same lack of resistance Hitler had. This should be remembered when reading the patronising and inaccurate accounts of Spanish anarchism and the 1936 revolution by Marxists.
Next we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 by re-printing a pamphlet issued by the Syndicalist Workers Federation the year following its crushing. Then we mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Bobby Lynn, a stalwart of the Glasgow Anarchist movement from the 1940s to the 1990s. This is followed by an obituary for Barry Pateman.
We end with reviews – one of which discusses Bookchin’s shameful anti-anarchist diatribes in the years before his death – and our usual round-up of movement news, Parish Notices.
Original translations which appear in Black Flag: Anarchist Review eventually appear on-line here:
https://anarchistfaq.org/translations/index.html
In addition, we have taken the opportunity to correct various typos in, and make other minor changes to, previous issues.
This year we aim to continue to cover a range of people and subjects. These will hopefully include the Russian Revolution, the Haymarket Martyrs, the 1907 International Anarchist Congress, Augustin Souchy, Sacco and Vanzetti, amongst others.
However, this work needs help otherwise at some stage it will end. Contributions from libertarian socialists are welcome on these and other subjects! We are a small collective and always need help in writing, translating and gathering material, so please get in touch if you want to see Black Flag Anarchist Review continue.
This issue’s editorial and contents are:
Editorial
Welcome to the third issue of Black Flag in 2026!
We start with Freedom, founded in October 1886 by, amongst others, Charlotte Wilson and Peter Kropotkin. Still going today (albeit as a twice-yearly free paper), Freedom was a key journal for the British anarchist movement during its early decades. Always a monthly (at best), it was limited to more in depth articles and in its pages was serialised numerous classic pamphlets by the likes of Malatesta and Kropotkin. Yet it was more than that, commenting upon current events in the class struggle and in the labour movement both at home and internationally. As becomes clear reading the articles reprinted in this issue, Freedom published much which remains of interest and relevance to anarchists today.
Previous issues of Black Flag have included articles on and by significant contributors to Freedom during this time – such as Charlotte M. Wilson, John Turner, Louisa Sarah Bevington, Harry Kelly, Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman, Voltarine de Cleyre, Lucy Parsons, Rudolf Rocker, Errico Malatesta and Peter Kropotkin. Here we focus on anonymous articles which give an insight into the politics of the paper, although we do include three articles by Kropotkin which failed to be included in our Kropotkin special of Autumn 2022.
This issue covers its first 21 years – as Freedom itself did in October 1907. The second part will cover the years 1908 to 1927 and will appear in our next issue. Freedom’s centenary saw a series of books issued for different periods of its existence, although sadly the first volume (for 1886 to 1927) never appeared. These selections, we hope, goes some way to amend its non-publication.
This year also marks the death of Guy A. Aldred, a somewhat eccentric character within the London and then Glasgow movements. Initially a boy preacher, he moved to Marxist Social Democracy and then Anarchism and Syndicalism before advocating an ultra-leftist mixture of Marxism and Anarchism based on anti-parliamentarianism. Like many, he embraced the Russian Revolution and took part in the discussions which lead to the creation of the Communist Party of Great Britain, although he distanced himself from it when it embraced parliamentarianism at Lenin’s behest (Aldred advocated a Sinn Fein position as a compromise). However, unlike many on the anti-parliamentarian left, he only recognised the state-capitalist nature of Russia in 1924. By the 1930s he had embraced standing in elections (usually coming last) and continued his prolific pamphleteering and writing until his death in 1963. For all this, he was a significant figure in the British anarchist movement for decades and worth recalling.
We then turn to France. We print the Charter of Lyon adopted by the CGR-SR in 1926 which kept alive revolutionary syndicalism against both the reformist CGT and Communist CGTU followed by an analysis of the Factory Occupations and Popular Front of 1936. Then comes Murray Bookchin’s evaluation of the Spanish Anarchist movement, written to mark the 50th anniversary of the Revolution which erupted in July 1936. We also mark the death of Durruti.
Next is a pamphlet issued by the Syndicalist Workers’ Federation on the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. This was a pivotal moment for many in the Stalinist Parties, with the likes of E.P. Thomson breaking with the Communist Party. For anarchists, the revolt confirmed anarchist views on Stalinism and on how a social revolution should proceed.
We then remember Bobby Lynn, a stalwart of the Glasgow Anarchist Movement, as well as the passing of Barry Pateman. This is followed by our usual reviews and news of the movement, Parish Notices.
If you want to contribute rather than moan at those who do, whether its writing new material or letting us know of on-line articles, reviews or translations, then contact us:
blackflagmag@yahoo.co.uk
Contents
Freedom: 1886 to 1927: Part I – The First Twenty-One Years (1886-1907)
“A Short History of ‘Freedom’”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, October 1907
- “The Struggle for Freedom”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Socialism, October 1886
- “Spontaneity Again”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Socialism, September 1887
- “Forward!”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Socialism, November 1887
- “The Commune of Paris”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Socialism, March 1888
- Notes, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Socialism, April 1888
- “The Strike Movement in Germany”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, June 1889
- “Is Communism Just?”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, July 1889
- “The Collapse of Marxism at the Two International Congresses of Paris”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, August 1889
- “Eight Hours and an Eight Hours Bill”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, May 1890
- “Individual Or Common Property: A Discussion”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, October 1890
- “Conference of London Anarchist Communists”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, November 1891
- “Must We Pass Through State Socialism?”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, January 1892
- “What’s To Be Done”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, February 1892
- “The Wild Beasts of Society”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, May 1892
- “Choice Samples from the Authoritarian Press”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, June 1892
- “Traitors to the Cause!”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, May 1893
- “The Zurich Anarchist Conference”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, October 1893
- “The Revolt of Labour”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, May 1894
- “A Lesson to Socialists”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, August 1895
- “Order – True or False”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, December 1895
- “The First of May”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, May 1896
- “The International Labour Congress”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, July 1896
- “Anarchism And Its Enemies”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, September 1897
- “New Tactics in the Economic Struggle”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, February 1898
- [Peter Kropotkin], “The Insurrections in Spain and Italy”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, June 1898
- “Co-operation And Democracy”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, August-September 1899
- “Political or Revolutionary Method?”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, October 1899
- [Letter from Kropotkin], Reports, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, March-April 1900
- “Anarchist Propaganda”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, August 1900
- “Politics and the People”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, December 1900
- Henry Glasse, “The Superstition of Government”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, November 1901
- “Social Democracy and Anarchism”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, February 1902
- Notes, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, April 1903
- “Kropotkin’s Letter to the Commune Meeting”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, April 1903
- “State Capitalism and Social Democracy”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, June 1903
- “Anarchism and Social Democracy”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, April-May 1904
- “The New Movement in French Labour Unions”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, September 1905
- “The Parting of the Ways”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, October 1905
- “Social Democracy and the General Strike”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, October 1906
- Notes, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, January 1907
- Notes, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, February 1907
- “Moral of the Belfast Strike”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, August 1907
- Notes, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, November 1907
- “To Tobacco Workers of Every Country”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist Communism, December 1907
Nicolas Walter, “Guy A. Aldred, 1886-1963”, The Raven: Anarchist Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1987)
- The Possibility of Anarchism, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist-Communism, August 1907
- “In Defence of Anarchism”, Freedom: A Journal of Anarchist-Communism, September 1907
- “The Anarchist Sayings of Aristide Briand”, Mother Earth, February 1911
- “That Economic Army”, Mother Earth, November 1914
- Trades Unionism and the Class War, 1919
- Socialism and Parliament, 1923
- Against Terrorism in the Workers’ Struggle, 1938
CGT-SR, The Charter of Lyon
Dave Berry, “A failed revolution? The French Popular Front of 1936-38”, Black Flag, No. 226 (2007)
- J. Ribeyron, “The Working Class in Struggle”, Le Libertaire, 5 June 1936
- N. Faucier, “From the collective contract to worker control”, Le Libertaire, 3 July 1936
- “Revolutionary Front!”, Editorial, Le Libertaire, 1 April 1937
Murray Bookchin, “Looking Back at Spain”, The Radical Papers (1987)
Iain McKay, Buenaventura Durruti
Syndicalist Workers Federation, The Hungarian Workers’ Revolution (1957)
Keith, Remembering Bobby Lynn
- Stuart Christie, The Wee Man is Dead!
- “Not a Life Story, Just a Leaf From It”, Workers’ City (1988)
- “Do It Yourself”, The Reckoning: Public Loss Private Gain (1990)
John Patten, An anarchist in the archive: Remembering Barry Pateman
Reviews
- Iain McKay, Nit-picking an excellent and recommended book
- Iain McKay, The Next Revolution
Parish Notices
“The Right of Peoples to Determine Themselves”, Solidaridad Obrera, 28 August 1936