Seeds of Fire: A People’s Chronology

Recalling events that happened on this day in history.
Memories of struggle, resistance and persistence.

Compiled by Ulli Diemer

February 24, 1834
The Tolpuddle Martyrs: Six farm labourers in Dorset, England are charged with taking an “illegal oath” – a pretext for stamping out their attempt to bargain for higher wages. The men – George Loveless, James Loveless, James Hammett, James Brine, Thomas Standfield and John Standfield – who become known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs, are sentenced to ‘transportation’ to Australia: a fate from which few return alive. Supporters rally to raise money to support their familes. Massive protest demonstrations in London, and an 800,000-strong petition, eventually lead the government to relent and allow their return three years later. Related Topics: Anti-Labour – Political Repression – Transportation
February 24, 1841
After an incident in which an American citizen was killed, U.S. forces invade Samoa and take vengeance by burning several Samoan towns. Related Topics: Arson – Collective Punishment – Intervention – U.S. Imperialism
February 24, 1848
The day after French troops kill 52 unarmed demonstrators in Paris, angry crowds converge on the royal place. Panicked, King Louis Philippe abdicates and flees to England. Further Reading: Karl Marx: Revolution in Paris Friedrich Engels: Introduction to Karl Marx’s The Class Struggles in France 1848 to 1850 Karl Marx: The Class Struggles in France, 1848 to 1850 Revolutions of 1848 Neil Faulkner: The 1848 Revolutions (A Marxist History of the World, Partg 52 Related Topics: French History – Revolutionary Moments – Revolutions of 1848-49
February 24 - 25, 1956
Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev gives a speech to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in which he reveals some of Joseph Stalin’s crimes and criticizes the ‘cult of personality’ that surrounded Stalin, who had died in 1953. When the speech becomes known, it triggers a crisis in the Soviet-aligned Communist Parties, with many members leaving the parties. Related Topics: Soviet History – Stalinism
February 24, 1976
Publication of the first issue of The Red Menace, a libertarian socialist newspaper published by the Toronto Liberation School. Related Topics: Libertarian Socialism