The English Revolution: the world turned upside down – part one

Welcome to episode one of our new series - The English Revolution: The World Turned Upside Down. Every Friday, Alan Woods (editor of In Defence of Marxism) will be discussing the English Revolution: a colossal event in world history that dealt an irreparable blow to feudal absolutism. It is said that revolution has never come to the British Isles. In fact, modern British democracy was born out of a violent revolution and a bloody Civil War, which saw the king lose his head. Today, we are witnessing one of the most turbulent periods in British history, and the ruling class fears the nation’s revolutionary past, which is why they seek to bury it under falsehoods. As Leon Trotsky wrote in 1925: “The British bourgeoisie has erased the very memory of the 17th-century revolution by dissolving its past in ‘gradualness’. The advanced British workers will have to re-discover the English Revolution and find within its ecclesiastical shell the mighty struggle of social forces.” A careful study of the English Revolution is obligatory for every class-conscious worker, Trotsky noted. So tune in every week and listen to Alan explain this important chapter in British history from a Marxist perspective.