The History of Socialism

French communist revolutionary Théodore Dézamy died July 24, 1850. Inspired by Babeuf and Buonarroti, he joined Blanqui's Society of the Seasons failed 1839 uprising. His book, "Code of the Communaut," argued for the revolutionary proletarian self-organization in #OTD #France

Simon Bolivar, who would become known as the Liberator of South America for his leadership in the Wars of Independence from Spain, was born in Caracas on July 24, 1783. #OTD #LatinAmerica #Venezuela #SimonBolivar

English author of aristocratic origins Jessica Mitford died on July 23, 1996 in Oakland, California. A member of the Communist Party USA from 1943 to 1958, Mitford refused to testify before HUAC, was active in the civil rights movement, and wrote "The American Way of Death." #OTD

The Communist Party of China celebrates its founding on July 1st, but the actual founding Congress in Shanghai occurred July 23-31, 1921. The exact dates weren't considered important to remember in the party's early clandestine years. #OTD #China #CPC

On July 22, 1951, two dogs, Dezik and Tsygan, became the first living creatures launched into space as part of the Soviet program of space exploration. Both returned to Earth unharmed. #OTD #USSR #Dog

On July 21, 1378, the lower classes of Florence, led by thousands of armed wool workers (the Ciompi), forcibly took over the government, compelling the governing Signoria to establish three additional guilds, extending political rights to their members. #OTD #Florence

Skilled workers in parts of the giant Putilov Iron Works in Petrograd struck for higher pay on June 21, 1917, but were urged by the Bolsheviks to restrain their "legitimate indignation" until a more auspicious moment. Their patience would run out in the "July Days." #OTD #Russia

Communist Party USA National Secretary William Z. Foster was arrested on July 20, 1948, on an indictment for violation of the Smith Act. 11 other national leaders of the party were arrested at roughly the same time. He would avoid trial as a result of illness. #OTD

Frantz Fanon was born July 20, 1925, in Martinique. Trained as a psychiatrist, he worked with the National Liberation Front (FLN) of Algeria. His books, "Black Skin, White Masks" and "The Wretched of the Earth" are major works of anti-racist and anti-colonial theory. #OTD

Frantz Fanon was born July 20, 1925, in Martinique. Trained as a psychiatrist, he worked with the National Liberation Front (FLN) of Algeria. His books, "Black Skin, White Masks" and "The Wretched of the Earth" are major works of anti-racist and anti-colonial theory. #OTD

On July 19, 1936, anarchist and socialist workers militias in Madrid and Barcelona defeated far-right Nationalist forces involved in an attempted coup d'etat, marking the beginnings of the Spanish Revolution and Civil War. #OTD #Spain

The 2nd World Congress of the Comintern was held in Petrograd and Moscow from July 19 to August 7, 1920. It gathered approximately 220 voting and non-voting representatives of Communist and revolutionary socialist political parties from around the world. #OTD #Russia

Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress, secret member of the South African Communist Party, organizer of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, and first president of post-Apartheid South Africa was born on July 18, 1918. #OTD #SouthAfrica

The paramilitary Alliance of Red Front-Fighters (Roter Frontkämpferbund) was established in Germany on July 18, 1924 under the leadership of the Communist Party of Germany. Its membership would grow to 130,000 before it was banned in 1929. #OTD #Germany

A march of 7,000 Nazi Brownshirts through the left-wing working class town of Altona on July 17, 1932, provoked clashes in which 2 Nazis and 16 Communists were killed, all of the latter at the hands of the police in an event known as Altona Bloody Sunday. #OTD #Germany #Antifa

Forces of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) entered the Nicaraguan capital of Managua on July 17, 1979, forcing the country's dictator, Anastasio Somoza, to resign and flee the country. #OTD #Nicaragua #FSLN #Sandinista

Former Tsar Nicholas II, his family, and his entourage were executed by their Bolshevik guards in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 16-17, 1918. Ultimate responsibility for the order remains disputed. #OTD #Russia

Former Black Panther and captured combatant of the Black Liberation Army (BLA), Assata Shakur was born July 16, 1947, in Queens, New York. Shakur escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in 1979 and was granted political asylum in Cuba in 1984. #OTD #BlackHistory

Leader of the Peasants' Revolt, John Ball was hanged, drawn and quartered before Richard II at St. Albans July 15, 1381. Ball questioned the justification for social class distinctions, asking in a speech "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?" #OTD #England

Irish republican, suffragist, socialist and veteran of the 1916 Easter Uprising, Constance Markievicz, died July 15, 1927. As a prisoner she was the first woman elected to the UK House of Commons and became the first to hold a cabinet position in the Irish Republic. #OTD #Ireland