Spanish civil war – Working Class History

June 17, 2020March 8, 2026 Working Class History Podcast

E39-40: The Spanish civil war

Double podcast episode where we give a brief general overview of the Spanish civil war and revolution which broke out after the attempted military coup by right-wing general Francisco Franco 1936-1939.

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July 29, 2018July 7, 2025 Working Class History Podcast

Spanish civil war podcast

John from WCH tells the story of the Spanish civil war and revolution of 1936-9 on the Revolutionary Left Radio podcast. Continue reading “Spanish civil war podcast” →

Armstrong Whitworth Strike: Women Workers in World War I - On This Day in Working Class History

On this day, 17 March 1916, around half of the 12,000 women working at the Armstrong-Whitworth Elswick munitions factory in Newcastle went on strike for better pay. It was the biggest strike by women arms workers during World War I to date. Authorities were taken aback by the women's "great determination and cohesion", and a Ministry of Munitions' wage tribunal was swiftly held and resolved in the workers' favour, awarding all workers a pay increase on 24 March. In the aftermath of the action, Elswick hired a "welfare supervisor", along with 40 assistants, whose job was to try to break up organisation of women workers' at the plant. The supervisor, Miss Jayne, took over all hiring and supervision of women workers, and used more middle-class and "educated" women like former teachers and university graduates to supervise the unruly workers. However, the measures had limited success as the confidence of the workers had been massively increased, and they began threatening strike action on future occasions to improve their conditions. In 1917 the women walked out en masse once more winning union recognition, tea breaks and new toilets amongst other things. Numerous other employers in Britain also recruited "welfare supervisors" at the same time to try to stop strikes by women workers, although after the war ended and many women were pushed out of the workforce once more the practice stopped.More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8905/armstrong-whitworth-women-strikeOur work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History