Source Collection: Global Resistance to Established Power Structures
Document 1
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Author |
Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948) |
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Date and location |
1909, India |
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Source type |
Primary source—book |
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Description |
This source is excerpted from Hind Swaraj (“Indian Home Rule”) by Mohandas Gandhi. A key figure in the India movement for independence, he promoted nonviolent resistance against British colonial power. Both sides of the dialog below were written by Gandhi as a way to present his ideas. Gandhi (“EDITOR”) replies to questions from an interviewer (“READER”) on how he would respond to questions regarding nonviolent resistance. |
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Citation |
Gandhi, M.K. Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule. Translated by Valji Govindji Desai. Gujarat, India: Navajivan Publishing House, 1938. |
EDITOR:
Passive resistance is a method of securing rights by personal suffering; it is the reverse of resistance by arms. When I refuse to do a thing that is repugnant to my conscience, I use soul-force. …
Everybody agrees that sacrifice of self is…superior to sacrifice for others…if this kind of force is used in a cause that is unjust, only the person using it suffers. He does not make other suffer for his mistakes. …
READER:
You would then disregard laws—this is rank disloyalty. We [are] a law-abiding nation. You seem to be going even beyond the extremists. They say that we must obey the laws that have been passed, but that if the laws be bad, we must drive out the law-givers even by force.
EDITOR:
… We…want to find out what is right and…act accordingly. The real meaning of the statement that we are a law-abiding nation is that we are passive resisters. When we do not like certain laws, we do not break the heads of law-givers but we suffer and do not submit to the laws. That we should obey laws whether good or bad is a newfangled notion. There was no such thing in former days. The people disregarded the laws they did not like and suffered the penalties for their breach. It is contrary to manhood if we obey laws repugnant to our conscience. Such teaching is opposed to religion and means slavery. …
… If men only realize that it is unmanly to obey laws that are unjust, no man’s tyranny will enslave him. This is the key to self-rule or home-rule.
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Glossary Passive: Accepting things without resistance. |
Document 2
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Author |
El Socialista (newspaper) |
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Date and location |
Feb 18, 1936, Madrid, Spain |
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Source type |
Primary source—newspaper article |
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Description |
In the Spanish general election of 1936, the Popular Front, a coalition of left-wing parties and republicans (those who wanted the rule of the people and not kings and queens) won the most votes and representatives. The article below was published by the winners of the election demanding that they be given the chance to rule. Their rule did not last long, as Franco and other right-wing and fascist leaders started a civil war, which they won in 1939. |
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Citation |
Cowans, Jon. Modern Spain: A Documentary History. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003. |
After the Victory, a Single Demand: The Power to Govern
Victory was obtained on Sunday…the Popular Front has…established its claim on the government…nothing can now stand in the way of the…mandate of the people. No one…will stand in the way. …
…it is necessary to show great calm. It is not a question…of…changing the names of the streets and toppling certain statues. Nor is it a matter of the victory producing…demonstrations.
…we leapt over an enemy that was already dead…February 16 is the victory over a well-prepared enemy…there were experiences that we Republicans and socialists had to learn at the cost of many sacrifices…Our victory will make our struggle easier and will give us the certainty of completing it with the absolute defeat of our enemies…to this…we must dedicate all of our efforts. …
It is urgent that the powers of government be handed…to the Popular Front. To…the country, to…the Republicans and socialists…demand[s] that those most fundamental aspirations be fulfilled, we only wish to add one: the handing over of the powers of government…the Popular Front that should liberate our prisoners…The people must now ask for…the powers of the government. They belong to them. They have conquered them and no one can oppose their falling into their hands. Once the powers of the government are in their hands, they will no longer have to ask for anything.
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Glossary Mandate: Authority given to a group or person to rule. |
Document 3
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Author |
Ruben Vasilievich Suryaninov/Islamic Republican Party of Iran |
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Date and location |
1960s, Russia/1980s Iran |
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Source type |
Primary source—propaganda posters |
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Description |
The Soviet Union and its Communist allies frequently proclaimed their friendship with groups fighting against colonial rule, although some argue their main motive was often to weaken their Cold War opponents, such as Britain and France. The first poster is one of many that proclaimed solidarity with anticolonial forces. The second poster is one that proclaims solidarity among Muslims. It was published by the government of Iran. At the time, Iran was moving to fight Muslims in Iraq. |
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Citation |
Suryaninov, Ruben V. “We are solidarity with you, Vietnam!” Poster, 1960s. (Photo by Sovfoto/Universal Images Group/Getty Images). “Islam Is the Only Supporter of the Worker.” Islamic Republican Party of Iran, c. 1980. Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library. |
Soviet propaganda poster stating “We are in solidarity with you, Vietnam!” 1960s, by artist Ruben Vasilievich Suryaninov.
Soviet military propaganda poster, 1960s. In Suryaninov, Ruben V. “We are solidarity with you, Vietnam!” Poster, 1960s. (Photo by Sovfoto/Universal Images Group/Getty Images) https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/soviet-propaganda-poster-from-the-1960s-or-70s-were-in-news-photo/498863757?adppopup=true
Iranian poster released by the Islamic Republican Party in Iran, 1980s. In “Islam Is the Only Supporter of the Worker.” Islamic Republican Party of Iran, c. 1980. Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.MEPOSTERS
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Glossary Solidarity: One group’s unity with or support for another group. |
Document 4
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Author |
Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) |
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Date and location |
June 26, 1961, South Africa |
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Source type |
Primary source—letter |
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Description |
Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid revolutionary who later became the president of South Africa. This letter was written when the anti-apartheid movement was starting to take more action through strikes and demonstrations. In the letter, Mandela warned South Africa’s prime minister that more action would come if the government did not stop the system of apartheid. |
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Citation |
Mandela, Nelson. Second Letter from Nelson Mandela to Hendrik Verwoerd, June 26, 1961. In Nelson Mandela Foundation and O’Malley The Heart of Hope, edited by Padraig O’Malley. https://omalley.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv01538/04lv01600/05lv01617/06lv01623.htm |
I REFER YOU TO MY LETTER of 20 April 1961…I informed you of the resolutions passed by the All-In African National Conference…demanding the calling by your Government…of a multiracial and sovereign National Convention to draw up a new nonracial and democratic Constitution…
As your Government did not respond…the All-In African National Council…called for a General Strike…last month. As predicted…your Government sought to suppress the strike by force. You rushed a special law in Parliament authorizing the detention without trial of people connected with…the strike…More than ten thousand innocent Africans were arrested…
… All these measures failed to break the strike and our people stood up…and gave us…support…
…Considerations of honesty demand of your Government to realize that the African people who constitute four-fifths of the country’s population are against your Republic…
There are two alternatives before you. Either you accede to our demands and call a National Convention…to draw up a democratic Constitution ….
Alternatively…persist with the present policies which are cruel and dishonest and which are opposed by millions of people here and abroad…we shall never cease to fight against repression and injustice…
We know that your Government will once again…persecute the African people. …[N]o power on earth can stop an oppressed people, determined to win their freedom. History punishes those who resort to force and fraud to suppress the claims and legitimate aspirations of the majority of the country’s citizens.
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Glossary Sovereign: Independent and self-ruling. |
Document 5
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Author |
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) |
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Date and location |
April 4, 1967, New York |
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Source type |
Primary source—speech |
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Description |
This source is a speech given by Martin Luther King, Jr., which he delivered in New York City about four years after his landmark “I Have a Dream” speech, and exactly one year (to the day) before he was assassinated. Here, he speaks about issues that go beyond racism and discrimination in the United States, highlighting American foreign policy issues, poverty, inequality, and wars around the world. He states that we need to look beyond the Vietnam War—which dominated headlines at the time—and pay attention to broader patterns. |
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Citation |
King, Martin Luther, Jr. “Beyond Vietnam.” Speech, New York City, April 4, 1967. Digital History. https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=3&psid=3621 |
The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit…
…this is the role our nation has taken—the role of those who make peaceful revolution impossible by refusing to give up…the immense profits of overseas investment.
…if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must…shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
… A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth…it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: “This is not just.”
It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America and say: “This is not just.”
The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just. A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: “This…is not just.”
This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of people normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love.
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Glossary Malady: Disease. |
Document 6
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Author |
Osama Bin Laden (1957–2011) |
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Date and location |
1996, Afghanistan |
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Source type |
Primary source—speech |
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Description |
Osama Bin Laden was the leader of Al Qaeda (The Base), a terrorist organization he founded in 1988. In this speech, Bin Laden, declares war on the United States and Israel, arguing that he is responding to American and Israeli aggression against Muslims. In particular, he is responding to American occupation of Saudi Arabia and Israeli occupation of Palestine. He directs the speech to all Muslims, using religious language to express his political goals. |
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Citation |
Bin Laden, Osama. “Bin Ladin Declares Jihad on Americans, 1996.” In Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Report: Compilation of Usama Bin Ladin Statements 1994–January 2004. https://irp.fas.org/world/para/ubl-fbis.pdf |
You are not unaware of the injustice, repression, and aggression that have befallen Muslims through the alliance of Jews, Christians, and their agents, so much so that Muslims’ blood has become the cheapest blood and their money and wealth are plundered…
Many princes share the public’s concern and privately voice opposition to what is going on in [Saudi Arabia] in terms of terror, repression, and corruption…
What is necessary…is that everyone should do his best to incite and mobilize the nation against the aggressive enemy and the great heresy prevailing in the country and corrupting religion and life. There is no greater duty after faith than warding off [that enemy], namely the Israeli-American alliance[.] …
Denying these aggressors the huge profits they make from their trade with us would…help in the jihad against them. It would be tantamount to moral support to reflect our anger and hatred toward them…we will have contributed to ridding our holy sites of the Jews and Christians and forced them to leave our land, defeated…We expect women in the country of the two holy mosques and elsewhere to play their role by boycotting US goods. If the economic boycott is coupled with the mujahidin’s military strikes, then the enemy’s defeat is imminent.
Brother Muslims worldwide: Your brothers in the land of the two holy mosques and Palestine seek your help and ask you to participate…in their jihad against…the Israelis and the Americans, with everything that would drive them out of the Islamic holy places, defeated, with each of you doing what he can. …
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Glossary Repression: The use of force, fear, or laws to control people. |
Document 7
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Author |
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (1966–present) |
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Date and location |
2013, Sweden |
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Source type |
Primary source—table of information |
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Description |
This infographic was created by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in 2013. It shows the 15 countries with the highest military expenditure (that is, countries that spend the most on their military). It breaks down the total amount by each country for the year 2012, and compares how spending has changed since 2011. The table also shows military spending as a percentage of each country’s gross domestic product (GDP). |
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Citation |
Perlo-Freeman, Sam, Elisabeth Sköns, Carina Solmirano, and Helén Wilandh. “Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2012.” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Fact Sheet, April 2013. https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/files/FS/SIPRIFS1304.pdf |
Military expenditure data infographic created by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 2013. In Perlo-Freeman, Sam, Elisabeth Sköns, Carina Solmirano, and Helén Wilandh. “Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2012.” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Fact Sheet, April 2013. https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/files/FS/SIPRIFS1304.pdf
Infographics and tables on global weapons spending compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 2021. In Wezeman, Pieter D., Alexandra Kuimova, and Siemon T. Wezeman. “Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2020.” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Fact Sheet, March 2021. https://www.sipri.org/publications/2021/sipri-fact-sheets/trends-international-arms-transfers-2020.
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Glossary Expenditure: The amount of money spent on something. |