Trafalgar Square is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, established in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. The square's name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the British naval victory in the Napoleonic Wars over France and Spain that took place on 21st October 1805 off the coast of Cape Trafalgar.
Annie Besant was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist, and campaigner for Indian nationalism. She was an ardent supporter of both Irish and Indian self-rule. She became the first female president of the Indian National Congress in 1917.
Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham was a Scottish politician, writer, journalist and adventurer. He was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP); the first ever socialist member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom; a founder, and the first president, of the Scottish Labour Party; a founder of the National Party of Scotland in 1928; and the first president of the Scottish National Party in 1934.
John Elliot Burns was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was anti-alcohol and a keen sportsman. When the Liberal cabinet made a decision for war on 2 August 1914, he resigned and played no further role in politics. After retiring from politics, he developed an expertise in London history and coined the phrase "The Thames is liquid history".
The poll tax riots were a series of riots in British towns and cities during protests against the Community Charge, introduced by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The largest protest occurred in central London on Saturday 31 March 1990, shortly before the tax was due to come into force in England and Wales.
Robert Edward Relf was an English political activist of the far right. Regarded by his sympathisers as a 'race martyr', he briefly became a cause célèbre for the tabloid press in the 1970s.
Charlotte Mary Wilson was an English Fabian and anarchist who co-founded Freedom newspaper in 1886 with Peter Kropotkin, and edited, published, and largely financed it during its first decade. She remained editor of Freedom until 1895.
The Socialist Union was a British political party active from February 1886 to 1888.
The Red Flag riots were a series of violent demonstrations and attacks that occurred in Brisbane, Australia over the course of 1918–19. The attacks were largely undertaken by returned soldiers from the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and were focused upon socialists and other elements of society that the ex-servicemen considered to be disloyal. The name was coined because of the flags that a number of the demonstrators carried, which were associated with the trade union movement and which were banned under the War Precautions Act. The most notable incident occurred on 24 March 1919, when a crowd of about 8,000 ex-servicemen clashed with police who were preventing them from attacking the Russian Hall in Merivale Street, South Brisbane.
The 2009 May Day protests were a series of international protests that took place across Europe, Asia and in the other parts of the world due to the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the resulting Great Recession. Several May Day marches, which are traditional events, had turned violent in Germany, Turkey and Venezuela as riot police battled protesters in their respective countries. Banks and shops had been attacked in Turkey.
The 2010 United Kingdom student protests were a series of demonstrations in November and December 2010 that took place in several areas of the country, with the focal point of protests being in central London. Largely student-led, the protests were held in opposition to planned spending cuts to further education and an increase of the cap on tuition fees by the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government following their review into higher education funding in England. Student groups said that the intended cuts to education were excessive, would damage higher education, give students higher debts, and broke campaign promises made by politicians.
The 2011 Djiboutian protests were widespread demonstrations and riots that took place between January and March 2011 in Djibouti, situated in the Horn of Africa. A member of the Arab League, the protests in Djibouti showed a clear influence from the concurrent Arab Spring protests in North Africa and the Arabian peninsula. The demonstrations ended after mass arrests and the barring of international observers.
The 2011 anti-cuts protest in London, also known as the March for the Alternative, was a demonstration held in central London on 26 March 2011. Organised by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), it was a protest march against planned public spending cuts by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government that was formed in May 2010.
The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James Connolly and Eleanor Marx. However, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx's long-term collaborator, refused to support Hyndman's venture. Many of its early leading members had previously been active in the Manhood Suffrage League.
The 2016 Sacramento riot was a civil disorder at a neo-Nazi and alt-right rally outside the California State Capitol in Sacramento, California on June 26, 2016. Alt-right and neo-Nazi groups including the Traditionalist Workers Party and other white supremacist groups were involved. Counter-protestors arrived at the rally to oppose the neo-Nazis and white supremacy. This included Antifa and their allies. Ten people were hospitalized for stabbing and laceration wounds with the majority of those hospitalized being counter-protesters.
On 16 October 1993, an anti-racism march near Welling in South East London turned violent, leading to large-scale clashes between police and protesters which left around 70 people injured. The march was intending to demand the closure of a bookshop which was the headquarters of the British National Party (BNP).
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, numerous protests took place over the government's response.
On 1 May 2004 there was a physical confrontation in the Dublin suburb of Ashtown between riot police and alter-globalisation activists. On that day there was a summit of EU leaders taking place at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park. Protestors affiliated with the Dublin Grassroots Network and other left-wing groups attempted to march to Farmleigh but were blocked by Gardaí at the Ashtown roundabout. A small number of protestors broke off from the main group and clashed with Gardaí at the roundabout. The Gardaí used water cannons against the protestors, eventually dispersing them. This was the first time that police had used water cannons in the Republic of Ireland.
