A peoples history of the world

A peoples history of the world

Chris Harman

London, Chicago and Sydney

A Peoples History of the World Chris Harman First published 1999 Reprinted 2002 Bookmarks Publications Ltd, c/o 1 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QE, England Bookmarks, PO Box 16085, Chicago, Illinois 60616, USA Bookmarks, PO Box A338, Sydney South, NSW 2000, Australia Copyright Bookmarks Publications Ltd ISBN 1 898876 55 X Printed by Interprint Limited, Malta Cover by Sherborne Design Bookmarks Publications Ltd is linked to an international grouping of socialist organisations: s Australia: International Socialist Organisation, PO Box A338, Sydney South. iso@iso.org.au s Austria: Linkswende, Postfach 87, 1108 Wien. linkswende@yahoo.com s Britain: Socialist Workers Party, PO Box 82, London E3 3LH. enquiries@swp.org.uk s Canada: International Socialists, PO Box 339, Station E, Toronto, Ontario M6H 4E3. iscanada@on.aibn.com s Cyprus: Ergatiki Demokratia, PO Box 7280, Nicosia. wd@workersdemocracy.net s Czech Republic: Socialisticka Solidarita, PO Box 1002, 11121 Praha 1. socsol@email.cz s Denmark: Internationale Socialister, PO Box 5113, 8100 Aarhus C. intsoc@socialister.dk s Finland: Sosialistiliitto, PL 288, 00171 Helsinki. info@sosialistiliitto.org s France: Socialisme par en bas, BP 15-94111, Arcueil Cedex. speb@mageos.com s Germany: Linksruck, Postfach 304 183, 20359 Hamburg. info@linksruck.de s Ghana: International Socialist Organisation, PO Box TF202, Trade Fair, Labadi, Accra. s Greece: Sosialistiko Ergatiko Komma, c/o Workers Solidarity, PO Box 8161, Athens 100 10. sek@otenet.gr s Holland: Internationale Socialisten, PO Box 92025, 1090AA Amsterdam. info@internationalesocialisten.org s Ireland: Socialist Workers Party, PO Box 1648, Dublin 8. swp@clubi.ie s Italy: Comunismo dal Basso, Leeder, CP Bologna, Succ 5. dalbasso@hotmail.com s New Zealand: Socialist Workers Organisation, PO Box 13-685, Auckland. socialist-worker@pl.net s Norway: Internasjonale Socialisterr, Postboks 9226, Grnland, 0134 Oslo. sarbeide@online.no s Poland: Pracownicza Demokracja, PO Box 12, 01-900 Warszawa 118. pracdem@go2.pl s Spain: En Lucha, Apartado 563, 08080 Barcelona. enlucha@hotmail.com s United States: Left Turn, PO Box 445, New York, NY 10159-0445. left-turn@left-turn.org s Uruguay: Izquierda Revolucionaria. ir@adinet.com.uy s Zimbabwe: International Socialist Organisation, PO Box 6758, Harare. isozim@hotmail.com

Contents
Introduction i

Part one: The rise of class societies

Prologue: Before class Chapter 1 The neolithic revolution Chapter 2 The rst civilisations Chapter 3 The rst class divisions Chapter 4 Womens oppression Chapter 5 The rst Dark Ages 3 10 17 22 29 32

Part two: The ancient world

Chapter 1 Iron and empires Chapter 2 Ancient India Chapter 3 The rst Chinese empires Chapter 4 The Greek city states Chapter 5 Romes rise and fall Chapter 6 The rise of Christianity 45 48 54 63 71 87

Part three: The Middle Ages

Chapter 1 The centuries of chaos Chapter 2 China: the rebirth of the empire Chapter 3 Byzantium: the living fossil Chapter 4 The Islamic revolutions Chapter 5 The African civilisations Chapter 6 European feudalism 103 106 117 123 136 140

Part four: The great transformation

Chapter 1 The conquest of the New Spain Chapter 2 Renaissance to Reformation Chapter 3 The birth pangs of a new order Chapter 4 The last owering of Asias empires 161 172 194 219

Part ve: The spread of the new order

Chapter 1 A time of social peace Chapter 2 From superstition to science Chapter 3 The Enlightenment Chapter 4 Slavery and wage slavery Chapter 5 Slavery and racism Chapter 6 The economics of free labour 233 237 242 247 249 257

Part six: The world turned upside down

Chapter 1 American prologue Chapter 2 The French Revolution Chapter 3 Jacobinism outside France Chapter 4 The retreat of reason Chapter 5 The industrial revolution Chapter 6 The birth of Marxism Chapter 7 1848 Chapter 8 The American Civil War Chapter 9 The conquest of the East Chapter 10 The Japanese exception Chapter 11 Storming heaven: The Paris Commune 265 277 303 315 318 326 335 345 355 365 368

Part seven: The century of hope and horror

Chapter 1 The world of capital Chapter 2 World war and world revolution Chapter 3 Europe in turmoil Chapter 4 Revolt in the colonial world Chapter 5 The Golden Twenties Chapter 6 The great slump Chapter 7 Strangled hope: 1934-36 Chapter 8 Midnight in the century Chapter 9 The Cold War Chapter 10 The new world disorder Conclusion: Illusion of the epoch Notes Glossary Further Reading Index 379 405 430 449 463 469 491 510 543 577 605 621 663 687 695

Chris Harman is the editor of Socialist Worker and a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party in Britain. He is the author of many articles, pamphlets and books including Class Struggles in Eastern Europe, Explaining the Crisis, Economics of the Madhouse, How Marxism Works and The Lost Revolution: Germany 1918 to 1923.