1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike

Paperback, 120 pages

Published Feb. 8, 2019 by Between the Lines.

ISBN:: 978-1-77113-420-0
OCLC Number:: 1080207708

(1 review)

After suffering the hardships and horrors of the First World War, workers and soldiers faced the agony of the post-war Canadian economy. With rising inflation, unprecedented unemployment, and an increasingly repressive state, the atmosphere was ripe for revolt. The Russian Czar had been overthrown just eighteen months ago and workers had revolution on their minds. On May 15, 1919 more than 30,000 workers in Winnipeg, Manitoba walked off the job and began a general strike that would last six weeks and change the course of Canadian history.

The strikers' demands began with higher wages, collective bargaining rights, and more power for working people. As sympathy strikes broke out and more workers joined the call, the Winnipeg Strike Committee became a de-facto government Like so many labour actions before and since, the strikers were met with a violent end . On "Bloody Saturday" the Royal North-West Mounted Police charged into the …

After suffering the hardships and horrors of the First World War, workers and soldiers faced the agony of the post-war Canadian economy. With rising inflation, unprecedented unemployment, and an increasingly repressive state, the atmosphere was ripe for revolt. The Russian Czar had been overthrown just eighteen months ago and workers had revolution on their minds. On May 15, 1919 more than 30,000 workers in Winnipeg, Manitoba walked off the job and began a general strike that would last six weeks and change the course of Canadian history.

The strikers' demands began with higher wages, collective bargaining rights, and more power for working people. As sympathy strikes broke out and more workers joined the call, the Winnipeg Strike Committee became a de-facto government Like so many labour actions before and since, the strikers were met with a violent end . On "Bloody Saturday" the Royal North-West Mounted Police charged into the crowd, killing two workers and injuring dozens more.

One hundred years later, the Winnipeg General Strike continues to be a poignant reminder of the power of the state and capital over workers' lives and the brutal ends governments and bosses have and will use to crush workers' movements, and an inspirational example of the possibilities of class struggle and solidarity.

3 editions

Literally Graphic reviewed 1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike by Graphic History Collective

2021 Review

4 stars

Content notes for police repression and violence.

Looking at the violence specifically, it was interesting how the use of line was really apparent to build up the kinetic energy of a scene. In contast, it also felt like the more violence that was present in a frame the looser the art style became. The book overall also leans more towards pretty basic and oversized page layout, which impacts the pace of the action as well.

Looking at the Graphic History Collective. They also collaborated to produce Direct Action Gets the Goods: A Graphic History of the Strike in Canada, which I reviewed back in November. The collective kicked things off in 2008 to " We produce alternative histories - people's histories - in an accessible format to help people understand the historical roots of contemporary social issues." There current members include Sean Carleton, Robin Folvik, Kara Sievewright and Julia Smith. …

Content notes for police repression and violence.

Looking at the violence specifically, it was interesting how the use of line was really apparent to build up the kinetic energy of a scene. In contast, it also felt like the more violence that was present in a frame the looser the art style became. The book overall also leans more towards pretty basic and oversized page layout, which impacts the pace of the action as well.

Looking at the Graphic History Collective. They also collaborated to produce Direct Action Gets the Goods: A Graphic History of the Strike in Canada, which I reviewed back in November. The collective kicked things off in 2008 to " We produce alternative histories - people's histories - in an accessible format to help people understand the historical roots of contemporary social issues." There current members include Sean Carleton, Robin Folvik, Kara Sievewright and Julia Smith. You can find out more, and see all of their very interesting posters, at their website of the same name. Link in the description.

What kinds of keywords apply? 100 year anniversary, violent government repression, capitalism, colonization, solidarity, and workers.

As far as the words per page level, this book does a very good job. Especially in contrast to many very dense and generally older labour related comic books. Even with all the name dropping, this felt more like a jumping off point then trying to be the be all end all of on the Winnipeg general strike. Besides a short set of preface, acknowledgment, introduction, we also got a notes on drawing, a short photo essay, and notes + bibliography. For just 120 pages we are coming at the story from many different angles, I do kind of wish there was a bit more in the comic (some of the full page layouts felt a bit unnecessarily) but I have no attention span so I guess I can't complain.

The art overall was pretty striking and the poses are very energetic. As I've already mentioned, there's some interesting stuff being done around the depiction of violence. My only quibble is it does feel a bit oversized.

As far as gender goes, everything seems pretty binary but we do get a more balanced representation of men and women. Which is a nice push back to some of the patriarchal ideas of yesteryear. I really like how this book stresses the true diversity of tactics that went into this effort. Obviously industrial society 100 years ago is probably, hopefully, peak ableism. But this representation of diversity also highlights the fact that the most physical stuff is not the only thing that's needed. That said, I wish them having one obvious wheelchair user at the end when we show modern protest doesn't put this book above probably half the labour history comics I've reviewed on this channel. Standards are so low.

Sexuality doesn't really come up at all, and I feel like that's fair.

Class is fairly central, obviously.

And while the book does outline what was happening on Canada's colonialist nation building front at the time, I would have liked to know more about the racial and cultural makeup of Winnipeg at that point. Maybe I missed something, but all I found was one panel about how "John Arthur Robinson and members of the Order of Sleeping Car Porters... joined the strike in its early days and donated to the strike fund."