1917: A GREVE GERAL l Filme completo de Carlos Pronzato

The Plebs. Foreseeing a new era. The revolting proletariat affirms its right to life. Pressed by a situation of torture and atrocious misery, whose terrible day to day consequences turned bitter a sad existence, - the plebs, dominated by desperation, lost patience and, ululating and fierce, took to the streets affirming its right to life. It was a beautiful and grandiose popular movement of protest against the usurping curse. The History of this country did not register another one of such great importance. Initiated by a corporation of weavers, it rapidly expanded and, in four days, paralyzed all life of

this gorgeous capital, flooding with fear those who live stealing and oppressing the people. Feature 1917 The General Strike a documentary by Carlos Pronzato In São Paulo, there a particularity in relation to the labor movement, because the ascension (Carlo Romani, Historian UNIRO) and the participation of the Italian migration, very significant. This process of accumulation (Francisco Foot Hardman, Historian UNICAMP) and at the same time of forming of experience of the proper industrial urban of a new labor class of a new proletariat in Brazil it begins at the last decades of the nineteenth century, in particular from the

year 1880, with the immigration of European workers, particularly.. especially.. Italians, but also Spanish, German, French, Russians, Slavs, and so on who come to Brazilian urban centers. São Paulo, then, the growth of the city of São Paulo is due to this considerable contingent of migrant workers, who will participate in the process of industrialization that was on its way in São Paulo state, but also in other regions of Brazil, precisely during these years. Since the end of the nineteenth century, which coincides with the end of "slavery". 1888. and the beginning of the Republican regime in 1889. There

is a call-out for workers, for the industries (Christina Roquette Lopreato, Historian | UFU) First for coffee growing, after for the industries, but there's a whole process of attracting these workers. This was State driven; a State's project of attraction. Precisely at the moment when São Paulo's economy, based on agriculture, on coffee growing (Marcelo Chaves, Historian, Archiver Archives of the State São Paulo) it's booming, so there is an immediate need of supplying this workforce which you didn't have available. And all this apparatus, created by the Brazilian State to guarantee migration here it's very important, and maintained by

São Paulo State. The Organizer (1963) Mario Monicelli | Italy The Italian Government did something somewhat foolish, from a certain perspective (José Luíz Del Roio, Director of the Institute Astrogildo Pereira CEDEM - UNESP) I think in 1891, it decides to kick out its activists Anarchic, above all. Anarchists. Out of Italy. So, the people kicked out of Italy go where? They go after immigration.. Many more go to Argentina Which has a better industrial system. It didn't have the weight of slavery, like Brazil. A significant milestone, which is a point of cutoff in Italian migration, which is the

year 1902, and after 1903. In December 1902, decree Prinetti is signed in Italy, which impeded the subsidized migration to Brazil. But the cutoff of the subsidized migration to Brazil is done officially. Of course it's motivated by these Italians with socialist, and anarchist tendencies, primarily, which are already in Brazil, and are making several complaints that arrive through the consulate or arrive directly at the Italian newspapers, which will be reproduced and will have much wider repercussion. So, the Prinetti decree interrupts the subsidized migration From then on, the migration flow to the farms decreases considerably. The Italians that

migrate, migrate spontaneously, so the vast majority begins to settle in the cities. which already received a considerable quantity of migrants that were directed to the farms, and that got nothing at the farms, other than exploitation and mistreatment and managed to runaway from the farms, and ended up at the city. The fact that they were foreigners was important because (Luigi Biondi, Historian UNIFESP) it was an obstacle, in some way, but was also an advantage because they were networks of immigrants that came from the same regions, or met here and went through the same experience of migration.

So, these national networks also worked in a moment of solidarity. In the case of São Paulo, what happens... The standards were also Italian. Some of these immigrants that went to the farms became rich, they became farmers. But the vast majority, not. And they migrated to the cities. They come to thicken the industry that is being born. They are mostly absorbed, and go work where? in "ethnic cysts" Mostly in São Paulo State, in wheat mills, oil refineries, pasta production... which are hegemonized by an Italian bourgeoisie. It's a workforce migration, and of the Capital. The first hosting

of immigrants, is in Santa Cecília. (Amir El Hakim de Paula, Geologist UNESP - Ourinhos SP) Why? Because it's close to the railroad. What's gonna happen? The idea of the hostel was that people stayed a maximum of 7 days. And in these 7 days they would be sent to farms, coffee growing farms in São Paulo State. With time, some of these workers begin to stay in Santa Cecília, and this bothers the elite. The Strike of 1917, that began at Crespi, which is this building here, behind us it has a whole movement, historical, urbanistic, that begins with

the removal of these workers from the more central regions, and they move to the regions like ... ... and so on. It's about taking this poorer class, these immigrants, and send them to other regions How do they do this initially? They transfer this immigrant's hostel from the region of Santa Cecília, to the Brás region, which is also close to the railroad. This elite, allied to several companies, for example City company, makes so that these central regions, which are more expensive, remain for these people, the coffee farmers and later that it will become the industrial. And

the proletariat goes to the peripheral regions. São Paulo city, at the time of the General Strike, 1917, already revealed a profile where almost half of the population was of Italian origin. Born in Italy. And above all, in the Industrial sector they represented a lot more than the majority, of the workers. One of the characteristics of this Strike, radicalizing it a bit, it was an Italian strike. The main bosses were Italian. The Matarazzo Industries Above all the Crespi industries. The Gamba... But there were more. And the vast mass off the factory workers, were Italian. In São

Paulo, specifically, the labor force were mainly Italian, and secondly, Spanish. So, this is the large mass that will make this movement, of 17, here in São Paulo. So much so, that the conflict begins at the Crespi Factory. More than 70% of the workers were Italian. In this second decade, to which we are referring, when the Strike of 17 happens, we already have a generation of Italian origin, born in Brazil continues to process to a great extent, formed ideologically, a part of them in the socialist movement of various shades, which I referred to before, of the

Italian fathers but that is already National. So it is able to integrate much better in São Paulo which allows as well for the emergence of a massive strike, rather than before. 1907: Laborers of Civil Construction win the 8-hour day. 1908: COB (Brazilian Center of Labor) begins its work. 1912: Strike in São Paulo, shoemakers win the 8-hour day. 1913: II Brazilian Congress of Labor happens in Rio de Janeiro. Actually, the very first General Strike, in São Paulo, was in reality in 1907. 10 years earlier, a Strike for the 8 hours, in which almost all factories of

the time won that, which was a massive innovation for the time. However, in a short period of time, things went back to the old hours. They weren't able to hold this achievement. 1917 is the moment when it breaks for the first time in National history, we can say. Before, the strikes of 1913, /6 Partial strikes that happened in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, but they didn't have yet this phenomenon of a mass imagining and idealizing, in some way the future possibility of a social revolution. Which by the way, the one of 17 is very

similar. The people involved are, in a significant portion, the same. The social actors, the movements, In 1907 the role of Socialists and Italians was very important as well. Even more perhaps, than in 1917. And it's little studied and remembered. Also because 1917 is a Mythical year. Also 17 fits in a general context of Strikes in the whole world. And that's what scares very much the business community and mainly: the State. Altino Arantes (São Paulo Governor 1916-1920) In 1905 there is a campaign in Brazil Alexandre Samis (Historian, School Pedro II, Rio de Janeiro) which is fronted

my the people from the newspaper: Friend of the People, published in São Paulo, fronted by Neno Vasco There is an adherence of the campaign of Russian laborers, in the context of the revolution of 1905, which creates the Soviets. So, in 1905 there is an exchange of mail Including between Kropotkin, a great anarchist. Russian. And Brazilian workers, laborers, through the Friend of the People. So, this relationship, in 1905, already exists. October (1928) Sergei Eisenstein There was a Revolution, in 1917, in February, in Russia. A revolution that puts down the Tsar It's important to remember, from the

chronological perspective, that the first revolution That some classify as a revolution more moderated, within the molds of bourgeois democracy it begins in February in Russia. despite its very obvious limits it was a great evolution in contrast to the previous situation. It's not yet the Bolshevik revolution, but it was perhaps the most revolutionary of Russia it's that thing where people are organizing on the streets and are organizing in Soviets on primary councils, from February until October, so much that forces Lenin, the leader of the majority ward, of a party that was reformist, of the Second International

to cry out, at the come back, after April, at the Leningrad Station, Finland Station, "All power to the Soviets" To whom he was contrary. So, this circulation of ideas, arrives in Brazil The Anarchists defend the Russian Revolution until 20, 21, Carlos Augusto Addorr (Historian, UFF) when you have the massacre of anarchists in Ukraine, and the Kronstadt massacre. At the beginning, the anarchists defended the Russian revolution thinking it was the social revolution they so longed for. During all of the 19th century, the anarchists said the French, at the end of the 18th century, have already done

the political revolution. Liberté, égalité, fraternité, very well. As a matter of fact, the labor and anarchist press throughout the world, still in the 20th century, sang this French revolution. Every 14th of July, they published editorials, with the lyrics of Marseillaise and so on. Liberté, égalité, fraternité... and Kropotkin wrote a classic book about the French Revolution. But they said, they've done the French Revolution, now let's do the Social Revolution. So, it's curious.. we still have the anarchists as the strongest current, Antônio Carlos (Professor, Center of Social Culture, São Paulo) and they are still there trying to

reorganize themselves. but it's inside the very anarchists, seduced by an idea of a format of Revolution that has stages, So, we organize ourselves, create the Party The Party takes the spaces that are possible to organize other people We do an Insurrection We arrive at Power, we institute there a group, which probably will be this Party. And this group comes from top to bottom, transforming society. Exactly the opposite of what they always suggested, from what anarchists always proposed. The transformation comes from the bottom to the top. everybody participating one way or another, but not this thing,

so distant from the worker's reality. How much does Brazilian history, committed to its class interests, to its ideological interests, it was silent about the history of the anarchists? and how did this rescuing of the history of the anarchists, not including those intellectuals committed, in fact, with the history and then we can cite a good portion of them, but still in very limited numbers, in relation to all historians that produce in Brazil, it's a very limited number, today have rescued this history. We also have the problem of historiography, isn't it? It's a more leftist, communist strand,

that values the Party they tend to not value so much the role of the anarchists. The mistake historians make is to interpret in a teleological way. To have a progressivist perspective, as if society was a living organism This, I believe, is a big mistake, this teleological perspective As if in the 30's, the masses had more maturity, more consciousness of class than previous generations. We notice that in traditional historiography, Marxist historiography which forms in the 70's/80's (Rodrigo Ross, professor | Terra Livre Library, SP) an attempt to rescue this 1917 General Strike as an important historical moment

for laborers, but still understood as the youth of the proletariat. as a not-organized movement, or disorganized. Spontaneous. When we say, for instance, that a strike is spontaneous, we need to define what spontaneous is. For example, for Proudhon, (Pierre Proudhon, 1809-1865) I'm speaking of the classic tradition of anarchism, being spontaneous means not being bound or protected by a state institution. It's not being bound or protected by Political Parties. In my studies, I tend to criticize or to ease the question of spontaneity. As if it's a sudden overcoming of horrific working conditions that wake up the workers.

Which actually isn't true, there was an organizational fabric that didn't work that well, but existed. And in these moments they are revealed. If the understanding of spontaneity is "not-organized" Obviously, anarchists, at this moment, are evidencing efforts exactly in organization. This strike had already been, in a way, announced not only by the workers but also by the big media against the degrading conditions that were occurring at the time, in 1917. This is one of the characteristics that I demarcate in my work: It's an announced strike. It's not a spontaneous strike. (Christina Roquette Lopreato, The Spirit of

Revolt- the anarchist general strike of 1917) The anarchists, since the beginning of the century, the transition from the 19th to the 20th century, They became closer to the workers, especially the factory workers (Social War- Anarchist Newspaper) They had some groups, their own organizations, which came together in the so-called Libertarian Center in Sãp Paulo. This anarchism can be said to organize itself more clearly in the field of unions, In other words, Brazilian anarchism is above all a social movement, rather than a proper political movement. They begin to organize them selves in syndicates, since a portion of

these immigrants that are arriving in Brazil are socialists and mostly anarchist, these are the anarchist and socialist syndicates that begin to be built. Especially anarchist ones. Of anarchist orientation. During this period begins a conversation about the syndicates because the syndicate is an assistance association and there is a discussion about the need for the syndicate to be a place of resistance. Resistance to Capital, of worker's organization, of struggle. The branch that believes in this are mainly the anarcho-syndicalists. So, they understand that we must go to syndicates to organize the workers, to resist capital, and from there

also to create new forms of organizaton in this new society. In the same period we will have, in the case of anarco-syndicalists, Edgar Leuenroth perhaps as a principal figure at this time. And we'll have the other branch that are the anarco-communists. Gigi Damiani, Florentino de Carvalho, that are suspicious of the anarco-syndicalists, in relation to the verticalism of syndicates, the thing about the economic fight, that they begin to say- 'look, this syndicalism struggle is too much about economics' 'and our fight isn't about economics, it's about social transformation' 'not about small winnings of Capital' (João Batista César,

Researcher and Journalist) Everything that is achieved through strikes, the bosses get back 6 months later. There are, among anarchists, divisions... some more communists, some more anarco, some more syndicalists at this time, in 1910 I think there is, at the strike of 1917, a component of multiplicity, heterogeneous, that we cannot affiliate with a specific faction, if it's revolutionary syndicalism, anarco-syndicalism, or a more pure form of anarchism. They are all present at this moment, including the socialists. Socialists also participate in these revolutionary syndicates that exist in Brazil. For example, Antonio Picarolo is a major Italian journalist, and

was a socialist. They also support the strikes. The basic difference between anarchists and socialists is that (Oreste Ristori, 1874-1943) Socialists believe in the role of the Party in the process of mobilization of workers. Anarchists don't. (Luigi "Gigi" Damiani, 1876-1953) Anarchists and Socialists diverge, but they get close and fight together during the general strike of 1917. In terms of driving force, I'd say they were basically moved by these anarchist leaderships. I wouldn't generalize this to the masses of people. Because, perhaps, a good portion of the people not even for socialism advocated. There were a lot of

Christians, because among Italians catholicism is very strong. The 1917 Strike was unquestionably of anarchist orientation. Not only because of the physical presence of people who were anarchists, but because of its organization and mode of operation. and of projection. The revolutionary general strike that can lead to a social revolution. The anarchist movement had the ability, very clearly, to propose mechanisms of direct negotiation. Mechanisms of negotiation between factories. Through these factory committees. Which was a type of organization that was extremely effective. Because it was organization at the base. Anarchists already saw, through neighborhood leagues, doing the work

of organizing these workers Because the general strike was already in the horizon, The discourse of a general strike was already presented by the anarchists. While strikes started popping up, isolated. Worker's World / Worker's Action General strikes succeed / Solidarity and Enthusiasm The 1st World War is also a fundamental thing. Also in terms of economic consequences, not only political, in Brazil. Actually, all of these strikes during the second half of the 1910's Beyond the question of Political order, there are questions of economic order. All of them are strikes where the background is expensiveness. There was a

lot of difficulty in terms of food. Because food became very expensive due to the war, it was preferred to export food at high prices, so food was taken from the Brazilian market, so there was clear hardship. Because of the war, machines and fabrics don't arrive; there is a whole restructuring of the market. a reconfiguration. And the industries in São Paulo begin to substitute what was imported before. And above all they couldn't use new machines. Because this export was also difficult. So the work of people and machines is exploited to the maximum. In June 1917, workers

of the cotton mill CRESPI go on strike, their demands are: ABOLITION OF FINES REGULATION OF THE WORK OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN MODIFICATION OF THE INTERNAL REGIME OF THE PRESS SUPPRESSION OF THE "PRO-NATION" CONTRIBUTION We see already at that time some hundreds of thousands of Italians in Brazil. The Italian consulate worked very hard to recruit Italians to go fight in Italy. 1500 went. If you think about it, that's a low number next to hundreds of thousands in an impressive Pro-War campaign. Why? Because the anarchist propaganda in Brazil was very active against the war. Rodolfo Crespi, Matarazzo,

Italian bosses that hired Italian workers try to impose, in a compulsory way, to their Italian employees a compulsory discount, a percentage off their salaries which would go to the "Mother Nation" at war... A contribution to the "Nation". VOICE OF THE WORKER / WORKER'S INTERNATIONAL AGAINST THE WAR! THE EUROPEAN SITUATION That's also one of the demands from the 1917 strike in São Paulo They refuse the "Mother Nation", what "Mother Nation" is that? These Pro-Nation committees were administered by middle class migrants. And, what happened was that they raised funds, to send these funds to the Red Cross,

to the Italian government, to aid the families that had deaths and wounded in the war. The absolute majority of Italian workers were against the war. What Nation is this in which I harvest wheat and don't eat bread? What Nation is this in which I harvest the grapevine and don't drink wine? What Nation is this in which I care for cattle and don't eat meat. And so on, what Nation is this? So, the demand is to not subscribe to the Pro-Nation contribution. At this moment it's interesting because the class identity prevails over the ethnic identity. Over

the National identity. It's one of the moments of transition in the formation of Brazilian laborers, towards a working class of the country at least in São Paulo. (Luigi Biondi, Class and Nation - Italian Workers and Socialists in São Paulo, 1890-1920) I think very little is spoken, for instance, of the role of women in this process. (in the majority, women workers in several factories in this capital, going to...) and it's very interesting when we read that women take the front, in the sense of protecting the security and intregrity of men. Women have a fundamental role, because

they go to the police station to ask for the release of the strikers. (Soldiers! You must not persecute our brothers of misery.) So, women present themselves as fearless women, they stand up to the police force, and demand the release of their partners. We had the participation of some militant women, very interesting ones. I remember a very active anarchist figure, who was Elvira Boni (1889-1990) She was a laborer, very active in the syndicates. Another one, a militant anarchist, a fabulous one, an educator and primary school teacher From Minas de Gerais originally, Juiz de Fora, actually from

a higher class family, but who dedicated her whole life to the anarchist movement was Maria Lacerda de Moura (Maria Lacerda de Moura, 1887-1945) And during the demonstrations and manifestations, we always see in the images of the time, an outstanding female presence. Stories and situations tell, for instance, women delivering the speeches. It's not just the men, their participation is very important. (It's similar to what's happening in Russia, isn't it?) Very similar to St. Petersburg what's happening. St. Petersburg becomes a revolution, which means, it destroys the institutional status quo. Workers are demanding better working conditions, and the

factory doesn't listen. And in the face of such situation, they decided to cross their arms. It's interesting that the strike begins in the feminine section of the CRESPI cotton mill It's 400 women that begin the strike. They ask for a reduction of the length of the working day and a raise to their salaries. After it takes over the whole factory, and with the completely radical and uncompromising posture of the boss which closes the factory and doesn't deliver any of the worker's demands, leads to the strike going to the streets. If we think about it, we

have gatherings with 5 thousand people. 5 thousand people at a time when there aren't phones, Internet, television and radio, as we know today, it's brilliant. How were people able to, having discussed a certain relevant question, arrive at this mass, listen from it, and forward it to the rightful people to defend the ideas presented there. It's important to remember that, in reality, in the organization of the strike there was an important participation of neighborhood leagues. Aside from the syndicates, there were neighborhood leagues- The São Paulo worker neighborhoods. This was important because it was a form of

association that was very original, because the idea was to organize the workers in the neighborhood where they lived, especially, they lived mostly around the factories that were located around the worker's neighborhoods. There the workers weren't united in a particular sense, from the construction worker to the shoemaker, to the printer, to the ironmaster, to the weaver. The league unites the residents of that area. At that time, even if you had several categories, because that is from the very Capitalist system, to have several categories of labor They understood themselves as a social class. And that's the outstanding

feature. This legacy shows what? That when people understand themselves as one class they can have such powerful strength to break a structure that up till then bourgeois society, the elite, thought impossible to break. Thinking of the structure of the strike of 1917, we can make a comparison to another historical event which anarchists forefronted. The Spanish Revolution of 1936. In which its organization, in the 30's, was not spontaneous. It was a process built since 1880. With the arrival and organization of the first internationalists in Spain. With the founding of the Modern School in the beginning of

the 20th century. The diffusion of pedagogic rationalism in the educational perspective. The diffusion of the Revolutionary Syndicate Newspapers The constitution of the CNT in the 1910's. And then you go on gaining strength during 10, 20, 30 years until the opportunity, and the specific historical moment, taking the lead and making a Revolution, as it was done in 36. The strike of 1917 has the same characteristics, it begins to grow with the arrival of the immigrants, the organization of the first syndicates, the first attempts of strike in the 20th century, the founding of the Modern School, the

Founding of Newspapers... It's a movement that grows from different fronts Until a specific moment, when there is a chance for rupture, there is a Revolutionary general strike, so then the anarchists have previous organization, and they have power to give an immediate response to pressing issues, economic and social, of the time. And to be at the forefront of a Revolutionary movement of this size. During the years leading up to the 1917 strikes, there are many activities by the schools. (José Damiro de Moraes, Historian | UNIRIO) So, my understanding is that, the activities that happened inside the

worker's space which, were as I said, a Worker's Calendar. So, Ferrer, the first of May... (Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, 1859-1909, shot in 1909) The storming of Bastille, the Paris commune... These were dates from the Worker's movement which were reflected, discussed inside their spaces. It knows itself as a Working class, and they know that they have a different life project that isn't the life project that is given by the bourgeoisie By the elite that existed at the time. Which means, they have their own life project. And they want to impose this life project by saying "it's

no use trying to convince me with your things, I have my project" So, for example, instead of competition, I have mutual support. in the syndicate. "I want no competition, competition is bourgeoisie stuff." "This has nothing to do with my life project." There is the theater of the bourgeoisie, and there is the theater of the Workers. There is the pick-nick of the bourgeoisie, and there is the pick-nick of the Workers. The lifestyle of the Working class is completely different from the lifestyle of the bourgeoisie. This is a problem for the bourgeoisie, because until then, it didn't

understand that these workers could have a completely different way of life from theirs. Anarchists, in rejecting political representation through institutional means; through the political party, through elections, through State institutions, It valued, extremely, the culture. It valued education, it valued the Free School. Free from what? Free from the church, free from the State, free from the bosses. A school that could be creative, and combative in the formation of a new consciousness. (NEITHER NATION NOR BOSS!) The first labor congress, which will create the first Labor Confederation in Brazil, in 1906 (Brazilian Labor Confederation, well-being and freedom) one

of the themes that comes up is about education, about instruction. Presenting that it was necessary for syndicates to create these spaces, initiatives, for the creation of schools. No one wanted to be the president of the syndicate. No one wanted to be the director, or any of that. People wanted to to grassroots work. They wanted to be at the base, speaking with the worker, inciting, calling, doing meetings, doing the formation courses, actually forming people, because we live in a society of illiterate people. and these people have the syndicate as a pedagogic space. an actual material thing,

the Newspaper is used as a form of education of the worker. This whole process, a big educational process, continues after 1917, but with a lot of repression. But it will be producing a type of Resistance and formation of these people which will culminate with the 1917 strike. (Labor Action, Worker from São Paulo seems to have awakened to the struggle) The Labor question wins space at Big Media. From there, my analysis, what I argue, is that for the first time in Brazilian history the Labor movement is able to pressure sectors of Government and Patronage, in the

sense that its demands are legitimate. And then Big Media will... there is an editorial I analyze that is very symptomatic in relation tho this, it's called "The darnel and the wheat" Anarchism would be an exotic plant because it's imported from Europe and in Brazil the climate wouldn't be adequate, etc, but the plant thrives. And after it thrives, it becomes Darnel, and weeds. So anarchism must be extirpated. Some demands are legitimate, etc, but Darnel, weeds, and anarchism must be extirpated. The Cecília Colony was here, and we were certainly very influenced by the people who came from

the Cecília Colony in the hinterland of Paraná here to Curitiba. (Anarchists in Brazil: The Cecília Colony of Giovanni Rossi and the experimental Socialism. Elaine Alves Barbosa) So much so that the Newspapers of the time spoke a lot about these foreign elements, disturbers of the order. This "calm and ordered" city of Curitiba... (Ricardo Fonseca, Lawyer | Dean of UFPR) It only "seizes to be this calm, orderly city" because of these foreigners that come here with these "alien ideas". There were in fact, these more conservative people who said "No, there is no social issue in Brazil", and

these immigrants are ungrateful. (Highlighted: "that this agitation is the work of undesirable foreigners") They are "warmly welcomed here and start striking, so go back then..." Very contemporary discourse, with Trump and so on... to ban immigration... they are ungrateful... and the anarchists are labeled as men without Laws, without Nation, without honor, without family, they are stateless. "In Brazil there is no reason for anarchism or socialism, exotic plant brought by the foreigner when between us everything is happy and free" (Rodolfo Crespi) So, anarchism, of course, wasn't born in Brazil, but it's as exotic as any other ideology

professed by the bourgeoisie at the time. Liberalism, Positivism, all of them come from abroad. So, there are authors that say this, the bourgeoisie can import ideas, the proletariat not. This strike has a characteristic, that in the list of demands, they go beyond working conditions. When we go to the list of demands, 7th or 8th item is when the issue of rising the percentage of salaries, so, all the previous items are about freeing the imprisoned, which is always one of the main issues, the guy is arrested, we have to free him, our comrade can't stay there.

The outlawing of eviction. Damn, people are in situation of extreme crisis, so, eviction is a very common thing. People need housing. How are you gonna evict the guy from his house? No... So- Forbidding eviction. Not raising rent, not raising prices of necessities, guaranteeing that first necessities aren't falsified, which is one of the things that lead to the explosion of the movement. So, there is a whole list of demands, and if we look for the moment after, we see how the leagues were influential in this situation. Because it's not just about a percentage of raise in

salaries, guarantees of career plans, or the demands we have today. (Village Maria Zélia) Here at CRESPI, for example, one of the factories from that time, where the 1917 strike began, it also had its village. But it wasn't that closed village like in Maria Zélia He was a very "watched" figure by other businessmen. (Village Maria Zélia, founded in 1917. Historical/Cultural patrimony of São Paulo State, 1st Worker's Village of Brazil, the cradle of Industrialization of São Paulo) They were jealous of him because he was very much liked by the Workers. There was everything a city needed. There

were two medical clinics, (Jorge Street, 1863-1939) there were 2 dental clinics, nursery, day care, and a youth garden. (Mister Dedé, Village Maria Zélia) And to complete all that, there were 2 large schools, one for boys and another for girls, which today is in complete abandonment. Unfortunately. About all of this luxury people spoke of, he wanted the well-being of the worker. Having a worker in the Village, you bring to him the idea of security, like, "I'm working at the factory, and I'm ensuring a home". But then you have a control over him. And these workers are

more difficult to bring to the syndicates. So, the Workers Village controls these workers. My grandfather never striked, at any point, not even when there was the strike of crossed arms, my grandfather didn't participate. Because, my grandfather thought that the Worker had to work to pay for its responsibilities at the end of the month. And he would say this strike thing it never leads to anything. Never will the boss "open its legs", he would really speak this way, never "open its legs" to the worker. They are dingy. He knows the worker needs the boss, otherwise he

will not work. This unemployment issue today is from a lot of people who go striking. For the bosses, it never gets hard. My grandfather would say, for the boss, life never gets hard. Because they always have their wealth kept away for these emergencies. It's like politicians today, all of them have money abroad in Swiss banks. All bosses have their reserves. There are even others who have reserves through children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren (And the worker?) The Worker can go screw himself. "Vamos vamos Juventus!" We are here at Jaguari street, next to the Juventus stadium, the famous stadium

of the Jaguari street. Which takes the name of Count Rodolfo Crespi. (Marcos Prieto, trader) What sustains the Stadium still is the Mooca and the fan of Mooca. So, there is this symbiosis. Here is a space of a workers' neighborhood, (Alexandre Trevizzano, public school history teacher, SP) with factories, from the beginning of the last century, of European immigrants that settled here to do this factory work and not only to do this factory work, they were also European immigrants who came here to make up the bourgeoisie class, the dominant class. So, the very name of the football

club has this origin, of this contradictory process. (Vitor Faustino, Football Director of Juventus) The history that I know, of this Juventus club, is that there were the two Crespi brothers, originally from Italy (Count Adriano Crespi) One was a fan of Juvi, and the other of Torino (Rodolfo Crespi) And they wanted to form a team of Workers here, that was theirs, and wanted to put only Juventus or Torino. But they came to an agreement. The name would be Juventus, and the color of Torino. That's the why behind the name, and the color. The fan base supports

the strike of 1917, supports the Working class, and doesn't support Crespi, the owner. They support the factory workers that made the strike happen. So, we can say that the identity of the fan-base of Juventus, is together with the football players, the workers, because who makes the team, who made the factory, and who made all of this were the Workers. It's the work. "I am a worker! Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, at Jaguari, we will resist, as it was 100 years ago." At this time there were no Worker's legislation, when there was some problem in

the factories, especially strikes, the bosses called the police force to repress. (THE STRIKE / The proletariat agitation grows day by day / The workers ask for bread and the police responds with sword and lead) And at one of these altercations we end up having the first death. There was no "crowd control" Police force yet, so who executed the repression were the cavalry. (Sérgio Cipullo, retired | grandson of 1917 strikers) And how did they do it? The guy went practically laid down on the horse, parallel, with the head touching the head of the horse reins very

short and with the saber... and they went spreading the saber around... So, people ran away, because if you got hit... That was to cut and kill. The dominant classes of the first republic of Brazil always served themselves from this repression. Of a highly marginalizing legislation, in fact predicting the expulsion, deportation of individuals considered subversive. (People of the 1st battalion of Public Force, wrapped up weapons, dispersing the strikers) And the pure and simple police repression. Therefore, there wasn't any predicted mechanism of recognizing rights. The assassination, by the police, of Martinez, leads to a strike that mobilizes

dozens of thousands of workers in São Paulo. (On the 9th of July of 1917, the Spanish shoemaker José Iñiguez Matinez is hurt by the Public Force at the door of the Factory Mariângela, at Brás, dying the next day.) (Jose I. Martinez, the unfortunate comrade, member of the Restless Youth Group, assassinated during the strike.) The symbolic significance of the death provokes an emotional catharsis, allowing for a given underground attention, that is bubbling can be translated in the form of an effective action of the streets. The funeral rally that takes the body of the worker Martinez to

the Araçá Cemetery in São Paulo involves dozens of thousands of workers, the very Edgar Leuenroth mentions that, and Edgar Rodrigues, which is the most important memorialist of anarchism in Brazil, cites Leuenroth, which the coffin involved an ocean of people. This map here shows the burial of the worker Martinez, which was an important moment of occupation of the city by laborers. The police at the time, which was called Public Force, guided the workers to take the coffin from Brás, which was where the killed worker lived, until the Araçá cemetery, which was the cemetery of the City

Hall. During the speeches at the cemetery is when they call the population for the General Strike. (THE BATTLE, The General Strike is proclaimed! One type of bread, at fixed price! Listen to the will of the people! Bravo General Strike! Bravo Struggling Worker!) São Paulo city, at the end of June and during all of the month of July was basically completely taken by this movement. This movement someway took over, or empowered itself, as we say nowadays, of the urban space of the Paulista capital. Of São Paulo city. The city; at least at the Workers' neighborhoods were

occupied. I think it was the first time ever someone occupied São Paulo. At the Avenue Rangel Postana - People hijack a tram and refuse to allow it to resume its gear. The strike, which begins at CRESPI, by CRESPI workers, spreads and becomes a solidarity strike. Solidarity to the arrested worker, solidarity to the comrades on strike, solidarity with those who aren't receiving salaries, So, there are lists passing around for subscriptions to help, and etc. There are accounts of Workers saying "look, I'm going on strike for solidarity, I have nothing to complain about my boss". Or those

who had their demands met and after remained on strike for solidarity. Therefore, Solidarity is a key word for anarchists. When we go to this form of perception, reading of the situation, we see them happening there- horizontality, federalism, self-management, direct action, ethics! They realize what? That there exists an issue of brutal attack here against the workers, and they will unite to gain strength to achieve what they want. (The Cosmopolitan, The strike, The awakening of the Workers) The practice of solidarity is fundamental for making any type of transformation. For any type of coping. So, it's an important

legacy, this notion of solidarity in order for you to take indignation beyond the personal, to the collective. (THE FIGHT. Strikers in the hinterlands. At the Capital, strikers still didn't go back to work.) And this movement went beyond borders, it went to other cities of the São Paulo hinterlands. It went to other states. The idea was to make a general strike in the whole country. They were happening in different moments, but it has repercussion, resonance in many places around the country. (General Strike of 1917 in Curitiba, Rescuing the Workers' memory) Mobilizing, in National terms, with communication

difficulties, which were present in 1917, that's notable. This reveals that, on one hand, probably, how effective was the distribution of some of the Worker's Newspapers. The 1917 Strike is a National strike, with National links (Paulo Marques, Sociologist | UFPel) Especially when it comes to the communication among the National Workers Movement, mainly the anarchists. There will be articulation from the Workers' Federation in Rio de Janeiro, through telegrams because there were united syndicates under this large Brazilian Workers' Federation which had these anarchist, syndicalist, revolutionary principles and from these telegrams, and from these telegrams, strikes start popping up

in several capitals. In the Southeast, for example, also in Paraná, in several cities of Paraná, and Curitiba... The first thing that calls attention of anyone who is used to strikes of today Who has feet in the present, and this is an interesting trip to any historian is that striking was done differently in the past. Striking wasn't crossing arms. And simply gather at the square. The Strike is to subvert order, in a concrete way. Here in Curitiba, the strike, as in all anarco-syndicalist strikes, were strikes with violent actions. If Lenin and the Bolsheviks managed to take

the Winter Palace, why couldn't we, anarchists, take the Catete Palace? (An Anarchist Insurrection in Rio de Janeiro) So they said let's take over the Catete, thrown down the stairs the scoundrel that there Presides over this Country, and so on, let's take Catete. This proposal, taking over the Catete, was extremely radical, right? When the 1917 strike explodes, 2 days after Matinez's funeral (Marcolino Jeremias, Researcher | Nucleus of Libertarian Studies Carlos Aldegueri, Guarujá, SP) The general Workers Union calls a meeting at its headquarters. Which was located at the Braz Cubas street. At this meeting, one thousand workers

show up. All of this registered at the Newspapers of the time. In seeing this huge amount of Workers, they give up on doing a meeting and make a public rally. At this rally, many speakers will present. 3 days after this rally, they make a new rally. And according to the memories of João Perdigão Gutierrez which was an anarchist that participated, actively in the strikes of 1917 in the city of Santos he says that during the rally, the Argentinean anarchist Sofia Garrido announces that the strike had officially started in Santos. The anarchists strengthen themselves in this

period, and end also around the same time the strike ends. So, there are a lot of elements what show the strike in Rio Grande do Sul as something that wasn't isolated, it was a part of the General Strike of 1917. So, it was a very important movement, that participates in an international moment of struggle of the workers, for its own, let's say, recognition. For its own identity. As a new historical subject, we can say. After, during the movement, it was necessary to form a committee called Committee of Proletariat Defense In which many activists and representatives

of the Workers' Leagues participated. (Committee of Proletariat Defense. Expenses, aid provided:/Diverse Expenses:/Resume:) It's interesting to remember the composition of this committee In it there were 5 militant anarchists, 1 socialist (not anarchist) Among the anarchists, there are Edgar Leuenroth, Luigi "Gigi" Damiani, Rodolfo Filipe. and the socialist (not anarchist) was Teodoro Monicelli. It is curious that, if the workers already have some form of organization, the industrialists don't have yet. They don't have their own organization. They organized together with the Commerce Association. And they begin to realize that they need to become, from then on, an industrial class

force. And it's interesting that the bourgeoisie realizes this. So much so that an extremely violent repression comes on intensely after. There are 3 official deaths, which is registered in the press. I wanna say something. Studious (Cristina) Leoprato She did a chapter, about the dead. The official number of deaths official of the strike were 3. The real number is... we don't know. But certainly many dozens. if not more. She makes a series of indications that are very interesting, which leads us to see that there could exist a clandestine common ditch of the Araçá cemetery. I was

able to access the Fanfulla Newspaper, which was a Newspaper of the Italian colony Which gave space to covering the strike. (How many are dead? They say there are many, however, nothing is known about it. [...] The police only denounced 3 deaths, including that of a child. many cadavers were buried or disposed of in garbage wagons) And the Fanfulla kept up with, during some dawns, the "disposing" of some of the dead, in the middle of the night in wagons, in a cemetery. So, it suggests the possibility of many more deaths that weren't registered. There is no

interest for the Government or the Industry, that the deaths come up in high numbers. But there was no way of denying the official deaths of 3 people. But it's possible that there was a slaughter in São Paulo. Repression was very intense this lead the actual anarchists to propose, in a public rally, the suspension of the strike. The story of the common ditch is a horrific thing in Brazilian history. I just want to recollect that in 1990 it was discovered, a clandestine ditch in the Perus Cemetery. with 1044 bodies. Which to this day there was no

DNA test done! After how long? 17 years. (Here, the dictators tried to hide the political missing, the victims of hunger, of the violence of the police state of the death squads above all the rights of the poor citizens of the city of São Paulo. It is registered that the crimes against liberty will always be discovered. -Luiza Erundina de Souza, Commission of family members of missing political prisoners) We know that many of the demands that were verbally assured, verbally as in an agreement, they were not fulfilled. It's curious that the anarchists, even after the strike was

over, they write the following- it's over, but we need to remain alert, because we don't believe they will deliver. (And they didn't) They didn't deliver. Aside from not delivering- "Be careful". "Because for sure we will be arrested" And it happened. And it really happened. Not only arrested, they rescue Adolfo Gordo law, way back, looking to expel some workers which participated in the strike. There is a hunt of the anarchists, in an extremely arbitrary way, in the middle of the night. (THE PLEBS, New perspective violence, the police, anxious to impose silence to the working class, plans

new persecutions.) In identifying the leaders of the movement, they arrest these militants, put them on a boat and deport them. Brazilians were deported to Clevelândia, and Europeans were sent back to their motherlands. Many were deported to Spain... in 1907 the law Adolfo Gordo had already been extended, which was a law that established the criteria for the deportation of foreigners who harmed the "public order and tranquility". You see, there is a red thread that connects, in this aspect, for example, the repression constant- legal, institutional, and illegal. Torture, mistreatment, disappearance of bodies, the Brazilian oligarchy (THE BOLT;

The most dangerous oligarchies) The oligarchy from São Paulo is misguided. The Brazilian oligarchy doesn't know treat with democracy, with negotiation, with agreements, it does it when it's obliged to. But, it it's not obliged, even when it is, it always has the other side. the repression, the repression, the repression constant. Is this true for 1917? Of Course. Is it true for the 350 years of Enslavement? [...] It is constant until today. (From Now On: the June Marches, 2013 -Carlos Pronzato) (Music: "Look inwards now") The strike of 1917 represents the apogee. I don't know another in the

world, another apogee so high, of the revolutionary syndicalism. After all, the days 12, 13, 14 of July they take over the city. Nothing else works. The only thing that works are those with the little paper of the Proletariat defense. At one point anarchists gave out a pass, and in some regions of São Paulo there was not walking around without it. The Police didn't control some regions of the city, the anarchists that controlled them. there was a clear line of separation between the space of the State, and the taken anarchist space, the space taken by anarchists

at that time. This strike gains a dimension that the authorities did not predict. The police was dissolving; is dissolving of fatigue. The Federal government sends armour-clad to Santos to try to repress the strike. I've never seen this, to repress a strike. Such violence. The military is hesitating, if attacks or not. We arrive at the apogee, but also at the decadence. Why? ... Why? There was no politics. The salvation was the journalist committee. Their... Revolutionary syndicalism doesn't talk to the State, and doesn't talk to the bosses, how do they do it? Take over power. But they

are against taking over power. (THE STRIKE, the signed commission below...) The anarchists don't want to sit with the Government, so there is a mediation, in the case of 1917 is unprecedented, which is the forming of the journalist committee of Big Media. Which will mediate the conflict. Aptly, they realize that the is no possibility of negotiation with the bosses, So, they shelter themselves from this encounter, out of fear that the leaders would get arrested. And then the journalists make themselves available to mediate this relationship between bosses and workers. So that anarchists don't get too exposed. They

insist that the State must dissolve itself; the State must dissolve itself! That is the ultimate limit. They don't understand the need of Politics... of Politics, of negotiation, and of having the objective of taking over power. To transform Power into something where the proletariat matters. They are against that. It's a limit. They arrived at the maximum, then they couldn't do anything else. Luckily there was the negotiation through the journalists, which allows for an escape. Repression is much more intense in relation to the anarchists. It's interesting to observe how much the Communist Party, since its beginning, looks

for alliances with the bosses and the State. Because it understands that this way the Party is preserved, and in preserving the Party It is able to remain alive, in the struggle, and to remain in the struggle. For the anarchists this possibility doesn't exist, because they are, we are completely against the State. So we are not able to make these alliances. (THE BATTLE, The victory of the Worker, The mediation by the press went on, to harmonize the interests in conflict.) (Strikers have their demands met by the bosses and the Government) Perhaps the main achievement of this

movement, was making the State recognize it needed, and the businessmen, to recognize that they had to negotiate collectively. To enter a negotiation about rights, About living conditions, about work, with the workers, what at the time Until that time in Brazil, was completely unknown. The Brazilian Communist proletariat didn't exist yet. It was a strike that was formed of different cells Which didn't know each other, sometimes antagonistic, in many months became one single organism. (The Echoes of São Paulo's strike. What will happen? Apparent calm- the action of the Committee of Proletariat Defense) The Brazilian Working Class was

born. In this strike. It's when the workers begin to be seen as a Working Class. Until then, it was not treated as a social issue. The Social question, as they called it, therefore, the question of the proletariat, from this strike in São Paulo on It becomes a National and Political issue. It has to be discussed at the Newspapers, at Parliament, (General Strike of 1917, Workers come into the scene. José Luiz Del Roio) By the political parties. Even if it's to speak badly of it, it needs to be talked about. It's not like they had sort

of previously said- "it's just a matter of policing. Nevermind." No. So, this strike has this important historical dimension of what we call- to become a Worker. They made themselves into a class during this movement. From 1917, these elites begin to attack the anarchist syndicates systematically, so many Brazilian are sent to a gulag In Clevelândia, in the region of Oiapoque many die of malaria, without any assistance. Those who are foreigners will be expelled, so there is a large disarticulation process With the arrival of the communists, they attack the anarchist syndicates, they wanna take them over. They

think of global politics, the Marxists, of excluding other currents, exterminating Because they don't want these oppositions. The curious, paradoxical, is that here in Brazil, the Communist Party arises from anarchist and anarco-syndicalist leadership The Communist Party is a direct product of this experience. If it wasn't for the 1917 strike, it would hardly be possible to make a Communist Party in 1922. From the arrival of one sent from Moscow through Argentina, he will try to discuss with Edgar the forming of the Communist Party In Brazil, since there was a Communist Party in Argentina, he will refuse, and

refer Astrojildo Pereira as the man. Astrojildo Pereira (11890-1965) Which could be the founder of the Communist Party. So much so, that the Party in Brazil As opposed to what happens in many parts of the world, which comes from social democrats. (The Forming of PCB, Brazilian Communist Party, 1922/1928, Astrojildo Pereira) It was basically built by anarchists. Why? Because the strength of the Worker's Movement, the strength of the social movement, were the anarchists organizing. From 1922. March. Some historians understand that there it begins a decline of anarchism. Where will it come from? It comes from 1922, with

the Soviet Union, this centralized model With the syndicate connected to the Party. Where there isn't an internal discussion. It would be more adequate than what there was in the self-management, federalism, Belonging to the anarchist syndicates. To the Revolutionary syndicates. The prestige of the Soviet Revolution, the organization of the Communist Party The proposal of creating syndicates, through categories, metallurgical, chemical, textile, ends up being victorious. and anarchism refluxes. This dispute goes beyond this 1922 date. One example, which is more than an example, its a symptom. In 1924, it's the anarchists that are the main victims of deportation

to Clevelândia. (CLEVELÂNDIA, Anarchism, syndicalism, and political repression in Brazil. -Alexandre Samis) Which is a type of isolation camp. Some call it concentration, I don't believe the term is adequate. But some call it a concentration camp. On the border of Brazil with French Guiana. On the extreme North. Which at the time was Pará, now is Amapá. So, it was only anarchists deported to this region. This is a symptom. That the primary enemy to the State was the anarchist movement. Anarchists continued to resist in the syndicates, not in such strong currents, But they were voices inside the

syndicates. Questioning, fighting, struggling. They continued with their cultural spaces, such as the cultural center. On the other hand we see that anarchism is here today. It's very curious when we see Peace is Over, this here needs to become Chile, we see that black boy (PEACE IS OVER, This will become Chile, Schools occupied in São Paulo) stuck against a fence, saying this here is horizontality, it's horizontality, and he explains what it is! And I, watching the film, said, damn, this is the General Strike of 1917. What these kids did is General Strike of 1917. (For good

quality public schools) They took over the schools, managed to organize in a logical way. (Free School / I Resist) Because we are saying it's a school in the North zone, a school in the South zone, East, from the ABC And then the thing explodes, to Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, a bunch of places, and you say, damn, These are the libertarian practices put in place there. The Revolution is always the horizon, to overthrow the Capitalist system The bourgeois system. Which is responsible for social injustice, the exploitation of the worker This remained on the horizon, and

remained on the horizon of the anarchists until their death. Leuenroth is an old activist, we can say from the first moment of Revolutionary syndicalism. Editor of The Plebs for a very long time, the major person responsible, from the print shop, A journalist, and from the print shop, there was no separation between the thinking and the doing. And in this sense he unites all of the qualities of the worker, a member of the International Association of Workers. Because a main principal of the IAW is not separating the thinking from the doing. The manual work from the

intellectual work. So, Leuenroth is an example of this. Edgar Leuenroth is a prospect candidate and he says it contradicts all of this. His defense, because Leuenroth is arrested as the intellectual mentor of the 1917 General Strike (A Famous Criminal, Edgar Leuenroth, Director of "the Plebs", arrested as the "psychological and intellectual" behind a robbery) Becuase of the robbery that happens in the Santista Mill. So he is arrested. Materially, they are accusing him of this. (Our Director is arrested for inciting this act of Popular Justice!) When he makes his defense, he makes sure to clarify that- "I

am being accused because I am an anarchist." "I am not being accused for participating in anything, because I wasn't there. I am not being accused of inciting because I did not incite. I incited the workers, yes, into organizing, and to fight in every way to conquer rights, and to guarantee rights. But I did not, in particular, incite anyone to rob or steal anything." "Yes, I am against the State, Yes, I am for the organization of the Workers" So, it's curious, because perhaps people thought that after this he had become less anarchist than he was When

they came to make such an ivitation to him. And he remained loyal to what he believed, until the end. I have the impression, the sensation that having an ideal, to fight for an ideal And to take this until your deathbed, helps you to preserve a flame of life, even during old age. So we notice that Edgar Leuenroth dies believing in himself as an anarchist, defending a libertarian project for Brazil in the 60's. All of these demands that exist today in Workers Legislation, were achieved by the fight of the workers. And people say this was the

work of the kindness of Getúlio Vargas... All of this moment by Workers left a seed, something happened, and happened in an institutional level. Such as the extension of these laws, Parliamentary debates, they ended up echoing. It's not for nothing that from 1930, with Getúlio Vargas, social legislation accumulates itself, When it arrives at the point, in 1943, with the consolidation of all these legislations Our, still in force, for now, "CLT", the Consolidation of the Labor Law ("Getúlio Vargas, the big Brazilian boss, among its children, as a hero, he was the first") To constitute, let's say reconstitute

this panorama of how the Workers organized themselves, Before 1930, it's very difficult not to make this counterpoint with everything that happens From Getúlio Vargas in 1930. What Vargas will do, I think, of most importance, is destroy the syndicate authonomy of the Working Class in Brazil. And to build its antithesis, which is syndicate heteronomy. In the first republic, the Labor syndicates were institutes of private political nature From 1930 they are slowly, and not without resistance, but are slowly becoming organs-of-state. As they still are today. Before 1930, Syndicates were free, they were, in order to self organize,

they only had to present the documents to the authorities. (The bourgeois reacting against the free Syndicalist Movement) The anarco-syndicalists never entered this trap, which was a straightjacket- the State syndicate. (Can the Ministry of Labour be responsible for the interests of the proletariat?) Created by Vargas after 1930, supported, as it is known, by the fascist Italian experience of Benito Mussolini. Vargas is an intelligent guy, he takes the damands of the Workers, and transforms it into legislation, because he's seeing With the Carta del Lavoro of Mussolini in Italy, which was a method Mussolini used to attract the

Workers. To control the Movement! To control the Worker's Movement! And Vargas will be very skilled in that. The anarchists resist, but slowly they begin to lose the famous social and syndicate vector Because the State invades the Syndicate world. The Syndicates, from 1930, are framed, imprisoned, or, we can say, the State tries to absorb to inside itself All of the force of the struggle of the Workers. Syndicates did not adhere to "Vargas-ism" because they wanted to. Vargas, when he makes this legislation He says, "Look, we will guarantee rights, but to guarantee these rights, the syndicate has

to sign an agreement with us. Accepting our legislation. This way, the syndicate Worker in this particular syndicate will guarantee their rights. Which means, he very intelligently says- "All of those who don't want to accept, are out." Therefore, retirement, the 8-hour work day, whatever it is, they are out. The anarchists, which lived this previous period, at this moment of institution of the State syndicate They in no way fold, they do not subordinate to this new logic, they do not fit themselves into the new model. There is a violent repression movement against the anarchist movement, for being

this stronger current But is brave, doesn't make agreements, doesn't make alliances, The Capital is the Capital, the Worker is the Worker, and we are here to fight against the Capital Against the boss, against the State, which is a channel of transmission of the interests of the dominant classes together with the Workers. So, that's it. There is no possibility for negotiation. And since there isn't, we have our syndicates, our own form of organization, we will not adhere. There arises a big problem, because if we won't adhere, we also won't secure rights for the Workers This is

a weakening point in the struggle of the anarchists, because they don't want to make the coalition. They don't want to make alliances, they don't want to give in. Perhaps there are some who say it would have been more intelligent if they gave in. But if they had done that they wouldn't have been anarchists. This doesn't mean that the struggle of the Workers after 1930 had ceased to be a police case. Even inside this effort to domesticate the class all of the process of revolt of the workers Is combated violently by the police. By the State.

When we research about 1917, and the movements (Júlio Cesar, Social Activist | Cultural Space Mané Garrincha, SP) Which generated the strike in 1917 comes the first confirmation. There are very few materials about the subject. And where is the memory of this strike? Where do you see the memory in the history books? Even in the Workers' spaces of today. It erased itself. And why? Why this? How can this be, a movement of this magnitude, with such impact on not only São Paulo, but on all of Brazil, dissolve itself? And Why? Why was the history erased, of

these men, of these women, of these anarchists, why did they take away the history of these historical people? It can only be for one reason, because it's a history of radicalism, of major radicalism. Because they were always targets of repression. They at various moments had their press invaded Their organizations closed down, there was constant surveillance of the actions of the anarchists. The anarchist has a tendency, a very curious characteristic, every anarchist is an archivist. Since they know the State Will burn their documents, since they know that at the first opportunity they have, the State will

throw it all away, Burn everything. They know they need to have the worry to preserve. And where can you access information about this strike? Here, at the documents that remained. Old Newspapers, In the magazines... I think that not only Edgar, but all the collectives that were anarchist had this practice of saving. (Fernanda Grigolin, Doctor in Visual Arts | USP) Edgar was like a guardian of this collective memory. I don't believe it was an individual action, I think he is a very important person, together with all these anarchist collectives that were there. And this action of

his to build the archive, and from there to receive memories from other archives, other collections Lead to the possibility of us having access to publications such as The Plebs, and the possibility of today, 100 years later, for the Newspaper to be printed, as a facsimile edition. Also, the records of this strike, for sure, permeates all of the public registries of São Paulo of this time. I believe we still have a lot to research, because the historiography that proposed itself to write about the 1917 strike, It did not make itself available to the documents that were

made available to us today. (Incursion around the Edgar Rodrigues' archives, 1996) Each file here... there are all the countries where the anarchist movement is more clear. (Edgar Rodrigues, 1921-2009) It's the only way to combat the worms of the paper, since the worms of the State are to be combated in another form. The Truth, The Social War, The Plebs. Without the presence of the anarchists, it's very likely that this strike would not have happened. The strike of 1917 was the arrival of São Paulo into the 20th century. A strike, which is without a shadow of a

doubt, a milestone for the Brazilian working Class. 1917 isn't 100 years in the past, it's perhaps 100 years ahead. This is the history that we will not allow to die. At this moment in the strike the anarchists were able to, for having hegemony of the syndicalist, and social movements At different fronts. And could make a difference with this popular revolt. And in fact create a process, yes, insurrectionist, revolutionary, unlike anything else in Brazil until today. We need to emphasize one thing, the heroism. The courage. The honesty. All of it, of the anarchist movement, and of

the Brazilian Revolutionary syndicalist movement. They are absolutely, I don't know how else to say it, heroes, pure heroes, Rarely a group is met, a pleiad, with so much dedication. I really like a phrase, lapidary of Camus, in The Rebel, (Christina Roquette Lopreato, Historian | UFU) We know Camus from the Nobel Prize of Literature, a great writer, but he had very interesting essays He defines the strategy of affirmative negation. One who says No to oppression, says Yes to oneself. This is the beginning of an exercise of fighting against oppression. First you need to say individually No

to it. Then gather the forces to stand up to it. The general legacy can be resumed in the idea of self-organization, the idea of self-management. (Francisco Foot Hardman, Historian | Unicamp) Meaning, nobody will do a better job defending our rights, and our demands, than ourselves. Properly gathered, properly organized. What remains as a legacy, (José Luíz Del Roio, Director of the Institute Astrogildo Pereira CEDEM | UNESP) Is that, firstly, learning in which country we are. And which oligarchy we need to consider. What we have as legacy is, when the class sector is determined, and fights until

the end, it can succeed, yes! And can put against the wall, this enslaving oligarchy, until today. (What tremendous lesson! If strongly united and prepared, could have, then, imposed its rights. The lesson will serve, however, and next time, its organization will be more oganized, and decisive.) (The Plebs, July 21st, 1917) (Direction, Screenplay and Production- Carlos Pronzato) (Director of Photography- Xeno Veloso) (Editing- Davi Andres, Renato Bazan) (Subtitles- Mirna Wabi-Sabi)