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176-674: Nkrumah founded WANS in December 1945, immediately following the Manchester Pan-African Congress , becoming the new organisation's Secretary-General. Other founder members included I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson (who was elected as Chairman), Bankole Akpata , Kojo Botsio and Bankole Awoonor-Renner (the organisation's first President). Many of the initial members of WANS were also members of the West African Students' Union (WASU). WANS aimed to build

352-655: A famine between 1930 and 1933 that killed millions. The Soviet forced labour camp system of the Gulag was expanded. During the late 1930s, Stalin's government conducted the Great Purge to remove opponents, resulting in mass death, imprisonment, and deportation. In 1939, the USSR and Nazi Germany signed a nonaggression pact , but in 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the largest land invasion in history, opening

528-684: A clerk in a trading company, but only held the job for a year before travelling to Nigeria. In 1930, he helped form the Nigerian Workers' Union, the first trade union in Nigeria . The founder of the union, Frank Macauley, had Communist affiliations, and it is believed that Wallace-Johnson engaged in Communist-related activities during this time. He represented the Sierra Leone Railway Workers' Union at

704-541: A closer relationship with France and Britain. In 1939, half a year after the Munich Agreement , the USSR attempted to form an anti-Nazi alliance with France and Britain. Adolf Hitler proposed a better deal, which would give the USSR control over much of Eastern Europe through the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . In September, Germany invaded Poland, and the USSR also invaded later that month, resulting in

880-650: A corruption scandal, which resulted in the incarceration of top officials, including the mayor. After being fired from this job in 1926, he left Sierra Leone and became a sailor. He joined a national seamen union and it is believed that he also joined the Communist Party. In 1930, he helped form the first trade union in Nigeria and attended the International Trade Union Conference of Negro Workers in Hamburg , where he established

1056-562: A great deal of anti-WAYL propaganda. He wanted to return to the Gold Coast as soon as possible to resuscitate the organisation, but he lacked the necessary funds for travel. His insufficient funds also affected his work in London, but nonetheless, he pursued claims on behalf of Gold Coast citizens. Eventually, his financial situation was so poor that he couldn't afford bus fare or meals and was even evicted from his room after he failed to pay

1232-519: A greater union which he initially named as the Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia (Russian: Союз Советских Республик Европы и Азии , romanized : Soyuz Sovyetskikh Respublik Evropy i Azii ). Joseph Stalin initially resisted Lenin's proposal but ultimately accepted it, and with Lenin's agreement he changed the name to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), although all republics began as socialist soviet and did not change to

1408-593: A group interested in establishing a branch of the WAYL there. The Sierra Leoneans expressed genuine interest in the WAYL, but they hesitated to establish a branch there before obtaining a copy of the league's constitution. Wallace-Johnson then continued on his journey before stopping in Paris, where he contacted the International Bureau of Youth in hopes of setting up a meeting with its general secretary. However,

1584-538: A job as an officer in the customs department in 1913. He was dismissed for helping organize a labour strike but was reinstated to his position a year later. After resigning from his job, he enlisted as a clerk with the Carrier Corps during World War I. After being demobilized in 1920, Wallace-Johnson moved from job to job, before settling as a clerk in the Freetown municipal government. He claimed to have exposed

1760-590: A job as either a sailor on an American ocean liner sailing between the United States and Africa or as an engine hand for Elder Dempster Lines ; in an interview, he stated the former, while in a lecture at the Easter School he claimed the latter. He normally travelled to English-speaking areas, but on occasion, he journeyed to French, Spanish and Portuguese territories on the African continent. He joined

1936-489: A justification for slavery and colonialism by some politicians. By 1936, the WAYL had established 17 branches in major cities throughout the Gold Coast. The WAYL made their entrance into the political arena by supporting the Mambii Party and its candidate, Kojo Thompson, in his candidacy for the 1935 Legislative Council elections. Afterward, Wallace-Johnson equipped himself with new political tactics. He began attacking

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2112-453: A membership of 25,000 in the colony and 17,000 in the protectorate, although these figures are believed to be exaggerated, according to Spitzer & Denzer 1973b . The Freetown chapter held biweekly meetings at Wilberforce Memorial Hall where Wallace-Johnson exercised his oratorical skill and urged mass support for the League's initiatives. The government downplayed the immense popularity of

2288-544: A monthly journal, The New African , containing articles in English, French and Belgian, on West African issues, but also incorporating stories from the Moscow New Times . In September 1946, WANS held a joint conference with WASU, which Nkrumah convinced Léopold Sédar Senghor and Sourou Migan Apithy to attend. WANS was considerably weakened after Nkrumah returned to Africa in 1947, and appears to have dissolved

2464-597: A new profitable market. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Stalin ordered Marxist-Leninist parties across the world to strongly oppose non-Marxist political parties, labour unions or other organizations on the left, which they labelled social fascists . In the usage of the Soviet Union, and of the Comintern and its affiliated parties in this period, the epithet fascist was used to describe capitalist society in general and virtually any anti-Soviet or anti-Stalinist activity or opinion. Stalin reversed himself in 1934 with

2640-490: A number of contacts. He published articles and edited the Negro Worker , a journal devoted to uniting black workers around the world. He travelled to Moscow, where he claimed to have attended classes on Marxism-Leninism theory, union organisation and political agitation . Shortly after his return to Nigeria in 1933, he was expelled by authorities due to his involvement in unlawful trade union activities. He travelled to

2816-551: A paper that was susbsequently banned in Sierra Leone. Wallace-Johnson returned to Freetown in April 1938 for what he believed would be a short visit. He planned to return to England to pack up his belongings and then move to the United States, where he would not have to "bother about Africa any more as it is apparent that the people of Africa were not prepared to make a move". He was still upset about his political experiences in

2992-653: A period of significant economic development and expansion. This was countered by negative industrial and social changes, which gave many working class Sierra Leoneans feelings of resentment and disappointment in the government. They were eager for change and a new face of leadership—something that Wallace-Johnson could provide. He offered the same promise for the Gold Coast, but since he was considered an outsider by many, he had limited success and many misfortunes while spreading his philosophies. After landing in Freetown, customs agents seized from Wallace-Johnson 2,000 copies of

3168-631: A status that is retained by the Russian Federation . Covering a sixth of Earth's land surface, its size was comparable to that of North America . Two other successor states, Kazakhstan and Ukraine , rank among the top 10 countries by land area, and the largest country entirely in Europe, respectively. The European portion accounted for a quarter of the country's area and was the cultural and economic center. The eastern part in Asia extended to

3344-475: A union of equals, in practice the Soviet Union was dominated by Russians . The domination was so absolute that for most of its existence, the country was commonly (but incorrectly) referred to as 'Russia'. While the Russian SFSR was technically only one republic within the larger union, it was by far the largest (both in terms of population and area), most powerful, and most highly developed. The Russian SFSR

3520-587: A united movement throughout West Africa for independence, on a platform of anti-imperialism . Its view of West Africa was broad, and aimed to include countries as distant as Kenya and Sudan . A major congress was planned, but never came to fruition. Within WANS, Nkrumah organised a secret socialist revolutionary group, known as "The Circle". This group worked closely with the Communist Party of Great Britain . During 1946, WANS published five issues of

3696-441: A village adjoining the capital city, Freetown. His father was a farmer, while his mother was a fishwife who sold her goods in markets in neighbouring villages. Many of his relatives held low-status jobs involving craftsmanship , carpentry and masonry . His poor upbringing and low social status influenced his understanding and empathy of the working class, as seen in his early association with communism and later, his leadership in

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3872-482: A written statement that he had been freed. The government was reluctant to take such action until Azikiwe pointed out that the government had opened themselves to this dilemma with their initial deportation proposal to Wallace-Johnson. Shortly after, they agreed to £50 to Wallace-Johnson, with the promise that the rest would be paid once he arrived in England. However, the situation unfolded differently. Wallace-Johnson

4048-573: Is derived from the Russian word sovet (Russian: совет ), meaning 'council', 'assembly', 'advice', ultimately deriving from the proto-Slavic verbal stem of * vět-iti ('to inform'), related to Slavic věst ('news'), English wise . The word sovietnik means 'councillor'. Some organizations in Russian history were called council (Russian: совет ). In the Russian Empire ,

4224-591: Is his background, his education , his profession . These are the questions that will determine the fate of the accused. That is the meaning and essence of the Red Terror ." During his rule, Stalin always made the final policy decisions. Otherwise, Soviet foreign policy was set by the commission on the Foreign Policy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , or by

4400-576: Is just but a tool, The Producer as well is only a fool. I employ the Worker at a miserable wage, And pay the Producer the price of a slave. The Declaration of Capitalism by I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson. Besides publishing articles in the Negro Worker and other newspapers, Wallace-Johnson also wrote poetry and essays. Many of his writings have been lost, but those that are available offer insight into his innermost thoughts. He typically portrayed

4576-539: The African Morning Post , Wallace-Johnson decided that the league would have to establish its own newspaper, to be called the Dawn , to cover its activities, ideas and goals. He believed that the league's dwindling support issues would be resolved once the Dawn began publication. The first issue of the weekly newspaper was published on 24 October 1936, but only published on occasion over the next few months as

4752-662: The African Sentinel , a publication that the government considered seditious. Douglas James Jardine, the Governor of Sierra Leone, supported the seize, writing that "[i]t is most undesirable that such nonsense should be circulated among the population of Sierra Leone". Although the Colonial Office rejected the suggestion that the African Sentinel fell under the provisions of the Sedition Ordinance,

4928-507: The British Parliament about working conditions and rights in the colonies. Wallace-Johnson also established a new form of mass demonstrations, in which members of the traditional elite no longer dominated African politics. In Wallace-Johnson's reformation of mass meetings, ordinary citizens could vocalise their political opinions. These people took full advantage of the new system; they frequently lambasted colonial authorities and

5104-520: The Council of People's Commissars ), headed by the Chairman (Premier) and managing an enormous bureaucracy responsible for the administration of the economy and society. State and party structures of the constituent republics largely emulated the structure of the central institutions, although the Russian SFSR, unlike the other constituent republics, for most of its history had no republican branch of

5280-606: The Eastern Front of World War II . The Soviets played a decisive role in defeating the Axis powers , suffering an estimated 27 million casualties , which accounted for most Allied losses. In the aftermath of the war , the Soviet Union consolidated the territory occupied by the Red Army , forming satellite states , and undertook rapid economic development which cemented its status as a superpower . Geopolitical tensions with

5456-555: The Gold Coast , where he quickly established himself as a political activist and a journalist. An agitator, he managed a fund to finance the appeal of the nine African Americans given the death penalty in the Scottsboro case and also campaigned for legislation on workers' compensation and strict safety regulations after the deadly Prestea mining disaster of June 1934. In his writings during this era, Wallace-Johnson glorified

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5632-574: The Gold Coast . Colonial governments perceived the Negro Worker to be a threat to peace and stability in the regions and quickly banned the distribution of the publication. In 1933, he became a member of the editorial board of the Negro Worker . Afterward, he met many prominent black Communists and attended the International Labor and Defence Conference in Moscow, where he remained for almost 18 months. He claimed that he pursued studies at

5808-495: The Gold Coast Independent , in which they reminded the WAYL that freedom of opinion did not entitle someone to "go out of their way to insult, abuse, slander, or libel any one". Wallace-Johnson was subjected to more attacks in the press; the Gold Coast Independent referred to Wallace-Johnson as a "jobless extremist" and stated that as a foreigner, he had no right to involve in Gold Coast elections. In July 1935,

5984-651: The Gold Coast Spectator and the Vox Populi . Wallace-Johnson had the final word after publishing a group of articles in the Vox Populi profiling the conflict, entitled "The Gold Coast Independent and Myself". He also briefly associated with the Friends of Ashanti Freedom Society, a group composed of young educated men who opposed the restoration of the Ashanti Empire . The men believed that if

6160-755: The Land Forces , the Air Force , the Navy , Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) and the Internal Troops . The OGPU later became independent and in 1934 joined the NKVD secret police, and so its internal troops were under the joint leadership of the defense and internal commissariats. After World War II, Strategic Missile Forces (1959), Air Defense Forces (1948) and National Civil Defense Forces (1970) were formed, which ranked first, third, and sixth in

6336-528: The Moscow State Institute of International Relations . The Marxist-Leninist leadership of the Soviet Union intensely debated foreign policy issues and changed directions several times. Even after Stalin assumed dictatorial control in the late 1920s, there were debates, and he frequently changed positions. During the country's early period, it was assumed that Communist revolutions would break out soon in every major industrial country, and it

6512-613: The Negro Welfare Association and Reginald Bridgeman of the League Against Imperialism , two strong contacts he had made years before in Accra. Ward and Bridgeman sought to publicise Wallace-Johnson's objectives for colonial reform. Using a cautionary approach, the two men suggested that Wallace-Johnson seek the support of sympathetic members of Parliament, make another attempt at meeting with

6688-570: The Negro Worker and others had attended the First International Conference of Negro Workers. Many individuals voiced their anticolonial sentiments in privately operated newspapers. One noteworthy group of men who had strong anticolonial sentiments met at the house of Joseph Ocquaye, the founder of a private school in Nsawam and manager of the Vox Populi newspaper. These men, all respected in their communities, belonged to

6864-469: The Negro Worker , the Conference's journal devoted to creating solidarity among black workers around the world. The journal advocated workers to take a proactive approach in addressing their work-related problems, instead of waiting for their employers or governments to address the issues. The publication's platform greatly influenced Wallace-Johnson's later union-related activities in Sierra Leone and

7040-657: The Pacific Ocean to the east and Afghanistan to the south, and, except some areas in Central Asia , was much less populous. It spanned over 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) east to west across 11 time zones , and over 7,200 kilometres (4,500 mi) north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra , taiga , steppes , desert and mountains . The USSR, like Russia , had the world's longest border , measuring over 60,000 kilometres (37,000 mi), or 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 circumferences of Earth. Two-thirds of it

7216-790: The Popular Front program that called on all Marxist parties to join with all anti-Fascist political, labour, and organizational forces that were opposed to fascism , especially of the Nazi variety. The rapid growth of power in Nazi Germany encouraged both Paris and Moscow to form a military alliance, and the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance was signed in May 1935. A firm believer in collective security, Stalin's foreign minister Maxim Litvinov worked very hard to form

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7392-719: The Second Italo-Abyssinian War , Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL vocalised their harsh sentiments toward European imperialism and helped establish the Ethiopian Defense Fund with the purpose of educating the populaces on matters of national and racial importance. In 1936, Wallace-Johnson was arrested for sedition after publishing an article in the African Morning Post condemning Christianity, European civilisation and imperialism. The colonial governor proposed that he be deported in lieu of being put on trial. After Wallace-Johnson accepted this offer,

7568-652: The Secretary of State for the Colonies assessed the case. During the one-year break, he held jobs as a surveyor , farmer, fisher and a clerk in a law office. He was very popular as a lay preacher among rural villagers. He was interested in joining the ministry, but he lacked the proper education needed to enter the occupation. All during this time, he wrote articles in the Aurora , a newspaper edited by H. C. Bankole-Bright . Wallace-Johnson considered Bankole-Bright to be

7744-569: The Soviet Union as a haven of freedom or capitalist systems like the one in the United States as corrupt. His two most famous works, Das Sdrarstwuiet and The Declaration of Capitalism , were published multiple times in the Negro Worker and were widely received by the general public. In Das Sdrarstwuiet , Wallace-Johnson praised the freedoms given to citizens in the Soviet Union, while in The Declaration of Capitalism , he described

7920-516: The Soviet republics , and the control of the Communist Party weakened. The failed coup attempt in August 1991 against Gorbachev by hardline communists hastened the end of the Soviet Union , which formally dissolved on December 26, 1991, ending nearly seven decades of Soviet rule. With an area of 22,402,200 square kilometres (8,649,500 sq mi), the Soviet Union was the world's largest country,

8096-500: The State Council , which functioned from 1810 to 1917, was referred to as a Council of Ministers. The Soviets as workers' councils first appeared during the 1905 Russian Revolution . Although they were quickly suppressed by the Imperial army, after the February Revolution of 1917 , workers' and soldiers' Soviets emerged throughout the country and shared power with the Russian Provisional Government . The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin , demanded that all power be transferred to

8272-489: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), saying that it was "overly juridical" and potentially infringed on national sovereignty. The Soviet Union later signed legally-binding human rights documents, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1973 (and the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ), but they were neither widely known or accessible to people living under Communist rule, nor were they taken seriously by

8448-496: The largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world . As an Allied nation, it was a founding member of the United Nations as well as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council . Before its dissolution, the USSR was one of the world's two superpowers through its hegemony in Eastern Europe, global diplomatic and ideological influence (particularly in the Global South ), military and economic strengths, and scientific accomplishments. The word soviet

8624-485: The right to food , the right to work , and the right to education . The Soviet conception of human rights was very different from international law . According to Soviet legal theory , "it is the government who is the beneficiary of human rights which are to be asserted against the individual". The Soviet state was considered as the source of human rights. Therefore, the Soviet legal system considered law an arm of politics and it also considered courts agencies of

8800-416: The "old school" generation of politicians, who he believed couldn't lead the future generations. He stated that "the work needs renewed zeal and energy. It needs new ideas and new visions." In one of the rare occasions that he agreed with Wallace-Johnson, Azikiwe voiced support for his colleague's statements in the African Morning Post . The political elite responded to Wallace-Johnson in a scathing article in

8976-481: The 1920s, it refused to rubber stamp proposals from the party and Council of Ministers. In 1990, Gorbachev introduced and assumed the position of the President of the Soviet Union , concentrated power in his executive office, independent of the party, and subordinated the government, now renamed the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR , to himself. Tensions grew between the Union-wide authorities under Gorbachev, reformists led in Russia by Boris Yeltsin and controlling

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9152-424: The 1950s, the Soviet Union expanded its efforts in space exploration and took a lead in the Space Race with the first artificial satellite , the first human spaceflight , the first space station , and the first probe to land on another planet . In 1985, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev , sought to reform the country through his policies of glasnost and perestroika . In 1989, various countries of

9328-432: The 1990s, people in the West were also interested in the radioactive hazards of nuclear facilities, decommissioned nuclear submarines , and the processing of nuclear waste or spent nuclear fuel . It was also known in the early 1990s that the USSR had transported radioactive material to the Barents Sea and Kara Sea , which was later confirmed by the Russian parliament. The crash of the K-141 Kursk submarine in 2000 in

9504-432: The Aborigines Rights Protection Society, a once popular political force. They intended to either revive the political influence the society carried or to create a new organisation altogether. The group, which became the predecessor to the Gold Coast chapter of the West African Youth League, found a fresh dynamic leader in Wallace-Johnson. Wallace-Johnson did not immediately involve himself in Gold Coast politics. He surveyed

9680-427: The CPSU, being ruled directly by the union-wide party until 1990. Local authorities were organized likewise into party committees , local Soviets and executive committees . While the state system was nominally federal, the party was unitary. The state security police (the KGB and its predecessor agencies ) played an important role in Soviet politics. It was instrumental in the Red Terror and Great Purge , but

9856-411: The Communist authorities. Under Joseph Stalin , the death penalty was extended to adolescents as young as 12 years old in 1935. Sergei Kovalev recalled "the famous article 125 of the Constitution which enumerated all basic civil and political rights" in the Soviet Union. But when he and other prisoners attempted to use this as a legal basis for their abuse complaints, their prosecutor's argument

10032-410: The Communist government of the Soviet Union and expressed his disdain for capitalist societies. Soon, the colonial government passed the Sedition Act, a piece of legislation prohibiting the importation of "seditious" literature, which included works from the Negro Worker . In 1934, Wallace-Johnson became the subject of scathing articles in the Gold Coast Independent , in which he was accused of ruining

10208-445: The Conservative government regarding how they intended to address the matter. I am a fraud! I swindle the people and steal all their good. I extort from the poor and pilfer his food. I reap where I sow not, nor ever had strewn, And gather from where another had sown. I cheat and extort throughout the long day, And grab for my pocket from wherever I may. I look at the beggar, with an eye, – just "a fun." The Worker, as well,

10384-407: The Emergency Act adopted at the start of World War II earlier that day. Wallace-Johnson was put on trial without a jury (who would have been sympathetic to his cause, as had been seen in previous cases against him) and received a 12-month prison sentence. He was held at Sherbro Island before being released in 1944. He returned to political activism, but found the WAYL in a state of disarray. He merged

10560-425: The Ethiopia Defense Committee, with the specific goal of educating the Gold Coast of the plight of the Ethiopians and on "matters of racial and national importance" once the war was over. However, soon after, the league encountered some internal conflicts. Some members of the Ex-Servicemen's Association accused Wallace-Johnson of taking some of the money raised for the Ethiopian Defense Fund. Immediately, he resigned as

10736-401: The Gold Coast and even considered withdrawing from political activism entirely, but he came to realise that his homeland Sierra Leone would be a perfect breeding ground for his political ideas and philosophies. The people of Sierra Leone, mostly the Krios, had lost confidence in their leaders and British colonial authorities during the 1920s. After the Great Depression , Sierra Leone experienced

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10912-403: The International Trade Union Conference of Negro Workers in Hamburg , Germany in July 1930 under the alias E. Richards. Speakers at the conference addressed concerns "relating to the economic situations and working conditions of the Negro workers". He established a number of contacts at the conference and was elected to its presidium . Under the alias Wal. Daniels, he began publishing articles in

11088-405: The King Tom Docks Workers' Union, the All Seamen's Union, the Bonthe Amalgamated Workers' Union, the Pepel and Marampa Miners Workers' Union, and the Motorists' Union. Each union's objective was to obtain increased wages and better working conditions through collective bargaining . Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR ), commonly known as the Soviet Union ,

11264-399: The People's University of the East in Marxist-Leninist theory, political activism, and trade union organisation and roomed with Jomo Kenyatta , the future first President of Kenya . It was here that he became influenced by the pan-Africanist George Padmore , who was the Comintern -appointed coordinator of Communist activities among blacks. He returned to Lagos , Nigeria, in 1933, but

11440-481: The Politburo after the deaths of Lenin and Stalin, as well as after Khrushchev's dismissal, itself due to a decision by both the Politburo and the Central Committee. All leaders of the Communist Party before Gorbachev died in office, except Georgy Malenkov and Khrushchev, both dismissed from the party leadership amid internal struggle within the party. Between 1988 and 1990, facing considerable opposition, Mikhail Gorbachev enacted reforms shifting power away from

11616-420: The Russian name of the Soviet Union as СС has been taboo, the reason being that СС as a Russian Cyrillic abbreviation is associated with the infamous Schutzstaffel of Nazi Germany , as SS is in English. In English-language media, the state was referred to as the Soviet Union or the USSR. The Russian SFSR dominated the Soviet Union to such an extent that, for most of the Soviet Union's existence, it

11792-450: The Soviet Union and turned into SSRs, which was not recognized by most of the international community and was considered an illegal occupation . After the Soviet invasion of Finland , the Karelo-Finnish SSR was formed on annexed territory as a Union Republic in March 1940 and then incorporated into Russia as the Karelian ASSR in 1956. Between July 1956 and September 1991, there were 15 union republics (see map below). While nominally

11968-477: The Soviet Union . Boris Yeltsin , the leader of the RSFSR, oversaw its reconstitution into the Russian Federation , which became the Soviet Union's successor state; all other republics emerged as fully independent post-Soviet states . During its existence, the Soviet Union produced many significant social and technological achievements and innovations . It had the world's second-largest economy and largest standing military. An NPT-designated state , it wielded

12144-417: The Soviet Union's priorities changed. Despite previous conflict with the United Kingdom , Vyacheslav Molotov dropped his post war border demands. The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc , which began following World War II in 1945. The term cold war is used because there

12320-480: The Soviet Union's superpower status, the economy struggled due to its centralized nature, technological backwardness, and inefficiencies. The vast military expenditures and burdens of maintaining the Eastern Bloc, further strained the Soviet economy. In the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev 's policies of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring) aimed to revitalize the Soviet system but instead accelerated its unraveling. Nationalist movements gained momentum across

12496-424: The Soviet authorities admitted. The Soviet Union was the world's second largest producer of harmful emissions. In 1988, total emissions in the Soviet Union were about 79% of those in the United States. But since the Soviet GNP was only 54% of that of the United States, this means that the Soviet Union generated 1.5 times more pollution than the United States per unit of GNP. The Soviet Chernobyl disaster in 1986

12672-825: The Soviets, and gained support from the workers and soldiers. After the October Revolution , in which the Bolsheviks seized power from the Provisional Government in the name of the Soviets, Lenin proclaimed the formation of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic (RSFSR). During the Georgian Affair of 1922, Lenin called for the Russian SFSR and other national Soviet republics to form

12848-587: The Supreme Soviet were members of the CPSU. Of the party heads themselves, Stalin (1941–1953) and Khrushchev (1958–1964) were Premiers. Upon the forced retirement of Khrushchev, the party leader was prohibited from this kind of double membership, but the later General Secretaries for at least some part of their tenure occupied the mostly ceremonial position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet ,

13024-713: The US led to the Cold War . The American-led Western Bloc coalesced into NATO in 1949, prompting the Soviet Union to form its own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact , in 1955. Neither side engaged in direct military confrontation, and instead fought on an ideological basis and through proxy wars . In 1953, following Stalin's death , the Soviet Union undertook a campaign of de-Stalinization under Nikita Khrushchev , which saw reversals and rejections of Stalinist policies. This campaign caused tensions with Communist China . During

13200-430: The USSR. Moscow eventually stopped threatening other states, and instead worked to open peaceful relationships in terms of trade, and diplomatic recognition. The United Kingdom dismissed the warnings of Winston Churchill and a few others about a continuing Marxist-Leninist threat, and opened trade relations and de facto diplomatic recognition in 1922. There was hope for a settlement of the pre-war Tsarist debts, but it

13376-694: The United Kingdom National Seamen's Union and supposedly edited the Seafarer , a newsletter which he and other black sailors distributed among ship crews. During his time off, he studied the working conditions for employees at ports along the western coast of Africa. It is believed that he joined the Communist Party during his time as a sailor, as the party had a history of recruiting among sailors who frequently visited seamen's clubs in port cities. In 1929, he began working in Sekondi as

13552-533: The WAYL started to unravel, as no individual was capable of leading the organisation as Wallace-Johnson had. Membership declined as employers and government officials threatened members with job dismissal or physical violence. The acting organising secretary stated that it was difficult to get back these members, since they were so dependent on their employers or the government. It was reported that in some branches, only five or six members would show up at meetings. In his absence, Wallace-Johnson's political enemies spread

13728-424: The WAYL, believing that the massive attendance at meetings was due to the "entertainment value" of speeches. In spite of that, the government had police spies keep track of the goings-on of the meetings. According to Spitzer & Denzer 1973b , Wallace-Johnson's success with the WAYL was attributed to his "concrete militant efforts to publicize and combat the economic, political, and social dissatisfaction which by

13904-469: The Warsaw Pact overthrew their Soviet-backed regimes , and nationalist and separatist movements erupted across the Soviet Union. In 1991, amid efforts to preserve the country as a renewed federation , an attempted coup against Gorbachev by hardline communists prompted the largest republics—Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus—to secede. On December 26, Gorbachev officially recognized the dissolution of

14080-515: The West African labour movement. Wallace-Johnson received his primary education at Centenary Tabernacle Day School before entering United Methodist Collegiate School in 1911. There, he engaged in numerous leadership activities. On one such occasion, he led his classmates in a protest against unreasonable punishment by school authorities. He also edited the school's newspaper, Wall Paper . He dropped out two years later to support his family. He

14256-425: The West African people through "economic, social and political emancipation". As Wallace-Johnson wrote in the Negro Worker , the league was trying to drive "towards the establishing of a foundation for national independence". The rhetoric of Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL used Marxist phraseology and Christian imagery in their political thought, but opposed European interpretations of Christianity because of its use as

14432-503: The accident, but this led to a relatively low number of deaths (WHO data, 2005). Another major radioactive accident was the Kyshtym disaster . The Kola Peninsula was one of the places with major problems. Around the industrial cities of Monchegorsk and Norilsk , where nickel , for example, is mined, all forests have been destroyed by contamination, while the northern and other parts of Russia have been affected by emissions. During

14608-576: The bureau's general secretary and edited its paper, Africa and the World . He used the new affiliation between the WAYL and the bureau to address West African problems to the British general public. The bureau, similar in design and organisation to the WAYL, intended to inform the public about the grievances faced by those in West Africa and created a list of desired reforms and freedoms that would help

14784-591: The colonies' problems could apply pressure on their government to get the laws revoked. Wallace-Johnson's plan worked: two members of Parliament, who felt that the new laws were unreasonable, questioned the colonial secretary about the Sedition Act. From September 1934, Wallace-Johnson became the subject of scathing articles in the Gold Coast Independent . The headline of one such article read "Meddlesome Wallace-Johnson Must Either Shut Up or Get Out: The Gold Coast Wants Helpers Not Rabid Confusionists." The author of

14960-657: The colonies. The bureau also hoped to encourage new West African trade unions to affiliate themselves with the British labour movement. To further its interests, the bureau held weekly meetings at Hyde Park , where members discussed labour strikes in the Caribbean and Ethiopia . It also supplied speakers to branches of the Labour Party, trade unions and the League of Nations Union and provided questions to be asked in front of Parliament regarding legislation, working conditions and trade union regulations. During this time,

15136-704: The corruption. His exact role in the affair is not known, but no Sierra Leoneans ever challenged the veracity of his claim. In the aftermath of the scandal, the British revoked Freetown's rights to complete municipal self-government, believing that Africans, no matter how educated they were, could not govern themselves. After being fired from his municipal government job in 1926, Wallace-Johnson left Sierra Leone to pursue other activities. According to Spitzer & Denzer 1973a , biographical details regarding Wallace-Johnson's activities during this time period are hard to discern, as Wallace-Johnson contradicted himself in his autobiographical notes and his personal reminisces. He took

15312-543: The cost of taking a case to the Privy Council was approximately 1,000 pounds, Wallace-Johnson immediately suspected that Gold Coast authorities had known that the cost of appeal would place the league in financial ruin. Wallace-Johnson left for London in February 1937 to appeal his case in front of the Privy Council and to also establish contacts for the WAYL. On his journey, he first stopped at Freetown to meet with

15488-501: The country was limited. The state restricted rights of citizens to private property . According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , human rights are the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." including the right to life and liberty , freedom of expression , and equality before the law ; and social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture ,

15664-489: The country. Governor Arnold Weinholt Hodson wrote to the Colonial Office, asking for suggestions: I do wish that you could suggest some plan whereby I could get rid of Wallace Johnson. He is in the employ of the Bolsheviks and is doing a certain amount of harm by getting hold of young men for his "Youth League." He just keeps within the law; but only just. At many of his meetings he says outrageous and criminal things but

15840-716: The creation of new state commissions and committees. It gained additional powers relating to the approval of the Five-Year Plans and the government budget . The Supreme Soviet elected a Presidium (successor of the Central Executive Committee ) to wield its power between plenary sessions, ordinarily held twice a year, and appointed the Supreme Court , the Procurator General and the Council of Ministers (known before 1946 as

16016-617: The criteria of seditious literature were the Negro Worker , publications of the International Committee of Negro Workers and the League against Imperialism , and all works by George Padmore and Nancy Cunard . Attached to the seditions legislation was a waterworks bill, which would tax the municipalities of Accra, Sekondi, and Cape Coast . These bills sparked political agitation by the social elite, who didn't want their freedom of speech and expression to be restricted, and by

16192-589: The degree of power consolidation, it was either the Politburo as a collective body or the General Secretary, who always was one of the Politburo members, that effectively led the party and the country (except for the period of the highly personalized authority of Stalin, exercised directly through his position in the Council of Ministers rather than the Politburo after 1941). They were not controlled by

16368-606: The duty of the Russian Bolsheviks to protect what they had in Russia, and avoid military confrontations that might destroy their bridgehead. Russia was now a pariah state, along with Germany. The two came to terms in 1922 with the Treaty of Rapallo that settled long-standing grievances. At the same time, the two countries secretly set up training programs for the illegal German army and air force operations at hidden camps in

16544-432: The elite, but they were for Thompson's supporters. To combat this deficiency, the league employed some legal and illegal practices to make sure his supporters would be able to cast their vote. In one practice, the supporters who lacked suffrage were given fraudulent town council receipts, which stated their eligibility to vote. They were also given campaign badges for the opposing candidate to avoid possible discrimination at

16720-614: The empire was restored, they would be denied a voice in political decision-making. Wallace-Johnson forwarded the group's petition against restoration to the League against Imperialism, but the league refused to support the group's request. Afterward, he wrote a pamphlet, describing his support for the restoration of the Ashanti Empire. In 1935, Wallace-Johnson met Nnamdi Azikiwe , the future nationalist President of Nigeria , in Accra. Azikiwe tried to dissociate himself from Wallace-Johnson's Marxist ideologies, as he believed that there

16896-569: The experience to further his agenda in an article featured in the "Negro Worker". He stated that "British imperialists and white-washed missionaries" had tried to impede his fundraising activities. He increased his campaigning for civil liberties and improved working conditions after a June 1934 mining disaster in Prestea killed 41 people. At the time, there was no legislation providing the conditions and guidelines for workers' compensation . Mining companies had poor safety records and they underpaid

17072-555: The families of miners injured or killed on the job. Wallace-Johnson disguised himself as a miner to witness first-hand the working conditions there. His experiences gained him some political leverage, which he used to convince the colonial government and the Colonial Office to pass legislation that would improve working conditions and increase workers' compensation. Miners and relatives of the killed miners also protested at mass meetings, and liberal members of Parliament questioned

17248-532: The first branch of the WAYL in Sierra Leone. The league was an instant success and greatly exceeded Wallace-Johnson's own expectations. The league organised public gatherings, established the African Standard newspaper, founded trade unions and contested local elections. Its program included equality for women, unity for people of all tribes, co-operation between the Sierra Leone colony and protectorate, and higher wages for workers. Wallace-Johnson claimed

17424-426: The first political group to make an effort toward including the general population in the electoral process. Wallace-Johnson also campaigned for improved salaries and working conditions for workers, national unity and an increased civic role for women. Through the WAYL newspaper, the African Standard , he published a number of articles highly critical of top government officials. He was arrested on 1 September 1939 under

17600-598: The following year. Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson (1894 – 10 May 1965) was a Sierra Leonean , British West African workers' leader, journalist, activist and politician. Born into a poor Creole family in British Sierra Leone , he emerged as a natural leader in school. After attending the United Methodist Collegiate School for two years, he dropped out and took

17776-723: The founding republics who signed the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR in December 1922. In 1924, during the national delimitation in Central Asia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were formed from parts of Russia's Turkestan ASSR and two Soviet dependencies, the Khorezm and Bukharan PSPs . In 1929, Tajikistan was split off from the Uzbekistan SSR. With the constitution of 1936, the Transcaucasian SFSR

17952-469: The fund's organiser and joint secretary. He then proved to the league that he had not handled the accounts personally, so he could not have taken any money from the fund; however, some members of the Ex-Servicemen's Association remained unconvinced. The WAYL also lost support from Azikiwe, who had become disenchanted with the league's radical activities. Since he refused to cover their activities in

18128-410: The general party membership, as the key principle of the party organization was democratic centralism , demanding strict subordination to higher bodies, and elections went uncontested, endorsing the candidates proposed from above. The Communist Party maintained its dominance over the state mainly through its control over the system of appointments . All senior government officials and most deputies of

18304-635: The general secretary of the International Bureau of Youth, and contact leaders of the youth movement in England. He immediately started working on Ward and Bridgeman's suggestions. He met with interest groups and Labour Party politicians during the day and delivered speeches at public gatherings and rallies at night. To create a lobby for the WAYL, Wallace-Johnson helped found International African Service Bureau (IASB), with several West Indian political and intellectual figures, including George Padmore , C. L. R. James , Chris Braithwaite , Amy Ashwood Garvey , Jomo Kenyatta and T. Ras Makonnen . He served as

18480-525: The globe. The post-Stalin leadership, particularly under Nikita Khrushchev , initiated a de-Stalinization process, leading to a period of liberalization and relative openness known as the Khrushchev Thaw . However, the subsequent era under Leonid Brezhnev , referred to as the Era of Stagnation , was marked by economic decline, political corruption, and a rigid gerontocracy . Despite efforts to maintain

18656-550: The government. Extensive extrajudicial powers were given to the Soviet secret police agencies . In practice, the Soviet government significantly curbed the rule of law , civil liberties , protection of law and guarantees of property , which were considered as examples of "bourgeois morality" by Soviet law theorists such as Andrey Vyshinsky . The USSR and other countries in the Soviet Bloc had abstained from affirming

18832-502: The governor had made such a proposition. Hodson claimed that the government did not have a very good case and that they feared the influence Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL had over the populace. He finally decided to accept the proposal after the governor offered him £ 100. He feared that the government was going to set him up by arresting him for "fleeing justice" after his release. He told authorities to demonstrate their act of good faith by releasing his bail bondsman and providing him with

19008-557: The governor had withdrawn his deal and now wanted Wallace-Johnson to stand trial. The activist claimed that the "whole arrangement was a hoax and a dastardly conspiracy to round me up in a more serious charge" and suspected that Thompson was somehow involved in the plot. Wallace-Johnson was put on trial in front of the Assize Court in July and quickly convicted and fined £50. Not all was lost for Wallace-Johnson—the publicity received by

19184-465: The governor went back on his word and had the political activist placed on trial in front of the Assize Court . Wallace-Johnson travelled to London to appeal his conviction and to also establish connections for the WAYL. He returned to Sierra Leone in 1938 and established a number of labour unions, a newspaper and a political movement. He significantly raised membership for the WAYL and helped pioneer issue-oriented politics in Sierra Leone. The WAYL became

19360-454: The highest bodies of the party and making the Supreme Soviet less dependent on them. The Congress of People's Deputies was established, the majority of whose members were directly elected in competitive elections held in March 1989, the first in Soviet history. The Congress now elected the Supreme Soviet, which became a full-time parliament, and much stronger than before. For the first time since

19536-472: The implementation of socialist policies and the New Economic Policy (NEP), which allowed for market-oriented reforms. The rise of Joseph Stalin in the late 1920s ushered in an era of intense centralization and totalitarianism. Stalin's rule was characterized by the forced collectivization of agriculture , rapid industrialization , and the Great Purge , which eliminated perceived enemies of

19712-541: The incident generated much publicity and convinced Wallace-Johnson to pursue his political exploits in Sierra Leone. He frequented town meetings to deliver speeches critical of the government's actions. In his articles for the Sierra Leone Weekly News , he criticised major politicians, praised the working class, and urged for the creation of an alliance determined toward fighting for rights and civil liberties. In no other Colony in West Africa do I find

19888-521: The interest of the masses of the motherland, to, sacrifice, if need be, all we have for the progress and liberty of our Country, and Race, and to, ensure happiness to ourselves and our posterity." The WAYL was intended to be an all-West African organisation, even incorporating the people of nearby French and Portuguese colonies, however, this never came about. The WAYL focused on political and economic objectives, which, if reached, would produce "a standard of living worth humanity". Their most important goal

20064-514: The late 1930s affected the lives of the majority of the population". One source of frustration stemmed from the lack of change in unemployment and wages despite the recent discovery of mineral wealth in Sierra Leonean mines. Wallace-Johnson exploited this popular sense of "imbalance between rising expectations and actual living conditions" to rally support for the WAYL. Exploitative mining companies, both public and private, that profited from

20240-419: The law officers tell me that it is almost impossible to get a conviction on the spoken word. While the Colonial Office discussed the possibility of deportation, Wallace-Johnson wrote an article entitled "Has the African a God?" in the African Morning Post . In the article, he condemned Christianity, European civilisation and imperialism and told Africans to go back to worshipping Ethiopia's God. On 6 June 1936,

20416-590: The league into the National Council of Sierra Leone and formed his own political parties during the 1950s, embracing Pan-Africanism and distancing himself from his earlier radicalism. He served as a delegate for Sierra Leone during independence talks in London in 1960. He died in a car crash in Ghana in May 1965. Wallace-Johnson was born to poor Creole parents in Wilberforce , British Sierra Leone ,

20592-525: The league struggled financially to maintain the newspaper. Mary Lokko served as Wallace-Johnson's assistant for a time beginning in 1936, becoming likely the first woman in West Africa to hold a position in a political organization. By 1936, the league had established itself as a powerful force in the Gold Coast political scene. Colonial authorities and the elite class tried to find ways to get Wallace-Johnson out of local politics and possibly out of

20768-633: The league took the motto "Liberty or Death", which caused some alarm among colonial authorities. The league's manifesto was heavily influenced by the Preamble to the United States Constitution : "We the Youth of the Gold Coast (or whatever the section may be established) and of West Africa in general, in order to form a more united body to watch carefully and sincerely, affairs political, educational, economical and otherwise that may be to

20944-511: The lower-middle class, who had resisted the government's prior attempts to levy direct taxes . Mass meetings were held, protests were organised, resolutions were passed and delegations to address the issues were proposed to be sent to England. However, Wallace-Johnson urged the populace not to send a delegation to England. He believed that more could be accomplished if people launched a grassroots movement by organising protests and demonstrations in their home towns. Then, English people sympathetic to

21120-536: The masses in such a miserable state of economic and social disabilities. [ sic ] Instead of progress, after a lapse of twelve years, I find conditions within the colony rapidly declining.... As a people, we have been too lethargic, drowsy and happy-go-lucky.... A very wide margin has been provided for the foreign exploiters—capitalists and imperialists alike—to drive the wedge of divide-and-rule within our social circle: and while we keep grasping at shadows, they [the foreign invaders] are busy rapidly draining out

21296-722: The mineral wealth of Sierra Leone while ignoring the very poor living and working conditions of the workers were consistent targets of his message. Utilizing his previous experiences in the Gold Coast labour movement, Wallace-Johnson helped organise eight trade unions in Sierra Leone: the Public Works Workers' Union, the War Department Amalgamated Workers' Union, the Mabella Coaling Company Workers' Union,

21472-486: The most common Russian initialization is Союз ССР (transliteration: Soyuz SSR ) which essentially translates to Union of SSRs in English. In addition, the Russian short form name Советский Союз (transliteration: Sovyetsky Soyuz , which literally means Soviet Union ) is also commonly used, but only in its unabbreviated form. Since the start of the Great Patriotic War at the latest, abbreviating

21648-565: The most influential person in his life at the time. Following a 1938 feud, Bankole-Bright would become Wallace-Johnson's political nemesis. A year after being reinstated to his job in the customs department, he quit and enlisted as a clerk for the Carrier Corps during World War I . During the war, he served with a British infantry during military campaigns in Cameroon, East Africa and the Middle East. Wallace-Johnson received exposure to

21824-580: The natural resources of the land for their personal benefits, leaving us in poverty and want.... Now is the time and now is the hour. There is only one way out of our difficulties, and that is to organise and move. Although it has always been asserted by our so-called benefactors that we should take what we get and be satisfied, I maintain as [James] Aggrey did that we should not be satisfied with taking what we get or what has been given us but to use what we have been given to gain what we ought to have. Less than three weeks after his arrival, Wallace-Johnson opened

22000-479: The newly elected Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR , and communist hardliners. On 19–21 August 1991, a group of hardliners staged a coup attempt . The coup failed, and the State Council of the Soviet Union became the highest organ of state power 'in the period of transition'. Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary, only remaining President for the final months of the existence of the USSR. The judiciary

22176-400: The nominal head of state . The institutions at lower levels were overseen and at times supplanted by primary party organizations . However, in practice the degree of control the party was able to exercise over the state bureaucracy, particularly after the death of Stalin, was far from total, with the bureaucracy pursuing different interests that were at times in conflict with the party, nor

22352-552: The official Soviet system of importance (ground forces were second, Air Force fourth, and Navy fifth). The army had the greatest political influence. In 1989, there served two million soldiers divided between 150 motorized and 52 armored divisions. Until the early 1960s, the Soviet navy was a rather small military branch, but after the Caribbean crisis , under the leadership of Sergei Gorshkov , it expanded significantly. It became known for battlecruisers and submarines. In 1989, there served 500 000 men. The Soviet Air Force focused on

22528-487: The only legal party and the final policymaker in the country. At the top of the Communist Party was the Central Committee , elected at Party Congresses and Conferences. In turn, the Central Committee voted for a Politburo (called the Presidium between 1952 and 1966), Secretariat and the general secretary (First Secretary from 1953 to 1966), the de facto highest office in the Soviet Union. Depending on

22704-694: The other order until 1936 . In addition, in the regional languages of several republics, the word council or conciliar in the respective language was only quite late changed to an adaptation of the Russian soviet and never in others, e.g. Ukrainian SSR . СССР (in the Latin alphabet: SSSR ) is the abbreviation of the Russian-language cognate of USSR, as written in Cyrillic letters . The Soviets used this abbreviation so frequently that audiences worldwide became familiar with its meaning. After this,

22880-546: The paper went as far as to say that Wallace-Johnson was responsible for the passing of the Sedition Bill, which they claimed had been introduced just after he had entered the country. Prior to the Legislative Council elections, the biggest problem facing the WAYL and the Mambii Party was the lack of suffrage for many of their supporters. Property and literacy requirements for voting were not a problem for

23056-570: The partition of Poland. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II . Up until his death in 1953, Joseph Stalin controlled all foreign relations of the Soviet Union during the interwar period . Despite the increasing build-up of Germany 's war machine and the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , the Soviet Union did not cooperate with any other nation, choosing to follow its own path. However, after Operation Barbarossa ,

23232-538: The party's highest body the Politburo . Operations were handled by the separate Ministry of Foreign Affairs . It was known as the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (or Narkomindel), until 1946. The most influential spokesmen were Georgy Chicherin (1872–1936), Maxim Litvinov (1876–1951), Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986), Andrey Vyshinsky (1883–1954) and Andrei Gromyko (1909–1989). Intellectuals were based in

23408-510: The police arrested Wallace-Johnson and Azikiwe, who had to be forced by the paper's proprietor to print the article, for sedition, in what the Negro Worker called "another dastardly plot intended to smash the Youth League". While he was imprisoned, Wallace-Johnson was told that Governor Hodson would drop the charges against him if he accepted terms for deportation. Wallace-Johnson was suspicious by this unusual gesture, so he questioned why

23584-840: The political atmosphere and reestablished connections he had made in his trips to Europe. Most of his activities involved political agitation , as he began working with the Gold Coast Drivers' Union, and started contributing articles to local newspapers like the Gold Coast Spectator , the Vox Populi and the Gold Coast Provincial Pioneer . He also helped workers who suffered injustice by preparing legal documentation for cases. Overall, he tried to raise political expectations regarding peoples' rights and their ability to influence political decision-making. Through contacts in London, he arranged for questions to be asked by sympathetic left-wing Labour Party members in

23760-480: The political atmosphere in the country. After meeting Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1935, he formed the West African Youth League , an organisation dedicated to obtaining more liberties and privileges for the Gold Coast population. Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL entered the Gold Coast political scene by supporting Kojo Thompson in his successful candidacy in the Legislative Council elections of 1935. During

23936-433: The political establishment, in general. The idea won Wallace-Johnson widespread acclaim and adulation. He also initiated a fund to assist the legal appeal team in the Scottsboro case in the United States. The case, in which nine young African-Americans were sentenced to death for raping two white women (who were found to have fabricated the entire story), sent shockwaves to liberal and radical political organisations around

24112-456: The political oppression faced by those living in a capitalist society. His writings made him popular in Accra and other major cities in the Gold Coast. Colonial authorities were alarmed by Wallace-Johnson's support base, so they passed legislation prohibiting the importation of "dangerous" literature. Colonial governor Thomas Shenton W. Thomas proposed a sedition bill in 1934, which he believed

24288-542: The polls, as election officials were against the Mambii party and the WAYL. The government and social elite were outraged after Thompson was declared the winner of the election. F. V. Nanka-Bruce , a representative in the Legislative Council, filed a petition against the election return and won his appeal a year later. In national politics, Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL also became active in pressing for passage of mine safety measures and workers' compensation and campaigned for

24464-529: The rent. Feeling increasingly despondent about his situation, Wallace-Johnson wrote in January 1938: I think so far, I have done my best and can hold on no longer. I have been made to suffer just because I love my race and people. But while I am prepared to sacrifice my very life in their interest, I am not prepared to suffer death and privation by cold in a strange country. ... I am now on my last lap. If you do not hear from me again, I am gone. ... I cannot stand

24640-602: The repeal of the Levy Bill and the Kofi Sekyere Ordinance, among other things. Internationally, the WAYL supported causes pursued by liberal black and white groups, mostly focused in Great Britain. During the Second Italo-Abyssinian War of 1935–1936, the WAYL seized opportunity to attack European imperialism , without the risk of sedition . With the Ex-Servicemen's Association, the WAYL established

24816-434: The secretary was out of town, so Wallace-Johnson pressed on in his journey. On arrival in London, he began to plan his upcoming events. Besides presenting his appeal case to the Privy Council, Wallace-Johnson planned to establish a lobby in England to pursue claims on behalf of WAYL members and to campaign for a commission of inquiry into Gold Coast political, economic and educational affairs. He first contacted Arnold Ward of

24992-461: The stage of producing orators and resolution-passers. It was necessary for doers or leaders of action to step on the scene and prove that the African has a revolutionary spirit in him. Having begun with his speeches and activities and influenced by Azikiwe's ideas, Wallace-Johnson founded the West African Youth League (WAYL) in June 1935 and was appointed its first organising secretary. The members of

25168-717: The state. The Soviet Union played a crucial role in the Allied victory in World War II , but at a tremendous human cost, with millions of Soviet citizens perishing in the conflict. The Soviet Union emerged as one of the world's two superpowers, leading the Eastern Bloc in opposition to the Western Bloc during the Cold War . This period saw the USSR engage in an arms race, the Space Race , and proxy wars around

25344-587: The strain any more. I must either go somewhere where I could live in quiet or go out of the world. He decided to return to Sierra Leone, after resigning as organising secretary of the IASB after being accused of stealing money from the organisation. Bridgeman and Wallace-Johnson's other colleagues recommended that he return to West Africa only after his appeal case had been presented before the Privy Council and even offered to pay for expenses. In this period, Wallace-Johnson also contributed to Sylvia Pankhurst 's pan-Africanist weekly The New Times and Ethiopia News ,

25520-469: The struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means such as psychological warfare , propaganda campaigns, espionage , far-reaching embargoes , rivalry at sports events and technological competitions such as the Space Race . Constitutionally, the USSR was a federation of constituent Union Republics, which were either unitary states, such as Ukraine or Byelorussia (SSRs), or federations, such as Russia or Transcaucasia (SFSRs), all four being

25696-423: The trial helped increase WAYL membership by more than 1,500. In an anticipation of a guilty verdict , Wallace-Johnson and the WAYL began preparing for his appeal to England's Privy Council and hoped to obtain an English barrister to handle the case. The league asked their members to contribute five shillings to the appeal, but even then, the cost was far too great for the league to finance. After learning that

25872-492: The truth". Human rights in the Soviet Union were severely limited. The Soviet Union was a totalitarian state from 1927 until 1953 and a one-party state until 1990. Freedom of speech was suppressed and dissent was punished. Independent political activities were not tolerated, whether these involved participation in free labour unions , private corporations , independent churches or opposition political parties . The freedom of movement within and especially outside

26048-515: The unpreparedness of the masses. He countered by pointing out the fate of Soviet Russia, where the masses were illiterate and impoverished, and yet when Lenin , Stalin , and Trotsky sounded the clarion; they rallied round them and a new order emerged. I warned him that his analogy was false, because Russia was unlike West Africa; the political, social and economic situations were different. He told me point blank that if Africans depended upon intellectuals or leaders of thought, they would not get beyond

26224-400: The vehement attack article, speculated to be the editor of the paper, told Wallace-Johnson to go to Liberia, where he could become president, or to Nigeria. He believed that if the leader's actions were not suppressed, the "country and its vital interests [would be] in hopeless ruin." Soon after, a press war erupted between the Gold Coast Independent and two papers supporting Wallace-Johnson,

26400-403: The west further raised concerns. In the past, there were accidents involving submarines K-19 , K-8 , a K-129 , K-27 , K-219 and K-278 Komsomolets . There were three power hierarchies in the Soviet Union: the legislature represented by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union , the government represented by the Council of Ministers , and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),

26576-462: The world outside his tiny village. After being demobilised in 1920, he moved from job to job, unable to find a comfortable niche to settle in. While working as a clerk in the Freetown municipal government, a corruption scandal erupted, involving the misappropriations of funds and equipment by top government officials, including the mayor. In his pamphlet regarding municipal governance in Freetown, A Cloud of Doom , Wallace-Johnson took credit for exposing

26752-440: The world's first constitutionally socialist state . The revolution was not accepted by all within the Russian Republic , resulting in the Russian Civil War . The RSFSR and its subordinate republics were merged into the Soviet Union in 1922. Following Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin came to power, inaugurating rapid industrialization and forced collectivization that led to significant economic growth but contributed to

26928-406: The world's largest lakes; the Caspian Sea (shared with Iran ), and Lake Baikal , the world's largest (by volume) and deepest freshwater lake that is also an internal body of water in Russia. Neighbouring countries were aware of the high levels of pollution in the Soviet Union but after the dissolution of the Soviet Union it was discovered that its environmental problems were greater than what

27104-546: The world. The Communist Party sought to raise funds for the appeal, using the case as proof of the injustices suffered in a capitalist society. Wallace-Johnson used the case to rally Gold Coasters to support their brethren in the United States. He spoke at public events, claiming that black people could not be treated fairly in a white-dominated government. The colonial government, with full knowledge of Wallace-Johnson's political connections and his deportation from Nigeria, detained him for questioning, but did not arrest him. He used

27280-452: Was a coastline . The country bordered Afghanistan , the People's Republic of China , Czechoslovakia , Finland , Hungary , Iran , Mongolia , North Korea , Norway , Poland , Romania , and Turkey from 1945 to 1991. The Bering Strait separated the USSR from the United States . The country's highest mountain was Communism Peak (now Ismoil Somoni Peak ) in Tajikistan , at 7,495 metres (24,590 ft). The USSR also included most of

27456-422: Was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by area , extending across eleven time zones and sharing borders with twelve countries , and the third-most populous country . An overall successor to the Russian Empire , it was nominally organized as a federal union of national republics , the largest and most populous of which

27632-408: Was also the industrial center of the Soviet Union. Historian Matthew White wrote that it was an open secret that the country's federal structure was 'window dressing' for Russian dominance. For that reason, the people of the USSR were usually called 'Russians', not 'Soviets', since 'everyone knew who really ran the show'. Under the Military Law of September 1925, the Soviet Armed Forces consisted of

27808-434: Was brought under strict party control after Stalin's death. Under Yuri Andropov , the KGB engaged in the suppression of political dissent and maintained an extensive network of informers, reasserting itself as a political actor to some extent independent of the party-state structure, culminating in the anti-corruption campaign targeting high-ranking party officials in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The constitution , which

27984-419: Was carried out within the terms of the Soviet Civil Code. Some Soviet legal scholars even said that "criminal repression" may be applied in the absence of guilt. Martin Latsis , chief of Soviet Ukraine 's secret police explained: "Do not look in the file of incriminating evidence to see whether or not the accused rose up against the Soviets with arms or words. Ask him instead to which class he belongs, what

28160-404: Was colloquially, but incorrectly, referred to as Russia . The history of the Soviet Union began with the ideals of the Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War , the Soviet Union quickly became a one-party state under the Communist Party . Its early years under Lenin were marked by

28336-455: Was deported by authorities months later for his trade union activities. He had a tricky relationship with Edgar Parry's Labour Movement. On the invitation of R. B. Wuta-Ofei, editor of the Gold Coast Spectator , Wallace-Johnson settled in the Gold Coast, where he would gain his first experience in mass politics . At the time, there had already been some anticolonial activity in the Gold Coast. A number of Gold Coasters published articles in

28512-404: Was dissolved, resulting in its constituent republics of Armenia , Georgia and Azerbaijan being elevated to Union Republics, while Kazakhstan and Kirghizia were split off from the Russian SFSR, resulting in the same status. In August 1940, Moldavia was formed from parts of Ukraine and Soviet-occupied Bessarabia , and Ukrainian SSR. Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania were also annexed by

28688-418: Was first employed as a temporary outdoor officer at the customs department. Soon, he became a permanent employee of the department. He became involved in a labour strike for increased pay and better working conditions . It is widely believed that Wallace-Johnson led the strike, but this fact remains uncertain. All employees involved in the strike were dismissed, but reinstituted to their jobs a year later, after

28864-434: Was needed to prevent the flow of seditious literature into the colony. He stated, "[e]veryone knows that there are in the world certain seditious organisations, whose aim appears to be the destruction of law and order. These organisations are very active, and hardly a country in the world is free from their attack. In consequence, most countries have found it necessary to protect themselves by law against such attack." Meeting

29040-569: Was no chance that his own ideas were compatible with those of his fellow politician. Both men believed that a renaissance needed to occur in Africa, but they disagreed over the methods of doing so. Each man believed that his own idea would prevail in the future. Azikiwe described his first meeting with Wallace-Johnson as such, We exchanged views and I said that while I thought that it would be practicable for Africans at this stage of development to experience an intellectual revolution, yet an extremist or leftist point of view would be dangerous, in view of

29216-424: Was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers , but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars . The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary alliance and victory against Nazi Germany in 1945. Aside from the nuclear arsenal development and conventional military deployment,

29392-450: Was not independent of the other branches of government. The Supreme Court supervised the lower courts ( People's Court ) and applied the law as established by the constitution or as interpreted by the Supreme Soviet. The Constitutional Oversight Committee reviewed the constitutionality of laws and acts. The Soviet Union used the inquisitorial system of Roman law , where the judge, procurator , and defence attorney collaborate to "establish

29568-433: Was promulgated in 1924 , 1936 and 1977 , did not limit state power. No formal separation of powers existed between the Party, Supreme Soviet and Council of Ministers that represented executive and legislative branches of the government. The system was governed less by statute than by informal conventions, and no settled mechanism of leadership succession existed. Bitter and at times deadly power struggles took place in

29744-477: Was repeatedly postponed. Formal recognition came when the new Labour Party came to power in 1924. All the other countries followed suit in opening trade relations. Henry Ford opened large-scale business relations with the Soviets in the late 1920s, hoping that it would lead to long-term peace. Finally, in 1933, the United States officially recognized the USSR, a decision backed by the public opinion and especially by US business interests that expected an opening of

29920-482: Was that "the Constitution was written not for you, but for American Negroes, so that they know how happy the lives of Soviet citizens are". Crime was determined not as the infraction of law, instead, it was determined as any action which could threaten the Soviet state and society. For example, a desire to make a profit could be interpreted as a counter-revolutionary activity punishable by death. The liquidation and deportation of millions of peasants in 1928–31

30096-436: Was the Russian SFSR . In practice, its government and economy were highly centralized . As a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , it was a flagship communist state . Its capital and largest city was Moscow . The Soviet Union's roots lay in the October Revolution of 1917. The new government, led by Vladimir Lenin , established the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR),

30272-506: Was the Russian responsibility to assist them. The Comintern was the weapon of choice. A few revolutions did break out, but they were quickly suppressed (the longest lasting one was in Hungary)—the Hungarian Soviet Republic —lasted only from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919. The Russian Bolsheviks were in no position to give any help. By 1921, Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin realized that capitalism had stabilized itself in Europe and there would not be any widespread revolutions anytime soon. It became

30448-404: Was the first major accident at a civilian nuclear power plant . Unparalleled in the world, it resulted in a large number of radioactive isotopes being released into the atmosphere. Radioactive doses were scattered relatively far. Although long-term effects of the accident were unknown, 4,000 new cases of thyroid cancer which resulted from the accident's contamination were reported at the time of

30624-431: Was the party itself monolithic from top to bottom, although factions were officially banned . The Supreme Soviet (successor of the Congress of Soviets ) was nominally the highest state body for most of the Soviet history, at first acting as a rubber stamp institution, approving and implementing all decisions made by the party. However, its powers and functions were extended in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, including

30800-411: Was to obtain parliamentary representation for the colonies in London, which would give people a greater voice in government. Like the earlier Aborigines Rights Protection Society and the National Congress of British West Africa , the WAYL sought to protect natural and constitutional rights, liberties and privileges for the African populaces. However, the WAYL was more militant, and eagerly sought to lead

30976-413: Was told by the proprietor of the African Morning Post that the police commissioner needed to see him as soon as possible. Wallace-Johnson suspected that he was being trapped, so he refused to go. He decided that he would rather travel to Freetown before making his own plans to sail to England. However, this proposal was rejected by the government. Kojo Thompson then came to his house and informed him that

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