John Maclean

Tweets on the life and work of the great Scottish revolutionary, John Maclean.

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[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

A new biography of Maclean explores the events that shaped the life of a momentous man – from the Russian Revolution to his hunger strike, and how he became the early hero of radical Scottish Independence. https://t.co/I4oOSeT4u9

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

‘The recent war has shown the horrors and the futility of war, victors and victims suffering alike. It will be an unpardonable crime if organised labour permits human society to go through the same a few years hence’

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

‘Only when the world is run by the workers of the world for their own benefit, and not for the benefit of a landlord-Capitalist-Class, will security of livelihood and peace between the nations be obtained. That is Communism. That is why we are Communists.’

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

‘I am out for the benefit of society, not for any individual human being’

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

‘I am a socialist, and have been fighting and will fight for an absolute reconstruction of society for the benefit of all. I am proud of my conduct.’

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

Without the tireless work of Maclean's daughter, Nan Milton, the memory of her father might have been lost. It was not just that she helped found the John MacLean Society and served as its secretary, she made the revival possible.

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

MacDougall recalls: ‘Men who had never before in their lives taken any interest in Socialism… flocked to Bath Street to hear what Maclean had to say, for by this time his name was a household word in the city’

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

‘I am a socialist, and have been fighting and will fight for an absolute reconstruction of society for the benefit of all.’

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

In December 1923, at Eglington Toll, South Glasgow, more than five thousand people gathered to begin the three mile march to Eastwood cemetery where John Maclean would be laid to rest. The Clyde Workers Band marched in front, playing socialist anthems, and Handel’s March of Saul.

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

‘we must study Marx to know how best to lift society on to the higher plane of social evolution we are pleased to call socialism.’

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

‘the safety of society rests not in the hands of a few (leaders or heroes), but in those of the masses of mankind, conscious or unconscious… the moment will come (perhaps even this year) when the workers will challenge capitalism to the last fight’

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

Maclean pleaded not guilty on 27 October 1915 and a trial was held on 10 November, with the viewing gallery swamped with socialists and trade unionists

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

‘I appeal to all old comrades to be up and doing. Those of you who have lapsed, return; those who have lost heart, cheer up; those who have heart, pull in the indifferent and stimulate dormant or defunct branches.’

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

Maclean’s parents spoke Gaelic and he was raised in a Calvinist household onthe outskirts of Glasgow, his parents having been driven south by the clearances

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

'A bayonet is a weapon with a working man at either end' - John Maclean

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

Maclean established a Soviet Consulate at 12 South Portland Street in Glasgow but was refused recognition by the British Government.

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

Gallacher relates that ‘John Maclean, through his Marxist classes, was supplying a continuous stream of material for the agitation… he demonstrated in the clearest manner that the war was a war for trade.’

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

Struggle against the war became symbolized to future generations by Lenin and Trotsky in Russia, Liebknecht and Luxemburg in Germany… and Connolly and Maclean in Britain.

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

‘justice and freedom can only be obtained when society is placed on a sound economic basis. That sound economic basis is wanting today, and hence the bloodshed we are having.’

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

A new biography of Maclean explores the events that shaped the life of a momentous man – from the Russian Revolution to his hunger strike, and how he became the early hero of radical Scottish Independence. https://t.co/I4oOSeTCjH

[John Maclean @JohnMacleanMA]

An array of Communists, Republicans, Pacifists and Trade Unionists march each November from Maclean’s grave to the Cairn that commemorates him. https://t.co/Vz8Kk4wa0N