Leicester Anarchist Communists Mass Meeting 1893

Leicester Anarchist Communists Mass Meeting, 1893

Poster publicising a meeting in Leicester in support of striking miners by the Leicester Anarchist Communists on the 10th September 1893. 

The 1893 miners' strike involved about 300,000 coal miners - at the time, the biggest ever British strike - in areas that had active unions affiliated to the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), which had been established at a meeting in Newport in 1888.

The strike was notably a nationally coordinated struggle rather than a local fight at individual pits, and was strongest in Lancashire, Yorkshire and the Midlands.

During the 1890s, the price of coal was falling. On 30 June 1893 the mine owners announced a 25% cut in wages. At the end of July unionised miners were locked out, with some scabs continuing to work. There were widespread clashes between strikers and scabs and on 7 September two miners were killed by troops in Featherstone - in an incident that became known as the Featherstone Massacre - when troops fired on striking miners and their families.

The Government response was to appoint a Royal Commission, which led to the establishment of a Conciliation Board, formally recognising the MFGB and setting a precedent for unions to be involved in collective bargaining.

By February 1894, coal prices were rising and the miners narrowly voted to accept a 10% pay cut and returned to work. While this was a defeat for the miners, the strike demonstrated the power of national industrial action and drew attention to the actions of the mine owners and the Government. The union was strengthened by the experience. 

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Radical posters before the 20th century were predominantly text-based, primarily used to advertise events, meetings, and demonstrations rather than relying on colourful graphic imagery to convey ideas. While some did incorporate sketches or cartoons, these were relatively modest compared to the bold visual styles that emerged later.

Although the technology for producing striking graphics existed at the time and was widely used in commercial advertising, such vivid and imaginative designs were less common in political posters. It wasn’t until later that the kind of dynamic, visually arresting imagery often associated with the Russian and Spanish Revolutions blossomed in radical posters.

The posters in our pre-20th century selection reflect this earlier approach – they focus squarely on delivering a direct message, often employing dramatic language and typography to capture attention and provoke thought.