TG4のドキュメンタリーが興味深い

同志諸君、私はSlugger O'Tooleで、アイルランドのテレビ局、TG4が制作した、"Soviet na hEireann" というドキュメンタリーがオンラインで見られることを知った――すなわち、「ソヴィエト・アイルランド」である！

同志諸君もご存知の通り、1917年のソ連成立（革命）の後、1919年に第一次世界大戦が終結した。それに続く戦間期、欧州の多くの国や地域と同様に、アイルランドも「革命」のムードの中にあった。これについてのドキュメンタリーである！ もちろん、当時の「労働運動」についての資料映像と解説もたっぷりである！

TG4はアイルランド語（ゲール語）専門チャンネルだから、いい番組が制作されてオンラインにアップされててもわかんないよ＞＜、と思ったら、ちゃんと英語字幕がついているのである！ ハラショー。（拍手）

試聴は下記から可能である！
http://tg4.tv/default.aspx
※左サイドバーの、Faisneis - Cartlann というところをクリックし、出てきた画面で Soviet na hEireann を選択せよ！

（疲れたんで「同志」文体はここまでで。あたしがやると「同志」への呼びかけというよりバカボンのパパみたいになるし。）

ビデオのはじめの3分以上はテレビCMです。（Jacobsのクラッカー食いてぇ。円高の今、これを輸入して円高還元セールしてくれー。もっとお上品なCarrsでも私はかまいませんのことよ。）

冒頭部分の字幕の書き取り：

Ireland, 1919.

After four years of unimaginable slaughter, Ireland, like the rest of Europe, was suffering after World War I.

Ireland had sacrificed 50,000 young men to the trenches. And for what?

Britain had portrayed the war as a struggle to protect smaller nations. At the same time, it denied Irish claims to nationhood at The Paris Peace Conference.

Returning Irish soldiers were very frustrated that independence was once more being denied them.

But many felt part of an even more important struggle. Working people across Europe were battling against those who had oppressed them for so long.

In Ireland, ex-servicemen and militant workers fought for political independence and an end to economic enslavement.

Could our history have been very different had the labour movement rather than Sinn Fein led Ireland to nationhood?

Had Labour leaders launched a worker's revolution against Britain, could we have avoided the trauma of the Civil War, decades of grinding poverty, the tragedy of emigration, and the bitter sectarian partition of the island?

-- Soviet Ireland

ここでタイムカウント5:20です。はじめのCM部分を抜いて実質2分くらい、当時の資料映像に乗せてナレーション（と字幕）で説明されます。

たったこれだけでも、「英国から」、または「北アイルランドで」語られる歴史との違いにくらくらします。どちらかが「修正」主義なのかとかいうことは私にはよくわかりませんが。

例えば、第一次大戦で欧州大陸で命を落とした5万人の「アイルランドの兵士」は、そのほとんどが「プロテスタント」で（当時はアイルランドはthe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Irelandの一部ですから、彼らは英軍の兵士でした）、大陸での戦争が終わって復員したはいいが職がないという人たちがリクルートされたのが「ブラック＆タンズ」（アイルランド版「死の部隊」）だった、とかいうのは「常識」なわけです。しかしTG4というアイルランド語のチャンネルが制作した歴史ドキュメンタリーでは、「英軍の一員としてソンムの塹壕で戦った彼らは、アイルランド人だった」と言っているのです。「カトリック」も「プロテスタント」もなく、ただ「アイリッシュマン」である、と。

わたしは耐性が低いので、これだけで涙が出てくるんですが、ふと考えてみれば、日本では「カトリックとプロテスタント」の分断の存在だけを言う言説ばかりが「当たり前のもの」としてあります。そして、確かにそれは「典型」としてはもちろんあるのだけれども、必ずしも「真実」ではない。「どのように語るか」、ということに過ぎない。しかしながら、「彼らと我々は違うんだ」という「信念」だか「プロパガンダ」だかわかんないようなものをがっちがちに信じているような言説が、日本では「スタンダード」な何かとして流通している。（これはスコットランドについてもちょっと似てると思うけど……『ブレイブハート』のようなものに代表されるナショナリズム。）

（ただし、部分的には北アイルランド問題の影響で、そういう「them or us」的な枠組が「アイルランド」を語るときにあったみたいです。デヴァレラ憲法のこともあるし。でも北アイルランドだって、68年の公民権運動の盛り上がりから71年のブラディ・サンデーまでは、そこまで分断されてなかった。）

「5万人のアイリッシュマンが戦場に斃れた」というこの短いフレーズでさえ頭がこうなるので、1時間もあるTG4のこのドキュメンタリーを見るのは自分にはかなり大変だろうと思いますが、見ます。見ても消化できないかもしれないけど。

で、アイルランドの労働運動では、Limerickの「ソヴィエト」宣言があるそうですが、ベルファストでもゼネストなどがありました（映像で出てきます）。ウィキペディアだとソ連成立前のことしか出てこないのですが、参考として：
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Belfast#Merchant_and_industrial_town

Belfast saw a bitter strike by dock workers organised by radical trade unionist Jim Larkin, in 1907. The dispute saw 10,000 workers on strike and a mutiny by the police, who refused to disperse the striker's pickets. Eventually the Army had to be deployed to restore order. The strike was a rare instance of non-sectarian mobilisation in Ulster at the time.

TG4のこのドキュメンタリーには、ベルファストの1919年のゼネストと1920年のメーデーのことが、新聞記事の見出しや当時の映像に乗せて出てきます（ここで喋っている大学の研究者が英語話者なので字幕なし）。当時、ベルファストは造船など重厚長大な産業の拠点でした。

……と書いてから9分くらいまで見たんですが、いかん、この再現映像、Hungerがフラッシュバックする。そして勝手に1980年から81年のIRAのプロパガンダで、この時期の「英国の暴虐」がいかに利用されていたかが頭の中で展開され、同様のパターンといってもいいと思うけれど、「パレスチナ人の艱難辛苦」がいかにアルカイダやタリバンなどに利用されているか……。The prisoners in Limerick demanded political status... They went hunger strike in protest against the ill-treatment... あうあう＠涙目。

あと、やっぱり出た、『麦の穂をゆらす風』からの引用。ダンがデイミアン・オドノヴァンとコネリーについて語り合うシーン。……ただ今の段階では、「神父何やってんだ、ダメだ、デイミアンを止めろ」って感じなんですが（『Hunger』で「神父」だった役者さんは、『麦の穂』ではソーシャリストのダン）。もうちょっと冷めてから見たほうがいいのかな。

16分くらいで、アイルランド国会が出てきますが、彼らと労働運動との関係についてはいろいろ微妙なものがあるところを一言で飛ばしてるかも。

とりあえずここまで見たところで中断です。

---

上に書き出したものに続く本編、前半部分だけですが、字幕をメモしておきます。コメンテーターとして専門家が3人出てきますが、アイルランド語話者では字幕が出ますが、英語話者では字幕が出ないので、聞き取りが間違っている箇所もあるかもしれないし、TG4のプレイヤーが、巻き戻して聞きたいところを聞き返すのが非常に面倒なので、英語の聞き取り（ディクテーション）は途中でやめました。

After the First World War, Ireland, like the rest of Europe, was in turmoil as workers tried to establish a new political order.

The fall of empires was a perfect opportunity for wage slaves to claim a fairer share of the prosperity they daily generated.

The Bolshevik Revolution ocurred in Russia at the end of 1917. The Russian Revolution had a huge influence on ordinary union members and the labour movement.

Joe Higgins, [unreadable on the screen]:
"A lot of them wanted to do the same thing in this county and they knew they had the power to do that. This presented a challenge for union leaders and the labour leaders in this country. Would they be willing to give the same kind of control to workers in this country as the Bolsheviks had given to Russia?"

Soviets came to the fore in Russia with worker councils occupying their localities and work places. The Irish Labour Movement used this weapon during the Belfast general strike of 1919.

[A newspaper headline:
A STRIKERS' "SOVIET" IN BELFAST.
ELECTRICITY PERMITS FOR HOSPITALS AND POST OFFICE.
CLYDE CAMPAIGN TO REMODEL UNIONISM.
THE MANCHESTER DOCK STRIKE OVER.

BELFAST DEADLOCK.
CITY AITHORITIES TO 'ACT'.
TRANSPORT WORKERS AND THE ALLIANCE.]

[In English] Dr Conar Kos???, [author of] Revolution in Ireland:
"There had been a great desire for an improvement of the positions of workers by both protestants and catholics, so it was faught staunchly side by side for a shorter working week. And the General Strike which had taken over Belfast in support of their claim had been referred to the Soviet that they had to win the electricity, had to control the transport, had to control the food supplies. And its forged(?) Strike Committee mixed protestants and catholics, and the great radicalism which was the best represented by the May Day March 1919 where hundreds of thousands of workers marched behind red flags."

The next workers' council to use this devastating tactic was located in Limerick. A veneer of prosperity hid the appalling social conditions which the poor experienced.

Liam Cahill, Udar - Forgotten Revolution:
"There was a large amount of people, ordinary, unskilled workers in Limerick City. who were very poor indeed. The other cities were the same. When it came to ordinary unskilled workers, they only had their strength to sell, day after day."

Trade Union activity was once confined to the craft unions and centred around the Mechanics Institute.

[A photo of a bulletin or newspaper: The Bottom Dog, [date unreadable] March 1918. "Strike at Onombanna(?)"]

But thousands of unskilled laboureres now joined militant trade unions. A powerful Trades Council was formed. Many union militants also joined the [Irish] Volunteers which became the Irish Republican Army in 1919.

On January 21 of that year, the first shots in the War of Independence were fired in Limerick.

British military activity escalated. Limerick Trades Council member and IRA adjutant, Robert Byrne, was arrested in a sweep of militants by the RIC.

[A small cell in a jail in which Byrne was captured.]

The prisoners insisted they had been framed and they responded by rioting.

[Byrne smashes something in his cell, and prison officers came running, beating him with crabs.]

So prison authorities deprived them of their clothes and their dignity.

The enemies of Limerick workers were now clearly identifiable: Exploitative employers and the British regime which supported them.

[A political cartoon titled "The Coming Election", showing a fat rich man (British or middle-class Irish) and a thin poor worker. On the wall there's two posters: One says, "What you are promised -- cheap houses, cheaper food, good pay, etc, etc". The other says, "What you get -- Unemployment, Reduced wage, Slums".]

In Limerick, as in other places, trade union activists saw the push for independence and better conditions as part of the same struggle.

[A scene in the film "the Wind that Shakes the Barley", where Damian and Dan discuss the ideas of James Connolly -- "If you remove the English army tomorrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle, unless you set about the organisation of the Socialist Republic your efforts would be in vain. England would still rule you. She would rule you through her capitalists, through her landlords, through her financiers, through the whole array of commercial and individualist institutions ...".]

In Limerick Jail, prisoners demanded political status. The British responded with beatings and torture. Robert Byrne was among those who went on hunger strike in protest against the ill-treatment he received.

The British authorities were worried about his health and transferred him to this workhouse hospital. The last thing they needed was a martyr, but that's what they got.

Byrne was shot as he was being rescued by an IRA flying squad. But having spring from jail, his rescuers had to hide him with passing sympathisers, John Ryan and his daughter, Nancy. The plans was to take Byrne to Ryan's cottage where he could recover. But even as Byrne began his long and painful journey to Knockalisneen, Co Clare, the British Army were about to declare Limerick a "Special Military Area".

Liam Cahill, Udar - Forgotten Revolution:
"The boundary set down by the British Army at the time consisted of a line in the centre of the Shannon on one side and the other line was the railway line surrounding Limerick. When you look at the map, you can see that a semicircle was formed with the river on one side and the city was within that. There were only two ways to leave the city: You could walk over the two bridges, or go to the station, show your pass and leave by train. It wouldn't have been easy to either escape or enter the city."

An RIC Constable had been killed in Byrne's rescue, and new military regulations were imposed to quell further unrest.

[A Local Pass at the time is shown. No 14471. Area of Limerick. Defence of the Realm. Local Pass. So-so Special Military Area." This is something that actually limited the free movement of the people there.]

All citizens had to carry special permits and endure constant police chacks.

[A drama scene. A priest giving the last rites.]

Robert Byrne died the evening he escaped.

The working people of Limerick were infuriated by Byrne's death, the arrests of members of his family, the new passes, and the aggresive military presence at his funeral.

These things imspired the Trades Council to resist oppression in the same way their comrades in Russia had done. Within 24 hours, the streets of Limerick were in the hands of a Soviet Strike Committee.

For two weeks, the inspectors of the Trades Council ran the city. The British controlled only the perimeter. A visiting American was confused, saying: [in English] "Who rules these parts? You have to get a military permit to get in, and you're [inaudible] the Soviets to get a permit to leave!"

The Trades Council inspectors ensured no shop opened without their permission. Food prices were regulated to stop profiteering. The Soviet even produced its own currency. Only transport authorised by the Council was able to move. The inspectores also acted as police. There was not a single arrest during the strike.

At night, people and supplies were secretly smuggled into the city on boats with muffled oars. By day, funeral hearses transported everything except dead bodies.

Liam Cahill, Udar - Forgotten Revolution:
"There was one hospital on the Co Clare side. Funerals would leave the hospital to go into Limerick City. During the Soviet period, there was a substantial increase in the amount of funerals that left that hospital and went as far as Limerick City because the coffins were brought in full of vegetables, meat and other goods which were given to the people of Limerick. The soldiers looked on, thinking it was a funeral with a coffin that was passing rather than supplies for the Soviets."

[A newspaper headline: "A POLITICAL STRIKE IN LIMERICK. AGAINST MARTIAL LAW. SINN FEIN AND LABOUR ACTING TOGETHER. Lights and Power Cut Off. The Union is a very great and very live octopus in the variety of interests it embraces -- most of them remote from transports services. It resembles the English Trade Unions Congress, and, unlike the Congress, wich is a great deliberative assembly, it posesses executive power. The electrical supply was cut off at two o'clock this morning, and every shop and business establishment in Limerick has put its shutters up today. Nobody is working. ..." Possibly from the Times.]

While the Irish Labour leadership promised a general strike in support of the Soviet, they had no intention of calling one. They had no stomach for the life and death struggle ocurring between the Right and Left in Europe.

[Another headline: "ALL-NIGHT VIGIL AT LIMERICK. CROWD BARRED OUT FROM CITY. STRIKE CURRENCY NOTES.]

In Germany, for instance, the army had put down Soviet uprisings. Revolutionary leaders, such as Karl Leibnicht and Rosa Luxemberg had been murdered.

Dr Emmet O'Connor, Udar -- A Labour History of Ireland [In English]:
"For the union leaders ...... They were very much afraid of the same thing happening to the Labour movement. ......"

[Film of the Black and Tans, firing hand guns.]

The Labour leadership also had one eye on the War of Independence. By 1920, Ireland was ruled by two governments. The British administration, and the first Dail sitting in the Mansion House. Labour leaders were wary of confrontation with either of them. It took the Congress Executive nine days to arrive in the city, and one day to transform victory into defeat.

On the 24th of April, the strikers were ordered back to work.

The English-speaking author (forgot his name):
"How did they fail? ......" (Sorry, I'm too lazy.)

The British Army in their Limerick barracks heaved a sigh of relief. Just when British rule of Ireland seemed at risk, the Labour leadership capitulated.

[A newspaper headline: "LIMERICK STRIKE OVER. NO FEAR OF GENERAL ACTION."]

The Soviet had been promised overhwhelming national support but rank and file as well as its leader, John Cronin, felt betrayed at Congress' sudden decision to dismantle it.

The English-speaking author (forgot his name):
"[inaudible], and Tom Johnston ..... "

Joe Higgins:
"There was a lot of talk about social and socialist changes and their discussions turned to revolution. But that's all it was - talk. And when it came as far as putting a plan into action, they failed miserably.

The English-speaking author (forgot his name):
"......"

But despite the best efforts of the Labour leadership, the Soviet movement was only just beginning. In work places across the towns and villages of Munster, the movements expanded and became a powerful tool for getting better pay and conditions.

(@19:50 - 23:05 Adverts)

……というように、非常に興味深い番組です。労働運動側が「弱腰」だったことは、アイルランド史についての本でも読んだことがありますが（たぶん日本語の書籍ですが、英語かも。どれで読んだのかわかんなくなるくらい前に読んだ本ですが）、要するに、あまりに「ラディカル」な変化は望んでいなかった（英国との関係をある程度保つことが重要視されたが、ソヴィエト化すれば必然的に英国と対立することになるため）とのことです。

Limerickに対する英軍の行動は、2004年のファルージャに対する米軍の行動と共通するなあと思うところがいろいろあります。（ファルージャといえば、2004年4月の包囲攻撃の前に、住民たちの抗議行動の弾圧がありましたが、それは死者数が同じだったこともあって「ブラディ・サンデー」と重なったりもします。）

ベルファストで、カトリックもプロテスタントもなく労働運動が組織されていたというふうにこの番組で説明されているのは、1912年のアルスター誓約のあとの時代のことで、Belfastについてのウィキペディアのエントリーにある1900年代の労働運動での宗派連携よりさらに意味深いことだと思います。

※この記事は

2008年10月25日

にアップロードしました。
1年も経ったころには、書いた本人の記憶から消えているかもしれません。