Peterloo massacre
In the Peterloo massacre at St. Peter's Field near Manchester on August 16, 1819, fifteen people were killed and over 650 injured. It was the result of a cavalry attack on a peaceful protest against the Corn Laws .
Course of events
The rally was organized by the Manchester Patriotic Union Society to demonstrate against grain tariffs and for parliamentary reform. The speakers included Richard Carlile , John Cartwright and Henry Hunt .
According to estimates at the time, the number of demonstrators was between 30,000 and 150,000; more recent estimates narrow this down to a number between 60,000 and 80,000. The main speakers arrived after 1:00 p.m. with Henry Hunt scheduled to speak at 1:20 p.m. However, the local authorities decided to break up the meeting at 1:30 p.m. and arrest the leaders. For this, 600 were hussars , 120 Yeomanry -Kavalleristen and two Sechspfünder- guns and several hundred infantrymen and police provided. 120 cavalrymen broke into the crowd, sabers drawn, in order to get through to the speakers. Henry Hunt, Joseph Johnson, and several others, including journalists, were arrested. When the crowd resisted, the hussars intervened. This resulted in 15 deaths and around 600 injured, who were crushed and with broken limbs, hit by saber blows and batons, and kicked by horses' hooves spread across the square. The entire massacre lasted less than 15 minutes.
consequences
The press reacted indignantly. James Wroe of the Manchester Observer coined the catchphrase “Peterloo Massacre” based on the Battle of Waterloo , in which the soldiers of the Cavalry Regiment earned a medal of bravery. The two journalists from London's The Times, John Edward Taylor and John Tyas , were very critical of the reaction of the British government under Lord Liverpool . Richard Carlile, who was supposed to be the speaker, escaped arrest and reported in his organ, the Sherwin's Political Register . Wroe and Carlile were later arrested for publishing their reports.
The local authorities were commended for their actions by Home Secretary Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth .
The outrage over this process attracted the protest movement.
Movie
The events are the focus of the 2018 film Peterloo ; Mike Leigh directed.
literature
- Michael Demson, Regina Hewitt (Eds.): Commemorating Peterloo: Violence, Resilience and Claim-Making During the Romantic Era. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 2020, ISBN 978-1-4744-2857-6 .
Web links
- Peterloo. Chadderton Historical Society
Individual evidence
- ^ Hannes Wimmer: Violence and the state's monopoly on violence (= Austria: Research and Science. Political Science. 5). Lit, Vienna a. a. 2009, ISBN 978-3-8258-1889-0 .
Coordinates: 53 ° 28 ′ 41 ″ N , 2 ° 14 ′ 49 ″ W.