Cable Street

Sunday marks the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, the 1936 East London clash where locals and anti-fascist demonstrators blocked a march by Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists. Commentators are highlighting the event's links to the Spanish Civil War, which began the same year, as many British anti-fascists later joined the fight in Spain.

Anniversaries are being marked of the Battle of Cable Street, when on 4 October 1936 thousands of East London residents, trade unionists, Jewish and Irish groups and anti-fascists blocked Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists from marching through the Jewish East End, clashing with police at Cable Street in Stepney. Posts recalling the day are drawing comparisons with modern anti-fascist and anti-racist organising.

The Guardian has republished its archive report from 5 October 1936, when a fascist procession led by Sir Oswald Mosley through London's East End was stopped. Around 84 people were arrested and many injured as a huge crowd of local residents and anti-fascist protesters blocked the march through the heart of the Jewish quarter. The piece recounts the disorderly scenes that became known as the Battle of Cable Street, a landmark moment in British anti-fascist history.

On October 4, 1936, anti-fascist demonstrators in London's East End blocked Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists from marching through Cable Street, clashing with police sent to protect the march. Local unions, communists, Jewish groups and residents barricaded the streets under the slogan 'They shall not pass.' The anniversary is being marked in labor history posts, with commenters framing the battle as a landmark of united anti-fascist resistance.