1927 - Two big wheels

Two great men of history, prominent
In 1927, were Gandhi
Instigator of new non-violent
Tactics of opposition, and Trotsky
Soviet theorist and organiser, he
Did as much as anyone in '17
To win in Petrograd, the Red Army
Subsequently expanded, a machine
With Communist heart. Mahatma was keen
To overthrow British rule, to prevent
India's split by religion, and help the
Untouchables, though some vented their spleen
Tried to kill him, and did so in the end
As did power-hungry Stalin to Trotsky

1926 - Unlucky strike

1926, and the General Strike
Lasted for a few crucial days in May
Led by the miners. Churchill didn't like
Their disruption of transport, felt okay
With using force of arms, but Baldwin stayed
Moderate, and it cooled down, miners losing
The fight for reasonable hours and fair pay
Post-war exports slump virtually dictating
Poor conditions, but sympathy resting
With the poor workers long after, just like
Their eighties counterparts. In China, they
Were in turmoil, three governments competing
For power. The Kuomintang alliance broke
With the Communists, and so it would stay

1925 - Fear of fun

What's going on? Well, Christmas is so near
Yet I've just started preparing for it
Last night online, bought Louis' computer
At lunchtime (on strike) Christmas cards were wrote
And dished out at work. The plan for tonight
Is to watch a game in the Walkabout
Chelsea against Man City, although it
Should have been supporting Janet who's out
Doing her Jewish comic act. I thought
She was good last time, and ideas appeared
In my head that I'd like to once more treat
An audience to my own humour, without
Getting as nervous or as sick with fear
As in the 90s, when I tried and quit

1924 - Latest news from 1924

By '24, Stalin's firmly in charge
Purges increase in scope, fear and famine
This year sees Ramsay MacDonald emerge
As the first Labour PM of Britain
Though soon replaced by Tory, S. Baldwin
Hitler's in prison, writes a nasty book
In the States, the new big thing is Gershwin
While Coolidge says little and rides his luck
Not so Matteotti, stabbed in the back
Of a car by fascists. It's not alleged
The Duce knew, but the King seems sanguine
Mallory may climb Everest but gets stuck
Germany's reparations payments urged
While Ibn Saud takes Arabia for his kin

1923 - Living and dying on an island

In '23 the Irish Civil War
Concluded with a Free State victory
The IRA, some of whom had been for,
Some against the Anglo-Irish Treaty
Had fought among themselves, but the anti-
Faction ran out of steam, de Valera
Admitting defeat, though reluctantly
And with Fianna Fail in later years
He'd stay put, but with Lemass taking a
More pragmatic, modern way than before
Disaster in Japan in '23
A great earthquake, Tokyo, Yokohama
Flattened, then burned by fire, so now the law
States buildings must be strong, people ready

1922 - In search of a lost year

This was the year 'Ulysses' was published
As well as Joyce, another genius, Proust
This year found his life and his work finished
Joyce, Proust, and Picasso all drank a toast
Together no doubt when they met, this most
Select dinner also attended by
Diaghilev and Stravinsky, and Proust
It's said, annoyed pretentious Stravinsky
By asking 'Do you like Beethoven?' Why
Did right-wing Germans shoot Rathenau? This
After Erzberger last year, showed the truth
The rise of intolerance in Germany
This year also saw the March of Fascists
On Rome, and the BBC's birth to boot

1921 - Vanishing borders

The eurozone's melting like Arctic ice
Maybe that's because of iron German rule
And French collaboration - that's not nice
We learn about democracy in school
But where's the process, the vote? They can't fool
Even their own populations, who shout
Their opposition, demonstrate, and call
For occupation of Brussels, Frankfurt
In tents they shiver, maybe long-haired louts
Or maybe our future, outside the vice
Of centralisation of capital
Billionaires controlling shadow markets
These are the new dictators, force applies
Once more like in the thirties, harsh and cruel