The History of Peaky Blinders - Communists, IRA, 1920's Gangs, The Italian Mafia and More!

The Peaky Blinders is a BBC Historical Drama series semi-based on a gang of the same name active on Birmingham’s racecourses and streets in the late 1890’s, although the Shelby brothers on our screens inhabit the world of the 1920’s Black Country. During their various adventures and exploits they make contact with IRA gunmen, helping their comrades back in Ireland who at this time were fighting the British in the Irish War of Independence from 1919 to 1922, Communists from the newly established USSR who were helped by Socialist factory workers yet opposed by royalist White Russians or Russian Emigrés in exile. Even the domestic politics of the time with a whole host of gangs based on ethnic and class lines is fascinating and features Italian Mafia from London and New York, Jewish “bakers” and armies of roving gypsies. In this video I’m going to be discussing all of that and more!

I would highly recommend watching these videos by History West Midlands featuring historian Carl Chinn who specialises and has written a book about Birmingham street gangs in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The Real Peaky Blinders – History West Midlands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDzfeTTigKo

Story of the Real Peaky Blinders – History West Midlands:

Music Used:
Sneaky Snitch – Kevin MacLeod
Eastern Thought – Kevin MacLeod
Impact Alegratto – Kevin MacLeod
Laid Back Guitars – Kevin MacLeod
Heroes – Co.AG

Up and Away – Holfix

Bushwick Tarantello – Kevin MacLeod
Lachaim – Kevin MacLeod
Opium – Kevin MacLeod
“Opium – Kevin MacLeod” – Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

All images are from the Public Domain of Wikimedia Commons and Pixabay.