The Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Seattle from November 30 to December 3, 1999. Trade ministers and other officials from the WTO’s 135 member nations met in an unsuccessful attempt to plan negotiations to further deregulate free trade. Tens of thousands of activists for many causes gathered to protest what they saw as the WTO’s favoring of corporate interests over social and environmental concerns. Some of the ensuing protests turned violent, and later investigations agreed that the city’s security plan was woefully inadequate.

The December 22, 1999 issue of the Seattle newspaper “Eat the State : A Forum for Anti-Authoritarian Political Opinion, Research, and Humor” discussed the fallout from the WTO meeting and protests. The demonstrations, called the "Battle of Seattle," are now considered the unofficial start of the anti-globalization movement.

Caption information source: HistoryLink.org Essays 9183 and 9213.