Communist League (UK, 1932)
Communist League | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Harry Wicks |
| Founded | 1932 |
| Dissolved | 1938 |
| Split from | Communist Party of Great Britain |
| Merged into | Revolutionary Socialist League |
| Headquarters | Balham |
| Ideology | Trotskyism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| National affiliation | Labour Party(1936-1938) |
| International affiliation | International Left Opposition |
TheCommunist Leaguewas one of the firstTrotskyistgroups in Britain, formed in 1932 by members of theCommunist Party of Great BritaininSouth London,includingHarry Wicks,who had been expelled after forming a loose grouping inside the CPGB known as theBalham Group.[1][2]This became the British Section of theInternational Left Opposition[3]and adopted the name Communist League in June 1933.[4]They published a monthly newspaper,Red Flag,and a quarterly journal,The Communist.[5]
In 1933,Leon Trotskysuggested the group should enter theIndependent Labour Party,but the leadership decided against, leading to a split that December.[4]In 1934, a small group led byDenzil Dean Harberdid enter the ILP, as the Bolshevik-Leninist Fraction, and formed the core of theMarxist GroupwhichC. L. R. Jamesjoined. Slow progress led to more splits, with the formation of theentristBolshevik-Leninist Group in theLabour Party,[6]the core of the laterMilitant Group.
The Communist League dissolved in 1936 and its members entered the Labour Party as theMarxist League(not to be confused with the earlier, unconnected Marxist League aka Marxian League ofFA RidleyandHugo Dewar), led byHarry Wicks.Wicks began working closely with James, by then leader of the Marxist Group, and in 1938 the two merged to form theRevolutionary Socialist League,into which the Militant Group (now Militant Labour League) merged the same year.
References[edit]
- ^Alexander, Robert Jackson.International Trotskyism, 1929-1985: A Documented Analysis of the Movement.Duke University Press, 1991, p438
- ^Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike.Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century.A&C Black, 2000, p153
- ^"Reg Groves: The Balham Group (Chap.1)".
- ^abBarberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike.Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century.A&C Black, 2000, p145
- ^"Martin Upham: History of British Trotskyism (Chap.3)".
- ^"Martin Upham: History of British Trotskyism (Chap.5)".
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- Communist Party of Great Britain breakaway groups
- Political parties established in 1932
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- Political parties established in 1936
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- 1936 establishments in the United Kingdom
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