Condemned from the dock
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The Marxist-Leninist and Anti-Revisionist Movement in Britain
Included on this page is an eclectic collection of documents produced in the two large islands on the western edge of Europe. They cover some of the revolutionary tracts that were produced before Britain had a ‘united’ Communist Party and other documents that were produced after the betrayal of the principles of Marxism-Leninism by Nikita Khrushchev at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in November 1956. Documents of the closest Party (so far in Britain) to be able claim the accolade of being Marxist-Leninist (the Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) – CPB(ML)) have their own page.
In 1920 VI Lenin published his seminal work on Party building, Left-wing Communism – an infantile disorder. Much of that pamphlet was devoted to the situation in Britain. Unfortunately, British workers and Marxist-Leninists are still to learn the lessons of the Bolshevik success.
Anti-Revisionist ‘Family Tree’, np. nd. 1 page.
John Maclean (24 August 1879 – 30 November 1923)
A Scottish Revolutionary, spoke out against the 1914-1919 war (the ‘First World War’) – unlike most social-democrats in Britain – the activity for which he was imprisoned.
Condemned from the dock, John Maclean, his famous speech against war and capitalism, introduction by Harry McShane, The John Maclean Society, Lothian, 1968, 7 pages.
The Irish Tragedy, Scotland’s Disgrace (1920), John Maclean, introduction by Harry McShane, The John Maclean Society, Lothian, 1970, 22 pages.
Remembering John Maclean, Portrait of a Scottish Revolutionary, Harry McShane, The John Maclean Society, Lothian, 197?, 7 pages.
Committee to Defeat Revisionism for Communist Unity (CDRCU)
The CDRCU was formed in 1963 by Marxist-Leninists who were previously members of the Communist Party of Great Britain who opposed the ‘modern revisionist’ line that the CPGB had been following since Khrushchev’s so-called ‘secret speech’ at the 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956.
The Way Forward, The need to establish a Communist Party in England, Scotland and Wales, Michael McCreery, CDRCU, London, January 1964, 15 pages.
Notes on the Lower Middle Class and the Semi-Proletariat in Britain, Michael McCreery, CDRCU, London, January 1964, 8 pages.
The National Question in Britain, Origins of the British State, Michael McCreery, reproduced from Vanguard, periodical of the CDRCU, July 1964, Workers Party of Scotland, Glasgow, 1977, 9 pages.
Fracturing of the CDRCU – Research Note, np. nd. 11 pages.
Workers’ Party of Scotland
An Anti-Revisionist Marxist-Leninist party formed in 1966 which operated primarily in Scotland. The magazine, Scottish Vanguard was published until 1972.
Scottish Vanguard, Volume 4, No. 3, organ of the Workers’ Party of Scotland, 1970, 26 pages.
Scottish Vanguard, Volume 4, No. 4, organ of the Workers’ Party of Scotland, February 1971, 24 pages.
Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) – CPB(ML)
The Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) was formed on April 14th 1968. It arose out of the British anti-revisionist movement which had taken a long time to re-establish a formal party structure following Nikita Khrushchev’s repudiation of Joseph Stalin (but fundamentally Marxism-Leninism) at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956. It was the closest the British working class have, so far, come to establishing a Marxist-Leninist Party in Britain.
Communist Federation of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) – CFB(ML)
The CFB(ML) was a small grouping of Communists who grew out of the Anti-Revisionist movement in Britain following the betrayal of the Communist Party of Great Britain to the principles of Marxism-Leninism. It ceased to exist in, about, 1977. They took control of the theoretical magazine, The Marxist, which was first published in 1966 by British anti-revisionists ‘in search of a Party’.
They also produced a more substantial magazine called The Marxist-Leninist Quarterly. Eleven issues were published between 1972 and 1976. From some of the articles in Nos 10 and 11 you can see how the organisation was destroying itself from the inside.
Marxist-Leninist Quarterly, No 1, Spring 1972, CFB(ML), London, 35 pages.
Marxist-Leninist Quarterly, No 2, Summer 1972, CFB(ML), London, 46 pages.
Marxist-Leninist Quarterly, No 3, Winter 1972-3, CFB(ML), London, 60 pages.
Marxist Leninist Quarterly, No 4, Spring 1973, CFB(ML), London, 44 pages.
Marxist-Leninist Quarterly, No 5, Summer 1973, CFB(ML), London, 38 pages.
Marxist-Leninist Quarterly, No 6, Spring 1974, CFB(ML), London, 53 pages.
Marxist-Leninist Quarterly, No 7, Summer 1974, CFB(ML), London, 51 pages.
Marxist-Leninist Quarterly, Nos 8-9, double issue, Autumn-Winter 1974-5, CFB(ML), London, 79 pages.
Marxist-Leninist Quarterly, No 10, 1975, CFB(ML), London, 48 pages.
Marxist-Leninist Quarterly, No 11, 1976, CFB(ML), London, 79 pages.
Next, being an indication of internal disputes and splits, the National Committee (this time) brings out, for just five issues, a ‘Theoretical Journal’ called Revolution. Here it is obvious how they were degenerating into opportunism as well as falling back on sectarian attacks on other Marxist-Leninists, whilst at the same time calling for unity.
Revolution, No 1, June 1976, National Committee of the CFB(ML), London, 43 pages.
Revolution, No 2, October 1976, National Committee of the CFB(ML), London, 40 pages.
Revolution, No 3, January 1977, National Committee of the CFB(ML), London, 42 pages.
Revolution, No 4, April 1977, National Committee of the CFB(ML), London, 28 pages.
Revolution, No 5, May 1977, National Committee of the CFB(ML), London, 42 pages.
Irish Communist Organisation (ICO)
The ICO was a group of Marxist-Leninists who operated in Ireland and developed from the Committee to Defeat Revisionism for Communist Unity (CDRCU) in the mid-1960s. It produced regular magazines (although only a few here) as well as commentaries on International issues and some articles by JV Stalin and Frederick Engels. In later years they went slightly haywire.
The Communist, No 23, 1969, 22 pages.
The Irish Communist, No 55, July 1970, Belfast, 38 pages.
On Stalin’s ‘Economic Problems’ – Part 1, (Dublin, ICO, 1969), 40 pages. Irish Communist Organisation Pamphlet.
Marxism and Market Socialism – On Stalin’s ‘Economic Problems’ – Part 2, (Dublin, ICO, 1969), 92 pages. Irish Communist Organisation Pamphlet No 16.
Notes and corrections to Marxism and Market Socialism.
Dialectical and Historical Materialism, (Dublin, Irish Communist Organisation, 1970), 44 pages.
On Lenin, (Dublin, ICO, 1970), 28 pages. 4 articles. The organiser and leader of the Russian Communist Party (On the Fiftieth Anniversary of Lenin’s Birth). Sketches (Comrade Lenin’s Convalescence). On the Death of Lenin (Speech delivered at the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR, 26th January, 1924). On Lenin (Speech delivered at a Memorial Evening of Kremlin Military Students, 28th January, 1924). Irish Communist Organisation.
The Communist Party of China and the 20th Congress of the CPSU, Policy Statement No 3, ICO, Dublin, November 1970, 20 pages.
History of Ireland (to 1014), Frederick Engels, Irish Communist Organisation, Dublin, 1970, 68 pages.
On an Article by Engels, (Dublin, ICO, 1971), 23 pages.
On the Personality Cult, (Dublin, ICO, 1971), 12 pages.
Critique of the Erfurt Programme, Frederick Engels, British and Irish Communist Organisation, Glasgow, 1971, 20 pages.
Marxist-Leninist Organisation of Britain (MLOB)
I must admit I can’t remember anything about this organisation – and have only come across one document of theirs which tell you nothing about its formation.
On the origins of Modern Revisionism, report of the Central Committee of the MLOB, Red Vanguard 2, London, 1972, 40 pages.
Conference lays foundation of Marxist-Leninist Party, first published in Red Front, Volume 1, No. 1, 1967, 3 pages.
Communist League
The International Seminar of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organisations, Brussels, 1995, 3 pages.
Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist)
A party originally called the Communist Party of England (Marxist-Leninist) when it was formed in 1972. In 1979 it changed its name. Can’t remember much else about it.
Marxist-Leninist Journal, Theoretical Journal of the RCPB(ML).
Volume 3 No 2, Workers’ Publishing House, London, July 1990, 99 pages.
Revolutionary Communist Maoists
Conquer the World was the quarterly journal issued by the supporters of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM) in Britain. Issue No 16 onward was issued by the Revolutionary Communist Maoists (RCM) in Britain.
Conquer the World, Issue 17, July 1993, Revolutionary Communist Maoists in Britain, London, 1993, 28 pages.
International Leninist Workers Party
‘The International Leninist Workers Party started in 1979 due to sectarian, reformist, or anti-communist political bankruptcy of the entire ‘left’ of the labour movement’. From the Bulletin, p8.
[Not too sure if it belongs here but can’t think where else to place it.]
Workers Party Bulletin, No 217, December 1983, International Leninist Workers Party, 1983, 12 pages.
London Workers’ Committee
The crisis of British Imperialism and tasks facing Marxist-Leninists in Britain, Jim Strong, Theoretical Supplement No. 1, 1966, 21 pages.
Caribbean Workers’ Movement
Caribbean Workers’ Movement, Research Note, a brief summary of the organisation published October 1, 2018 by the Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line, 2 pages.
P. Sealy exposed as a Caribbean stooge of the revisionist CPGB, first published in the Caribbean Workers’ Weekly, No. 41, April 1966, 2 pages.
Maoism
The rise and fall of Maoism – the English experience, Encyclopaedia of Anti-Revisionism Online, 1983?, 81 pages.
The wind from the East – a personal history of the Maoist Movement in Britain, Neil Redfern, np. 2025, 167 pages.
What can Marxist-Leninist-Maoists learn from the Anti-Revisionist ‘New Communist Movement’ in Britain, Shobhiku Vazhi, Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line, 2024, 28 pages. [A strange document.]
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