Socialist Propaganda League

Last updated

Socialist Propaganda League
Spokesperson Henry Martin
Founded1911
Dissolved1951
Split from Socialist Party of Great Britain
NewspaperThe Voice

The Socialist Propaganda League was a tiny socialist group active in London from about 1911 to 1951.

Contents

History

The League was formed as a result of an early dispute in the Socialist Party of Great Britain and of the optimistic belief of the Party's founder members that the socialist revolution was near. A group of members around Henry Martin and Augustus Snellgrove wanted the Party to take a definitive stand on the attitude socialist delegates elected to parliament or local councils would take towards reform measures proposed by one or more of the capitalist parties.

Socialist Standard 1910 February WB Upton Park Socialist Standard 1910 February WB Upton Park.png
Socialist Standard 1910 February WB Upton Park

In February 1910 a letter from "W.B. (Upton Park)" was sent to the Socialist Standard asking: "What would be the attitude of a member of the SPGB if elected to Parliament, and how would he maintain the principle of 'No Compromise'?" The perspective of this small group of members was that no reform of capitalism could ever be supported by the party claiming to represent working-class interests, as it was not the job of socialists to take part in the running of capitalism. Any attempt to do so would run counter to the famous hostility clause of the party's Declaration of Principles. The Standard's reply on the matter, backed by the party's Executive Committee (EC), stated that "each issue would have to be looked at on its merits and the course to be pursued decided democratically." This did not satisfy the members who had raised the question, who formed a Provisional Committee aimed at overturning the position espoused in the Standard's reply and who set their case out in an open letter to party members, arguing that socialists were required to oppose measures introduced by capitalist parties on each and every occasion. This was again rebutted firmly by the EC who contended that it would be ridiculous for socialists, by way of example, to oppose a measure designed to stop a war in which the working class was being butchered.

Believing this approach to be a violation of the principle of no compromise, several members resigned over this issue during 1911, a small number going on to found the Socialist Propaganda League. [1] The SPL's principal speaker and writer was Henry Martin, Snellgrove having been one of those from the Provisional Committee later to rejoin the SPGB. Though Martin was sympathetic to the SPGB in all other respects, he continued to denounce its willingness to engage in ‘political trading’ in pamphlets and on the outdoor platform until his death in 1951.

Publications

See also

Notes

  1. "Socialist Studies |". Socialist Studies.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-capitalism</span> Political ideology and movement opposed to capitalism

Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as socialism or communism.

<i>Socialist Standard</i>

Socialist Standard is a monthly socialist magazine published without interruption since September 1904 by the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB). The magazine is written in a simple, direct style and focuses mainly on socialist advocacy and Marxian analysis of current events, particularly those affecting the United Kingdom. Some articles have been published in party pamphlets.

Socialist Studies is the name of a quarterly socialist periodical and of the group which publishes it. The group was founded in 1991 by sixteen expelled members of the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) who claim that their expulsions were the result of an anti-socialist conspiracy. Though small, the group has remained an active and vocal critic of the SPGB since its inception.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Socialist Party of India</span> Indian political party

The World Socialist Party of India (WSPI) is an Indian political party founded in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Socialist Party of the United States</span> Political party in United States

The World Socialist Party of the United States (WSPUS) is a socialist political organization that was established in Detroit, Michigan as the Socialist Party of the United States in 1916 and which operated as the Socialist Educational Society in the 1920s before being renamed the Workers' Socialist Party. The organization reemerged in the 1990s and exists today as the American companion party of the World Socialist Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation</span> Political party in United Kingdom

The Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation (APCF) was a communist group in the United Kingdom. It was founded by the group around Guy Aldred's Spur newspaper – mostly former Communist League members – in 1921. They included John McGovern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Fitzgerald</span>

Jack Fitzgerald was a founding member of the Socialist Party of Great Britain.

Henry Martin was a British socialist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest John Bartlett Allen</span> British socialist

Ernest John Bartlett Allen was a British socialist active in the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Alexander Anderson was a British socialist who helped found the Socialist Party of Great Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Neumann</span>

Hans Neumann was a founding member of the Socialist Party of Great Britain.

The Turner Controversy was a dispute within the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) regarding the nature of socialism instigated by party member Tony Turner. The dispute ultimately led to an exodus of members who formed the short-lived Movement for Social Integration.

Spanner was a British journal on non-market socialism.

The Socialist Party of Great Britain has weathered a number of internal disputes since its foundation in 1904, some of which have led to organisational breakaways.

Edgar Richard "Hardy" Hardcastle was a theoretician of Marxist economics.

The Socialist Party of Canada (SPC) is a socialist political party in Canada, affiliated with the World Socialist Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communist Party of Britain</span> Political party in the United Kingdom

The Communist Party of Britain (CPB) is a communist party in Great Britain which emerged from a dispute between Eurocommunists and Marxist-Leninists in the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1988. It follows Marxist-Leninist theory and supports what it regards as existing socialist states. The party has fraternal relationships with the ruling parties in Cuba, China, Laos, and Vietnam. It is affiliated nationally to the Cuba Solidarity Campaign and the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign. It is a member of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, together with 117 other political parties. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the party was one of two original British signatories to the Pyongyang Declaration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Party of Great Britain</span> Socialist political party in the United Kingdom

The Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) is a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1904 as a split from the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), it advocates using the ballot box for revolutionary purposes and opposes both Leninism and reformism. It holds that countries which claimed to have established socialism had only established "state capitalism" and was one of the first to describe the Soviet Union as state capitalist. The party's political position has been described as a form of impossibilism.

The World Socialist Movement (WSM) is an international organisation of socialist parties created in 1904 with the founding of the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB).

Frank Erni Dawkins was an English political activist known for advocating wealth redistribution, strong public programmes, and policies supporting the nationalisation of key industries. His political career included a 1909 assault in Ilford, highlighting the tensions between socialism and religious views. Dawkins' advocacy for socialism spanned from economics to community engagement. He represented the Labour Party in Hampstead in the 1929 general election. Dawkins's Methodist background and political career is a classic example of the early 20th century transition from methodism to socialism in the context of the view taken by some observers that 'socialism owes more to Methodism than Marxism'.

References