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The '''Communist Party of Great Britain''' (CPGB) was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991. It was founded at the behest of V.I. [[Lenin]] and was formed by the merger of the British Socialist Party, the Socialist Labour Party (based on 'Red Clydeside') and the Workers' Socialist Federation, run by [[Sylvia Pankhurst]]. From the start it received support and orders from the [[Soviet Union]], directed through the [[Moscow]]-based standing organisation of the Third Communist International, better known as [[Comintern]].

The '''Communist Party of Great Britain''' (CPGB) was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991. It was founded at the behest of V.I. [[Lenin]] and was formed by the merger of the British Socialist Party, the Socialist Labour Party (based on 'Red Clydeside') and the Workers' Socialist Federation, run by [[Sylvia Pankhurst]]. From the start it received support and orders from the [[Soviet Union]], directed through the [[Moscow]]-based standing organisation of the Third Communist International, better known as [[Comintern]].

===Early years===

==Early years==

In the years between its foundation and the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] the CPGB was successful in building up membership and support. It was able to benefit from the seeming inability of more mainstream parties to successfully act against rising unemployment and economic crisis, and against the rise of [[Fascism]]. It alternated between policies (decided in Moscow and applied worldwide, even if contradicting local political circumstances) of sectarian opposition to other left-of-centre parties, and attempts to build up a 'popular front' with socialists and social democrats. It also attracted the support of many intellectuals and was able to pose as a [[Revolutionary Vanguard|revolutionary artistic vanguard]]. Communists contributed much of the manpower (and most of the political control) to the Clement Attlee Brigade of British volunteers in the [[International Brigades]] during the [[Spanish Civil War]].

In the years between its foundation and the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] the CPGB was successful in building up membership and support. It was able to benefit from the seeming inability of more mainstream parties to successfully act against rising unemployment and economic crisis, and against the rise of [[Fascism]]. It alternated between policies (decided in Moscow and applied worldwide, even if contradicting local political circumstances) of sectarian opposition to other left-of-centre parties, and attempts to build up a 'popular front' with socialists and social democrats. It also attracted the support of many intellectuals and was able to pose as a [[Revolutionary Vanguard|revolutionary artistic vanguard]]. Communists contributed much of the manpower (and most of the political control) to the Clement Attlee Brigade of British volunteers in the [[International Brigades]] during the [[Spanish Civil War]].

===The CPGB and the Second World War===

==The CPGB and the Second World War==

The [[Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact]] of 1939 led [[Comintern]] to instruct the CPGB to oppose the war (which it had been supporting as an anti-Fascist war). This caused much internal dissent and defection, as well as the dropping of its long-time General Secretary, [[Harry Pollitt]] (1890-1960). The CPGB newspaper, the [[Morning Star]], was for a time suppressed by the British Government. However, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 Pollitt was recalled, the party threw itself into the war effort, and Communist officials were active in attempts to prevent strikes.

The [[Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact]] of 1939 led [[Comintern]] to instruct the CPGB to oppose the war (which it had been supporting as an anti-Fascist war). This caused much internal dissent and defection, as well as the dropping of its long-time General Secretary, [[Harry Pollitt]] (1890-1960). The CPGB newspaper, the [[Morning Star]], was for a time suppressed by the British Government. However, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 Pollitt was recalled, the party threw itself into the war effort, and Communist officials were active in attempts to prevent strikes.

===The post-war years===

==The post-war years==

The party emerged from the war at the peak of its popularity and prestige. Two Communist MPs were elected at the 1945 general election, and membership was at a peak. Comintern had been dissolved in 1943, and the party was theoretically free to decide its own policies. However, it remained ideologically linked to the Soviet Union, and over succeeding decades membership fell away as the nature of Soviet rule became increasingly apparent in the west and as the [[Cold War]] took hold of global foreign policy decisions. Major crisis points were the Soviet interventions in [[Hungary]] in 1956 (which saw a huge drop in membership) and that in [[Czechoslovakia]] in 1968.

The party emerged from the war at the peak of its popularity and prestige. Two Communist MPs were elected at the 1945 general election, and membership was at a peak. Comintern had been dissolved in 1943, and the party was theoretically free to decide its own policies. However, it remained ideologically linked to the Soviet Union, and over succeeding decades membership fell away as the nature of Soviet rule became increasingly apparent in the west and as the [[Cold War]] took hold of global foreign policy decisions. Major crisis points were the Soviet interventions in [[Hungary]] in 1956 (which saw a huge drop in membership) and that in [[Czechoslovakia]] in 1968.

Conservative trade union reforms demolished the CPGB industrial strategy; reformist government in the Soviet Union was to bring and end to the Cold War and to the eastern bloc monolith itself. However, neither of these factors was decisive in bringing about the demise of the CPGB. Instead, it tore itself apart in a series of feuds between hard-line 'tankies'<ref>so called because they supported the use of Soviet tanks in Czechoslovakia</ref> and reformist 'Eurocommunists'; eventually, the disputes were as much about control of the party assets and the party newspaper (by now renamed the [[Morning Star]] as they were about ideological differences.

Conservative trade union reforms demolished the CPGB industrial strategy; reformist government in the Soviet Union was to bring and end to the Cold War and to the eastern bloc monolith itself. However, neither of these factors was decisive in bringing about the demise of the CPGB. Instead, it tore itself apart in a series of feuds between hard-line 'tankies'<ref>so called because they supported the use of Soviet tanks in Czechoslovakia</ref> and reformist 'Eurocommunists'; eventually, the disputes were as much about control of the party assets and the party newspaper (by now renamed the [[Morning Star]] as they were about ideological differences.

===End of the CPGB===

==End of the CPGB==

In 1977 one hard-line faction left the party to become the New Communist Party<ref>http://www.newworker.org/</ref>, while in 1988 a major split occurred when a large number of 'tankies' left to form the Communist Party of Britain<ref>http://www.communist-party.org.uk/</ref>. The residual CPGB decided in 1991 to dissolve itself and reform itself as Democratic Left; this also dissolved in the late 1990s and was refounded as New Politics Network; in 2006 NPN started the process of merger with the British constitutional reform campaign group [[Charter 88]] under the name Unlock Democracy<ref>http://www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk/?page_id=490</ref>

In 1977 one hard-line faction left the party to become the New Communist Party,<ref>http://www.newworker.org/</ref> while in 1988 a major split occurred when a large number of 'tankies' left to form the Communist Party of Britain.<ref>http://www.communist-party.org.uk/</ref> The residual CPGB decided in 1991 to dissolve itself and reform itself as Democratic Left; this also dissolved in the late 1990s and was refounded as New Politics Network; in 2006 NPN started the process of merger with the British constitutional reform campaign group [[Charter 88]] under the name Unlock Democracy<ref>http://www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk/?page_id=490</ref>

===References===

==References==

<references/>

<references/>

===Sources===

==Sources==

Francis Beckett, ''Enemy Within: The Rise and Fall of the British Communist Party'' (2nd ed Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK 1998)

Francis Beckett, ''Enemy Within: The Rise and Fall of the British Communist Party'' (2nd ed Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK 1998)

[[Category:British Political Parties]]

[[Category:British Political Parties]]

[[Category:Communist Political Parties]]

[[Category:Communist Political Parties]]