Bolshevism and the British Left: The Webbs and Soviet communism

Bolshevism and the British Left: The Webbs and Soviet communism PDF Author: Kevin Morgan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This is the second book in Kevin Morgan's series Bolshevism and the British Left. It explores how the veteran Fabian socialists Beatrice and Sidney Webb came to regard Stalin's Russia as a 'new civilisation' and the hope of the world. Through a meticulous reconstruction of the Webbs' thinking, Morgan offers a challenging reassessment of accepted stereotypes. Drawing on their diaries, papers and published writings, he assesses the couple's complex political evolution over some four decades, and shows how much more significant were their individual responses than the cliche of 'two typewriters beating as one' would suggest. While Sidney upheld the statist and technocratic perspectives synonymous with 'Webbism', Beatrice also contributed concerns with associationism and the search for a higher social morality. Their love affair with Soviet communism, which seemed to represent both synthesis and transcendence of these different strands of their thought, was far less idiosyncratic than is sometimes thought. Here it is discussed in a broader context, and the paradox that emerges is that across the European left it was often precisely those who had previously been most suspicious of state socialism who subsequently proved most susceptible to its Soviet apotheosis. Kevin Morgan is Professor of Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Manchester. He is the author of Harry Pollitt (Manchester University Press, 1993) and co-author of Communists in British Society 1920-1991 (Rivers Oram Press, 2005) The Webbs and Soviet Communism is the Part 2 in a three-volume series, Bolshevism and the British Left, which examines attitudes to Soviet Russia as a way of opening up broader questions about the character of the British left between the 1890s and the 1940s. Part 1 is Labour Legends Russian Gold, Part 3 is due to be published in 2012"

Bolshevism and the British Left: The Webbs and Soviet communism

Bolshevism and the British Left: The Webbs and Soviet communism PDF Author: Kevin Morgan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is the second book in Kevin Morgan's series Bolshevism and the British Left. It explores how the veteran Fabian socialists Beatrice and Sidney Webb came to regard Stalin's Russia as a 'new civilisation' and the hope of the world. Through a meticulous reconstruction of the Webbs' thinking, Morgan offers a challenging reassessment of accepted stereotypes. Drawing on their diaries, papers and published writings, he assesses the couple's complex political evolution over some four decades, and shows how much more significant were their individual responses than the cliche of 'two typewriters beating as one' would suggest. While Sidney upheld the statist and technocratic perspectives synonymous with 'Webbism', Beatrice also contributed concerns with associationism and the search for a higher social morality. Their love affair with Soviet communism, which seemed to represent both synthesis and transcendence of these different strands of their thought, was far less idiosyncratic than is sometimes thought. Here it is discussed in a broader context, and the paradox that emerges is that across the European left it was often precisely those who had previously been most suspicious of state socialism who subsequently proved most susceptible to its Soviet apotheosis. Kevin Morgan is Professor of Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Manchester. He is the author of Harry Pollitt (Manchester University Press, 1993) and co-author of Communists in British Society 1920-1991 (Rivers Oram Press, 2005) The Webbs and Soviet Communism is the Part 2 in a three-volume series, Bolshevism and the British Left, which examines attitudes to Soviet Russia as a way of opening up broader questions about the character of the British left between the 1890s and the 1940s. Part 1 is Labour Legends Russian Gold, Part 3 is due to be published in 2012"

The Origins of British Bolshevism

The Origins of British Bolshevism PDF Author: Raymond Challinor
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000706680
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
First published in 1977. This book describes the growth of revolutionary organisations in Britain from 1900 onwards. It shows that there was an indigenous movement that developed quite independently from the left in other countries, although its basic outlook was remarkably similar to that of the Bolsheviks in Russia. The study concentrates the activities of the Socialist Labour Party, a small group of dedicated revolutionaries, whose impact on working-class politics had not been fully recognised. The most controversial section of the book deals with the Russian influence on the machinations that led to the formation of the British Communist Party. It is critical of Lenin, who sometimes gave advice on the basis of insufficient knowledge, and of Comitern agents, like Theodore Rothstein, with dubious political backgrounds. This title will be of great interest to students of politics, philosophy, and history.

Romancing the Revolution

Romancing the Revolution PDF Author: Ian Bullock
Publisher: Athabasca University Press
ISBN: 192683612X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 439

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Book Description
Publisher description.

Bolshevism and the British Left: Labour legends and Russian gold

Bolshevism and the British Left: Labour legends and Russian gold PDF Author: Kevin Morgan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
Morgan goes far beyond the question of Russian gold, to dig beneath a host of myths and misconceptions. He shows that Labour's parliamentary advance was itself inconceivable solely on the basis of the workers' and trade union 'pennies' with which it is usually identified. In addition to the virtual market that developed in Labour's parliamentary nominations, there was almost always a need to cultivate private benefactors - not excluding Russian ones. Thus, as Morgan shows, George Lansbury drew on a wide variety of financial sponsors to create the space both for his own political career and for Labour's daily newspaper, the Daily Herald. As for the communist party itself, Russian subsidies often gave rise to fierce internal conflict and controversy: it was certainly regarded as mixed blessing by many. Kevin Morgan has uncovered some fascinating new material on this period of left history, and through his insightful analysis a much more complex picture than hitherto emerges, both of Labour-communist relations and those between the CPGB and the Comintern.

Labour Legends and Russian Gold

Labour Legends and Russian Gold PDF Author: Kevin Morgan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781909831827
Category : Communism
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Investigating the relationship between various sects of the British Left and Bolshevism in the first half of the 20th century, this study provides insights into the history of political funding. With an examination of the attitudes towards Soviet Russia, broader questions about the character of the British Left between the 1890s and the 1940s are presented. From Lenin and the fierce internal conflicts and controversies in Communist Russia to George Lansbury and the rise of the Labour Party's newspaper, the Daily Herald, this resource provides compelling new arguments about the relationships between political parties and their funding.

Bolshevism and the British Left

Bolshevism and the British Left PDF Author: Kevin Morgan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Socialism
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


"Left-wing" Communism

Author: Vladimir Ilʹich Lenin
Publisher: Resistance Books
ISBN: 9780909196882
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description


‘Left-Wing’ Communism: An Infantile Disorder

‘Left-Wing’ Communism: An Infantile Disorder PDF Author: V.I. Lenin
Publisher: Wellred Books
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
The Bolsheviks led the workers to power in the October Revolution of 1917. To ensure its survival, they grappled with the task of spreading the revolution beyond Russia. ‘Left-Wing’ Communism: An Infantile Disorder was written in 1920 to educate the newly-formed communist parties of the Third International, and to correct the ultra-left, sectarian trends that infected many of them. Inspired by the Revolution and repelled by the betrayals of social democracy, these communists had not absorbed the real lessons of Bolshevism. The majority of workers still looked to reformist parties, and needed to be won away from the influence of reformist leaders in these. The task was to win them over to the banner of revolutionary communism. In this text, Lenin explains the methods and skilful tactics of the Bolshevik Party, which enabled them to win over a majority of the workers to their programme. Without this strategic brilliance, there would have been no October Revolution. Any serious revolutionary communist today must study, absorb and apply Lenin’s methods on these vital questions of revolutionary strategy and tactics.

“Left Wing” Communism

“Left Wing” Communism PDF Author: V. I. Lenin
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1789121434
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 159

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Book Description
"Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder is a work by Vladimir Lenin attacking assorted critics of the Bolsheviks who claimed positions to their left. Most of these critics were proponents of ideologies later described as left communism. The book was written in 1920 and published in Russian, German, English and French later in the year. A copy was then distributed to each delegate at the 2nd World Congress of the Comintern, several of whom were mentioned by Lenin in the work. The present volume is a New Translation that was first published in the U.S. in 1940 and the UK in 1942. As with the earlier editions, the book is divided into ten chapters and contains an appendix, including a letter from David Wijnkoop on behalf of the Communist Party of Holland.

Bolshevik Party in Conflict

Bolshevik Party in Conflict PDF Author: Ronald I. Kowalski
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349103675
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
An examination of the part played by the left Communists following the Russian revolution, the largest opposition to state socialism until the 1990s. The author feels that the leftist's vision offered no viable model for the construction of a democratic socialist society.