Harry McShane
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Harry McShane (7 May 1891 – 12 April 1988) was a Scottish
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
, and a close colleague of John Maclean.


Life and career

Born into a
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
family, he became a Marxist. Involved in the Clyde Workers Committee and the anti-war movement during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, after the conflict ended he was part of the ''Tramp Trust Unlimited'', formed by Maclean to propagandise and campaign for a minimum wage and a
six-hour day The six-hour day is a schedule by which the employees or other members of an institution (which may also be, for example, a school) spend six hours contributing. This is in contrast to the widespread eight-hour day, or any other time arrangement. ...
, amongst other socialist policies. He was a member of the British Socialist Party, like Maclean, but chose to join the Communist Party of Great Britain when it was formed in 1920 rather than follow Maclean into the Scottish Workers Republican Party. McShane stated of the SRWP, that they ''"had some queer people that I didn’t like – they had never been to John’s economics classes, they knew nothing about socialism or revolutionary work. Even if I had not joined the Communist Party I could never have joined with that crowd"''. A firm supporter of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, McShane visited
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
in 1932. He was shocked by some of the things he saw there, particularly the working conditions in a coal mine in the Donbas region, which he described as being like something from the previous century. He met a young American journalist who had come to the USSR as a firm supporter, but had become disillusioned, as "people kept disappearing...and no-one asked any questions". McShane remembered later that his faith in the Soviet Union remained strong, but he had his first doubts after the trip. In the 1930s he became involved with the
National Unemployed Workers' Movement The National Unemployed Workers' Movement was a British organisation set up in 1921 by members of the Communist Party of Great Britain. It aimed to draw attention to the plight of unemployed workers during the post First World War slump, the 1926 G ...
and led a number of hunger marches to London. In 1933 McShane lead an NUWM march from
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to
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which became known as the ''Scottish Hunger March''. The marchers camped out on the streets of Edinburgh for three days, and McShane chronicled this event in a pamphlet that was published and distributed entitled ''"Three Days that Shook Edinburgh"''. In the 1930s, he also fought to ensure that freedom of speech and assembly was allowed on
Glasgow Green Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge. History I ...
along with other socialist figures. McShane had a number of disagreements with the Communist Party, particularly over the policy document '' The British Road to Socialism'' which he regarded as "reformist"; ultimately he would leave the Communist Party, but remained a convinced socialist for the remainder of his life. In 1954 he combined with other socialist figures such as
Eric Heffer Eric Samuel Heffer (12 January 192227 May 1991) was a British socialist politician. He was Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton from 1964 until his death. Due to his experience as a professional joiner, he made a speciality of the ...
to create a new organisation, the ''Federation of Marxist Groups''. In 1958, after reading ''Marxism and Freedom'' by
Raya Dunayevskaya Raya Dunayevskaya (born Raya Shpigel, ; May 1, 1910 - June 9, 1987), later Rae Spiegel, also known by the pseudonym Freddie Forest, was the American founder of the philosophy of Marxist humanism in the United States. At one time Leon Trotsky's s ...
he embraced
Marxist Humanism Marxist humanism is an international body of thought and political action rooted in an interpretation of the works of Karl Marx. It is an investigation into "what human nature consists of and what sort of society would be most conducive to huma ...
. He was also involved in the Amalgamated Engineering Union and was a Scottish correspondent for the ''
Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were ...
''. While not involved as a full-time organiser, McShane worked as an engineer, and continued to do engineering work until he retired at 69. His biography, ''No Mean Fighter'' was published in 1978. The book is based on transcriptions of tape recordings made at the suggestion of Paul Foot. Richard Kuper and Pluto Press bought the tape recorder that Joan Smith used to make the recordings. She then worked alongside McShane until together they produced the final draft for publication. He died on 12 April 1988.


Awards

On 21 December 1984, he was awarded the freedom of the
City of Glasgow Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of th ...
for his services to the Labour and Trade Union movements.


References


External links


Texts by Harry McShane
at marxists.org
Additional texts by Harry McShane
at marxists.org
Obituary of Harry McShane
by Paul Foot
Red Clydeside: a history of the labour movement in Glasgow 1910-1932
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcshane, Harry 1891 births 1988 deaths Engineers from Glasgow Scottish autobiographers British Socialist Party members Communist Party of Great Britain members Scottish communists 20th-century Scottish engineers Scottish socialists British Marxists