The Revolutionary Communist League of Britain was a

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, formed in 1977.

History

The origins of the RCLB lie in the Joint Committee of Communists, founded in 1968 by former

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

members and from various youth organisations. In 1969, the group renamed itself the Communist Federation of Britain (Marxist-Leninist), and soon became the main rival of the Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist). In 1977, the 9-member Communist Unity Association (Marxist-Leninist) merged with the group, which renamed itself the ''Revolutionary Communist League'', and in 1980, the Communist Workers' Movement and Birmingham Communist Association also joined. Like many Maoist organisations, the RCL was regularly convulsed by internal disputes and splits. In 1979 the organisation's secretary and some others (the so-called 'Anti-League Faction') were expelled due after they opposed the majority line that

Soviet 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, ...

social-imperialism As a political term, social imperialism is the political ideology of people, parties, or nations that are, according to Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, "socialist in words, imperialist in deeds". In academic use, it refers to governments that enga ...

rather than Britain was the main enemy; two of the expelled formed the Stockport Communist Group. Later, the organisation's first chairman was expelled. As part of their support for

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and against the Soviet bloc (which included

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

) in the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications of Marxism–Len ...

, the RCLB distinguished themselves on the far left by consistent proclaimed solidarity with the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...

-controlled territory of

Democratic Kampuchea Kampuchea ( km, កម្ពុជា ), officially known as Democratic Kampuchea (DK; km, កម្ពុជាប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ ) from 5 January 1976, was a one-party totalitarian state which encompassed modern-day Camb ...

during the

Cambodian–Vietnamese War The Cambodian–Vietnamese War ( km, សង្គ្រាមកម្ពុជា-វៀតណាម, vi, Chiến tranh Campuchia–Việt Nam), known in Vietnam as the Counter-offensive on the Southwestern border ( vi, Chiến dịch Phản ...

. The RCL welcomed the arrest of the so-called 'Gang of Four' in China in 1976 and also the subsequent policies of

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...

. But during the 1980s, the RCL developed criticisms of the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

, opposing its violent suppression of the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

, and in 1992 adopted a new political platform closer to the original views of Mao. It dissolved in 1998. The RCL published the paper ''Class Struggle'' from 1973 until around 1990, the journal 'Revolution' from 1976 to 1980 and the journal ''October''.

References

* Peter Barberis, John McHugh and Mike Tyldesley, ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations'' * Peter Shipley, 'Revolutionaries in Modern Britain' * Lawrence Parker, 'The Kick Inside' Defunct Maoist parties Defunct communist parties in the United Kingdom Maoist organisations in the United Kingdom Political parties established in 1968 Political parties disestablished in 1998 1968 establishments in the United Kingdom 1998 disestablishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-party-stub