The Socialist National Defence Committee also known as the Socialist National Defence League was a pro First World War socialist faction.
The party's origins lay in the 1915 split by the right-wing of the British Socialist Party, led by Victor Fisher, primarily over issues raised by the First World War, comprising the supporters of the failed leadership candidate Henry M. Hyndman. They supported "the eternal idea of
nationality
Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...
" and aimed to promote "socialist measures in the war effort". This group, including
Robert Blatchford
Robert Peel Glanville Blatchford (17 March 1851 – 17 December 1943) was an English socialist campaigner, journalist, and author in the United Kingdom. He was also noted as a prominent atheist, nationalist and opponent of eugenics. In the early ...
, formed the Socialist National Defence Committee.
They believed that it was desirable to support the United Kingdom in World War I against "
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
n militarism". They still maintained that they were a Marxist party. They were grouped around the newspaper ''
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
vanguardism
Vanguardism in the context of Leninist revolutionary struggle, relates to a strategy whereby the most class-conscious and politically "advanced" sections of the proletariat or working class, described as the revolutionary vanguard, form orga ...
and see the Russian Revolution as a danger that in weakening the United Kingdom's war effort.
Other supporters joined the '' British Workers League'', formed in March 1916, which in turn became part of the pro-coalition ''
National Democratic and Labour Party
The National Democratic and Labour Party, usually abbreviated to National Democratic Party (NDP), was a short-lived political party in the United Kingdom.
History
The party's origins lay in a split by the right wing of the British Socialist Party ...
'', in May 1918.
Coinciding with the Socialist National Defence Committee was Lord Alfred Milner's leadership of the
National Service League
The National Service League (NSL) was a British pressure group founded in February 1902 to campaign for the introduction of compulsory military training in Great Britain, in order to protect the country against invasion, particularly from Germany ...
. Milner' ''strong position'' on conscription brought him into contact with Victor Fisher, through R. MacLeod, the Secretary of the National Service League. Through talks, Fisher decided to take up an, 'imperial labor' platform, based on Lord Milner's book ''The Nation and the Empire'' For his service, Waldorf Astor agreed to pay Fisher a salary of £660 a year for three years (£68,000 in 2020), and £1,000 a year (£104,000 in 2020) for advertising. After a name change, on 17 March 1916 The British Workers National League published its manifesto in the ''Clarion'', on 25 August Fisher published the first edition of its weekly newspaper, ''The British Citizen and Empire Worker'', and by the end of the year the league claimed to have 70 branches throughout the country.
The British Workers National League changed its name to the
National Democratic and Labour Party
The National Democratic and Labour Party, usually abbreviated to National Democratic Party (NDP), was a short-lived political party in the United Kingdom.
History
The party's origins lay in a split by the right wing of the British Socialist Party ...