''The Militant'' is an international

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 ...

newsweekly A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or ...

connected to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and the

Pathfinder Press Pathfinder may refer to: Businesses * Pathfinder Energy Services, a division of Smith International * Pathfinder Press, a publisher of socialist literature Computing and information science * Path Finder, a Macintosh file browser * Pathfinder ...

. It is published in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and distributed in other countries such as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Australia,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, Sweden,

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Publication history

Forerunners

An earlier publication called ''The Militant'

was launched in November 1928 by James P. Cannon and other American

Trotskyists Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a re ...

gathered together in the Communist League of America (CLA). It declared its goal to be a fight "''in the interest of the working people''" against the

capitalist system Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private pr ...

imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

wars, and the Stalinist regime in 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, ...

, which according to the Trotskyists had betrayed and corrupted the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

. The original ''Militant'' terminated in 1934 at the time of the merger of the Cannon-led CLA with the American Workers Party headed by

A. J. Muste Abraham Johannes Muste ( ; January 8, 1885 – February 11, 1967) was a Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist. He is best remembered for his work in the labor movement, pacifist movement, antiwar movement, and civil rights movemen ...

to form the

Workers Party of the United States The Workers Party of the United States (WPUS) was established in December 1934 by a merger of the American Workers Party (AWP) led by A.J. Muste and the Trotskyist Communist League of America (CLA) led by James P. Cannon. The party was dissolved i ...

(WPUS). The paper was succeeded by a similar broadsheet that served as the official organ of the WPUS called the ''New Militant,'' edited by Cannon. This paper was in turn terminated after about 18 months when the main section of the WPUS joined the Socialist Party of America en masse in 1936 and was replaced by a new publication '' Socialist Appeal'' by Trotskyists in the SPA.

Albert Goldman Albert Harry Goldman (April 15, 1927 – March 28, 1994) was an American academic and author. Goldman wrote about the culture and personalities of the American music industry both in books and as a contributor to magazines. He is best known f ...

edited the Chicago-based publication from 1935, he and other Trotskyists in Chicago had joined the SPA prior to the rest of the WPUS. In 1937, the newspaper was transferred to New York City.

Current publication

The Socialist Workers Party was founded on December 31, 1937, by Trotskyists following the expulsion of the "Socialist Appeal faction" from the Socialist Party of America. The SWP's newspaper continued to be known as ''Socialist Appeal'' until 1941 when it was renamed ''The Militant''. This publication has continued without interruption through 2022. In 1964, ''The Militant'' gained unwanted attention when it was revealed during the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States P ...

that

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

had his wife,

Marina Oswald Porter Marina Nikolayevna Oswald Porter ( Prusakova; russian: Марина Николаевна Прусакова; born July 17, 1941) is the Russian-American widow of Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of US President John F. Kennedy. Early life Port ...

take two photographs of him around March 31, 1963 posing in his backyard holding a copy of ''The Militant'' and another communist newspaper ''The Worker'' in one hand and the rifle that he would later use on November 22 to assassinate

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

on the other (he held them in different hands in both photographs). These photographs were considered important evidence in the investigation as it proved the rifle was his. In the 1970s, another photograph of the same was found and was used in a later investigation in 1977.http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/hsca/reportvols/vol6/html/HSCA_Vol6_0074a.htm HSCA Appendix to Hearings, vol. 6, p. 141 In the summer of 2005, ''The Militant'' became a bilingual newspaper, published in both English and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

(''El Militante''), and with lead articles and editorials appearing in both languages. A French edition was inaugurated in 2012 named ''Le Militant''. ''The Militant'' is not officially owned or controlled by the SWP. To protect the party and the paper, ''The Militant'' is owned by an unidentified private group, although the endorsement the paper gives to the SWP is clear.

References

External links

Official website

* ttp://www.pathfinderpress.com/ Pathfinder Books, the bookstore of the Socialist Workers Party {{DEFAULTSORT:Militant 1928 establishments in the United States Communist periodicals published in the United States Magazines established in 1928 Magazines published in New York City Multilingual magazines Socialist Workers Party (United States)