Frederick Harold Peet (born 1890) was a British

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

activist. Born in

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...

, Peet became active in the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw t ...

(BSP), and by the late 1910s was its London District Secretary and a member of its National Organising Committee. A member of the majority in the BSP which opposed

World War I 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 ...

,''The Labour Who's Who'' (1927), p.166 he was sentenced to hard labour in Carmarthenshire, his wife and young child having to relocate nearby in order to be able to see him. Peet supported 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 moment ...

, and was a committee member and London secretary of the Hands Off Russia campaign. The BSP became the main constituent of the

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 ...

(CPGB), and Peet also served as its London District Secretary, combining this with the role of assistant general secretary, and membership of its executive committee. The General Secretary, Albert Inkpin, was arrested in May 1921 and imprisoned until June 1922, and Peet served as Acting General Secretary until August. During this period, the party was rapidly losing members and struggling financially. The

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

asked the party to put together a commission to urgently review its position; this consisted of Rajani Palme Dutt, Harry Pollitt, and Harry Inkpin, Albert's brother. Their report, released late in 1922, was highly critical of Peet for overstating the party's membership. Major reorganisation of the party led to many former BSP members losing their full-time posts, and this included Peet, who became a commercial traveller. Fred Peet has sometimes been confused with

George Peet George Peet (24 August 1883 – 21 November 1967) was a British communist activist and trade unionist. Born in Derby, Peet became a fitter in the railway works, and joined the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE) in 1904. He soon moved to ...

, secretary of the National Shop Stewards' and Workers' Committee Movement and another founder member of the CPGB.For example, Raymond Challinor, ''The Origins of British Bolshevism''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peet, Fred 1890 births Year of death missing British Socialist Party members Communist Party of Great Britain members People from Bethnal Green