The Revolutionary Socialist League (RSL) was a

Trotskyist 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 ...

group in Britain which existed from 1956 to 1964, when it became

Militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...

, an

entryist Entryism (also called entrism, enterism, or infiltration) is a political strategy in which an organisation or state encourages its members or supporters to join another, usually larger, organization in an attempt to expand influence and expand the ...

group in the Labour Party.

Formation

After the dissolution of the Revolutionary Communist Party,

Ted Grant Edward Grant (born Isaac Blank; 9 July 1913 – 20 July 2006) was a South African Trotskyist who spent most of his adult life in Britain. He was a founding member of the group Militant and later Socialist Appeal. Early life Grant's father had s ...

and his supporters were expelled from the RCP's successor The Club in 1950 and formed the International Socialist Group. They went on to fuse with supporters of the

International Secretariat of the Fourth International The Fourth International (FI) is a revolutionary socialist international organization consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, also known as Trotskyists, whose declared goal is the overthrowing of global capitalism and the establishment of w ...

in Britain as the Revolutionary Socialist League in 1956 and were recognised as the official British section at its fifth world congress in 1957. The RSL held its first congress in 1957.Aitman, T. (1991
A comment on some aspects of entrism
/ref> It was an

group within the Labour Party that published ''Socialist Fight''. In 1958 the group was recognised as the British section of the

and, after the reunification in 1963, the British section of the

Fourth International The Fourth International (FI) is a revolutionary socialist international organization consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, also known as Trotskyists, whose declared goal is the overthrowing of global capitalism and the establishment of ...

. However, the League registered substantial political differences at the 1965 World Congress, and failed to integrate other supporters of the International in Britain. The Congress recognised two sympathising sections in Britain: the RSL and what became the

International Marxist Group :''See also the International Marxist Group (Germany). The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It had around 1,000 members and suppor ...

, prompting the RSL to turn its back on the International. In 1964, the RSL founded the newspaper ''Militant'' and the group itself soon became known by this name, although the official name was still used internally.

References

External links

Catalogue of the RSL archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

{{Authority control Political parties established in 1957 Political parties disestablished in 1964 Defunct Trotskyist organisations in the United Kingdom Fourth International (post-reunification) Entryists 1957 establishments in the United Kingdom 1964 disestablishments in the United Kingdom ru:Революционная социалистическая лига (Великобритания)