It is always said that communism is alien or foreign to our British way of life. Conservatism is traditionally regarded as the mainstay of the country. But the reality, when we look further, is somewhat different to this convention.The ideas of communism have, in fact, very deep roots in British history, especially among the oppressed. 

　　Peasant communism:In Britain, we can trace such ideas of communism back to the Middle Ages when the serfs, viciously exploited by the landowners, longed for a real paradise on Earth, where all wants are satisfied. This dream gave rise to the idea of the Land of Cokaygne, a utopian land where peace and plenty reigned. Here everything is possible:This simple thought, of peasant communism, which runs through the Middle Ages, eventually evolved and led us to the ideas of communism of today.

　　Utopia:The rise of the bourgeoisie and the breakdown of feudalism gave rise to new class conflicts and ideas. We can witness the impact of Thomas More’s Utopia of the early 16th century, which is interwoven with communist ideas.There was to be no poverty in More’s Utopia.More’s vision, however, had no social force to turn it into reality. 

　　The Diggers:The breakdown of censorship in class battles of the 1640s, resulted in the emergence of a host of radical sects. The most prominent were the Levellers. But the most left-wing were the Diggers—the True Levellers—led by Gerrard Winstanly.Winstanley was correct to see private ownership and appropriation as “the cause of all wars, bloodshed, theft, and enslaving laws that hold people under misery”. Only the abolition of private property can end “this enmity in all lands”.With the defeat of the Digger and Leveller movement, the restoration of 1660 and then the Settlement of 1688 brought to power an alliance of sections of the aristocracy with the upper bourgeoisie. The rise of capitalism introduced a new dynamic—and the emergence of a new class, the industrial working class.

　　Chartism:The Chartists created the first political party of the British working class. While it was based on six demands, beginning with the male adult vote and ending with annual parliaments, these were seen as a means to an end—a new egalitarian society.Chartist meeting on 10 April 1848 at Kennington CommonThe Chartist movement split between the reformists (“moral force”) and the revolutionaries (“physical force”), with the latter becoming the overwhelming majority. They engaged in mass petitions to general strikes, to insurrection, as in the Newport Rising.To establish communism, the working class needed to conquer political power.Engels described it as “the union of Socialism with Chartism, the reproduction of French Communism in an English manner”.

　　Marxism:Marx and Engels had abandoned the term “socialist”, which was linked to middle-class utopian notions, for the word “communist”. They changed the woolly slogan “All Men are Brethren” to the class slogan “Proletarians of all lands unite”.With the defeat of Chartism, which in many ways was an anticipation of future developments, Ernest Jones attempted to rally “the scattered ranks of Chartism on the sound principles of social revolution”.But the changed objective situation, with the growth of capitalism, cut across these efforts. And Chartism gave way to the epoch of model unionism and class collaboration.Nevertheless, the flame of communism was kept alive by Marx and Engels, who now lived in England. Together with the preparatory work of Jones and Harney, especially the formation of the Fraternal Democrats, they helped to found the First International in London in September 1864.

　　Communist Party of Britain

　　The SDF evolved in the years that followed and—in 1911—became the British Socialist Party (BSP). In 1916, the party had ousted the pro-war faction around Hyndman, who then resigned. By this time, the BSP had affiliated to the Labour Party.In 1917, radicalised by the imperialist war, the BSP were deeply supportive of the Bolshevik Revolution. Many of their members took part in the ‘Hands Off Russia’ Committee.In 1919, a new (third) Communist International was formed. Lenin abandoned the old name of social-democratic, associated with the betrayal of 1914, for communist.The Third International made an appeal for communist groups and parties to be established. In Britain, preparatory negotiations took place between different groups, the biggest being the BSP, to establish a Communist Party of Britain, as part of the Communist International.Although numbering around 2,000 members, it drew to its ranks the cream of the working class. They soon began to lay plans for building a mass communist party.Unfortunately, with the death of Lenin and the rise of Stalinism, the young communist parties were blown off course, including in Britain. From originally supporting world revolution, they adopted the Stalinist theory of “socialism in one country”.This led to their nationalist and reformist degeneration. They simply sanctioned every twist and turn demanded by Moscow, and lauded the “socialist paradise” in Russia and the “socialist” countries without criticism.The Soviet Union would eventually collapse, suffocated by a bureaucratic stranglehold. Without workers’ democracy, the state-owned planned economy was doomed. 

　　Today, the small Communist Party of Britain, a shadow of its former self, has nothing in common with communism, except its name. But it is a misnomer. While paying lip-service to Marxism, it has long ago become a reformist party, no different from the Labour and trade union “lefts”.

　　Given the deepening crisis and turmoil of capitalism, the ideas of communism have once again become increasingly popular, especially amongst the youth.

　　The task before us remains the building of a genuine revolutionary communist party, based on the ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin. Our aim is the overthrow of capitalism in Britain and internationally, and the establishment of a world federation of socialist states.

　　On that basis, the old dreams of a classless society can be made a reality. And we can truly establish a paradise on Earth.

　　Editor: Zhong Yao、Liu Tingting

　　From: https://socialist.net/communism-in-britain-the-unbroken-thread/(2023-11-10)