The Communist League was one of the first

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 ...

groups in Britain, formed in 1932 by members 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 CPGB ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the boroughs, in whole or in part, of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, ...

, including

Harry Wicks Harry Wicks (16 August 1905 – 26 March 1989) was a British socialist activist. Born in Battersea, London, he went to work on the railways and joined the National Union of Railwaymen in 1919. He joined the Labour Party, but after Black Frida ...

, who had been expelled after forming a loose grouping inside the CPGB known as the Balham Group. This became the British Section of the

International Left Opposition International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

and adopted the name Communist League in June 1933.Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike. ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century.'' A&C Black, 2000, p145 They published a monthly newspaper, ''Red Flag'', and a quarterly journal, ''The Communist''. In 1933,

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian M ...

suggested the group should enter the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse worki ...

, but the leadership decided against, leading to a split that December. In 1934, a small group led by

Denzil Dean Harber Denzil Dean Harber (25 January 1909, Streatham, – 31 August 1966) was an early British Trotskyist leader and later in his life a prominent British ornithologist. Denzil Dean Harber was born at 25 Fairmile Avenue, Streatham on 25 January ...

did enter the ILP, as the Bolshevik-Leninist Fraction, and formed the core of the Marxist Group which

C. L. R. James Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901 – 31 May 1989),Fraser, C. Gerald, '' The New York Times'', 2 June 1989. who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J. R. Johnson, was a Trinidadian historian, journalist and Marxist. His works are ...

joined. Slow progress led to more splits, with the formation of the

entrist 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 ...

Bolshevik-Leninist Group in the Labour Party, the core of the later

Militant Group The Militant Group was an early British Trotskyist group, formed in 1935 by Denzil Dean Harber, former leader of the entrist Marxist Group in the ILP, as a separate entrist group inside the Labour Party. Initially known as the Bolshevik-Lenini ...

. The Communist League dissolved in 1936 and its members entered the Labour Party as the Marxist League (not to be confused with the earlier, unconnected Marxist League aka Marxian League of

FA Ridley Francis Ambrose Ridley, usually known as Frank Ridley (22 February 1897 – 27 March 1994) was a Marxist and secularist of the United Kingdom. Life Ridley was educated at Sedbergh School and Salisbury Theological College. He did not enter th ...

and

Hugo Dewar Hugo Dewar (9 August 1908 – June 1980) was an author, poet, and political activist influential in co-founding two of the earliest British Trotskyist groups. Dewar was born in Leyton in London in 1908. He joined the Independent Labour Party in 1 ...

), led by

. Wicks began working closely with James, by then leader of the Marxist Group, and in 1938 the two merged to form the Revolutionary Socialist League, into which the Militant Group (now Militant Labour League) merged the same year.

References

Communist Party of Great Britain breakaway groups Political parties established in 1932 Political parties disestablished in 1936 Political parties established in 1936 Political parties disestablished in 1938 Defunct Trotskyist organisations in the United Kingdom 1932 establishments in the United Kingdom 1936 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 1936 establishments in the United Kingdom 1938 disestablishments in the United Kingdom {{Europe-communist-party-stub