Charles Desmond Greaves (27 September 1913 – 23 August 1988) was an English

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

. He wrote a number of books on Irish history as a Marxist historian. A member 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 ...

, through the Connolly Association he was one of the key figures, along with Roy Johnston, responsible for inserting Marxist perspectives into the 1960s

Irish republicanism Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish Republic, Irish republic, void of any British rule in Ireland, British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously ...

, in relation to the Northern Ireland civil rights movement.

History

Greaves was born in

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, England. His father, Charles Edward Greaves, a post office official, and his mother, Amy Elisabeth Taylor, were Methodists. He studied at Liverpool University where he graduated in chemistry and botany, he worked as a research chemist at Powell Duffryn. In 1934 he joined

. In 1941 he joined the Connolly Club which became the Connolly Association, and became editor of its magazine, ''The Irish Democrat''. During the 1950s Greaves used his influence at the Connolly Association to push the view that the best path to a

United Ireland United Ireland (), also referred to as Irish reunification or a ''New Ireland'', is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically: the sovereign state of Ireland (legally ...

would be to discredit Ulster Unionism in the eyes of British Politicians. He believed this could be achieved by exposing how discriminatory the Stormont regime in Belfast was. Greaves' policy was made part of the Connolly Association's constitution in December 1955. From there on out, Greaves and the Connolly Association worked to influence and educate British political opinion, especially on the left and in particular within the British Labour Party. This was no easy task as during the 1940s the Labour Party's stance was to support Unionists, partially as a reward for their support during World War 2. One example of this would be the passing of the Ireland Act 1949, which gave Stormont a veto over any constitutional change relating to Northern Ireland. However, by the end of the 1950s their efforts were bearing fruit; for example, the Association was able to raise the issue of hundreds of prisoners being detained without trial in Northern Ireland under the Special Powers Act of 1922. Thanks to the Associate putting pressure on the British Labour, who in turn put pressure on Lord Brookeborough they were able to force the release of the prisoners. Greaves and the Connolly Association would continue to push Labour against the Unionists into the 1960s, which would later prove to be a key piece of political strategy on the eve of

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. Greaves became associated with Roy Johnston, a Dublin-born member of the Irish Workers' Party who had migrated to England. They and their theories came to have an influence over 1960s

through Cathal Goulding and Tomás Mac Giolla, who also adhered to a Marxist perspective. During the split within the Irish republican movement in 1969, Greaves' Connolly Association supported Official Sinn Féin (later known as the Workers' Party) and the

Official Irish Republican Army The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a " workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland. It emerge ...

, rather than the Provisionals. This was done under the rationale of anti-sectarianism, claiming that the Provisionals were representative of just the Catholic nationalist community. His library of Irish books is held at the Working Class Movement Library in

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

, deposited by his executor Anthony Coughlan. The Desmond Greaves summer school is held each year as a forum for discussing topics which exercised him, such as Irish left wing, and republican politics.Éanna Ó Caollaí
"Something for the weekend: What's on"
''Irish Times'', 15 September 2012; retrieved 12 January 2013.

Publications

* ''The Life and Times of James Connolly'' (1961) * ''The Easter Rising as History'' (London 1966) *''Northern Ireland: Civil Rights and Political Wrongs'' (1969) *
The Irish Crisis
' (1972, second enlarged edition 1974) * ''Liam Mellows and the Irish Revolution'' (1971) * ''Reminiscences of the Connolly Association'' (1978) * ''Sean O'Casey Politics and Art'' (1979) * ''The Easter Rising in Song and Ballad'' (1980) * ''Irish Transport and General Workers' Union: The Formative Years (1982)''

References

External links

C. Desmond Greaves profile
irishdemocrat.co.uk; accessed 10 March 2015.
The Desmond Greaves School official website
accessed 10 March 2015.
The Desmond Greaves Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greaves, C. Desmond 1913 births 1988 deaths 20th-century English historians British Marxist historians Alumni of the University of Liverpool People from Birkenhead Place of death missing