Committee to Defeat Revisionism, for Communist Unity was a small

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Marxist–Leninist group that left 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 ...

in 1963. CDRCU was led by Michael McCreery, the son of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir

Richard McCreery General Sir Richard Loudon McCreery, (1 February 1898 – 18 October 1967) was a career soldier of the British Army, who was decorated for leading one of the last cavalry actions in the First World War. During the Second World War, he was chief ...

. CDRCU was sympathetic towards the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

and the

Party of Labour of Albania The Party of Labour of Albania (PLA), also referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded on 8 November 1941 as the Communist Party of ...

, with CDRCU members attending May Day celebrations in Tirana in May 1964. The group began publishing ''Vanguard'' in 1963.John Moorhouse, ''A Historical Glossary of British Marxism'' (Pauper's Press, 1987)

History

CDRCU reached the height of its activity from February 1964 to February 1965, during which CDRCU cells were established in London, the Thames Valley, Scotland, West Yorkshire, Manchester and Cardiff, and public meetings were arranged. CDRCU had split with other CPGB members, some of them based around the ''Forum'' publication, who wanted to remain inside the CPGB to conduct the anti-revisionist struggle. In October 1964, the CDRCU stood a candidate in

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, Liverpool Built-up Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Merseyside, Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Netherley, Liverpool, ...

in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, gaining 899 votes. After McCreery died (at the age of only 36) from cancer in 1965 in New Zealand, the activity of the group declined sharply. Most of the members of CDRCU regrouped into the

Action Centre for Marxist-Leninist Unity __NOTOC__ The Communist League of Great Britain was an anti-revisionist group in the United Kingdom. It origins were in the Communist Party of Great Britain, where a faction formed around Bill Bland. Initially Maoist, it joined the majority o ...

, which evolved into the

Marxist-Leninist Organisation of Britain __NOTOC__ The Communist League of Great Britain was an anti-revisionist group in the United Kingdom. It origins were in the Communist Party of Great Britain, where a faction formed around Bill Bland. Initially Maoism, Maoist, it joined the major ...

. A small number formed the Finsbury Communist Association. Others later formed the Workers' Party of Scotland and the London Workers' Committee. In 1966 the London Workers' Committee split, becoming the Working People's Party of England. Some of the Irish members of the CDRCU later joined the Irish Communist Group in 1965. When the latter organisation split, they went on to form the

Irish Communist Organisation The British and Irish Communist Organisation (B&ICO) was a small group based in London, Belfast, Cork (city), Cork, and Dublin. Its leader was Brendan Clifford. The group produced a number of pamphlets and regular publications, including ''Th ...

. Noel Jenkinson, a Protestant from

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

,. was another Ireland-born member of CDRCU who had joined from the Communist Party of Great Britain. He later joined the

Official IRA 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 emerg ...

and was convicted for carrying out the

1972 Aldershot bombing The 1972 Aldershot bombing was a car bomb attack by the Official Irish Republican Army on 22 February 1972 in Aldershot, England. The bomb targeted the headquarters of the British Army's 16th Parachute Brigade and was claimed as a revenge atta ...

. ''Vanguard'' continued publication until 1972.

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Defunct communist parties in the United Kingdom Communist Party of Great Britain breakaway groups Anti-revisionist organizations Political parties established in 1963 1963 establishments in the United Kingdom Maoist organisations in the United Kingdom

History

See also

References

Bibliography