Marxists Internet Archive
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International Working-men's Association
The founders of Marxism, Marx and Engels, participated in the “International Workingmen's Association” from 1864 to 1872, where they found their first base of support and a connection with the workers' movement. Based in London, the International found supporteres across Europe and in the U.S.A. | |
(1818-1883)/(1820-1895) 1,000+  Founders of Marxist practice and philosophy. Established the ground work of Marxism through an examination of the rise of capitalism, the history of society, and critique of many prevailent philosophies. Established the First International Workers' organisation. [Marx Biography] [Engels Biography] | |
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(1826-1900) 10+ German Revolutionary, comrade of Marx in the Communist League in the 1840s. [Biography] (1826-1906) < 5 After fighting in the 1848 Revolution in Germany, he fled to America; later Secretary of the First International; Marx's closest supporter in the US. [Biography] (1828-1888) < 5 Created dialectical materialism independently of Marx & Engels, but on seeing their writings became their most ardent supporter. His main contributions were using dialectics to elaborate epistemology. [Biography] (1840-1913) 10+
Co-founder of the German Social Democracy with Wilhelm Liebknecht in 1869. Part of the Reichstag from 1867. Outstandingly argued for the emancipation of women's rights before capitalism could be overthrown. [Biography] |
(1841-1911) 30+ A member of the Paris Commune. Staunch advocate of Women's rights, wrote also on the history of religion, morals, literature, language, and comedy. Married to Marx's second daughter, Laura. [Biography] (1844-1883) < 5 Fought for Irish independence from England. Detailed the attrocities against Irish political prisoners in England. Braved a narrow escape from France after the massacres of the Paris Commune. Marx's eldest daugthter. [Biography] (1845-1922) < 5 French socialist. Leader of the Marxist wing of the French workers' movement. [Biography] |
The Socialist International
In the 1880s, militant workers' movements grew up in all the capitalist countries. Marxists built powerful social-democratic parties which gave political leadership to these movements and transformed Marxism into a worldwide, mass movement. | |
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(1854-1938) 60+ Helped create the German Social-Democracy, one of the best-known theoreticians of the Second International, and a leading proponent of Marx & Engels after their death. During and after World War I he became a pacifist. [Biography] (1849-1922) < 5 Founder of Swedish Social-Democracy. [Biography] British Social Democracy(1834-1896) 300+Helped create the Socialist League (with E. Marx). An artist who became a revolutionary communist through his search to address the lack of creative and artistic freedom allowed in the capitalist work process. Wrote fiction on far in the future Communist societies. [Biography] (1842-1921) 5+ Founder of Britain’s first socialist party, the Social Democratic Federation, but did not follow the SDF into the Independent Labour Party and supported the War. (1854-1925) 300+ Among the first sources for many Marxist and materialist ideas in English. Founding member of Social Democratic Federation. Popularised Marxist approach to French Revolution in English. [Biography] (1855-1898) 15+ Helped formed the Socialist League (with W. Morris), and wrote extensively in its paper. Wrote extensively on women's issues. Organizing, writer, record-keeper, and speaker for militant trade unions such as the Gasworkers, and the Dockers Union. [Biography] (1858-1913) 5+ Founding member of British Social Democracy. [Biography] (1851-1933) 100+ British feminist and founding member of the British Communist Party. [Biography] (1856-1941) < 5 British trade union organiser and founding member of the British Communist Party, founder of IWW and Marxist movement in Australia. [Biography] (1864-1943) 5+ German-born Jewish socialist journalist and historian, British Social-Democrat; worked with Riazanov at the Institut für Sozialforschung. [Biography] (1864-1943) 20+ Russian emigré British Social Democrat; returned to Russian after the Revolution and worked as a diplomat. [Biography] Early American Marxism. (1852-1914) 1,000+ Helped create the IWW. Developed one of the most detailed outlines of how Socialist society should function. Believed that democratic control of all industries and services must be held by workers organised into industrial unions. [Biography] (1855-1926) 40+ Helped build the American Railway Union, and later the American Socialist Party. Arrested for his political criticism of WW1, won almost a million votes for U.S. President while in prison. [Biography] —————— (1868-1916) 300+ Helped create the Irish Socialist Republican Party in 1896; served as Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union. Executed for his leading role in the Easter Rising. [Biography] (1868-1954) <5 Australian Communist journalist, brother of Utopian William Lane. |
(1843-1904) < 5 Among the first Italian Marxists, he was a writer and philosopher. Criticized the theories of Hegel, Nietzsche, Croce, and neo-Kantiansim. [Biography] Mensheviks(1851-1919) < 5A founder with Plekhanov of the Emancipation of Labour Group, and a translator of Marx's works into Russian; later joined the Mensheviks. [Biography] (1856-1918) 20+ Helped create the Russian Social-Democratic party, becomming a Menshevik after the split in the party, but he tried to keep the party united. Believed that capitalism need to grow up before socialism was possible; thus he opposed the Soviet government. [Biography] (1873-1923) < 5 Originally close collaborator of Lenin, split with him in 1903 and became leading Left Menshevik and critic of Bolshevism. [Biography] —————— (1854-1940) < 5 One of the founders of the Second International in France. [Biography] (1856-1929) < 5 Italian Marxist of the Second International, criminologist. [Biography] (1859-1933) 5+ Born Yabuki Sugataro, jailed for striking in 1912, left Japan for the US, where he became a Communist, and as an officer for Comintern he became in 1922, co-founder of the Japan Communist Party, left Japan and remained in the Soviet Union until his death. The Spartacist League(1846-1919) < 5Writer, historian, member of German Social Democrats and the Spartacist League. [Biography] (1857-1933) 10+ Leader of the international women's movement. National Executive member of the German Social Democratic party. Long time comrade of Rosa Luxemburg, helped create the Spartacists and German Communist Party. Supported the Soviet government. [Biography] (1871-1919) 60+ Championed the idea of the mass strike. Tireless opponent of WWI, she renounced the German Social Democracy, helped to create the Spartacus League, and later the German Communist Party. Critical of the Soviet government. Executed by the German government. [Biography] (1871-1919) < 5 "Karl Liebknecht called upon the workers and soldiers of Germany to turn their guns against their own government. Karl Liebknecht did that openly from the rostrum of parliament (the Reichstag) [of which he was a deputy – he was the only member of government to do so]." Executed by the German government. [Biography] (1884-1948) 10+ German socialist, founder member and theorist of the German Communist Party. [Biography] See also: Wilhelm Liebknecht, August Bebel, Wilhelm Pieck —————— (1877-1941) < 5 German socialist and political economist. [Biography] (1881-1938) < 5 Major theorist of “Austro-Marxism” in the “2½ International.” [Biography] |
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See also: Paul Lafargue, Jules Guesde, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Leon Kamenev, Sylvia Pankhurst, Vida Goldstein. | |
Reformism(1850-1932) 10+ A close associate of Engels and an early Marxist, Bernstein came to believe that capitalism could be made more and more democratic so that a socialist revolution would be unnecessary and irrelevant. [Biography] (1859-1914) 10+ Popular French socialist. Founder of l'Humanité. [Biography] (1860-1925) A founder of Swedish social democracy. [Biography] (1882-1970) Member of the Russian Socialist Revolutionary Party; was leader of the Provisional Government when overthrown by the Bolsheviks in October 1917. [Biography] (1901-1977) Italian socialist, critic of bureaucracy. [Biography] |
Fabian Society
(1854-1900)Irish poet and playwrite who was also a socialist. [Biography] (1856-1950) Irish writer and playwrite, comrade of Eleanor Marx, Edward Aveling, and William Morris, later joined the Fabian society, a circle of intellectuals who advocated reform to avoid revolution. [Biography] (1866-1946) Radical science fiction author who used his novels to warn of the dangers of capitalism. [Biography] —————— (1878-1968) Radical American writer who exposed the conditions of the poor in the industrial cities of the U.S.. [Biography] |
The BolsheviksSocial-democracy was unable to prevent the First World War, and only one section – the Bolshevik Party in Russia, was able to overthrow their government, pull out of the war and institute a socialist policy. The Bolsheviks called on the workers of all countries to come to their aid. | |
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(1870-1924) 1,000+ Helped create the Bolshevik party. Led the Soviets to power in the Russian Revolution. Elected to the head of the Soviet government until 1922, when he retired due to ill health. Created the Communist International. Created the theory of Imperialism, emphasised the importance of the political party as vanguard in the revolution. [Biography] (1868-1936) 5+ World-renowned writer of fiction, Gorky first focused on the plight of societal outcasts in Russia, then turned his attention to the struggles of the working class. [Biography] (1869-1939) < 5 Bolshevik Revolutionary. Writer, educator and Secretary of the Party. Wife and advisor to V.I. Lenin. Secretary to the Board of Iskra beginning in 1901. Brought recognition of International Women's day to Russia. [Biography] (1870-1938) < 5 Historian and Archivist of Marxism, helped create the Marx-Engels Institute. Political prisoner of Stalinism, died in prison. [Biography] (1872-1952) 30+ Bolshevik Revolutionary. Led the Workers' Opposition, which opposed party control of trade unions and believed in industrial unionism. First woman ambassador in history. Proponent of free love, she wrote extensively on women's and other social issues. [Biography] (1872-1936) 20+ One-time Diplomat and Social-Revolutionary, appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs for the Bolsheviks in 1918. [Biography] (1873-1941) 5+ President of Soviet Ukraine, worked to make the Soviet Ukrainian identity independent of Russia. Helped create the Left Opposition, seen as its ideological leader. Explained Socialist economics. Political prisoner of Stalinism, died in prison. [Biography] (1873-1928) < 5 Russian Doctor, an old Bolshevik expelled in 1909 as an ultra-left. Also a writer, after the Revolution dedicated himself to science. [Biography] (1875-1933) 5+ Bolshevik Revolutionary, outstanding orator. Commissar for Education in the Soviet government. Historian and archivist of Russia, he wrote extensive, personal biographical portraits on the leaders of the revolution. [Biography] (1876-1960) < 5 Bolshevik who wrote a celebrated history of her experiences. (1880-1936) < 5 Old Bolshevik, trade unionist. [Biography] |
(1879-1940) 100+ First Menshevik, later Bolshevik Revolutionary. As commissar of war led the Red Army to defeat the Entente in their invasion of Soviet Russia. Helped create the Left Opposition to overthrow Stalin and stop the monstorous attrocities he'd soon commit. Created the theory of the Permanent Revolution, and the Fourth International. Assasinated by the Soviet government. [Biography] (1882-1962) < 5 Russian Revolutionary. Worked with Lenin and Trotsky on pre-revolutionary Bolshevik newspaper Iskra. Publicly split with Fourth International in 1951. Wife of Leon Trotsky. [Biography] (1883-1936) < 5 Old Bolshevik and founding member of Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. First chariman of Central Committee and a founding member of the politburo. First supported Stalin, then joined Trotsky to try to remove him. Imprisoned and placed on trial for alleged assassination plot against Stalin. Executed by the Soviet government. [Biography] (1883-1936) < 5 Bolshevik. With Kamenev, opposed the plans for a revolution. Allied with Stalin and Kamenev against Trotskyism. Later, allied with Trotsky against Stalin. Wrote about the history of the party. Executed during the Moscow Trials. [Biography] (1885-1937) < 5 Old Bolsheik, a member of the Central Committee during the October Revolution and member of the “Workers Opposition” after the Revolution. Executed by the Soviet government. [Biography] (1885-1939) < 5 Old Bolshevik, active in the Communist International in Europe. Died in prison. [Biography] (1880-1936) < 5 Old Bolshevik, Brest-Litovsk negotiator, Ambassador to England, and People's Commissar for Finance. [Biography] (1888-1938) 10+ Bolshevik Revolutionary. Editor of Pravda (1928-29). Joined Stalin against Trotsky, then led the Right Opposition against Stalin. A theoretical leader of the party, focused heavily on economics, and wrote on market socialism. Executed after the Moscow Trials. [Biography] (1892-1939) < 5 Bolshevik sailor who chronicled the October Revolution. |
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See Also: Josef Stalin, Alexander Lozovsky, Vyacheslav Molotov. | |
The CominternIn 1919, the Bolsheviks held a conference attended by revolutionaries fom every corner of the world, and established the Communist International (Comintern); soon there were Communist Parties in every country, drawing the most militant workers to the Bolsheviks. | |
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(1865-1941) < 5 Russian revolutionary, joined French CP as an exile. [Biography] (1876-1960) <5 Carpenter, Spartacist and founder of the German CP; later a supporter of Stalin, in 1949 appointed President of the GDR. (1878-1952) 5+ Old Bolshevik, Ukrainian Jewish worker, leader of the Red International of Trade Unions. [Biography] (1879-1923) 40+ Scottish schoolteacher and Marxist educator. His evening-classes produced many of the activists who became instrumental in the Clyde revolts during and after WWI. Soviet Consul to Scotland. [Biography] (1879-1962) < 5 French Psychologist who elaborated a systematic Marxist psychology. [Biography] (1881-1960) < 5 French communist. Founding member of PCF, expelled in 1924, revolutionary syndicalist. [Biography] (1883-1969) < 5 American socialist who became a prominent support of Trotsky but later an anti-communist. [Biography] (1885-1936) < 5 American Revolutionary, supporter of the Soviet government. Historian of the revolution. Tireless advocate to stop U.S. invasion of Soviet Russia. Wife of John Reed. [Biography] (1886-1937) 10+ Hungarian Communist, activist in the Comintern. [Biography] (1887-1975) <5 A founder of the Australian CP, member of E.C.C.I., joined Trotskyists in 1939. [Biography] (1887-1954) 20+ Indian Communist and key leader of the Comintern, later a radical humanist. [Biography] (1892-1970) 5+ American Communist who helped her husband, M.N. Roy, found Communist Parties in Mexico and India. [Biography] |
(1887-1920) 20+ American Revolutionary, supporter of the Soviet government. Historian of the revolution. Tireless advocate to stop U.S. invasion of Soviet Russia. Husband of Louise Bryant. [Biography] (1892-1953) < 5 American socialist, supporter of Russian Revolution, later expelled from the Comintern and wrote on economics. (1890-1960) 5+ Prominent German theorist. Expelled from the Communist Party for "right-wing deviation" in 1928 as main theorist for the Brandlerites. Particularly occupied with analyzing the actual class struggle of his time on independent Marxist grounds. [Biography] (1890-1947) 10+ Originally an anarchist, later joined the Russian Communist Party. As a Comintern representative in Germany he helped prepare the aborted insurrection in 1923. Also joined the Left Opposition in 1923, expelled from the party in 1928 and briefly imprisoned. Exiled in 1933. [Biography] (1891-1937) 50+ Helped create the Italian Communist Party. Arrested in 1926 for his revolutionary activities and sentenced by a fascist court to 20 years imprisonment. Theorized key concepts such as hegemony, base and superstructure, organic intellectuals, and war of position. [Biography] (1892-1980) 5+ Yugoslav communist, participated in the October Revolution and built a partisan army during World War Two which won national liberation for Yugoslavia and united the country. Broke with Stalin over the Post-War settlement and took an independent line. [Biography] (1892-1937) <5 Founder of Communist Party and in 1935 of the POUM in Spain. [Biography] (1894-1930) 5+ Peruvian Professor. Self-educated. Historian of European Marxism and movements in South America. [Biography] (1897-1949) 15+ Indonesian Communist, briefly became the Chairman of Indonesian Communist Party in 1921 before being exiled by the Dutch for the next 21 years. A prominent figure in the Indonesian national liberation movement and workers movement. [Biography] |
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See Also: James Cannon, Karl Korsch, Georg Lukács, Sylvia Pankhurst. | |
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(1879-1953) 50+ General Secretary of Soviet Communist Party from 1917 till his death in 1953. Responsible for the murder of the entire Bolshevik leadership and the consolidation of bureaucratic rule in the USSR. [Biography] (1881-1964) < 5 Finnish Communist and Comintern leader under Stalin. (1882-1949) 20+ Long-standing leader of Bulgarian C.P. [Biography] (1890-1986) Soviet leader who succeeded Stalin. [Biography] (1894-1971) 5+ Leader of Soviet Union who denounced Stalin in 1956 and tried to reform Soviet society. [Biography] (1899-1953) < 5 Close associate of Stalin, leader of Secret police 1938 till Stalin’s death. [Biography] —— (1900-1964) 5+ Post World War Two leader of the French Communist Party. [Biography] (1897-1982) < 5 French Communist Poet. [Biography] (1903-1942) < 5 French Marxist philosopher. [Biography] (1878-1939) 5+ A leader of the Jewish Bund, and later leading member of the CPUSA. [Biography] (1881-1961) 10+ Trade unionist and leader of the Communist Party of the USA. [Biography] (1891-1973) A leader of the Canadian Communist Party, trade unionist, and agitator, especially among the unemployed during the Depression; loyal supporter of the Soviet line. [Biography] (1907-1983) Canadian trade unionist, Communist and Member of Parliament. [Biography] (1908-1985) 5+ Leader of Albanian CP, followed separate foreign policy, anti-Khrushchev, anti-Mao and pro-Stalin. [Biography] |
British Communist PartyThe CPGB History Archive includes a number of writers who were members of the Communist Party of Great Britain, including R. Page Arnot, Thomas Bell, Emile Burns, J. R. Campbell, Ralph Fox, Will Gallacher, John Gollan, Arthur Horner, Albert Inkpin, T. A. Jackson, J. T. Walton Newbold, Arthur MacManus, William Paul, Theodor Rothstein, William Rust, Ellen Wilkinson, and ... (1888-1965) 90+ Founding member of the CPGB and noted figure in Comintern and RILU matters who moved the resolution expelling Trotsky from the Comintern in 1927. [Biography] (1890-1960) General Secretary of CPGB from 1929 till 1956, apart from 1940 when he opposed Stalin-Hitler Pact. [Biography] (1896-1974) Member of the Independent Labour Party before joining the Communist Party in 1920, Dutt was a member of the Executive Committee of the CPGB from 1923 until 1965. [Biography] (1901-1971) 15+ Popularised Marxism. Wrote a 4 volume history of science from a Marxist perspective. [Biography] (1907-1937) 5+ English philosopher and writer, won to Marxism in the 1930s and died fighting for the Republican cause in Spain in 1937. Wrote classic Marxist analyses of literature and art. [Biography] (1912-2003) < 5 English Marxist historian. [Biography] (1891-1973) Australian journalist documented US imperialist crimes, expecially in S.E.Asia; Australian government removed his Australian citizenship. (1901-1977) Popular Italian communist, oin the left of the PCI and a historian. [Biography] ————— (1916-2001) New Zealand-born communist, supporter of Enver Hoxha in Britain. [Biography] |
Soviet Philosophers and ScientistsWriters – scientists, philosophers, teachers – in the Soviet Union were obliged to develop their ideas in terms of the official orthodox Marxist dogma. Most of these writers cannot properly be described as Marxists, but nevertheless their work has contributed in some way or another to our understanding of Marxism. | |
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(1855-1935) Soviet scientist who carried out groundbreaking research in genetics. [Biography] (1874-1949) Architect of Soviet Health System. [Biography] |
(1888-1939) Soviet educationalist who promoted development of virtues of discipline and collectivism. [Biography] (1898-1976) Promoted theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics as the official Communist Party line in biology. [Biography] |
Soviet MarxismDespite the suppression of Trotskyism and the impossibility of open political discussion in Stalin's Soviet Union, a few Russians continued the development of Marxism in Psychology, Medicine, Law and the Sciences. This “non-political Marxism” only dared to show its political colours after Stalin's death. | |
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(1891-1937) 10+ Foremost exponent of the Marxist approach to Law. [Biography] (1895-1936) 5+ Soviet linguist, associate of Mickhail Bakhtin. [Biography] (1924-1979) 5+ Soviet philosopher. Charted the materialist development of Hegel's dialectics. Wrote extensively on dialectics, the Metaphysics of Positivism, and The Dialectics of the Abstract and Concrete in Marx's Capital. [Biography] (192?- ) < 5 Soviet psychologist who wrote on foundations of subjectivity. (1923-1974) < 5 Soviet psychologist who developed education of deaf-blind children. (1930-2006) < 5 Soviet philosopher who challenged simplistic ideas of subjectivity. |
(1896-1934) 10+ Soviet Psychologist who founded the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) school of human development. [Biography] (1902-1977) < 5 The creator of neuropsychology. Soviet Psychologist who made advances in cognitive psychology, the processes of learning and forgetting, and mental retardation. Charted the way in which damage to specific areas of the brain affect behavior. [Biography] (1904-1979) < 5 Soviet Psychologist who developed his own theory of activity which linked social context to development. [Biography] (1904-) < 5 Soviet Psychologist who developed cultural-historical activity theory in the field of childhood development. |
Western MarxismAs it became clear that the world revolution had not spread beyond Soviet Russia, the Communist Parties still exercised great influence, particularly in the workers movement, but some Marxists turned to the unique problems of fighting capitalism in advanced capitalit countries where revolution was no longer on the immediate agenda. | |
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(1885-1971) 10+ Hungarian philosopher, writer, and literary critic. Commissar for Culture and Education in Hungary's short-lived Socialist government (1919). Helped lead the Hungarian uprising of 1956 against Stalinist repression. Created Marxist theory of aesthetics that opposed political control of artists, defended humanism, elaborated alienation. [Biography] (1892-1964) 10+ British geneticist, biometrician, physiologist, and popular advocate of science; “Fellow traveller” of the British CP. (1893-1982) 5+ Japanese Marxist economist who wrote on the history of political economy and Marx’s theory of crisis and money edited the 15-volume Marx-Lexikon zur Politischen Ökonomie. [Biography] Marxism in Japan. The French Left
(1905-1980) 10+Existentialist philosopher who played an important role in the non-Communist Party Left in post-World War Two France, existentialist, later attracted to Marxism. [Biography] (1905-1940) < 5 French writer and Communist Party militant, friend of Jean-Paul Sartre; resigned CP afer Stalin’s pact with Hitler, killed near Dunkirk in 1940. [Biography] (1918-1990) 10+ Criticised Marxism from the standpoint of Structuralism. [Biography] (1926-) < 5 French philosopher, who has written on personality and ethics, member of CC of French Communist Party. [Biography] (1931-1994) < 5 Marxist of the 1960s generation who developed ideas about “the society of the spectacle.” Valued by the “Autonomists.” [Biography] (1945-2003) < 5 French Marxist, variously Maoist and follower of Althusser, Trotskyist (Gauche Prolétarienne), Islamist and assistant to Jean-Paul Sartre before returning to the study of the Talmud. [Biography] |
(1886-1961) 5+ German Left Communist who wrote one of the founding documents of “Western Marxism”, expelled from the Comintern. Became pessimistic about the prospects for socialism by the end of World War Two, but was later to become a supporter of Mao. [Biography] The Frankfurt School(1881-1950) < 5Polish-Jewish Communist, Marxist Political economist. (1892-1940) < 5 Critic of degeneration of art under capitalism [Biography] (1895-1973) 5+ Long-term leader of the Frankfurt Institute from 1930, theorised Fordist, mass-production society. [Biography] (1900-1993) < 5 Philosopher who wrote on literary theory. [Biography] (1900-1980) 5+ German-born U.S. psychoanalyst and social philosopher who explored the interaction between psychology and society. By applying Freudian principles to social problems, Fromm helped show the way to a psychologically balanced, “sane society.” [Biography] (1903-1969) < 5 Philosopher who studied the effects of mass culture and fascism on European society. [Biography]
(1898-1979) 5+Last member of the original Frankfurt School, reached a broader audience in the 1960s with his critique of “consumer society” and the containment of opposition. [Biography] (1929- ) < 5 Leader of second generation of the Frankfurt School, theorised the idea of “networks” as opposed to Party and class, and initiated study of procedural ethics. [Biography] |
 TrotskyismAfter the victory of Hitler in Germany, Leon Trotsky concluded that the Third International was dead for the purposes of revolution, and launched the Fourth International with his supporters in countries around the world. Trotskyism became an opposition force in the workers' movement everywhere. | |
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(1890-1974) 100+ American, IWW organiser, later helped create the US Communist Party. In the 1920s became a Trotskyst, and helped create the US Socialist Workers Party. [Biography] (1900-1943) 10+ Greek Trotskyst. Lead mass movements of veterans and defended workers in court. Wrote extensively about Trotsky. Shot dead by fascists while in prison. [Biography] (1901-1971) < 5 Early member of Chinese CP, a founder of Trotskyism in China. (1901-1988) < 5 South African communist who travelled to China and wrote extensively on China as a Trotskyist. (1904-1972) 20+ American Communist Party, then helped create the American Trotskyist movement. Left the SWP and joined the Socialist Party. [Biography] (1905-1987) 20+ American Trotskyist who broke with Trotsky with a concept of bureaucratic collectivism, later writing about the “managerial revolution.” (1905-1992) 10+ American Trotskyist and writer on Marxist philosophy. [Biography] (1906-1988) 5+ American Trotskyist, wrote a classic eye-witness history of the Spanish Revolution. After the WWII, understood that Capitalism would recover and dominate the world, and that Socialism had a long struggle ahead. [Biography] (1910-1979) 10+ A leader of the US SWP 40s-60s, advocate for Cuban revolution. (1920-1976) 10+ US Trotskyist in 1930s, editor of Monthly Review Press from 1967. [Biography] (1910-1941) 5+ German Jew expelled from the Communist Party for supporting Leon Trotsky, fled to France and later Norway he was eventually assassinated by a Stalinist agent. [Biography] (1906-1984) 10+ French Trotskyist, a founder of the International Left Opposition in 1928, later a leader of the LCR. [Biography] (1911-1996) 5+ International Secretary of Fourth International after WWII. Minister in Ben Bella's Socialist government of Algeria. Developed theory of "centuries of deformed workers states". [Biography] (1914-1976)5+ Romanian trotskyist, active in France from 1936. In 1939, he broke with the IVth International groupings in France and founded the "Groupe Communiste (IVéme Internationale), latter renamed "Union Communiste (Trotskyste)". Today's "Lutte Ouvriére" group claims to stand in the continuity of Barta's UC(T). [Biography] (1914-1990) 20+ American Marxist, journalist and labor activist. Founder of the Socialist Workers Party & Fourth International in 1938, later founded the International Socialist party. Stopped associating with Trotskyism after the 1960s. [Biography] |
(1913-2006) 100+ South African-born British Trotskyist, a founder and long-term leader in the “Militant Tendency” within the Labour Party until expelled from the Labour Party in 1983, and after. [Biography] (1912-1989) 10+ Spanish Trotskyist. [Biography] (1926-2005) 5+ French Trotskyist leader and historian. [Biography] (1923-1995) 100+ Belgian Trotskyist founder and leader of United Secretariat of the Fourth Intenrational, renowned as Marxist Economist. [Biography] (1924-1987) < 5 Argentinian Trotskyist. Leader of the Liga Internacional de Trabajadores (LIT), and of Movement for Socialism (MAS) in Argentina, among the largest revolutionary currents in Latin America which remained oriented to the urban working class after the Cuban Revolution, and opposed guerillaism. International Socialist Tendency(1917-2000) 50+Palestinian Jewish Trotskyist, developed critique of Stalinist Russia as a form of "bureaucratic state capitalism", laid the basis of the theory of 'deflected' permanent revolution and the 'permanent' arms economy, founder of International Socialist Tendency. [Biography] (1925-2002) 40+ British Trotskyist, founder member of the International Socialist Tendency and leader of the British Socialist Workers Party. [Biography] (1930-2003) 10+ A leading theoretician of the British Socialist Review Group and its successor, the International Socialists; also an editor of several publications including Pluto Press. (1930-2002) 10+ British postal worker and trade unionist, a founder of the ISO. [Biography] (1934-1983) 50+ Theorist of the British ISO in the 1950s, translator and editor of Victor Serge. [Biography] (1937-2004) 100+ Trotskyist and prominent investigative journalist in Britain, member of International Socialists. (1947-1992) 10+ British cultural critic, anti-fascist agitator and Marxist writer. [Biography] ———— (1940-1997) < 5 British Trotskyist, economist. |
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See also: Leon Trotsky, Hal Draper, Evelyn Reed and others. | |
 Left CommunismA number of Marxists, especially in Europe and the US, not only rejected Stalinism, but rejected the whole project of building socialism through state power. These were Marxists, not Anarchists, and they remain a force to this day. | |
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(1864-1927) < 5 Dutch socialist and poet, opposed WWI, became an advocate of ultra-left within Comintern. Expelled from Communist Party. [Biography] (1873-1960) 30+ Dutch astonomer. Helped form a Marxist party in the Netherlands. Member of the German Social Democratic party. [Biography] (1874-1943) < 5 German Left Communist who voted with Karl Liebknecht against the war credits and was a founding member of the German Communist Party. [Biography] (1879-1947) < 5 French supporter of Esperanto and anti-nationalism. [Biography] (1880-1958) < 5 Scottish American socialist educator, founding member of the CPUSA, and later the Proletarian Party. Keracher was also a journalist and agitator. [Biography] |
(1882-1960) < 5 British Left-Communist and Suffragette. [Biography] (1889-1970) 5+ Italian Communist, was expelled from Comintern as an ultra-left, later leading an independent Marxist Party in Italy. [Biography] ( ) 5+ French political economist, follower of Bordiga. (1895-1958) < 5 French communist, trade unionist and anti-militarist. [Biography]
(1903-1942) 60+German Left Communist, later lived in the U.S.. Main exponent of “Council Communism” and opponent of idea of Revolution being led by a political party. [Biography] (1927-1995) < 5 Italian Marxist, active in trade unions after WW2, built Lotta Comunista, an independent communist current in Italy. [Biography] |
 Marxist HumanismAlthough Marxist Humanism first appeared as a brteak-away form orthodox Trotskyism, in the 1960s many intellectuals in Eastern Europe and in the Communist Parties in Britain and the US, embraced a Humanist Marxism, emphasising human agency, rather than structural determinism and “iron laws of history” and so on. | |
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(1901-1989) 30+ West Indian, Afro Caribbean. Lucid dialectician, historian, novelist, & playwright. Stressed the importance of non-white workers to the revolutionary movement, foresaw the civil rights movement decades before it got underway. [Biography] (1910-1987) 30+ American Russian Trotskyst, Humanist. Secretary to Trotsky, translated many Marx, Engels and Lenin. Critiqued Lenin's theory of the Party being the vanguard. [Biography] (1918-2001) 20+ American autoworker and life-long supporter of Raya Dunayevskaya and C L R James. [Biography]
(1916-1962) < 5 American Communist, initiated the “New Left” in the U.S. [Biography] (d. 1978) < 5 Polish Marxist Philosopher. |
(1905-1996) < 5 French sociologist, Marxist humanist and with T.B. Bottomore, a prolific publisher and translator. [Biography] (1923-2000) < 5 Italian philologist, philosopher and Marxist. [Biography] (1924-1993) < 5 English Marxist historian and humanist. [Biography] (1928-1995) < 5 Australian Marxist, elaborated ethical foundations of Marxism. The Praxis Group(1913-1993) < 5Croatian Marxist sociologist, Marxist Humanist, in Praxis group. [Biography] (1927-1993) < 5 Marxist Humanist, one of the main theorists in the Praxis Group and long-time editor of the journal Praxis. [Biography] (1927-) < 5 Serbian Marxist philosopher, one of the first and fiercest critics of the Stalinist philosophical theses in Yugoslavia, led return to study of Marx’s critical method in the mid-1960s. [Biography] |
—— Market Socialists / Workers’ Self-Management —— | |
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(1904-1997) Former longstanding leader of the Chinese Communist Party; purged as a “capitalist roader” during the Cultural Revolution, but returned to power after Mao's death and led the gradual return of China to capitalism. [Biography] (1928-2003) < 5 Political scientist, member of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia. [Biography] |
(1919-2004) Czech dissident who became Deputy Prime Minister during the “Prague Spring” advocating a “Third Way” between capitalism and communism; in exile, became more of a social democrat of the Western variety. [Biography] See also Eurocommunism by Manuel Azcárate. |
—— New Worker / Communist Currents —— | |
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(1951-2002) < 5 Iranian Marxist. Conducted party building for the workers' movements in Iran and Iraq, specifically the Worker-Communist Party of Iran. |
(1953-2001) < 5 Phillipino Communist. Led the split in the Communist Party of the Philippines in 1991 over strategy of guerilla warfare. Advocated the orientation to the workers movement, combining parliamentary and extra-parliamentary means of struggle. |
—— The Latin American Left —— | |
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(1908-1973) Leader of the Chilean Socialist Party and President of Chile in 1973, when he was overthrown by a US-organised coup. [Biography] |
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 Guerilla MarxismSome Marxists, in countries where open political debate was impossible, turned instead to military struggle as a form of political organisation, retiring to the countryside and basing themselves on the peasantry, rather than the urban working class. | |
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(1928-1967) 10+ International Revolutionary. Helped create and maintain the Cuban Revolution. Creatively tried to establish socialism in Cuba, worked tirelessly to create revolutions throughout Africa and South America. Created the guerilla foco theory – building a revolutionary movement through militant resistance instead of party building. [Biography] “The road is long and, in part, unknown. We recognize our limitations. We will make the human being of the 21st century – we, ourselves.” [Che Guevara] |
(1911-1969) < 5 A Brazillian revolutionary who led the National Liberation Action (ALN). His tactics inspired the Italian Red Brigades, the German Red Army Faction. Expelled from the Brazilian Communist Party for “pro-Cuban” sympathy. Executed by police. (1930-2006) < 5 General Secretary of the Communist Party of El Salvador, and guerrilla commander in the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) in the 1980s. [Biography] |
MaoismIn the early 1960s, divisions opened up within the Comintern, with a current sympathetic to the Mao Zedong, as opposed to the Soviet leader Khrushchev, developing a distinct philosophical and political line, emphasising the role of the peasantry. | |
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(1893-1976) 100+ Became leader of the Chinese Communist Party during the Long March in 1937, and led China to its Revolution in 1949 and remained its supreme leader until his death in 1976. [Biography] (1907-1971) Firm supporter of Mao during the Cultural Revolution, leader of the Red Army. [Biography] (1898-1976) 10+ Most respected of the old generation of leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. [Biography] (1902-1997) Longstanding leader of the Chinese Communist Party; denounced during the Cultural Revolution, but survived and returned to leadership, as one who opposed restoration of the market. [Biography] (1923-1976) 5+ A founder of the Marxist-Leninist Socialist Unity Centre of India. |
(1886-1976) Longstanding leader of the CCP, denounced during the Cultural Revolution but later rehabilitated. [Biography] (1899-1967) < 5 Early leader of Chinese CP, regarded as ultra-leftist, denounced during Cultural Revolution, and committed suicide. [Biography] (1902-1997) 10+ Longstanding leader of the Chinese Communist Party who was denounced during the Cultural Revolution as a “capitaist roader” and died in prison. [Biography] (1917-2005) Part of the core leadership of China's Cultural Revolution. Worked closely with Mao's wife, Jiang Qing. (1920- ) Led China after the Cultural Revolution after out-manoeuvering “Gang of Four” in a power struggle later in 1976. Deng Xiaoping's policies of reform began to take shape during Hua's tenure, and by 1980, leadership had shifted to Deng. Hua remains a member of the CC. [Biography] Naxalbari(1918-1972) 20+A founder of the pro-Chinese Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), died in police custody. [Biography] (1947-1998) 10+ Longstanding leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation. [Biography] |
National LiberationParticularly in the decades after the end of World War Two, communists were in the leadership of national liberation struggles, the leaders of these struggles developed a distinct approach to socialist theory. | |
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(1890-1969) 30+ Longstanding leader of the Vietnamese national liberation movement; set-up a guerilla base in the countryside in 1944, going on to defeat the French in 1954, but dying before final victory over the US invasion in 1975. [Biography] (1906-2000) < 5 Leader of the Vietnamee Army in the wars against both the French colonial forces and the US invaders. Foremost theorist of protracted warfare. [Biography] (1908-1986) 5+ Led Communist forces in South Vietnam after French withdrawal in 1954 and was First Secretary of North Vietnam Communist Party from 1959. After Ho Chi Minh’s death in 1969, became Party leader. [Biography] (1907-1931) 10+ Leader of the militant and socialist wing of the Independence Movement in India; hanged by the British in 1931. [Biography] Marxism and Anti-Imperialism in India. (1902-1959) 30+ West Indian, CPUSA and Comintern 1927-1935, became leading advocate of Pan-Africanism. [Biography] |
(1881-1936) 20+ One of modern China’s most prominent and influential writers. His work frequently promoted radical change through criticism of antiquated cultural values and repressive social customs. [Biography] (1898-1974) 5+ Algerian communist and founder of the modern Algerian nationalist movement; supporter of the Russian Revolution. [Biography] (1925-1961) < 5 West Indian-born, French/Algerian doctor and intellectual whose works addressed the problems of developing national consciousness in the oppressed people, an inspiration for the US Civil Rights movement as much as in Black Africa. [Biography] (1921-1997) < 5 Brazilian educator, member of the Workers' Party.
(1927- ) 10+Leader of the Cuban Revolution and President of Cuban Republic. [Biography] Cuban History Archive. |
African Liberation MovementThe struggle against colonialism in Africa, to create independent socialist states, brought forward several generations of heoric fighters, who contributed to the development of Marxist ideas. | |
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(1909-1972) < 5 Nkrumah was the force behind the movement for independence of Ghana, then British West Africa, first president of independent Ghana in 1957. His 1965 “Neocolonialism, the last stage of imperialism,” introduced the concept of “neocolonialism.” [Biography] (1910-2001) < 5 Life-long activist for the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party. [Biography] (1920- ) < 5 Journalist, Cental Committee member of the South African CP, ‘natives representative’ in Parliament before being banned, and fleeing to Britain. [Biography] (1926-1995) < 5 Leader of the South African Communist Party in 1991 till his death in 1995, leading SACP after the collapse of the USSR, to the final overthrow of apartheid. [Biography] |
(1921-1999) < 5 South African Trotskyist. Organiser for Workers International League, participated in the armed struggle, imprisoned, but went into exile in 1973. [Biography] (1922-1999) < 5 Pan-Africanist, socialist and leader of Tanzanian independence struggle and its first President. [Biography] (1924-1973) < 5 Lead of independence struggle in Guinea-Bissau, assassinated by Portuguese agents. [Biography] (1925-1961) < 5 Leader of independence movement in the Congo, executed by Belgian colonial police, despite U.N. calls for his release. [Biography] |
Black LiberationFrom the 18th century up to the present people of colour have resisted oppression by white capitalist powers and have developed a distinct current of revolutionary socialist thinking. | |
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(1743-1803) 10+ The “Black Jacobin” who led a slave rebellion in Haiti in 1800 and created the first Black Republic, inspired by the French Revolution. [Biography] |
(1800-1859) 5+ American slave-abolitionist who aimed to build an emancipation army, hanged after a shoot-out with Robert E. Lee.
(1925-1965) 5+ (audio)US Black Muslim leader, assassinated in 1965. [Biography] Black Panther Party (1966-1998) See Also: George Padmore, C.L.R. James, Frantz Fanon and Angela Davis. |
The French RevolutionThe leaders of the French Revolution were the first to develop modern social theory and laid the basis for the modern socialism. Rousseau traced the origins of inequality to private property, and Babeuf is credited with being the first Communist. The socialist ideas from the French Revolution are one of the sources of Marxism. | |
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(1709-1751) 5+ Militant atheist. [Biography] (1712-1778) It has been said that the French Revolution, put Rousseau's philosophy into practice, in particular his idea of the Social Contract. Although he died 20 years before the Revolution, he was its principle theorist. [Biography] (1743-1793) 10+ Leader of the left wing of the Revolution, inspired the execution of royalist prisoners which launched the second, radical phase of the Revolution; his murder set off the Great Terror. [Biography] (1758-1794) 10+ Leader of the Jacobins and instigator of the Great Terror, Robespierre was the ultimate “moralist.” His overthrow marked the end of the radical phase of the Revolution. [Biography] |
(17??-1794) 5+ Priest who became a leader of the popular democratic Enragés during the French Revolution. He was renowned for the foul and abusive language of his journalism. [Biography] (1757-1794) 5+ Leader of the extreme left-wing during the Revolution and spokesperson of the sans coulottes. Hébert initiated a planned economy before his overthrow, after which the Revolution lost the support of the poor. (1723-1789) 5+ French materialist and atheistic philosopher. [Biography]
(1760-1797) 5+Rose to prominence in the twilight of the Revolution, convening a running public forum organising for more radical measures. He can be regarded as the first communist and an advocate of popular sovereignty and participatory democracy. [Biography] |
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(1805-1881) 20+ Founder of the communist movement in the 1830s, he believed communism could be achieved by the dictatorship of a radical minority. He was immensely popular in France and elsewhere but spent most of his days in prison. [Biography] (1810-1889) Veteran of the Revolution of 1848 and a leader of the left-wing of the Paris Commune. [Biography] |
The Paris Commune
(1832-1885) 5+ Agitator, editor of Le Cri du Peuple. [Biography] (1831-1913) Journalist, deputy to Government of National Defence for Paris. [Biography] (1830-1905) Nurse, soldier, hero of the Commune and labour organiser. [Biography] |
Utopian SocialismVisions of a better society have been a concern of thinkers since ancient times, and a part of the critique of existing conditions. The speculations of the early 19th century Utopians are an important contribution to Marxism. Fourier and Owen in particular were much admired by Marx and Engels. | |
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(1478-1535) Thomas More wrote Utopia in 1515, looking forward to a world of individual freedom and equality governed by Reason, at a time when such a vision was almost inconceivable. [Biography] (1611-1677) Common-Wealth of Oceana was based on universal land-ownership and was a militant republic dedicated to spreading its democratic system to the rest of the world. Cromwell banned it. [Biography] (17??-17??) Little is known of Morelly; Code of Nature was an attempt to provide a systematic philosophical justification of his communist ideas. [Biography] (1760-1825) French Utopian socialist who took part in War of Independence of the United States; opposed Deism and promoted the study of Nature. [Biography] |
(1772-1837) French Utopian socialist who criticised the bourgeois society established by the French Revolution. He promoted the role of environment and education in moulding personality. [Biography]
(1771-1851)Welsh industrialist and social reformer; formed a model industrial community at New Lanark, Scotland, and pioneered cooperative societies. [Biography] (1788-1856) His followers, known as the Icarians, established ill-fated utopian communities in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and California. [Biography] ———— (1850-1898) American author, famous for his utopian novel set in the year 2000, Looking Backward, published in 1888. [Biography] |
AnarchismAnarchism is a political current that has existed in the working class movement from its beginning and was an important component of the First International, but parted company with Marxism in the late 19th century. | |
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(1809-1865) 5+ Founder and leading theorist of anarchism, advocated a cooperative society. [Biography] (1842-1921) 10+ Leader of Russian Anarchism. [Biography] (1859-1892) Radical French anarchist. [Biography] (1864-1930) 5+ Radical French anarchist. [Biography] (1865-1903) 5+ French anarchist and militant opponent of anti-Semitism. [Biography] (1872-1894) <5 Radical French anarchist. [Biography] (1872-1894) 5+ French individualist anarchist. [Biography] |
(1814-1876) 50+ Russian nobleman who advocated revolutionary anarchism; participant in the First International winning leadership of a significant section of the International in the 1870s. [Biography] (1844-1916) Biographer of Bakunin and theorist for anarcho-syndicalism. [Biography] (1853-1932) 20+ Leader of Italian anarchism, anarcho-syndicalist. [Biography] (1884-1934) 20+ Leader of anarchist forces during the Wars of Intervention after the Russian Revolution. [Biography]
(1869-1940) 20+American anarchist and writer, deported to the Soviet Union, fought in Spanish Civil War. [Biography] (1873-1958) 5+ German anarcho-syndicalist, worked in Jewish anarchist movement in London before going to New York. [Biography] (1830-1930) Prolific and legendary American labor organiser. [Biography] (1934-1985) 5+ Czech anarchist writer and musician, emigrated to the U.S. [ |
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