HISTORY OF THE TROTSKYIST MOVEMENT  1930-1949

MARXIAN LEAGUE 1930-1932     Included Frank Ridley and Ram Chandu. Members also included Philip Guardene, Colin De Silva and Hugo Dewar.

COMMUNIST LEAGUE (BALHAM GROUP) 1931-1938 Included Reg Groves, Harry Wicks, Hugo Dewar, Sara and Purkis. Entry into the INDEPENDENT LABOUR PARTY.   Majority remained outside the ILP, Minority going into the ILP. Majority recognised by the International Secretariat of the Fourth International. The Majority became the MARXIST LEAGUE.

MARXIST GROUP   1934-1938   (Minority of the Communist League). Including Denzel Harber, Margaret Johns, John Archer and Ted Grant.

HYDE PARK GROUP 1934-1936 Jock Haston fused with the Bolshevik Leninists in Labour party.

MILITANT GROUP 1944 Entryist Group Harber and Margaret Johns.

MILITANT GROUP in the Labour Party joined with Revolutionary Socialist League (Ted Grant’s Group). Functioned as an Entry Group in the Labour Party called THE MILITANT LABOUR LEAGUE.

THE WORKERS INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE 1937-1944. Refused to take part in the reunification of Trotskyist Groups in Britain as demanded by the INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT OF THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL. It included Gerry Healy, Jock Haston, and Betty Hamilton and eventually joined with the Revolutionary Socialist League in fusion to form the REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNIST PARTY.

REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST PARTY 1938-1943 included Maitland and Tait.

REVOLUTIONARY WORKERS LEAGUE 1939-1941 Led by Juan Posadas who formed his own Fourth International.

REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNIST PARTY – 1944- 1949 Led by Jock Haston and Ted Grant Gerry Healy led a Minority in the WIL during this Period. In 1949 the International Secretariat of the Fourth International agreed that the Minority WIL and the Majority RCP could enter the Labour Party.

TROTSKYIST GROUPS FROM 1949- PRESENT DAY.

The RCP dissolved    “It was dissolved in June 1949 and Healy became the secretary of the Reunified RCP in September” [1].

GROUP 1949-1959, included Gerry Healy and the Banda Brothers. It remained a Deep entry Group in the Labour party.

SOCIALIST LABOUR LEAGUE 1959-1973 Successor group led by Gerry Healy and included Tom Kemp Brian Behan Peter Fryer Cliff Slaughter and the Banda Brothers.

SOCIALIST REVIEW GROUP 1950-1962   This was a group led by Tony Cliff. Active in the Labour Party.

REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST LEAGUE   (MILITANT) 1949-1964. This was a Group led by Ted Grant and Peter Taffe.

INTERNATIONAL SOCIALISM GROUP (I.S).  1962-1973 , the successor to the Socialist review Group , this was the Group that was expelled from the Official Trotskyist Movement  over its State Capitalist Position and its refusal to support North Korea during the Korean war. This continued to be led by Tony Cliff and included Duncan Hallas Paul Foot and Chris Harman.

MILITANT 1964-1992  Deep entry group inside the Labour Party led by Ted Grant split in 1992 into two Groups International Marxist Tendency (Socialist Appeal) and Committee for a Workers International (SPEW).

WORKERS SOCIALIST LEAGUE 1974-1990- group led by Alan Thornett Tony Richardson and John Lister after they were expelled from the Workers Revolutionary Party in 1974.

SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY 1977- PRESENT DAY .Successor group that transformed the IS to the SWP led by Alex Callincos and Charlie Kimber after Tony Cliffs Death.

WORKERS FIGHT FACTION IN IS EXPELLED 1971-1975 Led by Sean Matgamma and is now THE ALLIANCE FOR WORKERS LIBERTY. When Workers Fight and Workers Power were both expelled from the IS GROUP 1974-1976 they both fused to form the INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIST LEAGUE, A DIFFERENT ORGANISATION TO THE SPARTACIST ORGANISATION WITH THE SAME NAME. The Leaders were Sean Matgamma , Valerie wise, Martin Thomas and John Bloxham.

INTERNATIONAL GROUP 1961-1966 Became the INTERNATIONAL MARXIST GROUP 1966-1984 Led By Tariq Ali, Ernest Tate, and Bob Pennington.

WORKERS REVOLUTIONARY PARTY 1973-1985. Party exploded in 1985 .Several Groups were formed THE MARXIST PARTY Led by Gerry Healy, Vanessa and Corin Redgrave, Paul Feldman and Corinna Lotz. After HEALY’S death the Redgrave’s split and Feldman and Lotz formed the Communist League, then the Socialist Future Group and are involved in A WORLD TO WIN GROUP, a Left amorphous Democratic group

The present WRP is now led by Frank Sweeney and Sheila Torrance. SOCIALIST FIGHT is led by Gerry Downing, who has written a definite account of the EXPLOSION IN THE WRP. THE SOCIALIST EQUALITY PARTY IS led By Chris Marsden and Julie Hyland, part of David North’s INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNIST LEAGUE part of the INTERNATIONAL SPARTACIST TENDENCY 1966-PRESENT DAY.

INTERNATIONAL BOLSHEVIK TENDENCY split from the INTERNATIONAL SPARTACIST TENDENCY

WORKERS POWER expelled from the IS formed a faction and is now a section of the LEAGUE FOR A FIFTH INTERNATIONAL 1976-PRESENT DAY.

SOCIALIST ACTION, Led By John Ross.

SOCIALIST RESISTANCE 1990- PRESENT DAY, led by Alan Thornett and Terry Conway British Sympathising Section of the USFI, FORMELY THE WORKERS SOCIALIST LEAGUE. For a full analysis of the development of the Workers Socialist League there is a very useful document on Trotskyist History written by Tony Guard and others in the WIL which gives a balance sheet of the WSL and the WIL.

Fraternally, Laurence.

ENDNOTES

1. Gerry Healy   A Revolutionary Life  Feldman P and Lotz C   Lupus Books pg. 212