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The Revolutionary Movement in Britain 1900–21. The Origins of British Communism

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Published Jul 2025

Walter Kendall

Author: Walter Kendall
Volume Editors: John McIlroy and Paul Flewers
Kendall’s classic work has been widely appreciated for its rich contextualisation of the events and forensic examination of both the national and international factors influencing the nativity of the British Communist Party. It imaginatively recuperates and critically evaluates the politics of the party’s predecessors, notably the British Socialist Party and the Socialist Labour Party, the radical upsurge of 1910–14, the wartime shop-stewards movement, the resonance of the Russian Revolution, and the role of the Comintern in moulding the form that British Communism took. Vivid portraits of the human actors — H M Hyndman, John Maclean, Arthur MacManus and Theodore Rothstein — illuminate the text. First published in 1969, The Revolutionary Movement in Britain has stood the test of time. It remains indispensable reading for everyone interested in understanding socialist history. John McIlroy has provided a detailed Introduction to this republication.

Biographical Note

Walter Kendall (1926–2003), PhD Oxon 1966, author The Revolutionary Movement in Britain 1900–21 (1969), The Labour Movement in Europe (1975), and many papers and articles.

Paul Flewers, PhD London 2003, author The New Civilisation? Understanding Stalin’s Soviet Union 1929–41 (2008).

John McIlroy has taught at the Universities of Oxford and Keele. He is a visiting professor of employment relations at Middlesex University and has written extensively on labour history, industrial relations and labour law.

Readership

This book is especially relevant for academics and postgraduate students of politics, political and labor history, communist studies, and anyone interested in radical history, including academics, students, and activists.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Preface: Walter Kendall and The Revolutionary Movement in Britain
Abbreviations

Introduction: The Origins of British Communism

Part 1

1 Stress and Strain in the Social Democratic Federation

2 The Radical Upsurge

3 Nationalism and Chauvinism in the Social Democratic Federation

4 The British Socialist Labour Party

5 The Russian Émigrés

6 War and the British Socialist Party

7 Clydeside in Wartime

8 The Shop Stewards’ Movement

9 The British Socialist Party after Hyndman

Part 2

10 The British and European Scene 1918 to 1920

11 The Unity Negotiations, Easter 1918 to August 1920

12 The Communist International and the Communist Party of Great Britain

13 The Russian Influence

14 Unity and Consolidation, August 1920 to January 1921

15 The Independent Labour Party and the Communist International

16 Guild Socialism and the Labour Research Department

17 John Maclean and the Communist Party of Great Britain

18 Conclusion

Appendix 1: The Membership of the Communist Party of Great Britain
Appendix 2: The Executives of the Social Democratic Federation, the British Socialist Party and the Communist Party of Great Britain
Appendix 3: The Social Democratic Federation–British Socialist Party Participation in General Elections
Appendix 4: The Social Democratic Federation–British Socialist Party Conferences, Branches and Membership
Appendix 5: The Socialist Labour Party
Appendix 6: The Social Democratic Federation–British Socialist Party in Local Government
Bibliography
Index