Arthur MacManus - Citizendia

Arthur MacManus (1889 - 1927) was a Scottish trade unionist and socialist politician. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution A politician (from Greek " Polis " is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of Politics or a person

MacManus joined the De Leonist Socialist Labour Party (SLP)^[1] and began work at Singers. De Leonism, occasionally known as Marxism-Deleonism, is a form of Marxism developed by Daniel De Leon. The Socialist Labour Party was a Socialist Political party in the United Kingdom. Singer Corporation is a manufacturer of sewing machines first established as I However, he was sacked in 1911 following an unsuccessful strike. Strike action, often simply called a strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal by Employees to perform work. ^[2]

Supporting the SLP's opposition to World War I, MacManus was arrested in 1915 at a meeting in George Square, Glasgow, for speaking against the introduction of conscription. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All George Square is the central square in the Scottish city of Glasgow. Glasgow (ˈglæzgoʊ is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom Conscription (also known as the draft, the call-up or national service) is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by some established authority ^[3]

MacManus became a leading member of the Clyde Workers Committee, and for supporting David Kirkwood in the William Beardmore and Company strike of 1916, he was one of five people deported to Edinburgh. The Clyde Workers Committee was formed to campaign against the Munitions Act. David Kirkwood 1st Baron Kirkwood, PC (1872 &ndash April 16, 1955) was a Socialist from the East End of Glasgow, Scotland, William Beardmore and Company was a Scottish Engineering and Shipbuilding company based in Glasgow and the surrounding Clydeside area Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. ^[4]

In the 1918 UK general election, MacManus stood unsuccessfully for the SLP in Halifax. The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom Halifax is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Following the October Revolution, he became a proponent of a united communist party. The October Revolution (Октябрьская революция Oktyabrskaya revolyutsiya) also known as the Soviet Revolution A Political party described as a communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of Communism through a communist form of In January 1919, he was appointed to serve on a Unity Committee, to engage in discussions on uniting with the British Socialist Party, Workers Socialist Federation and various smaller groups. The British Socialist Party was a Socialist party founded in Britain in 1911 The Workers Socialist Federation was a Socialist Political party in the United Kingdom, led by Sylvia Pankhurst. ^[5]

In an attempt to resolve differences between the various socialist groups, the Committee proposed to form a communist party, then hold a vote on Labour Party affiliation one year later. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the The SLP executive publicly repudiated this proposal, and decided to cease unity negotiations. Together with Tom Bell and William Paul, MacManus did not accept this. Tom Bell ( 1882 - 19 April 1944) was a Scottish Socialist Politician and Trade unionist. They continued to attend the negotiations, and in April 1920, formed the Communist Unity Group. The Communist Unity Group ( CUG) was a small Communist organisation in the United Kingdom. In August, this became the second largest group to participate in the formation of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), and MacManus became the party's first Chairman, a post he held until 1922. The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB was the largest Communist party in the United Kingdom, though it never became a mass party like the Communist parties of ^[5] That year, he attended a special conference of the Executive Committee of the Comintern, at which it was decided to reorganise the party. The Comintern ( Com munist Intern ational also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organisation founded in Moscow ^[6] MacManus became its Colonial Secretary,^[7] and attended the Fourth Congress of the Comintern in September,^[8] at which he was elected to its Executive Committee and Praesidium. ^[9]

In 1924, the Zinoviev Letter was circulated, calling for increased communist agitation in Britain. The " Zinoviev Letter " is a 1924 letter that was allegedly addressed from Grigori Zinoviev, president of the presidium of the Executive Committee of the Communist This forgery, intended to damage the Labour Party's chances in the general election, was purportedly signed both by Gregory Zinoviev and MacManus. The 1924 UK general election was held on 29 October 1924 The Conservatives, led by Stanley Baldwin performed dramatically better in electoral terms than in Gregory Yevseevich Zinoviev (Григо́рий Евс́еевич Зин́овьев alternative transliteration Grigorii Ovseyevish Zinoviev born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich

In 1925, MacManus was one of twelve CPGB officials to be imprisoned for seditious libel and incitement to mutiny. Seditious libel is a criminal offence under English Common law. Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly-situated individuals (typically members of the Military; or the Crew of any ship even ^[10]

MacManus was able to attend the founding conference of the League Against Imperialism in 1927,^[11] but died later in the year. The League against Imperialism ( French: " Ligue contre l'impérialisme et l'oppression coloniale " was founded in the Egmont Palace in Brussels His ashes were placed within the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. The Kremlin Wall Necropolis (Некрополь у Кремлёвской стены is a part of the Kremlin Wall in Moscow overlooking the Red Square ^[1]

References

External links

Arthur MacManus Archive Marxists Internet Archive

The International Communist Current is an international centralised left communist organisation which was formed in 1975 and which has sections in France Great Britain Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and

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