Hewlett Johnson
Encyclopedia
The Very Reverend Hewlett Johnson (25 January 1874 – 22 October 1966), was an English clergyman, Dean of Manchester
and later Dean of Canterbury
, where he acquired his nickname The Red Dean of Canterbury for his unyielding support for the Soviet Union
and its allies.
and was ordained in 1904. An avowed Christian Marxist
, Johnson was brought under surveillance by MI5
as early as 1917, when he spoke in Manchester in support of the October Revolution
. His political views were unpopular but his hard work and pastoral skills led to him being appointed Dean of Manchester
by Ramsay MacDonald
in 1924. He was appointed Dean of Canterbury
in 1931.
He shot to public prominence in the 1930s when he contrasted the economic development of the USSR under the First Five Year Plan to Britain
during the Great Depression
. He toured the Soviet Union in 1934 and again in 1937, reporting on each occasion the health and wealth of the average Soviet citizen and that the Soviet system protected the citizens' liberties. He collected his articles in the book Soviet Power (1941) which contained a preface by the renegade Brazilian Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa. His observations and views have drawn extensive criticism from commentators who point out that the Soviet Union in the 1930s was actually an oppressive totalitarian society with few or no redeeming features. Yet Johnson defended his positive accounts of life in the Soviet Union, emphasizing that he had visited "five Soviet Republics and several great Soviet towns," that he had wandered on foot "many long hours on many occasions and entirely alone," and that he saw "all parts of the various towns and villages and at all hours of day and night."
During the period of the operation of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
, Johnson continued to support the Soviet line despite the fact that Britain was at war with Germany and he was accused of spreading defeatist propaganda. However, in line with the Soviet line, he supported the war effort after Hitler invaded the USSR
in 1941, although his MI5 file reports that it was judged "undesirable for the Dean of Canterbury to be allowed to lecture to troops".
Johnson was arguably the most prominent of a number of Western
church
leaders during the Second World War, which is said to have persuaded Stalin to restore the Moscow Patriarchate. Stalin was successfully convinced that such a move would improve his relations with the Western Allies. "It was not the vanity of a former seminary dropout that moved the Soviet leader," Dmitri Volkogonov
concluded, "but rather pragmatic considerations in relation with the Allies."
After the war, Johnson continued to use his public position to propound his pro-Soviet views. From 1948, he was the leader of Great Britain-USSR Friendship Organisation. At the end of the war Johnson was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, in recognition of his "outstanding work as chairman of the joint committee for Soviet Aid", and in 1951 received the Stalin International Peace Prize
. However, his influence began to wane, particularly after public sympathy for the USSR in Britain declined dramatically after the Soviet invasion of Hungary
in 1956. Johnson's Communist activities were especially troublesome for the British government, since foreigners tended to confuse Johnson the Dean of Canterbury
with the Archbishop of Canterbury
http://books.google.com/books?id=tq5JIGX04bgC&pg=PA103&dq=hewlett+johnson&lr=&as_brr=3&as_pt=ALLTYPES.
The Headmaster of the King's School, Canterbury, Fred Shirley
, manoeuvred against him. One year Johnson put up a huge blue and white banner across the front of the Deanery which read "Christians Ban Nuclear Weapons". By way of riposte, some of the boys put up a banner on one of the school's buildings which read "King's Ban Communists".
Johnson's adversaries have called Johnson's endeavours to unite Christianity and Marxism-Leninism a "heretical teaching concerning a new religion".http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/cat_tal.aspx Johnson denied these accusations and argued that he knew very well the difference between religion (Christianity) and politics (Marxism-Leninism). Johnson's religious views were in line with mainstream Anglican Christianity. His support for Marxist-Leninist politics was derived, in his own words, from the conviction that "[capitalism] lacks a moral basis" and that "it is the moral impulse [of communism] ... which constitutes the greatest attraction and presents the widest appeal."
Dean of Manchester
The Dean of Manchester is based in Manchester, England and is the head of the Chapter of Manchester Cathedral. The current Dean is The Very Reverend Rogers Govender.-List of Deans of Manchester:* William Herbert 1840–1847...
and later Dean of Canterbury
Dean of Canterbury
The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The office of dean originated after the English Reformation, and its precursor office was the prior of the cathedral-monastery...
, where he acquired his nickname The Red Dean of Canterbury for his unyielding support for the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and its allies.
Life
Born in Manchester, the third son of Charles Johnson, a wire manufacturer, and his wife Rosa, daughter of the Reverend Alfred Hewlett, he graduated from Owens College, Manchester in 1894 with the geological prize but later attended Wadham College, OxfordWadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...
and was ordained in 1904. An avowed Christian Marxist
Christian communism
Christian communism is a form of religious communism based on Christianity. It is a theological and political theory based upon the view that the teachings of Jesus Christ compel Christians to support communism as the ideal social system...
, Johnson was brought under surveillance by MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
as early as 1917, when he spoke in Manchester in support of the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
. His political views were unpopular but his hard work and pastoral skills led to him being appointed Dean of Manchester
Dean of Manchester
The Dean of Manchester is based in Manchester, England and is the head of the Chapter of Manchester Cathedral. The current Dean is The Very Reverend Rogers Govender.-List of Deans of Manchester:* William Herbert 1840–1847...
by Ramsay MacDonald
Ramsay MacDonald
James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....
in 1924. He was appointed Dean of Canterbury
Dean of Canterbury
The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The office of dean originated after the English Reformation, and its precursor office was the prior of the cathedral-monastery...
in 1931.
He shot to public prominence in the 1930s when he contrasted the economic development of the USSR under the First Five Year Plan to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. He toured the Soviet Union in 1934 and again in 1937, reporting on each occasion the health and wealth of the average Soviet citizen and that the Soviet system protected the citizens' liberties. He collected his articles in the book Soviet Power (1941) which contained a preface by the renegade Brazilian Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa. His observations and views have drawn extensive criticism from commentators who point out that the Soviet Union in the 1930s was actually an oppressive totalitarian society with few or no redeeming features. Yet Johnson defended his positive accounts of life in the Soviet Union, emphasizing that he had visited "five Soviet Republics and several great Soviet towns," that he had wandered on foot "many long hours on many occasions and entirely alone," and that he saw "all parts of the various towns and villages and at all hours of day and night."
During the period of the operation of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
, Johnson continued to support the Soviet line despite the fact that Britain was at war with Germany and he was accused of spreading defeatist propaganda. However, in line with the Soviet line, he supported the war effort after Hitler invaded the USSR
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
in 1941, although his MI5 file reports that it was judged "undesirable for the Dean of Canterbury to be allowed to lecture to troops".
Johnson was arguably the most prominent of a number of Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
church
Christian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
leaders during the Second World War, which is said to have persuaded Stalin to restore the Moscow Patriarchate. Stalin was successfully convinced that such a move would improve his relations with the Western Allies. "It was not the vanity of a former seminary dropout that moved the Soviet leader," Dmitri Volkogonov
Dmitri Volkogonov
Dmitri Antonovich Volkogonov was a Russian historian and officer.-Biography:...
concluded, "but rather pragmatic considerations in relation with the Allies."
After the war, Johnson continued to use his public position to propound his pro-Soviet views. From 1948, he was the leader of Great Britain-USSR Friendship Organisation. At the end of the war Johnson was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, in recognition of his "outstanding work as chairman of the joint committee for Soviet Aid", and in 1951 received the Stalin International Peace Prize
Lenin Peace Prize
The International Lenin Peace Prize was the Soviet Union's equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize, named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel indicated had "strengthened peace among peoples"...
. However, his influence began to wane, particularly after public sympathy for the USSR in Britain declined dramatically after the Soviet invasion of Hungary
1956 Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution or Uprising of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956....
in 1956. Johnson's Communist activities were especially troublesome for the British government, since foreigners tended to confuse Johnson the Dean of Canterbury
Dean of Canterbury
The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The office of dean originated after the English Reformation, and its precursor office was the prior of the cathedral-monastery...
with the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
http://books.google.com/books?id=tq5JIGX04bgC&pg=PA103&dq=hewlett+johnson&lr=&as_brr=3&as_pt=ALLTYPES.
The Headmaster of the King's School, Canterbury, Fred Shirley
Fred Shirley
Revd Frederick Joseph John Shirley, DD, PhD, LLB was the headmaster, The King's School, Canterbury, 1935–1962.Educated St Edmund Hall, Oxford and London. Married in 1926...
, manoeuvred against him. One year Johnson put up a huge blue and white banner across the front of the Deanery which read "Christians Ban Nuclear Weapons". By way of riposte, some of the boys put up a banner on one of the school's buildings which read "King's Ban Communists".
Johnson's adversaries have called Johnson's endeavours to unite Christianity and Marxism-Leninism a "heretical teaching concerning a new religion".http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/cat_tal.aspx Johnson denied these accusations and argued that he knew very well the difference between religion (Christianity) and politics (Marxism-Leninism). Johnson's religious views were in line with mainstream Anglican Christianity. His support for Marxist-Leninist politics was derived, in his own words, from the conviction that "[capitalism] lacks a moral basis" and that "it is the moral impulse [of communism] ... which constitutes the greatest attraction and presents the widest appeal."
Citations on USSR
- “The ideal held out to a child differs entirely from that still too common here (England) – ‘Work hard and get on’.” (p.195).
- “Education from first to last is provided for all without monetary payments, from the excellently equipped nursery-schools right up to the university course.” (p. 185).
- “There is no financial difficulty which hinders a ... student from entering the university or institute for higher education.” (p. 207).
- “Technical institutes await children (of workers) free of charge.” (p. 237).
- “What has the Soviet Union done for its youth and what is it doing?...On his seventeenth birthday and not before, he can enter industry.” (p. 205)