Marxist Workers' League (US)
Encyclopedia
The Marxist Workers League was the name of two splinter groups from the Revolutionary Workers League
in the 1930s.
The first group split in early 1936 and "after a sensational existence of both its members for 19 days" rejoined the Trotskyists.
The second group formed in early 1938, containing elements both from the RWL and from Albert Weisbord
s Communist League of Struggle
, as well as some Trotskyists from the YPSL. Its central criticism of the RWL was of its analysis of the Spanish Civil War
, which it believed was an imperialist war. Its principal leader was K. Mienev.
The MWL published a "theoretical organ" out of New York called Spark, and then Power from February 1938 to 1940. According to Walter Goldberg, Spark lasted from Vol. I #1 Feb. 1938 to Vol. II #3 May 1939. About that time the group merged with another small sect, the Revolutionary Marxist League
, led by Attilio Salamme and Karl Joerger, to create a group called the Workers Party. This new sect appears to have died out quickly, and should not be confused with the Shachtmanite Workers Party that was formed around the same time.
Revolutionary Workers League (Oehlerite)
The Revolutionary Workers League was a radical left group in the United States. It was led by Hugo Oehler and published The Fighting Worker newspaper.-Origins:...
in the 1930s.
The first group split in early 1936 and "after a sensational existence of both its members for 19 days" rejoined the Trotskyists.
The second group formed in early 1938, containing elements both from the RWL and from Albert Weisbord
Albert Weisbord
Albert Weisbord was an American political activist and union organizer. He is best remembered as one of the primary union organizers of the seminal 1926 Passaic Textile Strike and as the founder of a small Trotskyist political organization of the 1930s called the Communist League of...
s Communist League of Struggle
Communist League of Struggle
The Communist League of Struggle was a small communist organization active in the United States during the 1930s. Founded by Albert Weisbord and his wife, Vera Buch, who were veterans of the Left Socialist movement and the Communist Party USA, the CLS briefly affiliated with Leon Trotsky...
, as well as some Trotskyists from the YPSL. Its central criticism of the RWL was of its analysis of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, which it believed was an imperialist war. Its principal leader was K. Mienev.
The MWL published a "theoretical organ" out of New York called Spark, and then Power from February 1938 to 1940. According to Walter Goldberg, Spark lasted from Vol. I #1 Feb. 1938 to Vol. II #3 May 1939. About that time the group merged with another small sect, the Revolutionary Marxist League
Revolutionary Marxist League
The Revolutionary Marxist League was a small Communist sect that existed from 1939 - 1940 in New York City. It was led be Karl Joerger and Antillio Salamme. The origins of the RML lay in a group called the Marxist Policy Committee which was apparently a "stooge" group of Oehler supporters within...
, led by Attilio Salamme and Karl Joerger, to create a group called the Workers Party. This new sect appears to have died out quickly, and should not be confused with the Shachtmanite Workers Party that was formed around the same time.
External links
- Spark Vol. 1, no. 1 which was another source for this article
- Spark Vol. 1, no. 3
- Declaration of principles of the Workers party. (Program upon which the Marxist workers league and Revolutionary marxist league have fused.)
- Cover of the first issue of the second MWL serial, Power
- On the question of the workers state polemic against the MWL by the Leninist LeagueLeninist League (US)The Leninist League was a communist political party in the United States. It published a newspaper, In Defense of Bolshevism.Its origins lay in the Revolutionary Workers League of Hugo Oehler, which had originated in the Trotskyist movement, but rejected Trotskyism in 1937...
.