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Democratic Centralism during the Cold War, 1943-1991

A black and white image of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, speaking into microphones which people are holding up to his face.

Papers of the Executive Committee (EC)

According to the party rules adopted in 1943, it was renamed the Executive Committee (EC) and exercised "full responsibility for the direction and control of the Party's work" including control of the party press, publications, and other enterprises.
Professor Kevin Morgan, University of Manchester

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Study party discipline and loyalty to the Soviet Union during the Cold War

Modelled on the Soviet Union’s Central Committee, the Executive Committee (EC) functioned as one of the highest organs of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). In line with the CPGB constitution, the EC met on a bi-monthly to carry out the decisions made by the annual National Congress. In practice, the EC functioned as a monolithic authority that enforced the rigid tenet of democratic centralism. This was a Leninist principle that stated that once a decision had been made collectively, party members were bound to accept and support it. The EC often used this tenet, as well as its influential position in appointing committee members, to maintain an iron-clad grip on the CPGB.

The content featured in this collection, including minutes, handwritten notes, and reports, is drawn from monthly Executive Committee meetings and largely focuses on the politics of the Cold War and the direction of the party. As such, the collection offers a range of communist perspectives on unfolding events in Britain and abroad, from key events during the Cold War to contentious issues over internal party discipline.

Contents

Democratic Centralism during the Cold War, 1943-1991...

Papers of the Executive Committee (EC)

Volumes & Documents 
An extract from a typed article by Soong Ching-Ling titled 'Our Unity is Our Strength'.

Highlights

Licensed to access Filling the power vacuum in Europe, 1947

Executive Committee minutes and adjacent material offer a perspective on events in war-torn Europe, as both the United States and the Soviet Union tried to fill the power vacuum following the collapse of the old European order.

Licensed to access Decolonisation and the Sino-Soviet Split, 1960

This document offers Executive Committee perspectives on the decolonisation of Africa and its implications for the Cold War. It also includes information on fractures between the Soviet Union and China over their separate interpretations of Marxist-Leninism.

Licensed to access Disciplinary disputes over Red Rag, 1972

Amidst the onset of growing factionalism within the CPGB, the Executive Committee brought disciplinary proceedings against the authors of a new feminist magazine Red Rag. This episode demonstrates the nature of the centralised party apparatus and its inability to tolerate spontaneous deviation from the party line.

Licensed to access Factionalism and terminal decline, 1984

Featured minutes and reports from the Executive Committee demonstrate the increasing dysfunction at the heart of the CPGB, as 'tankies' and Eurocommunists wrestled for control over their party.

Insights

  • Material from the Executive Committee offers a complete run of minutes and adjacent files from 1943 until 1991.

  • The collection reveals the intimate relationship between National Congress and the Executive Committee. The EC was subordinate to the decisions of the National Congress but played a pivotal role in organising and scrutinising resolutions submitted to National Congress.

  • As such, the Executive Committee often acted as the de facto authority within the CPGB. This meant having the final say on party discipline and member expulsion, which usually proceeded on a factional basis in line with the tenet of democratic centralism.

  • Much of the material dates to the Cold War, with the Executive Committee wrestling with decolonisation, fractures in the international communist movement, and proxy conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union.

  • Typescript minutes are often brief and lacking in detail, owing to the fact that revolutionary-minded CPGB took precautions against their high-level decision making being extensively documented.

  • Personal handwritten notes from Executive Committee meetings offer a more fruitful and revealing look at the nature of CPGB activity.

Licensed to access Communisms and the Cold War, 1944-1986

1944   1986

Licensed to access Gender, Feminism, and the British Left, 1944-1991

1944   1991

Licensed to access Debate and Division on the British Left, 1917-1964

1917   1964

Licensed to access Trade Unions in Crisis: the 1961 ETU Ballot-Rigging Scandal

1961   1961
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