Revolutionary Socialist League (UK, 1957)
Encyclopedia
The Revolutionary Socialist League (RSL) was a Trotskyist group in Britain which existed from 1956 to 1964.
, Ted Grant
and his supporters were expelled from the RCP's successor The Club
in 1950 and formed the International Socialist Group. They went on to fuse with supporters of the International Secretariat of the Fourth International in Britain as the Revolutionary Socialist League in 1956 and were recognised as the official British section at its fifth world congress in 1957. The RSL held its first congress in 1957.
It was an entryist group within the Labour Party
that published Socialist Fight. In 1958 the group was recognised as the British section of the International Secretariat of the Fourth International and, after the reunification in 1963, the British section of the Fourth International. However, the League registered substantial political differences at the 1965 World Congress, and failed to integrate other supporters of the International in Britain. The Congress recognised two sympathising sections in Britain: both the RSL and what became the International Marxist Group
, prompting the RSL to turn its back on the International. In 1964 the RSL founded a newspaper called Militant and the group itself soon became known as Militant or the Militant tendency
although the official designation of the RSL was still used internally after this time.
Formation
After the dissolution of the Revolutionary Communist PartyRevolutionary Communist Party (UK, 1944)
The Revolutionary Communist Party was a British Trotskyist group, formed in 1944 and active until 1949, which published the newspaper Socialist Appeal, a theoretical journal Workers International News and an entrist paper for its Labour Party work The Militant .- Collapse of the RSL and founding of...
, Ted Grant
Ted Grant
Edward "Ted" Grant , 9 July 1913 in Germiston, South Africa – 20 July 2006 in London) was a South African Trotskyist who spent most of his adult life in Britain...
and his supporters were expelled from the RCP's successor The Club
The Club (Trotskyist)
The Club was a Trotskyist group in the United Kingdom. It operated inside the Labour Party and was the official section of the Fourth International from 1950 until 1953 when, after the FI split, it became part of the International Committee of the Fourth International...
in 1950 and formed the International Socialist Group. They went on to fuse with supporters of the International Secretariat of the Fourth International in Britain as the Revolutionary Socialist League in 1956 and were recognised as the official British section at its fifth world congress in 1957. The RSL held its first congress in 1957.
It was an entryist group within the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
that published Socialist Fight. In 1958 the group was recognised as the British section of the International Secretariat of the Fourth International and, after the reunification in 1963, the British section of the Fourth International. However, the League registered substantial political differences at the 1965 World Congress, and failed to integrate other supporters of the International in Britain. The Congress recognised two sympathising sections in Britain: both the RSL and what became the International Marxist Group
International Marxist Group
The International Marxist Group was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It and its youth organisation had had around 1,000 members and supporters in the late 1970s...
, prompting the RSL to turn its back on the International. In 1964 the RSL founded a newspaper called Militant and the group itself soon became known as Militant or the Militant tendency
Militant Tendency
The Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
although the official designation of the RSL was still used internally after this time.