Communisms and the Cold War, 1944-1986

This collection contains reports and other records compiled by the Communist Party of Great Britain's (CPGB) International Department between 1944 and 1986. This periodisation begins immediately after the dissolution of the Communist International (Comintern) and ends shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The majority of the documents cover the Sino-Soviet split and the Chinese-Indian disputes of the 1960s and 1970s. There are also materials relating to Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe, the left in Western Europe, and anti-colonial movements in the developing world. They provide a fascinating insight into the competing power blocs which arose throughout the communist world during the Cold War and how British communists reacted to the resulting, internecine disputes.

The collection is accompanied by three contextual essays written by Professor Kevin Morgan, a senior academic at the University of Manchester.

Records of the CPGB's International Department or otherwise relating to its international functions are of particular interest given the unique significance such associations had for a communist party...With the provision of online access to the archives, one may be confident that the resurgence of historical interest will continue.

Professor Kevin Morgan, University of Manchester

Insights

As was the case with other Western communist parties, the CPGB’s International Department played an important — near overbearing role — in both the internal and external life of the organisation.

Professor Kevin Morgan observes that, even after the formal dissolution of the Communist International (Comintern) in 1943, there was still “no doubting either the significance of communism as an international movement, the critical position that Britain held in its conception of world affairs, or the close interrelationship between them.”

Since the Russian revolution in 1917 the Soviet Union had been the acknowledged leader of the communist movement. But its influence came under increasing scrutiny during the Cold War.

This challenge manifested in three waves. In 1948 Yugoslavia was expelled from the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform) for perceived disloyalty to Stalin. Then there was the Sino-Soviet split, when doctrinal disputes arose between the Soviet Union and Mao’s China. This was subsequently followed by the emergence of Eurocommunism in the West. This movement sought to undermine the authority of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).

Many of the documents detail the attempts of the CPGB leadership to formulate a doctrinally correct position on these disputes.

Meetings with various communist leaders are covered in detail, as are the proceedings of international conferences involving communist parties.

Highlights

Document

Browderism and the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), 1944–1945

Document

Chinese criticism of "Khrushchev's revisionism", 1965

Document

Reactions to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, 1968

Document

Materials on the 1976 Conference of Communist and Workers Parties of Europe

The Archives of the Communist Party Of Great Britain: An Introduction

The Departments of the Communist Party of Great Britain: A Detailed Guide

Notable Individuals of the Communist Party of Great Britain

Editorial Board

Professor Kevin Morgan Professor of Politics and Contemporary History https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/kevin.morgan.html Kevin Morgan is the Professor of Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Manchester and recipient of an AHRC Fellowship for the project ‘Communism and the cult of the leader’. Professor Morgan is also the editor of the journal 'Twentieth Century Communism' and a trustee of the Communist Party of Great Britain Archives Trust and the Working Class Movement Library.