Workers League for a Revolutionary Party papers, 1936-1947 (bulk 1945-1946)

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Summary

Creator:
Workers League for a Revolutionary Party (U.S.)
Abstract:
The Workers League for a Revolutionary Party was formed by George Spiro in 1938 as the Leninist League. In the mid-1940s the party became critical of Leninism and Marxism and changed its name to the Workers League for a Revoluionary Party. The Party was a splinter group of the Trotskyist party, the Revolutionary Workers League (RWL). Collection contains letters, memoranda, meeting minutes, and other documents relating to the activities of the Workers League for a Revolutionary Party.
Extent:
0.25 Linear Feet
85 Items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.01400

Background

Scope and content:

Collection contains correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, and other assorted documents relating to the activites of the Workers League for a Revolutionary Party and their publications, In Defense of Bolshevism and, later, the Bulletin. Topics discussed are mainly ideological in nature and include the break with the Revolutionary Workers League (RWL), Stalinism, Trotskyism, World War II, Unionism, and various party platforms. Political developments in Poland, Bulgaria, China, and Czechoslovakia are also discussed.

Biographical / historical:

The Workers League for a Revolutionary Party, originally the Leninist League of the United States, was founded by George Spiro in 1938. Spiro, known as George Marlin (a portmanteau of Marx and Lenin), formed the party after an ideological conflict with the Revolutionary Workers League (RWL), formed by Hugo Oehler as a Trotskyist movement within the Workers Party of the United States. The conflict arose after RWL's rejection of Trotskyism. Spiro and his followers, known as Marlenites, felt that the Leninsit League did not go far enough in vocalizing its rejection of Trotskyism and Trotsky himself. The party published a newspaper, In Defense of Bolshevism. Interpreteing the Second World War as a war on the proletariat, the party became critical of both Leninism and Marxism, and in 1946, changed its name to the Workers League for a Revlutionary Party. Amidst internal dissent, the party dissolved around 1950.

Acquisition information:
Workers League for a Revolutionary Party papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in October 2011.
Processing information:

Processed by Josh Larkin Rowley, April 2012

Encoded by Josh Larkin Rowley, April 2012

Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 2011-0217

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Workers League for a Revolutionary Party Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.