Militant Group

This article is about the group formed in 1935. For the general concept, see Militant. For the group formed in 1964, see Militant (Trotskyist group).

Militant Group
Founder	Denzil Dean Harber
Founded	1935 (1935)
Dissolved	1938 (1938)
Split from	Marxist Group
Merged into	Revolutionary Socialist League
Newspaper	Militant
Ideology	Trotskyism
Political position	Far-left
National affiliation	Labour Party
Politics of the United Kingdom Political parties Elections

The Militant Group was an early British Trotskyist group, formed in 1935 by Denzil Dean Harber, former leader of the entrist Marxist Group in the ILP, as a separate entrist group inside the Labour Party.

Initially known as the Bolshevik-Leninist Group, the group was producing a bulletin Youth Militant in 1935 and a journal Militant by 1937; the group became known as the Militant Group and later the Militant Labour League the same year.[1]

The group was strengthened by an influx of South African Trotskyists, including Ted Grant and Ralph Lee (Raphael Levy). However, allegations concerning Lee (relating to false rumours of misuse of strike funds in South Africa) prompted around ten members, including Grant, Lee, Jock Haston, Betty Hamilton and Gerry Healy to split in 1937 and form the Workers International League.[2]

In 1938, the Militant Group merged with the Revolutionary Socialist League, and the Revolutionary Socialist Party to form a new Revolutionary Socialist League, the official section of the Fourth International in Britain.

References

1. Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike. Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century. A&C Black, 2000, p155
2. "A Brief Sketch of the Militant Tendency's History".