Gitlowites
The Workers Communist League or Gitlowites were a Right Opposition Communist group that split from the main group of the American Right Opposition, the Communist Party of the USA (Opposition) in 1933. It was the only split from that organization which created a new group. After leading the 1934 New York Hotel Strike in conjunction with the Communist League of America it joined with a faction of that group to form the Organizing Committee for a Revolutionary Workers Party in April 1934, but left to join the Socialist Party of America later that year.
Origins
The origin of the group goes back to a resolution Benjamin Gitlow submitted to the Second National Conference of the Lovestone group September 2-3 1932. He wished that the group would adopt a new resolution on the general line of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. While endorsing the first Five Year Plan, and defending the Soviet Union as a whole, it wished to criticize "factional" use of the plan for the benefit of the Stalin leadership in the USSR and the Comintern, as well as the mistakes with regard to the collectivization of agriculture and the creation of light industry. While the conference re-adopted its previous spring 1931 resolution on the issue, it opened up the pages of its organ, Workers Age, to debate on the issue and asked it members to contribute their opinions begining with the November 15 issue [1].
Editorials supporting the old resolution were submitted by Jay Lovestone[2], Will Herberg[3], Herbert Zam[4] and others, while an article against the current resolution by Lazar Becker was broken up and published over three issues. [5]. Portions of Gitlows own contribution, "The Russian Question critically considered" were published in two issues, but not the conclusion [6].
The organization published a newspaper Voice of Labor from Vol. I #1 June 1933 to Vol. II #4 April 1934.[7]
References
- ^ Workers Age Vol. 2 #3 Nov 15, 1932 p.6
- ^ Workers Age Vol. 2 #4 Dec. 1, 1932 pp.4,7
- ^ ibid. p.5
- ^ Workers Age Vol. 2 #5 Dec. 15, 1932 p.4
- ^ "Historically inevitable and correct..." ibid. p.5, Workers Age Vol. 2 #6 Jan. 1, 1933 p.4, and Workers Age Vol. 2 #7 Jan. 15, 1933 pp.5,7
- ^ ibid. p.5 Workers Age Vol. 2 #8 Feb. 1, 1933 pp.4,7
- ^ Goldwater, Walter Radical periodicals in America 1890-1950 New Haven, Yale University Library 1964 p.27