Harry Wicks: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Revision as of 10:23, 12 September 2013 edit 160.9.42.75 (talk) No edit summary ← Previous edit		Latest revision as of 06:29, 26 March 2024 edit undo Haldraper (talk \| contribs) Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers 24,532 edits Flow Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
(30 intermediate revisions by 16 users not shown)
Line 1: {{About\|the British socialist activist\|the American communist and Cominterm representative to Australia\|H. M. Wicks}} {{Inline\|date=December 2022}} '''Harry Wicks''' (16 August 1905 – 26 March 1989) was a [[United Kingdom\|British]] socialist activist.▼ ▲'''Harry Wicks''' (16 August 1905 ~~–~~– 26 March 1989) was a ~~[[United Kingdom\|~~British]] socialist activist. Born in [[Battersea]], [[London]], he went to work on the railways and joined the [[National Union of Railwaymen]] in 1919. He joined the [[Labour Party (UK)\|Labour Party]], but after [[Black Friday (1921)\|Black Friday]] moved to the [[Communist Party of Great Britain]] (CPGB). After studying with [[A. E. E. Reade]], he came to support [[Leon Trotsky]] and the [[International Left Opposition]].▼ ▲Born in [[Battersea]], [[London]], he went to work on the railways and joined the [[National Union of Railwaymen]] in 1919. He joined the [[Labour Party (UK)\|Labour Party]], but after [[Black Friday (1921)\|Black Friday]] moved to the [[Communist Party of Great Britain]] (CPGB). After studying with [[A~~. E~~. E. Reade]], he came to support [[Leon Trotsky]] and the [[International Left Opposition]]. Elected to the executive of the [[Young Communist League (UK)\|Young Communist League]] in 1926, Wicks attended the [[International Lenin School]] in [[Moscow]] and the Sixth World Congress of the [[Comintern]]. He began working with the [[Balham Group]] of [[Trotskyist]]s, and was expelled from the CPGB in 1932. He became a founding member of the [[Communist League (UK, 1932)\|Communist League]] and met Trotsky in [[Copenhagen]] but disagreed with Trotsky's advice to join the [[Independent Labour Party]]. The Communist League split with the tendency opposed to joining the ILP continuing as the [[Marxist League (UK, 1936)\|Marxist League]], which later worked within the Labour Party. He also chaired the [[British Committee for the Defence of Leon Trotsky]].▼ ▲Elected to the executive of the [[Young Communist League (UK)\|Young Communist League]] in 1926, Wicks attended the [[International Lenin School]] in [[Moscow]] and the Sixth World Congress of the [[Comintern]]. He began working with the [[Balham Group]] of [[Trotskyist]]s, and was expelled from the CPGB in 1932. He became a founding member of the [[Communist League (UK, 1932)\|Communist League]] and met Trotsky in [[Copenhagen]] but disagreed with Trotsky's advice to join the [[Independent Labour Party]]. The Communist League split with the tendency opposed to joining the ILP continuing as the [[Marxist League (UK, 1936)\|Marxist League]], which later worked within the Labour Party. He also chaired the [[British Committee for the Defence of Leon Trotsky]]. Wicks began working with [[C. L. R. James]] of the [[Marxist Group (UK)\|Marxist Group]], and in 1938 their tendencies merged to form the [[Revolutionary Socialist League (UK, 1938)\|Revolutionary Socialist League]]. However, Wicks and the remnants of the former Marxist League soon left soon and to form the [[Socialist Anti-War Federation]]. In 1940, this group dissolved and he joined the Independent Labour Party.▼ The Communist League split with the tendency opposed to joining the ILP continuing as the [[Marxist League (UK, 1936)\|Marxist League]] which later worked within the Labour Party. He also chaired the British Committee for the Defence of [[Leon Trotsky]]. At the end of [[World War II]], Wicks joined the Labour Party and became active in [[NALGO]]. In 1971, he became involved with the Trotskyist movement again, joining the forerunner of the [[Socialist Workers Party (UK)\|Socialist Workers Party]] (SWP) the International Socialists. He was part of the 1976 split which formed the [[Workers League (UK)\|Workers League]]. He would later work with the SWP in various campaigns but never rejoined it.▼ In 1936, Wicks and several others signed a letter to the ''[[Manchester Guardian]]'' defending Trotsky's right to asylum and calling for an international inquiry into the [[Moscow Trials]].<ref>The other signatories were: [[H. N. Brailsford]], [[Conrad Noel]], [[Frank Horrabin]], Fred Shaw, Rowland Hill, [[Eleanor Rathbone]], Reg Groves, Garry Allingham and Stuart Purkis. [[Robert J. Alexander]], ''International Trotskyism, 1929-1985: A Documented Analysis of the Movement''. Duke University Press, 1991; {{ISBN\|082231066X}} (p. 451)</ref> Wicks was also an active [[anti-fascist]].<ref>Keith Hodgson, ''Fighting Fascism: the British Left and the Rise of Fascism, 1919-39''. Manchester University Press, 2011; {{ISBN\|071908055X}} (p. 163)</ref> Not long before his death he wrote a brief autobiography ''Keeping My Head: The Memoirs of a British Bolshevik'' with the help of Logie Barrow.▼ ▲Wicks began working with [[C. L. R. James]] of the [[Marxist Group (UK)\|Marxist Group]], helping James write [[World Revolution (book)\|World Revolution]], his 1937 history of the [[Communist International]], and in 1938 their tendencies merged to form the [[Revolutionary Socialist League (UK, 1938)\|Revolutionary Socialist League]]. However, Wicks and the remnants of the former Marxist League soon left ~~soon~~ and ~~to form~~formed the [[Socialist Anti-War Federation]]. In 1940, this group dissolved and he joined the Independent Labour Party. ▲At the end of [[the Second World War ~~II]]~~, Wicks joined the Labour Party and became active in [[NALGO]]. In 1971, he became involved with the Trotskyist movement again, joining the forerunner of the [[Socialist Workers Party (UK)\|Socialist Workers Party]] (SWP), the International Socialists. He was part of the 1976 split which formed the [[Workers League (UK)\|Workers League]]. He would later work with the SWP in various campaigns but never rejoined it. ▲Not long before his death he wrote ~~a brief~~an autobiography, ''Keeping My Head: The Memoirs of a British Bolshevik'', with the help of Logie Barrow. ==References== {{reflist}} Sam Bornstein and [[Al Richardson (historian)\|Al Richardson]], ''Against the stream''▼ Sam Bornstein and [[Al Richardson (historian)\|Al Richardson]], ''War and The International''▼ ==Sources== [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] ▲[[Sam Bornstein]] and [[Al Richardson (historian)\|Al Richardson]], ''Against the ~~stream~~Stream'', Socialist Platform, 1986 ▲[[Sam Bornstein]] and [[Al Richardson (historian)\|Al Richardson]], ''War and The International'', Socialist Platform, 1986 Harry Wicks, ''Keeping My Head: The Memoirs of a British Bolshevik'', Socialist Platform, 1992. ==External links== [~~http~~https://~~dscalm~~mrc.~~warwick~~epexio.~~ac.uk~~com/~~DServe~~records/~~dserve.exe?dsqIni=DServeadv.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28%28Level%3D%27collection%27%29AND%28Reference_Code%3D%27wic%27%29%29~~WIC Catalogue of Wicks' papers], held at the [[Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick]] [http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/explorefurther/speakingarchives/harrywicks/ A veteran Trotskyist remembers: interviews with Harry Wicks] {{Authority control~~\|VIAF=47862466~~}} ~~{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->~~ ~~\| NAME = Wicks, Harry~~ ~~\| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =~~ ~~\| SHORT DESCRIPTION = British socialist activist~~ ~~\| DATE OF BIRTH = 16 August 1905~~ ~~\| PLACE OF BIRTH =~~ ~~\| DATE OF DEATH = 26 March 1989~~ ~~\| PLACE OF DEATH =~~ }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Wicks, Harry}} [[Category:1905 births]] Line 39 ⟶ 40: [[Category:British Trotskyists]] [[Category:British Marxists]] [[Category:English anti-fascists]] [[Category:Communist Party of Great Britain members]] [[Category:Communist League (UK, 1932) members]]