Working Class Movement Library

The Working Class Movement Library holds an important collection of fascist and anti-fascist pamphlets and leaflets, spanning a broad range of organisations and campaigns — from the birth of domestic and continental fascism to the present day. 

There is a small number of leaflets from Britain’s first fascist party, the British Fascisti (1925-34), revealing the organisation’s anti-Bolshevik fears of Communist Sunday Schools and other “subversive” native political developments. 

Well represented are pamphlets of Oswald Mosley’s “pre-fascist” New Party (1931-32).  

The Communist Party’s impassioned dialogue with the Labour Party and Trades Union Congress, unsuccessfully attempting to build a united front against the fascist menace, is also documented.

In the post-war period, material records the splintering of British fascism and its re-emergence in the 1970s with the birth of the National Front and its successful rival, the Anti-Nazi League. 

The WCML also holds an extensive collection of Spanish Civil War material, particularly relating to the International Brigades.

This consists of books, pamphlets, journals, archival material, artefacts and tape recordings. 

It includes an impressive archive of letters written by men from Greater Manchester, some of whom died in Spain, including Ralph Cantor, whose diary the library holds. Our collection also covers Britain’s  Aid For Spain Movement
Artefacts such as ceramics, International Brigade caps and identity cards, posters, and paintings by International Brigader Syd Booth, can be found in the hall display cabinets and in the library’s International Room.

With a plaque crafted by Sol Garson on the door, this room serves as a fitting tribute to all those who risked their lives in the first epic battle against fascism.

The library is free for everyone to use and, while it has now re-opened its reading room by appointment, it is also emphasising what it can offer remotely to people — see www.wcml.org.uk/explorefromhome. 

Its recent enforced five-month closure of course led to a major drop in income, and one-off donations would be hugely welcome — www.mstar.link/WCML.  

Even better would be if you felt able to sign up to regular giving at www.mstar.link/RadicalReader to help us in our mission to “explore the past, change the future.”

Lynette Cawthra is library manager of the WCML.

Marx Memorial Library

The Marx Memorial Library was born out of the struggle against fascism in the 1930s.

In 1933, 50 years after the death of Karl Marx, Europe was in turmoil. Fascism was on the march. 

While books were set alight in Berlin, our founders sought to create and preserve a library and archive of Marxist literature and disseminate these ideas through a workers’ school as a bulwark against this reactionary tide. 

We started with a library of just a few hundred volumes; today we have a collection of over 60,000 including internationally significant archives on the Spanish Civil War and Peace movement.

The Battle of Cable Street was a stark reminder that fascism had to be beaten in Britain and well as in Europe.

It also showed what could be achieved through a broad popular front alliance between communists, trade unionists and anti-fascists standing alongside communities under threat from anti-semitism and reaction. 

Faced with this united opposition, the British Union of Fascists and police were forced to abandon their march.

The lives of many of our founders were shaped by this international struggle, with some making the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefields of Spain. 

Mathematician and philosopher David Guest, one of the earliest lecturers at our workers’ school, was shot by a sniper at Gandesa. Ralph Fox, who attended our founding meeting, was killed at the battle of Lopera.

Our archives are a testament to the fight against fascism at home and abroad.

There are many lessons to be learnt today. Our pamphlet collections includes 10 Points against Fascism, produced by the Young Communist League in 1934, a reposte to BUF leader Oswald Mosley’s 10 points of Fascist Policy produced the same year.

Our Phil Piratin archive is rich with press-cuttings, printed ephemera and reflections on the anniversaries of the battle. Moreover, our 150-box collection on the International Brigades and the Spanish Civil War includes memoirs and correspondence of volunteers describing their experiences and motivations.

Communist Charlie Hutchison completed a survey in 1985 summing up his political activity prior to joining the International Brigades.

Outlining his motivations for volunteering, he wrote: “The terrible warmongering of Hitler. The Understanding that Socialism could be a more humane way of life. A belief that Spain Would go down that road. I am half black. I grew up in a national children’s home and orphanage. I knew Fascism meant hunger and war.”

Meirian Jump is archivist and library manager of the MML.