Canadian Bolsheviks
The Early Years of the Communist Party of Canada
Angus, Ian
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
Year First Published: 1981
Year Published: 2004
Pages: 339pp ISBN: 1-4120-3808-1
Resource Type: Book
Cx Number: CX25280
Ian Angus describes and explains the first attempt to build a Leninist party on Canadian soil, showing why it succeeded so well at first, and why it ultimately failed.
Abstract:
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Canadian communism did not spring out of the ground suddenly at the end of World War I, and it was not smuggled into the country by Russian agents. The men and women who built the new movement were long-time socialist and labor militants in Canada. Inspired by the Russian Revolution and by their own experiences as leaders of the post-war labour revolt in Canada, they set about to create a new kind of party, one that could lead the fight for workers' power.
The new Communist Party, formed between 1919 and 1921, quickly became the largest party on the left, with strong roots and influence in the labor movement. Its members led heroic strikes. They fought for labor unity, and engaged in united electoral activity with other currents in the workers movement. They were in the forefront of the struiggle for democratic rights.
Ten years later, the party was destroyed. Most of its founding leaders were expelled, and three quarters of its membership dropped out. The Communist Party abandoned the program it had adopted in its early years, and turned its back on its principles.
The organization still called itself Communist, but it was now "Tim Buck's Party". It had been transformed from a revolutionary party into an agent of the new ruling caste in Moscow.
In Canadian Bolsheviks, Ian Angus describes and explains the first attempt to build a Leninist party on Canadian soil, showing why it succeeded so well at first, and why it ultimately failed.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the First Edition
Frequently Used Abbreviations
PART ONE: A NEW KIND OF PARTY
1. War and Revolution
2. The First Communist Party
3. Canadian Labor in Revolt
4. Regrouping the Left
5. From Leftism to Leninism: The Underground
6. From Leftism to Leninism: To the Masses!
PART TWO: COUNTERREVOLUTION
7. Canadian Labor in Decline
8. Socialism in Once Country
9. The Communist Party in Transition 1923-1929
10. Canadian Communists and the Left Opposition
PART THREE: THE DESTRUCTION OF A PARTY
Prologue
11.The Explusion of Maurice Spector
12. The Sixth Convention
13. Buck's Coup
14. The Third Period in Canada: United Front From Below
15. The Third Period in Canada: Red Unions
16. The Making of "Tim Buck's Party"
17. Conclusion
Appendix: The Tim Buck Version
Reference Notes
Bibliography
Index
Subject Headings
