Libmonster ID: IN-1490
Author(s) of the publication: M. E. ORLOVA

Moscow, Nauka Publishing House. 1976. 268 p. The print run is 1,700. Price 1 rub. 36 kopecks.

The study of the colonial policy of the Labour Party is a kind of laboratory for the study of the theory and practice of social reformism in the colonial question, since, firstly, the methodological fruitfulness and universality of the study of the colonial problems of Great Britain - the largest, "classical" colonial power, which also became the pioneer of neo-colonialism, is known, and secondly, the Labour Party is one of the the ruling social democratic parties, which implemented colonial policies. The work of A. G. Sudeikin, a researcher at the Institute of General History of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Candidate of Historical Sciences, is almost the first monograph specifically devoted to the colonial policy of not only the Labor Party, but also the entire international social reformism in the period between the two World Wars.

Based on extensive factual material, the author analyzes the contradictions between the theory and practice of Labor in the colonial question. The monograph convincingly shows the failure of their attempt to find a third, "social-democratic way to solve colonial problems" - an attempt that was doomed to failure in advance, because, as A. G. Sudeikin emphasizes, it was based on the erroneous assumption that a "positive colonial policy" is possible within the framework of capitalist relations (p.244). This analysis and conclusions go beyond the scope of English studies alone, as they touch upon important features of the theory and practice of social reformism in general.

A. G. Sudeikin's work is closely connected with the political problems of today. We are witnessing how hard and painful the general crisis of capitalism is manifesting itself in England. The collapse of the British Empire, which for decades helped to keep the British economy afloat, is of no small importance in the complex of reasons that weakened the former "master of the world", "mistress of the seas".-

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the Russian system, covering its chronic foreign trade deficit. Therefore, the study of the colonial policy of the Labor Party, which tried to prevent or at least amortize the collapse of the empire and the loss of its former power, is extremely interesting and relevant.

The author draws a broad panorama of the liberation struggle of the peoples of the British Empire in the interwar decade. It includes the national liberation revolution in Ireland in 1919-1921, the powerful rise of the anti-imperialist struggle in India, the national revolutionary struggle in China in 1924-1927, and the growth of anti-imperialist movements in Iraq, Egypt, the Sudan, and other countries. In the events of half a century or more than half a century ago, we find the ties of many modern "Gordian knots" of world politics, the origins of the most acute crises of our days. Take, for example, the current explosion in Northern Ireland, the roots of which go back to the "truncated"1 , in the words of V. I. Lenin, the revolution of 1919-1921 - to the 1921 treaty imposed by the colonialists, according to which the country was divided, and the liberation revolution was incomplete. Similarly, in the current Middle East crisis, one can find traces of long-standing Arab-Jewish conflicts that stemmed from the very conditions of colonization of an already settled country after the First World War under the auspices of the British colonial administration.

Another interesting and up - to - date aspect of the monograph is the well-known fact that in the 20s and 30s, the Labor Party implemented new methods for colonial politics, with the aim of "leaving to stay". "The Labour leaders of the 1920s and 1930s," writes A. G. Sudeikin, "were not only the heirs of the flexible and maneuverable policy of the British bourgeoisie in the empire, but also the scouts of neocolonialism" (p.246). In the 20s and 30s, with the first steps of the Labor Party in the field of colonial administration, a characteristic feature of British colonial policy was formed - its actual two-party nature. No matter how sharp the Labour criticism of the colonial policy of the Conservatives from the opposition benches was, it did not find a noticeable reflection in the practical activities of the Labour governments that were in power. During these years, as the author convincingly shows, in relation to Ireland, India, Egypt, and the Sudan, the Labour government not only inherited "the imperialist policy of its predecessors, but also prepared a 'decent' ground for transferring affairs to conservative successors " (p. 108).

The advantage of the work is that the colonial policy of the Labour Party is presented as a result of the impact of a number of socio-political and economic factors: on the one hand, the processes taking place on the "internal front" - the aggravation of the class struggle, the post-war rise of the labor movement, the confrontation of trends in the Labour Party itself, the state of public opinion, on the one hand, the intensity of the national liberation struggle of the peoples of the colonies. A. G. Sudeikin emphasizes that the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution and the construction of socialism in the USSR were the most important factors influencing the views of the Labor Party on the colonial question and the party's foreign policy (pp. 39, 40).

The author was able to reveal the relationship between the Labor colonial policy and the state of class struggle in the country. Based on the events of the interwar period, the book examines a characteristic feature of English social life that dates back to the first steps of the British labor movement and remains relevant in modern England: the pressure of the masses on the government in any issue concerning relations with a dependent or former dependent country is much less powerful than the mass influence, the pressure of social and economic spheres. As the author notes, "the Labour leaders enjoyed an incomparably greater 'free hand' in their colonial policies "(p.248). The book shows the historical and ideological roots of this weakened interest of the working class in colonial problems, connected with insufficient information about the situation in the empire, with the long-term efforts of bourgeois-chauvinist propaganda, and with the dominance of opportunism in the labor movement.

However, while stating the deep-rooted influence of imperialist ideology on the working class and the masses of the people in England, A. G. Sudeikin argues against the one-sided assertion of bourgeois authors who absolutize this fact;

1 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 44, p. 376.

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the book convincingly shows that the colonial policy at every stage was met with resistance from the working class, that there were always anti-imperialist sentiments, anti-imperialist speeches. British workers defended Ireland in 1919-1921, and in the campaign to support the national revolutionary forces in China in early 1927. The anti-colonialist sentiments of the working people were also reflected in the discussion of imperial policy at the Labour conferences of 1919-1921, 1924-1926, and 1936. These sentiments undoubtedly affected the struggle of currents within the party itself, and the active actions of the Independent Workers ' Party in defense of oppressed peoples. The author pays great attention to the opposition to right-wing leaders in colonial issues in the trade union environment. In this respect, the anti-imperialist resolution adopted almost unanimously by the Trade Union Congress of 1925 is particularly significant. The most consistent fighter for the cause of the oppressed peoples of the British Empire was the Communist Party of Great Britain.

There are also some gaps in a large and multi-faceted study, such as a peer-reviewed paper. These include the lack of elaboration of the question of the significance of imperial possessions for the capitalist economy of England during the period under review. After all, the importance of the colonies for maintaining the economic stability of Great Britain was the main incentive for the transformation of methods of colonial administration, the search for new, more refined forms of domination as a "counterweight" to the openly imperialist policy of conservatives in the context of the general crisis of capitalism and its colonial system. In such an analysis of the economic role of the colonies, it would be appropriate to trace the changes that occurred during this period in comparison with classical times, when this problem was analyzed by the founders of Marxism - Leninism, in particular, in connection with the sources of bribery of the labor aristocracy. The conclusion of the work rightly emphasizes that the threat of loss of colonies was also a threat to the privileged position of certain sections of the working class, who previously benefited from the existence of the empire (p.249). Additional research on this issue would deepen the work.

The author makes an interesting point that the Labour Party expressed its willingness to pursue a traditional imperial policy as if "in exchange" for social concessions within the country (p. 249). Unfortunately, this observation about the complex relationship between Labour's domestic and foreign policies has not been elaborated on in the context of the two Labour cabinet reigns.

The work benefits in many ways from a brief excursion into the past, to the initial stages of the English labor movement, to the first manifestations of its positions on the colonial question (see introduction). This digression allows the author to draw interesting conclusions about the influence of imperialist ideology and the counter-influence of the progressive opposing forces of internationalism in the labor movement. In this regard, the monograph seems to "lack" a brief outline of the subsequent trends in the development of English colonial policy, primarily Labor. Such an "afterword" would better define the place of the interwar period in the general context of British colonial policy, and make the work even more politically relevant and topical.

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M. E. ORLOVA, A. G. SUDEIKIN: COLONIAL POLICY OF THE LABOUR PARTY OF ENGLAND IN THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS // Delhi: India (ELIB.ORG.IN). Updated: 19.01.2025. URL: https://elib.org.in/m/articles/view/A-G-SUDEIKIN-COLONIAL-POLICY-OF-THE-LABOUR-PARTY-OF-ENGLAND-IN-THE-PERIOD-BETWEEN-THE-TWO-WORLD-WARS (date of access: 07.02.2025).

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