Libmonster ID: UK-1560
Author(s) of the publication: V. A. RYZHIKOV

M. Politizdat. 1970. 80 pages. The print run is 12,000. The price is 19 kopecks.

To mark the 80th anniversary of the birth of Harry Pollitt , a prominent figure in the English and international communist and labor movement, the Publishing House of Political Literature published a small but informative book by N. V. Matkovsky.

The image of a hereditary English worker who devoted his entire adult life to the cause of the proletariat emerges from the pages of the reviewed work. Pollitt's name is associated with many significant events in the history of the British and international labour movement. The son of a hammer-worker and a boiler-maker himself, Mr. Pollit warmly welcomed the Great October Socialist Revolution. He and his comrades led the "Hands off Russia!" movement. An ardent patriot of working England, G. Pollitt becomes a convinced internationalist-Leninist, one of the founders of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPV). For twenty-seven years, he was the permanent General Secretary of the CPV, leading it on the path of struggle for the fundamental interests of the workers, for the unity of the left forces of the country, for strengthening international ties between workers around the world. "Harry Pollitt," said the current General Secretary of the CPV, John Gollan, " was the flesh of the English working class. He learned from his class such amazing fighting qualities as courage, resilience and class solidarity. His whole life is a story of selfless service to his class" (p. 15).

N. V. Matkovsky traces the life of Harry Pollit from the day of his birth in a small village of textile workers near Manchester. Attachment to the labor Manchester, the book emphasizes, G. Pollit carried through his entire life. From a young age, he joined the workers ' movement, lived by its concerns and problems, and devoted a lot of time to the study of Marxism. The young revolutionary was repeatedly harassed by the authorities for his active participation in strikes. However, the repression did not break his will to fight. "On the contrary," the author writes, " they hardened young Harry even more. In the struggle, he matured as a fighter of a new, revolutionary type" (p.12). The book pays serious attention to showing the attitude of G. Pollit to the October Revolution in Russia, his activities in defense of the young Soviet Republic. N. V. Matkovsky writes with special warmth about Mr. Pollit's attitude to V. I. Lenin, about the great impression made on the English Marxist by Lenin's work "The Infantile Disease of 'Leftism' in Communism, "about Mr. Pollit's meeting at the Third Congress of the Comintern with the leader of the Proletarian revolution. As the book rightly points out, Pollitt "was one of the most prominent English popularizers, agitators, propagandists, publicists, who carried to the masses the great teachings of Marx-Lenin" (p. 24).

The growth of class struggles in England and the interests of the British proletariat strongly demanded the creation of a Marxist-Leninist party in the country. And all his talent as an organizer, the author notes, G. Pollit gives to this cause. In particular, he was instrumental in creating the party's central organ, the Daily Worker, a daily newspaper that reflects the views and interests of the British working class. The book covers in detail the activities of G. Pollit and his associates in the leadership of the CPV, characterizes the role of G. Pollit as a member of the Executive Committee of the Comintern in the world communist movement.

It is with great interest to read those pages of the book that describe the activities of G. Pollit in the years preceding

page 175

during the Second World War, when he mercilessly exposed the treacherous policy of "appeasement". During the Second World War, writes N. V. Matkovsky, G. Pollit advocated the unity of all anti-fascist forces, for active support of the USSR, for the early opening of a second front in Europe.

A significant part of the book is devoted to the struggle of G. Pollit for overcoming the split in the British labor movement, for ensuring the unity of its ranks in the fight against monopolies. He constantly took care of the organizational and ideological unity of the CPV based on Leninist principles, led a relentless struggle against reformism, revisionism and left-sectarian mistakes, and became one of the founders of the CPV program "Britain's Path to Socialism". As noted in the book, when working on the draft of this document, G. Pollit "deeply studied the experience of the struggle for socialism in other countries and, above all, the experience of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, taking into account at the same time the specific features of Great Britain, its historical path" (p.45).

G. Pollit, the author emphasizes, was a sincere friend of the USSR, he repeatedly visited our country and admired the success of the Soviet people in building socialism. At the height of the Cold War, in 1949, he declared on behalf of the CPV that "if the imperialists start a war against the Soviet Union, the British workers will do the same as during the anti - Soviet intervention in 1920 and make the continuation of this war impossible" (p.65). A staunch internationalist, he highly valued the Soviet people's services to the working people of the world. "We can never fully appreciate his sacrifices or thank him enough that they were made so readily, not only for ourselves, but for the present and future generations of all mankind," he wrote (p.64).

Rich in interesting facts, N. V. Matkovsky's work is a tribute to the loyal son of the English working class, Harry Pollitt, a passionate revolutionary and fighter for the interests of working people, for peace, democracy and socialism.

page 176


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