Editing Arthur MacManus

{{Short description|Scottish trade unionist and communist politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Arthur MacManus
| image              = Arthur MacManus.jpg
| birth_date         = {{birth year|1889}}
| birth_place        = [[Belfast]], Ireland
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1927|02|27|1889|df=yes}}
| death_place        = [[Hampstead]], London
| resting_place      = [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]], Moscow
| known_for          = Victim of the [[Zinoviev letter]] hoax. Founding member and first chairman of the [[Communist Party of Great Britain]] (CPGB)
| criminal_charges   = [[Seditious libel]], [[mutiny]]
}}
'''Arthur MacManus''' (1889 – 27 February 1927) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[trade unionist]] and [[communist]] [[politician]].

==Biography==

===Early years===

Arthur MacManus was born in [[Belfast]], Ireland, in 1889, later moving to [[Glasgow]], Scotland, with his parents.

===Political career===

MacManus joined the [[De Leonist]] [[Socialist Labour Party (UK, 1903)|Socialist Labour Party]] (SLP)<ref name="chairman">[http://sites.scran.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyde/rc038.htm "Arthur MacManus, first chairman of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1914-1919"]</ref> and began work at [[Singer Corporation|Singers]] in [[Clydebank]], then known as part of the [[Red Clydeside]]. However, he was sacked in April 1911 following an unsuccessful [[Strike action|strike]].<ref>[http://sites.scran.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyde/rceve1.htm "The Singer Strike 1911"]</ref>

Supporting the SLP's opposition to [[World War I]], MacManus was arrested in 1915 at a meeting in [[George Square]], Glasgow, for speaking against the threatened introduction of [[conscription]].<ref>[http://sites.scran.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyde/rc222.htm Warrant summons issued to Maxton, Shinwell, Maclean, 12 December 1915]</ref>

MacManus became a leading member of the [[Clyde Workers Committee]], and for supporting [[David Kirkwood]] in the [[William Beardmore and Company]] strike of 1916, he was one of five people deported to [[Edinburgh]].<ref>[http://sites.scran.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyde/rc200.htm "Deportation of CWC leaders 1916", 1 April 1916]</ref>

In the [[1918 United Kingdom general election|1918 general election]], MacManus stood unsuccessfully for the SLP in [[Halifax (UK Parliament constituency)|Halifax]]. Following the [[October Revolution]], he became a proponent of a united [[communist party]]. In January 1919, he was appointed to serve on a Unity Committee, to engage in discussions on uniting with the [[British Socialist Party]], [[Workers Socialist Federation]] and various smaller groups.<ref name="left">Mark Hayes, ''The British Communist Left 1914-45'' ([[International Communist Current]])</ref>


In an attempt to resolve differences between the various socialist groups, the committee proposed to form a communist party, then hold a vote on [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] affiliation one year later. The SLP executive publicly repudiated this proposal and decided to cease unity negotiations. Together with [[Tom Bell (socialist)|Tom Bell]] and [[William Paul (socialist)|William Paul]], MacManus did not accept this. They continued to attend the negotiations, and in April 1920, formed the [[Communist Unity Group]]. In August, this became the second largest group to participate in the formation of the [[Communist Party of Great Britain]] (CPGB), and MacManus became the party's first chairman, a post he held until 1922.<ref name="left" />  That year, he attended a special conference of the Executive Committee of the [[Comintern]], at which it was decided to reorganise the party.<ref>Steve Reynolds, [http://www.marxist.com/History/early_CPGB.html "The Early Years of the Communist Party of Great Britain - 1922-1925"]</ref>  MacManus became its colonial secretary,<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930101845/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,728589,00.html Reds Warned]", ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''</ref> and attended the Fourth Congress of the Comintern in September,<ref>[http://www.gcal.ac.uk/radicalglasgow/chapters/tom_bell.html "Tom Bell: Radical Glasgow"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928000147/http://www.gcal.ac.uk/radicalglasgow/chapters/tom_bell.html |date=28 September 2007 }}</ref> at which he was elected to its Executive Committee and Praesidium.<ref>[http://www.marxisthistory.org/subject/usa/eam/cominternofficials.html The Communist International (1919-1943) Officials]</ref>

In 1924, the [[Zinoviev letter]] was circulated, calling for increased communist agitation in Britain. This forgery, intended to damage the Labour Party's chances in the [[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924 general election]], was purportedly signed both by [[Grigory Zinoviev]] and MacManus.
[[File:Kremlin Wall Necropolis - MacManus, Arthur.jpg|thumb|alt=Plaque on a brick wall with inscription: Arthur MacManus/Артур Макманус, 1889–1927|Plaque of Arthur MacManus at the Kremlin Wall]]
In 1925, MacManus was one of twelve CPGB officials imprisoned for [[seditious libel]] and incitement to [[mutiny]].<ref>[http://sites.scran.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyde/rc035.htm Postcard of 12 defendants in trial of Communist Party officials, November 1925]</ref>

MacManus was able to attend the founding conference of the [[League Against Imperialism]] in 1927,<ref>[http://www.cpim.org/marxist/199601_marxist_saklatvala.htm "Shapurji Saklatvala and the Fight against Racism and Imperialism 1921-28"], ''[[The Marxist]]''</ref> but died later in the year. His ashes were placed within the [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]].<ref name="chairman" />

==Personal life==

In 1920, MacManus married [[Hettie Wheeldon|Harriete "Hettie" Wheeldon]] (1891-1920), daughter of William Augustus and [[Alice Wheeldon]] of [[Derby]], a schoolteacher who was a socialist and had been an anti-war campaigner during World War I. Within the year the couple had a child who was [[stillbirth|stillborn]], but later Hettie died of [[peritonitis]] following [[appendicitis]]. <ref name="Rowbotham2015">{{cite book|author=Sheila Rowbotham|title=Friends of Alice Wheeldon: The Anti-War Activist Accused of Plotting to Kill Lloyd George|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qvIWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA91|year=2015|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-1-58367-555-7|pages=8-9, 91–2}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Campbell case]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Arthur MacManus}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline}}
* [http://www.marxists.org/archive/mcmanus/index.htm Arthur MacManus Archive], Marxists Internet Archive.

{{Communist Party of Great Britain}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macmanus, Arthur}}
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1927 deaths]]
[[Category:British anti–World War I activists]]
[[Category:Communist Party of Great Britain members]]
[[Category:Executive Committee of the Communist International]]
[[Category:Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis]]
[[Category:Scottish communists]]
[[Category:Scottish trade unionists]]
[[Category:Socialist Labour Party (UK, 1903) members]]
[[Category:Red Clydeside]]
[[Category:Far-left politicians in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Political prisoners in the United Kingdom]]