[As the crisis in the SWP continues, it might
be worthwhile considering the crisis in the British Communist Party
in the mid-1950s.
Naturally, the content of the two crises differ
considerably. In the 1950s the issue facing the CP was the nature of
the newly-installed regimes in eastern Europe, culminating in the
reaction to the Hungarian Revolution. The SWP has always rejected
Stalinism and its predecessor organisation backed the Hungarian
rebels without hesitation, and so this issue would never have been a
problem.
But, nonetheless, it may be argued there are
parallels between the CP then and the SWP now.
I therefore present to you the introductory
chapter of Peter Fryer's 1956 book, Hungarian
Tragedy, so you may judge for yourself.]
