Anarchist letters and pamphlets

Letter from Joseph Lane (fl 1880-1905) to Ambrose Barker (1859-1953), 10 July 1912.
Notes by Dr. Max Nettlau (1865-1944) of excerpts from Joseph Lane's correspondence to Barker.
Printed manifestos by Lane, 1887 and the Anarchist Communist Alliance, 1895. Pamphlet entitled 'Freiheit prosecution of Johann Most', 1881. Most (1846-1906) was editor of 'Die Freiheit'.
Socialist League circulars and pamphlets, 1885 to 1886; 1903.

The Anarchist Communist Alliance: No further information available.
The Socialist League: In 1884 a group of members of the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) attempted to remove H H Hyndman (1842-1921) from the leadership of the party. This group shared Hyndman's Marxist beliefs, but objected to his nationalism and the dictatorial methods he used to run the party. At a meeting of the Social Democratic Federation executive on 27th December, 1884, there was a debate about Hyndman's leadership. There were complaints about his control over the party's journal "Justice". Others were unhappy about Hyndman's tendency to expel members he disagreed with. The SDF executive voted by a majority of two (10-8), that it had no confidence in Hyndman. When Hyndman refused to resign, some members left and formed a new organisation called the Socialist League. After six months the Socialist League only had eight branches and 230 members. Britain's economic problems in the 1880s helped to revive interest in the Socialist League. By January 1887 the membership of the party reached 550. The Socialist League continued to grow and by 1895 had over 10,700 members. Numbers declined after this and when the organisation disbanded in 1901 it was down to less than 6,000.

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Printed handlist available

Output from CAIRS using template 14 and checked by hand on May 8, 2002

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