Why The Failure Of The 1926 General Strikes

The party had some 4000 members by 1923 and the election of a minority Labour government that year was a sign of returning class confidence. Strikes began to take place too and the build up began towards the decisive confrontation, that of the 1926 General Strike. The British Communists entered 1926 with 6000 members, 1000 organised in factory branches and sales of ‘Workers Weekly’ which topped 60,000. It was a force, albeit small, but by now it was crippled by the line coming from Moscow which was uncritical support for the left trade union leaders, a line carried into the General Strike with disastrous results as the left union leaders did nothing to oppose the sell out of the strike. The Comintern president believed that an alliance with