The British Communist Party and the War, 1939-41: Old Slogans Revived

Abstract

When the tired voice of Neville Chamberlain announced on the radio on 3 September 1939 that 'this country is at war with Germany', most of his listeners felt a mixture of fear and relief. The fear was due to the widespread belief, born mainly of extensive cinema newsreel coverage of the Spanish Civil War, that massive aerial bombardment was imminent. The relief was the result of the feeling that, at last, the uncertainty was over. The inevitable journey had begun, even if the final destination remained unknown. Most people agreed with the Prime Minister that the German moves in Poland constituted 'a wicked and unprovoked attack' and that they would be fighting 'evil things' 'brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution.' What did the 18,000 or so members of the Communist Party think? Talks with individuals who were Party members at that time, and a look at the public statements of their leaders, indicate that, the HitlerStalin Pact notwithstanding, most of them felt the same fear and relief as their compatriots. They could claim that their Party had been fighting 'evil things' for at least three years, during the Spanish Civil War, and even before that. Now at last, virtually the whole nation, including its reluctant bourgeois leaders, would be united in fighting fascism.