Henry Mayers Hyndman

Born Mar. 7, 1842, in London; died there Nov. 22, 1921. A figure in the British socialist movement; lawyer and journalist.

In the 1870’s Hyndman published articles directed against the extreme aspects of British colonial policy in India. After he became acquainted with Marx’ Das Kapital, he published the pamphlet England for All (1881) and a number of other works in which he tried to popularize Marxism but misconstrued its revolutionary essence in the process. In 1881, Hyndman founded the Democratic Federation, which became the Social Democratic Federation in 1884 and the Social Democratic Party in 1908. As a leader in these organizations Hyndman displayed opportunistic and sectarian tendencies. After the creation in 1911 of the British Socialist Party (BSP), he headed its opportunistic wing. On the eve of and during World War I (1914-18) Hyndman was an active exponent of socialist chauvinism. After the April 1916 congress of the BSP at which the socialist-chauvinist position was condemned, Hyndman left the party. He created the chauvinist National Socialist Party, which after 1918 was known as the Social Democratic Federation. Hyndman was hostile to the October Revolution and supported intervention against Soviet Russia.