Little Moscow
Encyclopedia
Little Moscow was a term used to describe towns and villages in capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...

 societies whose population appeared to hold extreme left-wing political values or communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

 views. The places so named were typically in working class areas, normally with strong trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 links to a heavy industry.

History of use in Great Britain

The term first appeared within Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 between the two world wars, and although used to describe several places in Britain, three communities are primarily associated with the pseudonym: the Vale of Leven
Vale of Leven
The Vale of Leven is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven.The areas name lends itself to Alexandria's local football club, Vale of Leven F.C., the secondary school, Vale of Leven Academy, and the Vale of Leven District General Hospital, as well as other local...

 in Scotland, Chopwell
Chopwell
Chopwell is a village in Tyne and Wear, located approximately three miles west of Rowlands Gill and one mile north of Hamsterley.Traditionally an area of coal mining, Chopwell was nicknamed "Little Moscow" because of the strong support for the Communist Party...

 in England and Maerdy
Maerdy
Maerdy is a village and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying at the head of the Rhondda Fach Valley.- History :...

 in Wales. The term was initially used as an insult by newspapers, but it was quickly embraced and used as a term of pride by the labelled communities. In the case of the Vale of Leven, the area was reliant on the dyeing industry, and after high unemployment during the 1920s and 1930s the people of the area turned to radical socialist and communist views. This resulted in the Vale of Leven District Council becoming the first local council in Great Britain to see the Communists becoming the single largest representatives. Chopwell and Maerdy have a more similar history, with both areas once housing coal mining industries. Chopwell was first tagged as a 'Little Moscow' in the 1920s as a result of its strong support for the Communist Party, and still has streets in the village named after Communist Party leaders. Maerdy was also labelled on account of its socialist sympathies; the first recorded instance of its being named a 'Little Moscow' was recorded in the South Wales Daily News around 1930. The miners of Maerdy took great pride in the tag, producing several important Communist trade unionists including Arthur Horner, a founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...

.

Reasons for the popularity of communism in Great Britain

Social and economic conditions were very similar in all the towns labelled 'Little Moscow'. All these areas comprised a single industrial community, in which one heavy industry employed the majority of the workers, and the local amenities were reliant upon the wages that industry supplied. This resulted in a close-knit community with strong social ties and responsibilities. During the early 20th century most of the areas were still expanding, and employment levels were high, but after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, despite an initial inflationary boom, the industries experienced market contractions and a series of general strikes. These were followed by a protracted depression in the 1930s, which resulted in mass unemployment across all sectors of the coal, steel, textile and shipbuilding industries. A mixture of unemployment, the rise of trade unionism and the dissatisfaction brought about by World War I led to an increasing level of industrial unrest.

Many of the areas that would later be dubbed 'Little Moscows' had earlier in the century attempted to find another system other than the capitalist system favoured by the state. In 1912 the Rhondda
Rhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...

 saw the publication of The Miners' Next Step
The Miners' Next Step
The Miners' Next Step was an economic and political pamphlet produced in 1912 calling for coal miners through their lodges, to embrace syndicalism and a new 'scientific' trade unionism. The pamphlet was written by the 'Unofficial Reform Committee' a group of syndaclist and socialists involved in...

, a Syndicalist
Syndicalism
Syndicalism is a type of economic system proposed as a replacement for capitalism and an alternative to state socialism, which uses federations of collectivised trade unions or industrial unions...

 manifesto published by Noah Ablett
Noah Ablett
Noah Ablett was a trade unionist and political theorist who is most noted for writing 'The Miners' Next Step' a Syndicalist treaty which Ablett described as 'scientific trade unionism....

. Ablett, a one-time check weight man from the Mardy Colliery
Mardy Colliery
Mardy Colliery was a coal mine located in the South Wales village of Maerdy , in the Rhondda Valley, located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, and within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales...

 in Maerdy, was a founding member of the Plebs' League
Plebs' League
The Plebs' League was a British educational and political organisation which originated around Marxist ideals.Central to the formation of the League was Noah Ablett, a miner from the Rhondda who was at the core of a group at Ruskin College, Oxford who opposed the lecturers' opposition to Marxism...

, a Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

 organisation originating from Ruskin College, Oxford
Ruskin College, Oxford
Ruskin College is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is named after the essayist and social critic John Ruskin and specialises in providing educational opportunities for adults with few or no qualifications...

. Syndicalism was quickly replaced by communist ideals.

In the 1920s, the old Liberal party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 were being surpassed by Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 and the trade unions began the transition from supporting the Liberals to Labour. In many communities the constituency Labour parties were not established, and thus through worker efforts both Labour and communist organisations came into being at the same time. This allowed militant workers to join the Communist Party without being isolated. These Communists were able to fashion alliances with the newly formed Labour Party, and eventually gained enough support to gain seats on local councils.

Another factor was the admiration held by many people from the areas for the Soviet Union. Friends of the Soviet Union
Friends of the Soviet Union
Friends of the Soviet Union was an organization formed on the initiative of the Communist International in 1927, with the purpose of coordinating solidarity efforts with the Soviet Union around the world...

 had branches in many of the communities, and reciprocal visits of children and sports teams were arranged.

Usage outside Britain

A common usage of the term 'Little Moscow' outside Britain is to describe a community that has a substantial ethnic enclave
Ethnic enclave
An ethnic enclave is an ethnic community which retains some cultural distinction from a larger, surrounding area, it may be a neighborhood, an area or an administrative division based on ethnic groups. Sometimes an entire city may have such a feel. Usually the enclave revolves around businesses...

 of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n immigrants or people of Russian descent; similar to a 'Little Italy
Little Italy
Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood.-Canada:*Little Italy, Edmonton, in Alberta*Little Italy, Montreal, in Quebec...

' or 'Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...

'. Examples include Sunny Isles Beach, Florida
Sunny Isles Beach, Florida
Sunny Isles Beach is a city located on a barrier island in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The City is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Intracoastal Waterway on the west...

, which is sometimes known as 'Little Moscow', with over 7% of its population listing Russian as their first language in a 2000 survey.

Outside ethnic enclaves, the term is also used to show left-wing leanings of a community in other countries. In South America, the neighbourhood of Realengo
Realengo
Realengo is a neighborhood in northern Rio de Janeiro. The lower and middle class neighborhood is between the Mendanha and Pedra Branca mountains...

 in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

, Brazil, was nicknamed 'Little Moscow' during the mid twentieth century because of the sometimes militant support of the residents towards the Partido Comunista Brasileiro
Partido Comunista Brasileiro
Partido Comunista Brasileiro can refer to:* Brazilian Communist Party* Brazilian Communist Party...

, the Brazilian Communist Party.

In the United States, as in Britain, the term has been used by the media to label a community with socialist or left-wing sympathies. In 1937, radio commentators used the term to describe Racine, Wisconsin
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...

, because of strikes and labour disputes. Though unlike in Britain, Racine did not have an open Communist political following, but through militant trade unions ran a series of strikes across industries throughout the city in the 1930s. This included one of the first areas to have an automobile union, which picketed before the likes of Flint, Detroit or Johnstown, and received negative media attention.

Further reading

  • Macintyre, Stuart; Little Moscows : Communism and working-class militancy in inter-war Britain (1980) London: Croom Helm, ISBN 070990083X
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