National responses to an invasion are often thought about in simplified terms, seeing it as an outrage. This was even more true of invasions during the Cold War. Britain’s response to the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is coloured by this Cold War lens, with anti-communist figures such as Margaret Thatcher condemning the war and following the USA in taking action against the USSR. My dissertation rejects this view, instead arguing that there were numerous different reactions to the invasion across British political society. It offers as examples the Conservative Government, the Labour Party, the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), specifically Afghanaid, to demonstrate the multiple responses to the invasion that were shaped by the economic, diplomatic, and humanitarian contexts.

Thanks to a Society for the Study of Labour History bursary, I have been able to travel to both Manchester and London for research. In Manchester I was able to visit the Central Library and consult copies of the Morning Star paper, internal documents from Manchester branches of the CPGB and congressional reports from the Young Communist League. These prove how factionalism developed in the CPGB prior to and in response to the invasion, showing how the invasion caused difficulties for the CPGB’s continuing electoral support for Labour and split supporters of the USSR from the rest of the party. In London I was able to visit both the British Library and the London School of Economics Archive. Unfortunately, the Marx Memorial Library was unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. I was able to access records on the Straight Left newspaper and group, the pamphlet The Case for a New Communist Party, pieces on the British boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games and reports from the Afghanistan Support Committee. Using these items, I will be able to develop further understanding of divisions within the CPGB and use the example of Straight Left as a key group in this. Additionally, I will be able to show how the boycott of the Olympics divided both the Conservative and Labour parties.

Jamie Ferris is a student of history at Northumbria University.

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