Trial of John Maclean

John Maclean
John Maclean MA
Bolshevik consul in Scotland
In office February 1918 – Unknown
Vice-President (Honorary) of the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets
In office 23 January 1918 – 31 January 1918
Personal details
Born	14 August 1879 Pollokshaws, Scotland, UK
Died	30 November 1923 (aged 44) Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Resting place	Eastwood New Cemetery
Citizenship	British
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Scottish Workers Republican Party
Other political affiliations	Communist Labour Party Socialist Labour Party SDF (later BSP) Co-op movement
Spouse(s)	Agnes Maclean
Alma mater	University of Glasgow
Profession	Schoolteacher, Politician

John Maclean (14 August 1879 – 30 November 1923) was a Scottish schoolteacher and revolutionary socialist of the Red Clydeside era.

He was notable for his outspoken opposition to the First World War, which caused his arrest under the Defence of the Realm Act and loss of his teaching post, after which he became a full-time Marxist lecturer and organiser. In April 1918 he was arrested for sedition, and his 75-minute speech from the dock became a celebrated text for Scottish left-wingers. He was sentenced to five years’ penal servitude, but was released after the November armistice.

Maclean believed that Scottish workers were especially fitted to lead the revolution, and talked of "Celtic communism", inspired by clan spirit. But his launch of a Scottish Workers Republican Party and a Scottish Communist Party were largely unsuccessful. Although he had been appointed Bolshevik representative in Scotland, he was not in harmony with the Communist Party of Great Britain, even though it had absorbed the British Socialist Party, to which he had belonged. In captivity, Maclean had been on hunger strike, and prolonged force-feeding had permanently affected his health. He collapsed during a speech and died of pneumonia, aged forty-four.

Maclean was born in Pollokshaws, then on the outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland, to parents of Highland Gàidhealtachd origin; his father Daniel (Scottish Gaelic: Dòmhnall MacIllEathain; 1845–1888) was a potter who hailed from the Isle of Mull and his mother Ann (1846–1914) came from Corpach. Raised in a Calvinist household, Maclean trained as a schoolteacher under the auspices of the Free Church and then attended part-time classes at the University of Glasgow, graduating with a Master of Arts degree in 1904. (Maclean often used the letters M.A. after his name when being published).

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