William Peyton "Pat" Coates (1883, Kinsale – 8 August 1963) was an Irish labour activist and communist who was active in the sphere of Anglo-Soviet relations.[1]
Biography
In 1901, he took a clerical position on the railways, and by 1903 was a member of the Railway Clerks Association and subsequently its successor, the Transport Salaries Staffs Association. He joined the Social Democratic Federation, later joining the British Socialist Party (BSP).[1]
In 1913, he married Zelda Kahan.[citation needed]
He became the BSP's National Organiser in March 1919 and was involved in founding the Communist Party of Great Britain.[citation needed]
In September 1919, when the National Hands Off Russia Committee was formed at a conference in Manchester, Coates became its secretary. He filled this post until the Ramsay MacDonald government established diplomatic relations with the U.S.S.R. The committee was then transformed into the Anglo-Russian Parliamentary Committee.[1] Coates retained the position of secretary of this organisation until his death.[1]
In 1923, he visited Russia.[2]
Works
- (1923) Present Position of Anglo-Russian Relations London: National "Hands off Russia" Committee
- (1923) Export credit schemes and Anglo-Russian trade London: National "Hands off Russia" Committee
- (1924) Why Russia should be recognised London: National "Hands off Russia" Committee
- (1924) Russia's counter-claims London: National "Hands off Russia" Committee
- (1928) Why Anglo-Russian Diplomatic Relations Should be Restored London: Anglo-Soviet Parliamentary Committee
- (1931) Is Soviet Trade a Menace? London: Anglo-Soviet Parliamentary Committee (with Zelda Kahan)
- (1935) Armed Intervention in Russia 1918-1922 London: V. Gollancz
- (1938) From Tsardom to the Stalin Constitution London:G. Allen and Unwin
- (1939) World Affairs and the U.S.S.R.
- (1940) Russia, Finland and the Baltic London : Lawrence and Wishart
- (1940) The Soviet-Finnish Campaign: Military & Political, 1939-1940
- (1943) A History of Anglo-Soviet Relations Vol. I. (1943)
- (1948) Six Centuries of Russo-Polish Relations London: Lawrence and Wishart
- (1951) Soviets in Central Asia
- (1958) A History of Anglo-Soviet Relations Vol. II.
References
- ^ Stevenson, Graham. "Coates WP (Pat)". Graham Stevenson. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
- ^ Berlin, Isaiah (1946). Why the Soviet Union chooses to insulate itself. London: Royal Institute of International Affairs. Retrieved 16 February 2016.