P.C.B. was founded November 19, 1967 at a national conference in La Louvière. 117 persons took part in the founding conference. Key leaders of the new party included Joseph Vanderlinden, Michel Graindorge, Henri Glineur, Fernand Lefebvre, Emile Remy and Xavier Relecom. The founders of the P.C.B. had broken away from the Communist Party of Belgium of Jacques Grippa, as they accused Grippa of having sided with the 'Chinese Khruschtev' Liu Shaoqi. The party was the largest of the splinter groups of Grippa's party. P.C.B. started its own youth and students organizations. The party had around 130-150 members, concentrated in Centre, Borinage and Brussels.
Mergers and splits
The party was the sole Belgian party to receive recognition from the Communist Party of China. As such it managed to amalgate a number of other factions. In 1968 the Borain Communist Movement merged into P.C.B.. This group had emerged out of a split in the P.C.B. in and held 3 seats in the municipal council. The Pâturages group was led by Raoul Danhier. A party cadre conference held June 28, 1970 the name of the party was changed to the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Belgium. Fernand Lefebvre was named second secretary of the party. The party was active within the 'Centre de diffusion et de documentation pour le Vietnam' and 'Comité national Palestine'. Whilst P.C.M.L.B. called for blank vote in the 1970 municipal election, the party did allow the Pâturages branch to present a local list. The list won 3 seats in the municipal council. In 1971 Lefebvre was elevated as the sole leader of the party. His exact title varied over the years, from Party Spokesperson, Central Committee Chairman to Central Committee Secretary. In 1972 the 'Red Guard' faction, a spontanist group in Liege that had split away from P.C.B., reunited with the party. This group was led by Mazurkevitch Sarlet, Édouard Sarlet and Jean Derkenne. In the same year the Communist Party of Belgium of Arnold Hauwaert began dialogue on unity with P.C.M.L.B.. The two parties merged on June 9, 1973. The publications of the two parties merged, now being published as Clarté et L'Exploité. Nevertheless, former P.C.B. members broke away in 1976 and founded the Revolutionary Communist Party. In 1979 the Communist Struggle faction merged into P.C.M.L.B.. In January 1979Clarté et l'Exploité was transformed into the bimonthly La Voix Communiste.
Later years
By the early 1980s, the party had declined in influence, having merely a few dozen members. The party supported independence for the Wallon and Flemish peoples. In 1982 P.C.M.L.B. contested the municipal election. In Mons Fernand Lefebvre stood as a candidate on the 'Union démocratique et progressiste wallonne' list, along with candidates from P.C.B. and others. In 1986 P.C.M.L.B. mutated into the Communist Party of Progressive Unity. P.C.U.P. was disbanded after the Tiananmen square events on June 1989.
Publications
P.C.B./P.C.M.L.B. published Clarté, Clarté et L'Exploité and later La Voix communiste in French language and in Flemish languageKlaarheid, Vlaanderen Rood, De Rode Waarheid and De Kommunistische Stem.
