For Class and Country: The Patriotic Left and the First World War (Studies in Labour History LUP)

The First World War has often suffered from comparison to the Second, in terms of both public interest and the significance ascribed to it by scholars in the shaping of modern Britain. This is especially so for the relationship between the Left and these two wars. For the Left, the Second World War can be seen as a time of triumph: a united stand against fascism followed by a landslide election win and a radical, reforming Labour government. The First World War is more complex. Given the gratuitous cost in lives, the failure of a ‘fit country for heroes to live in’ to materialise, the deep recessions and unemployment of the inter-war years, and the botched peace settlements which served only to precipitate another war, the Left has tended to view the conflict as an unmitigated disaster and unpardonable waste. This has led to a tendency on the Left to see the later conflict as the ‘good’ war, fought against an obvious evil, and the earlier conflict as an imperialist blunder; the result of backroom scheming, secret pacts and a thirst for colonies. This book to moves away from a concentration on machinations at the elite levels of the labour movement, on events inside Parliament and intellectual developments; there is a focus on less well-visited material. This book argues that labour patriotism characterised the left’s stance on the First World War, the anti-war stance was marginalised, and this patriotism both held the labour movement together and ensured greater electoral success after 1918. Cover; Table Of Contents; Tables And Graphs; Illustrations; Abbreviations; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1 â#x80;#x98;if This Is To Be A Jingo, Then I Am A Jingoâ#x80;#x99; â#x80;#x93; Labour Patriotism Before 1914; 2 â#x80;#x98;iâ#x80;#x99;d Sooner Blackleg My Union Than Blackleg My Countryâ#x80;#x99; â#x80;#x93; Labour Patriotism, 1914â#x80;#x93;18; August 1914; The Workersâ#x80;#x99; National Committee And Labour Support For The War; Who Were The Labour Patriots?; Workers And Trade Unions; Anti-germanism; Labour Heroes; 3 â#x80;#x98;middle-class Peace Men?â#x80;#x99; â#x80;#x93; Labour And The Anti-war Agitation Conscription, 1916â#x80;#x93;18wartime Strikes, 1915â#x80;#x93;18; The Anti-war Movement, 1915â#x80;#x93;18; The Leeds And Stockholm Conferences; 4 â#x80;#x98;our Platform Is Broad Enough And Our Movement Big Enoughâ#x80;#x99; â#x80;#x93; The War And Recruits To Labour; The Conversion Of Liberal And Conservative Elites; Labour, Soldiers, And Ex-servicemen; The War And The Appeal To The New Electorate; 5 â#x80;#x98;the Experiments Are Not Found Wantingâ#x80;#x99; â#x80;#x93; Labour And The Wartime State; The Wartime Growth Of The British State; Labour And The Workers During The War The Impact Of The War On The Relationship Between The British Left And The State6 â#x80;#x98;the Greatest Democratic Force British Politics Have Knownâ#x80;#x99; â#x80;#x93; Labour Cohesion And The War; The Trade Unions And The Labour Party; Labour And Womenâ#x80;#x99;s Organisations; The Co-operative Movement And Labour; Socialist Societies And The Labour Party; The Rise And Decline Of The Ultra-patriots; Conclusion; Bibliography David Swift. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 Table of Contents 5 Tables and Graphs 7 Illustrations 8 Abbreviations 9 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 11 1 ‘If this is to be a jingo, then I am a jingo’ – Labour Patriotism before 1914 23 2 ‘I’d sooner blackleg my union than blackleg my country’ – Labour Patriotism, 1914–18 34 August 1914 35 The Workers’ National Committee and Labour Support for the War 38 Who Were the Labour Patriots? 40 Workers and Trade Unions 44 Anti-Germanism 53 Labour Heroes 58 3 ‘Middle-class peace men?’ – Labour and the Anti-War Agitation 66 Conscription, 1916–18 66 Wartime Strikes, 1915–18 72 The Anti-War Movement, 1915–18 77 The Leeds and Stockholm Conferences 87 4 ‘Our Platform is Broad Enough and our Movement Big Enough’ – The War and Recruits to Labour 91 The Conversion of Liberal and Conservative Elites 92 Labour, Soldiers, and Ex-Servicemen 98 The War and the Appeal to the New Electorate 112 5 ‘The experiments are not found wanting’ – Labour and the Wartime State 137 The Wartime Growth of the British State 138 Labour and the Workers during the War 147 The Impact of the War on the Relationship between the British Left and the State 168 6 ‘The greatest democratic force British politics have known’ – Labour Cohesion and the War 181 The Trade Unions and the Labour Party 183 Labour and Women’s Organisations 189 The Co-operative Movement and Labour 195 Socialist Societies and the Labour Party 202 The Rise and Decline of the Ultra-Patriots 204 Conclusion 211 Bibliography 217 Index 237 The First World War has often suffered from comparison to the Second, in terms of both public interest and the significance ascribed to it by scholars in the shaping of modern Britain. This is especially so for the relationship between the Left and these two wars. For the Left, the Second World War can be seen as a time of triumph: a united stand against fascism followed by a landslide election win and a radical, reforming Labour government. The First World War is more complex. Given the gratuitous cost in lives, the failure of a 'fit country for heroes to live in' to materialise, the deep recessions and unemployment of the inter-war years, and the botched peace settlements which served only to precipitate another war, the Left has tended to view the conflict as an unmitigated disaster and unpardonable waste. This has led to a tendency on the Left to see the later conflict as the 'good' war, fought against an obvious evil, and the earlier conflict as an imperialist blunder; the result of backroom scheming, secret pacts and a thirst for colonies. This book hopes to move away from a concentration on machinations at the elite levels of the labour movement, on events inside Parliament and intellectual developments; there is a focus on less well-visited material.