The American Empire

by Scott Nearing

The British Labor Movement is a formidable affair. There are not more than a hundred thousand members in all of the Socialist parties, in the Independent Labor Party and in the Communist Party combined. There are between six and seven millions of members in the trade unions.

Perhaps the best test of the strength of the British Labor Movement came in the summer of 1920, over the prospective war with Russia. Warsaw was threatened. Its fall seemed imminent, and both Millerand and Lloyd-George made it clear that the fall of Warsaw meant war. The situation developed with extraordinary rapidity. It was reported that the British Government had dispatched an ultimatum. The Labor Movement acted with a strength and precision that swept the Government off its feet and compelled an immediate reversal of policy.

Over night, the workers of Great Britain were united in the Council of Action. As originally constituted, the "Labor and Russia Council of Action" consisted of five representatives each from the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress, the Executive Committee of the Labor Party and the Parliamentary Labor Party. To these fifteen were added eight others, among whom were representatives of every element in the British Labor Movement. This Council of Action did three things—it notified the Government that there must be no war with Russia; it organized meetings and demonstrations in every corner of the United Kingdom to formulate public opinion; it began the organization of local councils of action, of which there were three hundred within four weeks. The Council of Action also called a special conference of the British Labor Movement which met in London on August 13. There were over a thousand delegates at this conference, which opened and closed with the singing of the "Internationale." When the principal resolution of endorsement was passed, approving the formation of the Council of Action, the delegates rose to their feet, cheered the move to the echo, and sang the "Internationale" and "The Red Flag." The closing resolution authorized the Council of Action to take "any steps that may be necessary to give effect to the decisions of the Conference and the declared policy of the Trade Union and Labor Movement."

Such was the position in the "Citadel of European Capitalism." The Government was forced to deal with a body that, for all practical purposes, was determining the foreign policy of the Empire. Behind that Council was an organized group of between six and seven millions of workers who were out to get the control of industry into their own hands, and to do it as speedily and as effectually as circumstances would permit.

Meanwhile, the mantle of revolutionary activity descended upon Italy, where the red flag was run up over some the largest factories and some of the finest estates.

Throughout the war, the revolutionary movement was strong in Italy. The Socialist Party remained consistently an anti-war party, with a radical and vigorous propaganda. The Armistice found the Socialist and Labor Movements strong in the North, with a growing movement in the South for the organization of Agricultural Leagues.

The Socialist propaganda in Italy was very consistent and telling. The paper "Avanti," circulating in all parts of the country, was an agency of immense importance. The war, the Treaty, the rising cost of living, the growing taxation—all had prepared the ground for the work that the propagandists were doing. Their message was: "Make ready for the taking over of the industries! Learn what you can, so that, when the day comes, each will play his part. When you get the word, take over the works! There must be no violence—that only helps the other side. Do not linger on the streets, you will be shot. Remain at home or stay in the factories and work as you never worked before!"

That, in essence, was the Italian Socialist propaganda—simple, clear and direct, and that was, in effect, what the workers did.

The returned soldiers were a factor of large importance in the Italian Revolution. They were radicals throughout the war. The peace made them revolutionists. "The Proletarian League of the Great War" was affiliated with "The International of Former Soldiers," which comprised the radical elements among the ex-service men of Great Britain, Germany, France, Austria, Italy and a number of the smaller countries. There were over a million dues-paying members in this International, and their avowed object was propaganda against war and in favor of an economic system in which the workers control the industries. It was this group in Italy—particularly in the South—that carried through the project of occupying the estates.

The workers are in control of the whole social fabric in Russia where the revolution has gone the farthest. In Great Britain, where the labor movement is perhaps more conservative than in any of the other countries of Europe, the Government is compelled to deal with a labor movement that is strong enough to consider and to decide important matters of foreign policy. The workers of Italy have the upper hand. In Czecho-Slovakia, in Bulgaria, in Germany and in the smaller and neutral countries the workers are making their voices heard in opposition to any restoration of the capitalist system; while they busy themselves with the task of creating the framework of a new society.