Labor, Socialism, and Politics to World War I Essay -- Essays Papers

Labor, Socialism, and Politics to World War I Trade Unionism In the second half of the nineteenth century trade unionism became much more recognized by governments. The government recognized that it is the right of workers to organize. This fundamental common law principle became a freedom of contract or the concept that people should be free to make bargains with each other and that the law should enforce such contracts if necessary. This became legalized in the year 1871 and by the year 1875 picketing also became legal. By the year 1884 these unions became legalized by France’s Third Republic and also in Germany in 1890. These unions became corporations able to own property and to sue and be sued. This enabled these unions to protect their funds from defaulting officials. By mid way through the century the main focus of these unions was to organize skilled workers and to improve the working conditions and the wages for the workers. However, by the end of the century unions began to focus more on work for unskilled workers. This b ecame the first time that there were more unskilled workers than skilled workers in the workplace. In the decade before World War I most of the workers were still not unionized. Democracy and Political Parties The late nineteenth century was a great time of improvement for democratic electoral systems. The British passed their second voting reform act in 1867 and then passed a third in 1884. Also in 1871 Bismarck gave universal male suffrage for the German Empire. This had an effect on many other countries as well. Switzerland followed this and adopted universal male suffrage in 1879, Spain did in 1890, Belgium in 1893, Netherlands in 1896, Norway in 1898, and finally Italy i... ... Industrial Democracy and the Origins of Modern American Relations† Labor’s Great War http://sunsite.unc.edu uncpress/books/ fall97/mccartin.html This article was not that useful to me because most of it dealt with America - Norris,Nicole â€Å"Boldy going where no British Society has gone before†¦.† The Fabian Society 1996 http://www.hput.edu/Academics/English/fabian.htm This article was very useful to me. It gave me a lot of information on Fabianism. - Partington, Geoffrey â€Å"Trade Unionism and the New Protection http://www.exhibit.com.au/~~nicholls/nicholls/nichvol16/vol16/vol166tr.htm This article gave me a lot of useful information on trade unionism - â€Å"Bolshevism vs. Reformism† Historical Perspective http://www.plp.org/pl-_magazine/pyatnits.html This article helped me better understand Bolshevism