ABSTRACT
The theory that no real democracy can be attained except through a class war between capitalists and wage earners has been held in some form by almost all, if not all, socialist parties. According to this theory, the class war is not a voluntary struggle, provoked by ambitious leaders, but is an inevitable result of "the economic development of industrial society". In the writings of many socialists the conception of a class war has been so watered as completely to alter its original significance. In many countries there have been observable the beginnings of a change from an older, more abstract, absolute, and dogmatic socialism to a newer, more concrete, conditional, and conciliatory socialism. The tendency is especially apparent in countries which are democratically representative, and in which, therefore, a conciliatory policy is likely to secure a larger vote and a greater measure of immediate influence.
