ABSTRACT

The First World War marks a crucial period in the history of the socialist wing of the British labour movement. This book is an account of the development of the political ideas and activities of some of the most influential British socialist thinkers of that time: Beatrice and Sidney Webb, R. H. Tawney and G. D. H. Cole. The first part of the book examines the state of the Labour movement and of socialist ideas on the eve of the conflict, then turns to the central question of the impact of the War on the dissemination of British socialist ideas.

chapter |10 pages

Introduction

part I|107 pages

Socialist Thought and the Labour Movement 1912–14

chapter 1|16 pages

The Background

chapter 2|38 pages

The Webbs' Approach to Socialism

chapter 3|32 pages

R. H. Tawney's Early Political Thought

part II|170 pages

The Impact of the First World War

chapter 6|34 pages

R. H. Tawney and the First World War

chapter 8|36 pages

Socialism and Political Independence

The Formulation of the 1918 Labour Party Constitution and Programme