ABSTRACT
In view of the preponderant Russian influence in the American Left Wing and Communist movements after 1917, it may come as a surprise to learn that there was very little Russian influence before 1917. It may come as an even greater surprise that a much stronger European influence was Dutch. Another and more tangible reason for this curious Dutch influence was the physical presence in the United States of a comrade in arms of Pannekoek and Gorter. A large part of the history of the American Socialist movement has remained shrouded in comparative obscurity because the language barrier has hindered an adequate study of these relatively autonomous organizations. Not until the Russian Revolution of 1917 did a specifically Russian influence make itself felt in the American Left Wing. Lenin was a mere name which had appeared so infrequently in the American Socialist press that scarcely a handful of non-Russians would have been able to identify him.
