ABSTRACT
Employers representing a diverse set of industries entered the post-World War I period determined to undermine communism as an ideology and to eradicate the Communist Party (CP) as a political organization. Employers enjoyed a long, and somewhat heroic, history of fighting radicalism. Large numbers of radical working class activists had attempted to, as a member of the National Metal Trades Association (NMTA), a leading union-fighting employers' association, put it, 'limit industrial liberty' and enforce 'demands by violence'. Employers entered the postwar era shaken by the successes of the Russian Revolution yet determined to maintain profits and to re-establish complete control over their workplaces. In the 1930s, employers throughout the nation were startled by the militancy of working class activists, considerable numbers of whom were influenced by the CP. Employers remained consistently anti-communist between the First and Second World Wars, and they approached their tasks from multiple angles.
