ABSTRACT
The Great War provided the context for the expansion of the federal government into more areas of social and economic life than ever before. It also created the possibility for organization of workers in mass-production industries for the first time. The strikes generated by the Great War came in two waves: first, the workplace activity that accompanied the economic boom created by the start of hostilities in Europe in August 1914; and second, the labor disputes that arose after U.S. entry into the war in April 1917. The second wave brought the federal government systematically into the industrial-relations arena for the first time. But the first strike wave was most indicative of workers’ goals and consciousness, and this activity determined the response of both the federal government and the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
