ABSTRACT
The beginning of the twentieth century saw the onset of a period of relatively peaceful industrial relations which lasted until 1907 or 1908, in spite of the employers’ counter-attacks just before the turn of the century. This seems to have been due for the most part to the conciliation procedures set up in the cotton, mining, engineering and shipbuilding industries. The political activity of the infant Labour Party was obviously of interest to the trade union movement, but the great battles of the period immediately before the First World War were fought in the industrial field rather than in the political field. One distinct political cause of industrial discontent much discussed at the time was the spread of syndicalism. Syndicalism received enthusiastic support from Tom Mann when he returned from Australia in 1910. He began to publish a monthly journal, the Industrial Syndicalist, founded the Industrial Syndicalist Education League, and also set up Amalgamation Committees in a number of industries.
