of developing a real opposition to Gompersism. While the Socialist Party remained "His Majesty's opposition" in the court of Samuel Gompers during the pre-war period, its opposition was at almost all times very ineffective, it had no trade union program, and was entirely incapable, even when its members gained control of large unions, of effecting the general course of American trade unionism.
Effects of the World War
The entry of America into the world war brought profound changes in all these groups and tendencies in the American labor movement. The trade unions, during the war and the years immediately following, made great strides forward in membership. The officialdom was largely incorporated into the governmental machinery and occupied a semi-privileged status. "War prosperity" delivered an enormous power into their hands. The bureaucracy was able to become an instrument for the conscription of the working class for war and industry, a vehicle for floating war loans among the workers, a machine for delivering rebellious workers to the Department of Justice—in short, to take its place as an open section of the ruling class—without losing its control over the masses, or creating any considerable organized opposition.
Upon the I. W. W., the war had a shattering effect. Permeated by militant rebels who actively fought against participation in the world slaughter, it brought down upon itself all the wrath of American capitalism. But because it was dominated by syndicalist prejudices it was completely unable to form such a well-knit body of men and ideas as could survive such a period of suppression and emerge stronger than ever on account of it. After hundreds of its leading militants had been sent to prison, the I. W. W, rapidly developed into a pacifist, non-resistant organization. It lost not only the bulk of its membership but, more important, it surrendered its position held up until the war, of the most militant section of the American working class.
When America was thrown into the war, the Socialist Party was again torn by its inner contradictions. The St. Louis convention in 1917 was dominated by the anti-war elements. But the right-wing was still in almost complete control of the Party, with the result that its practical activity brought the S. P. few of the benefits of a fighting anti-militarist stand. On the other hand, the St. Louis resolution, after causing the split away of an insignificant group of socialist jingoes, (Spargo, Walling, et al), brought the S. P. up against the solid wall of Gompers' ironclad control of the trade unions. The socialist leaders in the labor movement quickly made their peace with Gompers. The ideological and organizational struggle within the S. P., between the rank and file militants who stood for active anti-militarism, and the right-wing leadership that wished to accommodate itself to "reality," prepared the ground for the later disintegration of the Socialist Party.
