Impact of the war on the development of the Labour party and the constitution of 1918

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  • Created by: GrB
  • Created on: 28-04-17 17:46

Impact of the war on the development of the Labour party and the constitution of 1918

Initially the war split the labour party. The ILP opposed the war and MacDonald resigned when the paert chose not to oppose the estimates giving the government money for war. Henderson now led the pro war party while MacDonald joined the UDC for a democratic foreign policy and a body to keep international peace.The split was not bitter. In 1915 Henderson joined the government. Labour disapproved of conscription in 1916 but didn't actually oppose it. In Dec 1916, Henderson supported DLG who promised public control of mines and railways and post war reconstruction. Henderson was in the inner war cabinet and two other Labour men were ministers.

As th war went on the movement became divided, th ILP opposed the war and to counteract their influence, the trade unions got a motion passed at the annual labour conference in (Jan 1917) that the election of the national executive committee should be by the vote of the whole conference.

In 1917, the Socialist elements of the party greeted the Russian Revolution enthusiastically. DLG sent Henderson to Russia and he returned urging negotiations for peace as Russia had done. He also suggested that they attend a socialist congress in Stockholm where it was suspected Germany would send delegates. However, the Cabonet excluded him from discussions where they decided not to go ahead with his ideas and he resigned. Henderson was

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