1941: Socialism

Stressing the evolutionary character of the transition from the present economic order to a future Socialism, and therein differing from Communism, Socialism believes that this aim can only be achieved under maintenance of the forms and the spirit of democracy. Therefore Socialism is frequently called Social Democracy, an attempt to apply the principles of democracy not only in the political, but also in the economic field. In the years of strong Fascist ascendency the Socialist parties suffered the same loss of prestige as the democratic parties did. But with the new growth of democratic sentiment and with the newly awakened strength of the democratic will to resistance under Fascist aggression, the cause of Socialism also gained. In the European countries where Social Democracy was still allowed to function, as in Sweden and Switzerland, the Socialist parties not only continued their activities, but maintained or increased their strength. In Sweden the Socialist party formed the majority in the government, in Switzerland the year 1941 saw frequent discussions about drawing the Socialist Party into active cooperation within the government in its struggle for maintaining a democratic island within a Europe dominated by National Socialism. In Great Britain the Labour Party, which represents their Social Democracy, shared the burden of government with all other parties, and its members took a prominent part in the Churchill Cabinet. Some of the British Dominions showed great strength in Socialism, as in the Commonwealth of Australia, where Labour had a majority in the Parliament. This was also true of some of the Australian states, like Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania, and in New Zealand where the Socialists number about two thirds of the members of the House of Representatives and form the Cabinet.

Socialism shows less strength in Canada and in the United States. The Canadian Parliament includes only eight members of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, which may be regarded as a Socialist party, while there are no Socialist representatives in the American Congress. The Socialist Party in the United States, though numerically weak, was divided on the issue of the character of the present war, one group under Norman Thomas believing the wars in Europe and Asia 'imperialist wars' which did not concern the safety and the future of the United States or the future of democracy, while a growing number of Socialists in the United States saw in the present war a world-wide pattern of conquest directed against democracy, and especially against Social Democracy, everywhere, and threatening the security of the United States.

While the activities of the Socialist International were practically at a standstill, the meetings of the International Labor Office, which were held in New York at Columbia University in November 1941, gave an opportunity to Socialists and labor leaders from all over the world to meet and to discuss the role of labor in the present world struggle and its significance for the survival and growth of Socialism. Most Socialists associated themselves with the various plans drawn up for a more cooperative world order after the present war, which would insure peace and thereby a possible concentration on the task of building a better economic order after the achievement of victory by the democratic powers. See also COMMUNISM; FASCISM; NEW WORLD ORDER.