Trade unions and socialists: The transition to a Socialist Labour Party in Britain, 1900-1918

British socialists developed a political strategy in the shadow of the Trade Union Congress from 1900 until the end of World War One. An alliance of socialists and trade unionists operating first as the Labour Representation Committee and later as the Labour Party, attempted to represent the working class in a Parliament dominated by labor oriented Liberal Radicals. The exigencies of World War One forced the ruling Liberals to enlist Labour's support. However, after receiving Labour's pledge of cooperation, neither the government nor the trade union executives protected workers from wartime exploitation. Then too, the wartime necessity of collectivist policies implemented under two coalition governments convinced the skeptical unions of the practicability of parliamentary socialism. The First World War elevated Labour to national prominence while it facilitated the decline of Liberalism in Britain.