The Surge to Second-Party Status, 1914–22

Abstract

The period between 1914 and 1922 saw massive changes on the world stage. In 1914 it had seemed to many that the established order would never change. Eight years later, millions had died in a bloody war, old empires were no more and regimes professing communism and fascism were installed in two of Europe’s great states. No major nation had been left unscathed by the conflict. British politics had also been transformed, to the considerable benefit of the Labour party. In 1914 Labour was still the fourth party in parliament, with just over three dozen MPs and an uncertain future. By 1922 it was the main opposition party, with 142 MPs, a new constitution, and a much-improved organization. The war gave Labour leaders their first experience of ministerial office. This period saw not only tangible electoral and political advances, but also a shift from the loose federal structure of the Edwardian era to a much tighter party, closer in many ways to the continental social democratic parties. Many of these changes were directly attributable to the First World War.