Socialism in Ohio, 1917-1919: The Socialist Party of Ohio, Municipal Politics, and Radicalization during the First World War
Loading...
Date
2022-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
By tracking the local socialist parties of Cleveland, Dayton, and Cincinnati, this thesis explores the role of local experiences in the radicalization of the American socialist movement. Previous historians have explored these local experiences prior to the First World War to understand why local socialist parties gained political success, and the radicalization of American socialists is typically understood as a national or international issue. By focusing on the Socialist Party of Ohio, this thesis tracks three local parties that embodied the ideological and organizational variations that were present under a big tent socialist party. Similarly, wartime repression and backlashed caused socialists to entrench either in moderation to avoid legal repercussions, or in more revolutionary organizing as paths to mainstream political success were constricted. As a result, basic conceptions of socialist ideology and organizing, as well as democratic politics, were no longer shared between socialists by 1919, resulting in the most left-leaning socialists splitting from the Socialist Party and founding the American communist movement.
Description
Keywords
politics, Ohio, Dayton, Cleveland, Cincinnati, radicalization, socialism