Walter Citrine and the British Labour Movement, 1925-1935

This article argues that the contribution of the TUC general secretary, Walter Citrine, to the British labour movement in the period 1925–35 was of much greater substance than is credited generally. Citrine was a pivotal figure in redefining the role of the TUC. The general council came closer to pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:History (London) 2000-04, Vol.85 (278), p.285-306
Main Author: Riddell, Neil
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citrine, Walter
Communism
Corporatism
Councils
Electrical trades
Fascism
Governmental reform
History
Industrial unions
Labor
Labor movements
Labor parties
Labor strikes
Labor unions
Labour history
Labour movements
Labour parties
Modern history
Political history
Political parties
Politics
Trade unions
United Kingdom
Walter Citrine
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Summary:This article argues that the contribution of the TUC general secretary, Walter Citrine, to the British labour movement in the period 1925–35 was of much greater substance than is credited generally. Citrine was a pivotal figure in redefining the role of the TUC. The general council came closer to providing a centralized leadership for the entire trade-union movement, the TUC began to research economic and social issues wider than those of wages and conditions and laid the foundations for the post-1939 'corporatist era'. After the uneasy relations of the 1920s, Citrine was central to the improved co-ordination of the industrial and political wings of the labour movement in the 1930s and in limiting the extent of the Labour Party's move to the left after the 1931 political crisis. Finally, Citrine was to play a vital role in the reshaping of Labour's foreign policy from the mid-1930s.
ISSN:0018-2648
1468-229X
DOI:10.1111/1468-229X.00148