World War I and the Russian Revolution
Anna Louise Strong wrote an editorial titled “No One Knows Where” that was published on the first day of the strike in the Seattle Union Record: “We are undertaking the most tremendous move ever made by LABOR in this country, a move which will lead—NO ONE KNOWS WHERE!” Opponents of the strike interpreted this editorial and the actions of the strikers as revolutionary. Indeed, awareness of the recent Russian Revolution and the social turmoil that plagued Seattle following World War I led many to fear that the workers wanted revolution, not better wages.
In the years preceding the Seattle General Strike, activists, union organizers, and radicals of all sorts lived, worked, and organized in Seattle. Socialists, anarchists, and communists worked alongside more conservative elements in the Seattle Central Labor Council. Many formed common interest groups that contributed to the radical strain of Seattle labor such as the Workers’, Soldiers’, and Sailors’ Council, the Socialist Party of Washington, the Union of Russian Workers, and the Industrial Workers of the World. Seattleites also voiced their concerns about US involvement in World War I. In many ways, the Seattle General Strike is a microcosm of the social and cultural upheaval that took place after World War I.
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Industrial Workers of the World Seattle Joint Branches records. Accession no. 0544-001, Box 7/6. Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections.
The Union Record Publishing Company re-published the Russian Constitution of 1918—which was written by the Bolsheviks—for Seattle audiences. Additionally, the entirety of the Russian Constitution was printed in Seattle’s International Weekly on February 6, 1919 and distributed to strikers.
Richard V. Correll prints and papers. Accession no. 5855-001, Box 7. Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
This woodblock print depicts Seattle longshoremen refusing to send ammunition to the enemies of the Bolsheviks in September of 1919. Solidarity was felt between American and Russian workers. The American longshoremen believed working-class comrades would likely be killed by the ammunition shipped to anti-Bolshevik forces.
Industrial Workers of the World Seattle Joint Branches records. Accession no. 0544-001, Box 7/2. Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
Anti-war activist Louise Olivereau was tried and found guilty of sedition in 1917. An open anarchist and card-carrying member of the Industrial Workers of the World, Olivereau mailed circulars, such as the one displayed here, to encourage men to become conscientious objectors in order to avoid military conscription. Speaking out against conscription was made illegal by US Congress in 1917.
Minnie Parkhurst papers. Accession no. 1848-001, Box 1/34. University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
Anti-war activist Louise Olivereau was tried and found guilty of sedition in 1917. An open anarchist and card-carrying member of the Industrial Workers of the World, Olivereau mailed circulars, such as the one displayed here, to encourage men to become conscientious objectors in order to avoid military conscription. Speaking out against conscription was made illegal by US Congress in 1917.
From The Louise Olivereau Case, Trial and Speech to the Jury in Federal Court of Seattle, Washington, November 1917, Industrial Workers of the World Seattle Joint Branches records. Accession no. 0544-001, Box 7/2. Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
Anti-war activist Louise Olivereau was tried and found guilty of sedition in 1917. An open anarchist and card-carrying member of the Industrial Workers of the World, Olivereau mailed circulars, such as the one displayed here, to encourage men to become conscientious objectors in order to avoid military conscription. Speaking out against conscription was made illegal by US Congress in 1917.
Seattle Daily Times (Seattle, WA). University of Washington Libraries Microforms & Newspapers.
This cartoon illustrates sentiments regarding patriotic behavior: men were expected to either work for the war effort or enlist as soldiers during World War I.
Industrial Workers of the World Seattle Joint Branches records. Accession no. 0544-001, Box 6/6. Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
German-American cartoonist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World Ernest Riebe created this pamphlet in support of revolution in 1919.
Industrial Workers of the World Seattle Joint Branches records. Accession no. 0544-001, Box 9. Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
The Seattle Workers’, Soldiers’, and Sailors’ Council (WSSC) aimed to organize recently returned veterans and workers together in hopes of creating economic
The Seattle Workers’, Soldiers’, and Sailors’ Council (WSSC) aimed to organize recently returned veterans and workers together in hopes of creating economic justice for the working class. Modeled after similar councils created in Russia, the Seattle WSSC admired the Russian Revolution and the “efforts of our class all over the world to free themselves from economic slavery.” Further, the Seattle WSSC’s preamble called “upon all those who toil, regardless of race, creed, color or sex, to rally to the standard of real democracy to bring about the dictatorship of the only useful class in society—the working class.”
Print materials from the WSSC, such as their newspaper the Forge and this pamphlet, indicate that the council worked with the Seattle Central Labor Council, the Metal Trades Council, the Industrial Workers of the World, and non-white workers such as Japanese, Filipino, and Black workers. Cutting across factions in the Seattle labor movement and inviting in those barred from organized labor, the WSSC attempted to unite the working class.
The Forge (Seattle, WA). University of Washington Libraries Microforms & Newspapers.
The Seattle Workers’, Soldiers’, and Sailors’ Council (WSSC) aimed to organize recently returned veterans and workers together in hopes of creating economic justice for the working class. Modeled after similar councils created in Russia, the Seattle WSSC admired the Russian Revolution and the “efforts of our class all over the world to free themselves from economic slavery.” Further, the Seattle WSSC’s preamble called “upon all those who toil, regardless of race, creed, color or sex, to rally to the standard of real democracy to bring about the dictatorship of the only useful class in society—the working class.”
Print materials from the WSSC, such as their newspaper the Forge and this pamphlet, indicate that the council worked with the Seattle Central Labor Council, the Metal Trades Council, the Industrial Workers of the World, and non-white workers such as Japanese, Filipino, and Black workers. Cutting across factions in the Seattle labor movement and inviting in those barred from organized labor, the WSSC attempted to unite the working class.
Industrial Workers of the World Seattle Joint Branches records. Accession no. 0544-001, Box 9. Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
The strikers relied on leaflets to get the word out to the citizens of Seattle. 40,000 copies of this Socialist Party leaflet were distributed.
Anna Louise Strong papers. Accession no. 1309-001, Box 26/2. Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
This illustration shows the red flag of communism torn down, while the American flag remains flying over Seattle in the aftermath of the general strike.