In Italy trade unionism is closely connected with Socialism and its growth is very recent. The first important Italian labor organizations were formed in 1861 and 1871 at Rome, under the influence of Mazzini, and were mostly co-operative. At present the Italian labor unions are of several kinds. The General Italian Federation of Labor is made up of Socialist unions and was formed in 1906. It is the most important organization and in 1912 had a membership of 400,000. The `Union is syndicabstic and believes' in direct action. It has a knembership of 100,000. The Catholic unions include mostly women and are as yet not united. They also have a membership of about 100,000. The agricultural laborers form a National Federa-1 tion of Rural Workers and have more than' 150,000 members.
In 1859 Austria tried to. compel by law employers and employees to unite into trade guilds, but failed. In 1869 the ingmen of Vienna won through demonstrations. the right of combination. Since then trade unions came into existence, but owing to racial' differentiation and antagonism their growth was rather slow. Most of the trade unions are found in Vienna and the industrial districts of Bohemia and Lower Austria. The General Commission of Austrian Trade Unions had in 1912 a membership of 428,000, 50,000 of whom were women. To this organization also be longed 70,000 Bohemians, some Poles, Italians! and Slays. In addition there are two inde-' pendent movements, one among Bohemians and one among Germans, each having a membership! of 85,000. The Catholic unions had members, 45,000 belonging to the General Com mission. During the war Austrian unions have lost more than 60 per cent of their ship.
Hungary has a separate trade union move ment, whose centre is Budapest. The National Centre had in 1912 a membership of 112,000. Besides that we have the Christian unions and separate movements in Bosnia, Herzegovina and Croatia-Slavonia. At the beginning of the war Hungarian trade unions lost 50 per cent of their membership, but since 1916 of miners, iron and metal workers and ment employees have joined the trade union. movement.
Under the old regime the devel opment of Russian trade unions was greatly hampered by the autocratic government. began to organize in the later seventies under the leadership of the intellectuals and the Social Democrats. The unions were suppressed and continued to revive under' different names only to be suppressed again. Numerous strikes dur-J
ing the middle of the nineties taught labor how to organize secretly under the banners of the Social Democratic party. Many strikes followed and several general strikes took place during the Revolution of 1905-06. The Constitution granted at the end of the Revolution labor the right of association and of striking. The' latter was a dead letter and unions' continued to he persecuted up till the Revolution of 1917. While the larger part of the labor movement was absorbed in the Socialist movement, there were numerous non-Socialist labor organiza tions, which were benefit or friendly societies. Some of the latter kind were supported by the. government. After the Revolution of unionism spread like wildfire. The Bolshevist Revolution in November 1917 resulted' in the government passing over into the hands of the workingmen.
Belgium and The abolition !of guilds in Belgium occurred in 1795 and since then trade unionism gradually developed out of trade benefit societies. In 1879 Belgian men started co-operation and, in 1885, a ist workingmen's party was /winched, The! latter conducted general strikes in 1893, 1902 and 1913. The unions affiliated with the Labor party have a membership of 116,000. The Catholic unions have 82,761 members. In Holland the trade union movement has been weakened by religious differences and legal repression. The Federation of Trade Unions of the Netherlands in 1912 had 61,535 members, the Catholic unions 25,000 and the Protestant unions some 7,000. There were 50,000 more union men belonging to other organizations.
Scandinavia.— The trade union movements in Sweden, Denmark and Norway are closely allied. In Sweden trade unions began to form in 1880 and in 1890 a national organization was formed, which in 1912 had a membership of 85,000. The latter was greatly weakened by strikes and lockout during 1909, when it lost more than half of its membership. The syndicalist unions have some 35,000 workmen. In Denmark trade guilds came to an end in 1857 and trade unions began to appear in the early seventies, uniting into a General Federa tion in 1898. It had in 1912 a membership of more than 100,000 and was allied with the Socialists. There are also some Christian and some Syndicate unions. The General Federa tion of Norway has a membership of 64,000. In Sweden and Denmark trade unions greatly increased their membership during the war.