Finland.— The Finnish Socialist party was established in 1899 and in 1916 became the first Socialist party to gain an absolute majority of any legislative body, by electing 103 out of the 200 members of the Finnish Diet. Owing to the activity of the Socialists, Finland was the first European country to grant absolute political equality to women, and 24 of the Socialist members of the Diet are women. The vote has increased steadily from 100,000 in 1904 to 286,792 in 1916. • The Socialists have organized a powerful co-operative movement with its social centres in each village so that to-day there are more Socialist clubhouses than churches in Finland. In 1917 Finland was declared an independent republic. Civil war broke out in 1918 between the Red (Bol shevik) Guards and the White Guards. The latter favored the Germans, who landed troops for their assistance. A Radical Socialist (Red) government was set up at Viborg in April 1918 and a White Guard government at Vasa. After a turmoil of several months a peaceful revolution was effected in December and the moderate Socialists secured control of the government.
Holland.— The Social Demokratische Ar beiderspartij of Holland was organized in 1894. A conflict with the anarchists, led by Domela Nieuwenhuis, formerly a Socialist, led to their expulsion from the old eSocialisten Bond,D which they at one time controlled. The
Italy.— During the years when the Socialist movements of most of the other nations of Europe were gaining their first foothold the Italian workers were still under the influence of the bourgeois liberalism of Mazzini or of the conspiratory anarchism of Bakounin.• The present Socialist party was founded at Milan in 1892 and its organization perfected at Genoa in 1892. It received 27,000 votes in the elec tion of 1893. This was followed by a period of oppression under Crispi, during which thou sands of Socialist voters were disfranchised by a so-called revision of the electoral lists. The Crispi ministry was wrecked on the Abyssinian expedition and his successor, Rudini, somewhat relaxed the persecution. In 1900, owing to fu sion with a radical party, 175,000 votes were cast for Socialist candidates. This was the beginning of an internal struggle that ended in 1912 in the expulsion of four of the reform 'king who were members of the Chamber of Deputies. One of these, Bissolati, was the most noted orator of the party, and at the outbreak of the war entered the cabinet. The immediate result of the split, and an extension of the right of suffrage, was a most rapid growth of the party. At the election of 1913 the radical wing cast 960,000 votes and elected 59 deputies. The reform wing cast 200,000 and elected 21 deputies. The radical wing stood solid against participation in the war. The reform wing
favored intervention and supported the war. A peculiar phase of the Italian movement is its great strength in agricultural sections where it has established powerful co-operative asso ciations that directly operate the farms. See ITALY —Italian Socialism.
Norway.-- The Social Democratic party was founded in 1887, secured 732 votes in 1894, when it first participated in the elections, and steadily increased that vote until it reached 196,000 in 1915, when 20 Socialists were elected to the Storthing. The party took a decided stand against any form of militarism at its congress in 1915, declaring for disarmament, neutrality and obligatory arbitration. The party has great power in many municipalities, a powerful women's and young people's move ment and is closely affiliated with the unions and co-operatives.
Russia.— Because the Socialist movement, save-for a very brief period, was compelled to organize and conduct its campaign in secret, and because of the autocratic character of the government it is difficult to give specific facts concerning it. Three parties are accorded repre sentation by the International Socialist Con gress — the Social Revolutionary party, the So cial Democratic party and the Group of Toil. The latter is a peasant party, based upon the primitive communism which still prevails in Russian village and rural life. The Social Revolutionary party has adopted more or less terroristic methods which separate it from other Socialist movements. The Social Democratic party is the only one which is strictly com parable with the Socialist parties of other coun tries. The only time that there was an oppor tunity for a test of Socialist strength was in 1907, at the election of the first Duma. Even then there was more or less terrorism on the part of the government. But the Group of Toil at this election sent 116 members to the Duma, and the other two parties combined, 101. Elec tion laws and the suppression of open propa ganda reduced the legislative strength of all these parties to a small fraction of these num bers. It later became almost impossible for a Socialist to be elected or even to vote. Yet in spite of these laws there were 13 members of the Socialist group in the fourth Duma, which was in session when the war broke out. All of these refused to vote for the war credits and opposed the war. In revenge the govern ment sent five social Democratic members to Siberia. The Social Democrats continued to spread their Marxian doctrines despite govern ment repression and united other wings of the Socialists. to bring about the revolution of March 1917 which put an end to Tsarism. Kerensky, a revolutionary Socialist, became Minister of Justice in the new government. The Social Democratic party issued an appeal to the workers of all countries to unite in putting an end to a war, begun and carried on solely for the benefit of kings and financiers. In June 1917 Lenine, the radical Socialist, attacked the war policy of Kerensky's government. On 7 Nov. 1917 the Bolsheviki revolted under Lenine and seized the government. The Bolshevik government at once proposed a three month's armistice, and at once set about pub lishing the secret treaties made by the Tsar's government with the Allies. The internal policy of the new radical Socialist government was inaugurated by a series of decrees transfer ing property. Through many vicissitudes the Bolsheviki remained in power and administered the government upon the basis of extreme Socialism.