1901-1920

Growth and radicalization

In 1901 parliamentarism finally won the day. Together with the September Agreement mentioned above, this implied a new situation for the labour movement. In terms of organising workers the movement was experi­encing a virtually unalloyed success. The membership of the LO rose from 80,000 (1898) to 160,000 (1914), and thus 50% of workers in manufacturing industry, commerce and transportation were organised. In 1913, the Social Democratic Party had 50,000 members corresponding to 50% of the electors who voted for it.

In the trade union field, the central features were the construction of a system for dealing with industrial disputes, including the establishment of the labour market tribunal/industrial court and the Conciliation Board. Opposition against these endeavours were indeed voiced, partly within the trade unions themselves and partly in the form of a minute syndicalist opposition after 1906 - a group which was to gain some degree of importance towards the end of the World War. In this connection, discussions began concerning the introduction of a new trade union structure - discussions which have gained renewed topicality in the late 1980s. The conflict concerning the structure of the trade union movement to a high degree was a conflict between skilled and unskilled workers - especially the metal workers became the spokesmen of the former. Their union very strongly favoured the concept of industrial unions while the unskilled workers rejected the idea. Furthermore, the metal workers soon began building up a shop steward system and were also the driving force behind the establishment of cartels with allied unions when it became clear that the idea of industrial unions could not be realised.

During these years there was lively discussion in the Social Democratic Party concerning the way ahead. For one thing, an experimental attempt was made to realise "gas & water socialism" in the West Danish port of Esbjerg where the social democrats won the majority in 1905, for another, there were continuing discussions of the dual role of the party in a capitalist society: on the one hand to demonstrate its opposition to the existing capitalist order, and, on the other, to work within the system and its political institutions to achieve specific advantages for the working class.

During the World War, the Social Democratic Party chose to maintain a truce with the system in order to contribute to keeping the nation out of the war and to safeguard the living standard of the workers in a time of increasing prices which was sure to come. However, the party was not passive; as early as 1914 it took the lead in attempting to mount a social democratic peace initiative. In 1915, a peace conference was held in Copenhagen which was followed by other similar conferences, and which later led to an attempt to hold a general peace conference for social democratic parties in Stockholm in 1917.

In 1916, the party president. Thorvald Stauning, entered the government during a political crisis. He did so in contravention of a prior congress resolution not to do so, but it was explained by referring to the seriousness of the current political crisis. However, Stauning remained in office even after the crisis was over and a general election held in 1918. Thus the party was following a new path. a path that might not have enjoyed the whole-hearted support of the workers, at least the party suffered a set-back at the 1918 election in that it dropped from a 29.7% of the votes to 28.5%.

This set-back was not reflected by the organisational advances made - trade unions almost doubled their membership to 300,000 in 1918; the membership figure of the party rose to approx. 92,000 in 1918 corresponding to 29% of the votes cast in its favour women suffrage having been introduced for the 1918 election, which might also partly explain the reduction in terms of percentage.

The syndicalists, too, made headway. Their organisation now numbered 4,000 members, but they were able to influence a far larger group which can be seen from the membership figures of unions under syndicalist leadership. By means of their direct actions, they generated a good deal of sympathy among the worst-off workers, and their efforts also contributed to putting the 8-hour day on the agenda. However, following large-scale industrial action in the spring of 1920, syndicalist influence soon evaporated. For the future, their place was taken over by the communists.

The end of the World War brought the revolution closer to Denmark, but it never crossed the border. However, some repercussions were felt: the social democratic youth movement and a few small groups within the party broke out, and after a number of complications formed the Communist Party of Denmark (the DKP). The new party tried to make its presence felt in the industrial conflicts that occurred in 1919 and 1920, but was too small and inexperienced to really make a difference. In the course of the 1920s, the party only gained limited influence on the trade unions - i.a. with the assistance of the Comintern envoi, Richard Sorge who later gained such fame as a secret agent.

However, in the course of 1919 the workers succeeded in securing for themselves the 8-hour day. This was achieved by means of well-co-ordinated trade union and political action; the social democrats introduced the 48-hour week in the localities where they had a majority on the councils, and syndicalist-influenced trade union organisations managed to battle through reductions of the working hours in "their" undertakings; thus the new working hours went into force from January 1 1920, however, with the exception of some groups in hospitals, shipping and agriculture.