were thereupon invited to form a coalition ministry, but -after prolonged discussion-they refused.

During the session of August 1, 1914, in the Dutch Chamber of Deputies, Troelstra declared in the name of the Social Democrats, that they would vote for mobilization funds, since Holland must observe its neutrality, guaranteed by all powers, against all those tending to disregard this right. On the other hand, they desired it clearly understood that the Social Democrats as such would resist, strenuously, any aggressive participation in the war.

On the 26th of August Troelstra made another declaration for the party, the chief point of which was the very natural wish that the peace terms should "recognize the independence of the various peoples." However, the party does not seem to feel that any peace can make this the last war, since it expresses the pessimistic view, "that only by the formation of an International of Labor of the free people of Europe can all capitalistic struggles for power and profit cease, and so all wars be made impossible."

SWITZERLAND

The Swiss Socialists have only 17 out of the 189 members of the federal parliament. But their vote has increased from 64,000 in 1904 to 105,000 in 1914, and they form large and influential minorities in all the large cities, Zurich, Basel, Geneva, and Bern.

At Zurich on July 29th, they held a great demonstration against war, at which Greulich, the veteran leader, and Sigg made the chief speeches.

Greulich spoke in part as follows:

More than forty years ago Servia freed itself from Turkey and since then its people have developed amazingly, in spite

of much bad government. Out of the oppressed Servians there has sprung up a free peasant people. This is the principal stumbling block to the designs of Austria, for the peasants in Herzegovina and Bosnia are smarting under the same feudal rule under which the Servians smarted in the days of the Turkish régime.

And if these oppressed people are longing for that freedom which in Servia they already possess, that feeling would be in no way incomprehensible. To be sure, this situation entails danger for Austria, but Austria has only herself to blame. Let these peasants be given their freedom, which they would have as subjects of Servia; this done, the problem will be solved.

Sigg predicted that the German Socialists would inaugurate a revolution in case their government declared

war:

The direct cause of the war is the assassination of the Crown Prince and Princess of Austria. This, however, can be regarded as but little else than a pretext. The true cause of the war lies much deeper; its basis was laid when Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. From that time dates the troubled state of the dual monarchy, induced by the Serb agitation against the government, and already vast sums have been spent to defray the cost of mobilizations and of other procedures which were found necessary for the control of this disturbance. Let Austria bear the blame for this development. She has done nothing to assimilate the Slavs whom she has taken over to herself. She has done nothing to arouse thoughts loyal to Austria among her Serb subjects, nothing to awaken an attachment for the Austrian Empire in their hearts. On the contrary, Austria has neglected every opportunity for such action; indeed, she has taken frequent occasion to make the Servians unhappy and to advance her design of eventually absorbing that country.

The demands which Austria is now making of the Servians are, without doubt, the most unheard-of in the history of civilization, and yet they have practically submitted to them. Only in one respect did they object, and even in this they were willing to submit to the decree of an arbitration tribunal. In spite of all this, however, Austria declared herself unsatis

fied. The Austrian Government will not be content with its rights, and the punishment of the murderer. No, it demands war!

If, then, the unheard-of event should occur, if it should still happen that the war develops into a general massacre of European peoples, and if the German rulers confront their people with the question: "Are you ready?" then we will answer them: "Yes, we are indeed ready. We are ready, we will endure you no longer; we are ready to wage the fight for freedom." (Our italics.)

At the Conference of the Swiss and Italian Socialists, held in Lugano on September 27th, an entirely different tone was adopted. Its declaration was as follows:

The present catastrophe is the result of the imperialist policy of the Great Powers, which in absolute monarchies are identical with dynastic interests.

The European War is not a struggle for higher culture, for the freedom of the people. It is at once a struggle of the capitalist classes for new markets in foreign lands, and a criminal attempt to break down the revolutionary movement of the proletariat and the Social Democracy at home.

The German and Austrian bourgeois have no right to defend the war with references to Czarism and the freedom of national culture. For not only have the Prussian Junkertum, with William II at its head, and the powerful capitalists of Germany always befriended this damnable reign of the Russian Czar, but the governments of Germany and AustriaHungary have also suppressed the national culture of their people, have cast into chains those who struggled for liberty of the working class.

Nor have the French and English bourgeois the right to uphold their own countries by denouncing German imperialism, by declaiming about the freedom of the nations of Europe. Their aim is not the liberation of the people from capitalist and military oppression, their alliance with the Russia of the Czar has increased this oppression and has hindered the progress of a higher civilization.

The real causes and the true character of this war have been purposely hidden by the ruling classes of the European nations in a frenzy of chauvinism, and parts of the working

class have been swept into this chauvinistic whirlpool. They believe that by taking up arms they can free the proletariat of other countries from the bloody oppression of their rulers. But no war can accomplish this. The oppressed cannot win their freedom in a fight for their oppressors against the oppressed classes of other countries.

More than ever it is to-day the duty of Socialists who live in those countries that have been spared the dreadful ravages of war to uphold the old principles of the International of the proletariat. The undersigned representatives of the Socialist parties of Italy and Switzerland thus believe it to be their task to fight to the last breath against the extension of this war into other nations, and to denounce every attempt to drive new nations into this chaos as a crime against the laboring population, as a blot upon civilization.

In this sense the representatives of the Italian and Swiss Social Democracy call upon the Socialist parties of the other nations.

We are creating a foundation upon which the people of those nations which, though not engaged in war, are yet suffering from its effects, may unite against the continuance of this horrible butchery. At the same time we call upon the Socialist parties of the neutral countries to demand that their governments shall immediately take up diplomatic negotiations with the governments of the nations engaged in this war, with a view toward a speedy close of this mass murder of the European people.

The chief features of the resolution passed by the Swiss Socialist Congress held on November 1st, were its uncompromising internationalism and its demand for immediate peace-apparently at any price, since, although Belgium is mentioned and indemnities were discussed at the Congress, the resolution avoids making any distinction between the character of the various governments or the relative advantage to Socialism of their defeat in the war. (See "Switzerland" in Parts IV and

V.)

The resolution concerning the International read as follows:

The war, both in its immediate and in its ultimate character, is a crime of unheard-of magnitude. Its unspeakable horror appears especially in the outrageous violation of Belgium and the waste of that country. The ruling classes through their politics and lust for dominion and longing for profits are leading to menace and attack. Behind lying phrases about the defense of national freedom and civilization there hides in every country the capitalistic interests of big business, which wanted the war in order to assure itself by this means of markets and new possibilities of exploitation.

The ruling classes in the present war not only wished to strike their competitors as hard a blow as possible, but also wished to create a mutual recrimination between the proletariat of the various countries and to intensify national conflicts.

Since the maintenance of a lasting peace without danger of war is only possible in a collectivist form of society, peace can only be prepared for by the uncompromising class struggle of the proletariat on an international basis, and by its refusal to take any responsibility for the politics of the ruling classes, and the results of this politics.

Therefore the Party Conference of the Swiss Social Democracy, as a member of the International, greets the resumption of international relations by means of the conference called at Lugano between the Italian and Swiss parties, and supports all efforts which are directed to bringing the present war to the earliest possible conclusion.

The Socialists of French Switzerland declared that they regarded the resolution only as partially satisfactory.

DENMARK

In the elections of 1913, the Danish Socialists secured 32 out of 114 deputies, increased their vote to 30 per cent. of the total, and were invited to form a coalition government, which-after mature deliberation-they refused.

The leading thought of the neutrality proclamation