Article Title：The Fabian Society and Europe during the 1940s: The search for a 'socialist foreign policy'
Abstract：
During the 1940s Europe was a key topic for consideration by the British Labour Movement, post-war reconstruction plans were an oft-discussed subject. The Fabian Society played a central role as both a forum in which ideas could be debated and as a disseminator of said ideas. Moreover, as the Society was a self-proclaimed 'debating arena' various pressure groups, Labour Party officials, exiled socialist and other interested individuals attempted to exert influence upon their European minded comrades. This article examines the various views about Europe that were expressed throughout the decade of the 1940s, and by whom. The pamphlets, journals and committee minutes are examined to further detail the central role that the Fabian Society played for the Labour Movement. Ideas expressed by Fabians more often exhibited an 'economistic' bias. However, during the war years some members suggested political solutions, including federal elements to Europe's long-term problems. With the advent of peace and the emergence of the Cold War, such 'idealism,' often described as the search for a 'socialist foreign policy' for the Attlee Government, was subsumed within defensive configurations and economic relations with Western Europe.
Keywords: Attlee; cold war; exiles; federal; labour movement
DOI: 10.1177/026569140003000213
Source：EUROPEAN HISTORY QUARTERLY
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