Citizen and socialist : the ethos of political Winnipeg, 1919-1935

Abstract

This thesis is an analysis of the basic underlying assumptions held by the major political factions in the city of Winnipeg between the years 1919 and 1935. It first considers the influence of two basic waves of immigration which had ushered the city into the twentieth century, and attempts to show how two periods of particularly severe stress upon the community - the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike and the great depression of the nineteen thirties -- revealed a factionalized community, with different political and ideological groups vying for political power. It does so by concentrating upon four individuals, prominent in civic politics during the period, who seem representative of the major political factions, with their differing social attitudes and priorities. Its scope is limited further by the fact that these individuals are studied in terms of two hypothetical socio-psychological constructs: the "ethic of conscience" and the "ethic of responsibility". The thesis concludes by analyzing a delicate shift of decision-making power between 1934 and 1935 on the Winnipeg City Council, when it moved from one dominated by the city's traditional leaders, the "Citizens'" faction, to one dominated by a slight plurality of socialists and communists.