Block 3 Flashcards
The Rise and Decline of Labour Unions
1
Q
‘the short twentieth century’
A
Eric Hobsbawm (1994), a Marxist historian, coined the term to refer to the period between 1914 and 1991. It covers the period from the start of the First World War to the collapse of the former USSR. It was in his interpretation one long set of wars, conducted by different means but which, particularly for Europe, resulted in major changes for labour and labour markets. Millions of employees put on uniforms and were killed. Immigration to the USA aside, international labour mobility shrank massively. But production and labour compliance became central to the fighting of wars that were won, increasingly, by the industrial production of food, energy and fighting
