International Conference of Historians of the Labour Movement (ITH) at Linz, Austria

Abstract

twentieth conference of ITH met in Linz, Austria, from September 11-15, with close to 200 scholars in attendance. Two themes were taken up by the conference: The Working-Class Movement and Colonialism between the Two World Wars, and February 1934 in Austria and France. nature of the themes brought an unprecedented number of participants from Africa, China, and Vietnam, in addition to those from Central and East Europe. Notable by their absence, however, were historians from Italy, Spain, and Latin America. unusually large turnout and presentation of papers meant that there was little time for speakers to develop their ideas from the floor. Confusion was also created by the failure of several participants, whose papers had been circulated, to appear, and by the intervention of speakers, whose printed texts either appeared only on the morning of the conference or not at all. conference organizers often seemed more interested in getting to the conclusion of their daily agenda than in furthering discussion. But the conference was fruitful despite these limitations, per mitting mutual understanding and the establishment of contacts between scholars who had not known of each others work. This participant, for example, was able to discuss mutual interests with scholars from Denmark, Holland, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Zaire, Nigeria, and Vietnam. high point of the conference was a magisterial address by former Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, who brilliantly examined the current state of relations between developing and industrial nations in the light of the conference's major theme. Needless to say one should not look for examples of the new social history, given the nature of conference themes. All the same, it is surprising that more historians present did not examine working class attitudes toward racism and impe rialism rather than the resolutions and policies of specific parties and the interna tionals. A notable exception here was James Young's (Scotland) examination of the racism of British workers. policies of the Communist International and its member parties tended to dominate the proceedings. tendency of East Euro peans, as exemplified by Hans Piazza (GDR), to justify virtually every Comintern policy, gloss over the famous third period with its doctrine of social fascism, and