SOUTH SLAVIC [YUGOSLAV] FEDERATIONS Slovenian National Benefit Society [Slovenska Naroda Jednota Podporna] The first large-scale immigration of people from Yugoslavia came during the decade of the 1880s. A large number of these new immigrants to America congregated in the city of Chicago, many of whom were dissatisfied by clerical dominance of the community. In 1891 a secular organization called Klub Slovenija was established, with its 40-odd members eventually affiliating as a local of the Czech Progressive Fraternal Benefit Society.
[fn: Joseph Stipanovich, "In Unity is Strength": Immigrant Workers and Immigrant Intellectuals in Progressive America: A History of the South Slav Social Democratic Movement, 1900-1918. Dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1978; pp. 2-3.]
Late in the year 1900 the Slovene Social Democrats established a first newspaper, Zora [Dawn], under the editorship of the brothers France [Frank] and Ivan Petrich. The publication lasted only for a few issues. Despite the paper's failure, in February 1901 the Yugoslav Social Democrats established their first formal organization, electing Anton Mladich the group's president and making contact with the Yugoslav Social Democratic Party in Europe.
[fn: Joseph Stipanovich, "In Unity is Strength," pp. 3-4.]
In September 1903 liberals and socialists cooperatively established a new cultural and economic organization in Chicago called Slavija. The group issued a newspaper called Glas svobode [Voice of Liberty], which predated the organization, being established in Pueblo, Colorado early in 1902 and moving to Chicago in the middle of 1903. This would be the vehicle for the establishment of a new federation of local groups. By the spring of 1904 a total of 8 locals had been established, including 3 in Pennsylvania, 2 each in Ohio and Illinois, and 1 in Kansas. The Petrich brothers were again instrumental in the establishment of the new organization. Promotion of the organization was made through a series of articles in the national Slovenian daily, Glas naroda [Voice of the Nation].
[fn: Joseph Stipanovich, "In Unity is Strength," pp. 4-5.]
Debate ensued over what to call the new organization. Some, seeking an inclusive multinational organization open to Slovene, Croat, Serb, Bulgarian, and Macedonian members, sought the name Jugoslovenska Delavska Jednota [Yugoslav Worker's Society]. Ultimately, however, the Slovenian majority decided upon a moniker which reflected the actual national composition of the group and the name Slovenska Narodna Jednota Podporna Jednota [Slovenian National Benefit Society] was ultimately decided upon. Membership remained open to members of any Slavic nationality and the group's primary function was to provide group life, disability, and medical insurance for its members. This was formally ratified at a founding convention held in Chicago on March 27, 1904.
[fn: Joseph Stipanovich, "In Unity is Strength," pg. 5.]
1. Founding Convention of the SNJP --- Chicago --- March 27, 1904
A vital first step towards a socialist movement among the various Yugoslav nationalities in the United States came in 1901, with the establishment of a Slovenian language newspaper called Proletarec [Proletarian]. The publication later began to include a Croatian language pege in each issue.
In 1907, the first Croatian language socialist newspaper was established in America, a weekly called Radnicka straza. The paper began as a bi-weekly but moved to a weekly publication schedule in June of 1908.
[fn: John Kraljic, "South Slavic Federation," posted to the Historians of American Communism Newsgroup, Oct. 15, 2004.] Prior to the establishment of a South Slavic Federation in the Socialist Party, there were socialist language branches of the various Yugoslav nationalities. One Chicago Croatian group consisted in 1908 of 80 members and had managed to establish its own library, reading room, printing establishment, and singing society. The SP's Official Bulletin noted that "steps have been takent to affiliate themselves with the Socialist Party."
[fn: Socialist Party Official Bulletin, v. 4, no. 10 (June 1908), pg. 1.]
South Slavic Socialist Federation [Federation of the Socialist Party of America]
1. Joint Convention --- Chicago --- July 3-4, 1910. In July 1910, a Joint Convention of the South Slavic nationalities was held in Chicago, a gathering which decided form a South Slavic Socialist Federation and to affiliate the new organization with the Socialist Party. This affiliation was carried out in January 1911, at which time the Federation counted a membership of 635 in 36 locals. At the time of affiliation, the South Slavic Federation was 54% Croatian, 39% Slovenian, and 7% Serb, with a smattering of Bulgarians.
During the first year of affiliation with the Socialist Party (1911), the South Slavic Federation gained 22 locals and nearly doubled its membership size, to 1,266 at year end. The average monthly total of dues stamps sold by the South Slavic Federation for 1911 was 1,055. The increase in the Federation was particularly strong among the Slovenian community: by the end of 1911 the South Slavic Federation was 48% Slovenian, 44% Croatian, and 8% Serb. At this time about 1 member in 6 was an American citizen.
[fn: Frank Petrich, "The South Slavic Socialist Activities in the United States" in The American Labor Year-Book, 1916. (NY: Rand School Press, 1916), pp. 142-143; 1911 stamp sale data from Petrich, "Report of South Slavic Section" in Proceedings: National Convention of the Socialist Party, pg. 240.] The South Slavic Socialist Federation does not seem to have at any point been a homogenous organization -- rather it appears to have been built around an alliance of three National Committees (Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian), each directed by its own Central Committee and funded by an assessment of 3 cents per member per month. The national South Slavic Socialist Federation was directed by an Executive Committee, in which the component National Committees participated.
[fn: Based on the dues apportionment listed in Frank Petrich, "Report of South Slavic Section" in Proceedings: National Convention of the Socialist Party, pg. 240.] In 1912, the South Slavic Socialist Federation moved from 58 to 85 active locals, with a membership of about 1,800. The trend towards increase among the Slovenes continued -- by nationality the 1912 membership of the Federation was approximately 51% Slovene, 39% Croat, and 9% Serb.
[fn: Alex Susnar, "Report of the South Slavic Socialist Federation" to the National Committee of the SPA, May 1913, pg. 1.]
A January 1914 membership count showed the South Slavic Federation breaking the 2,600 mark. Thereafter, difficult economic conditions lead to a downturn in the organizaton's membership rolls, with an average of approximately 2,000 paid members maintained through 1915. These were spread across 103 locals, including 30 in Pennsylvania, 16 in Ohio, and 16 in Illinois. South Slavic Federation locals even existed in such unlikely states as Wyoming (4), Arkansas (3), and Arizona (1),
[fn: Frank Petrich, "The South Slavic Socialist Activities in the United States" in The American Labor Year-Book, 1916. (NY: Rand School Press, 1916), pp. 142-143.] x. Conference of the Slovenian Section of the South Slavic Federation --- Springfield, IL --- Sept. 20, 1918 On September 20, 1918 a conference of the Socialist Party's South Slavic federation was held at Springfield, Illinois, at which it was determined that the federation should leave the party due to the SPA's continued and unalterable opposition to the war in Europe. A resolution adopted by the Conference declared:
"The Socialist Party with its anti-war program, adopted at the St. Louis convention [1917], and its unwillingness to change it even after historical events proved that the program is in contradiction to the spirit of Socialism...became useless as an instrument for the cause of Socialism and democracy."
The Federation's office at SPA headquarters was to be vacated from October 1, 1918, according to the resolution.
The Yugoslav Socialist Alliance [1918-1920] In 1920, the bulk of the South Slavic Federationists established the Yugoslav Socialist Alliance. This group seems to have become largely inactive, sloughing off membership during the war years and losing its Croatian membership almost completely. The Croatians seem to have went en bloc into the fledgling Communist movement.
The Yugoslav Socialist Federation [Jugoslovanska Socialistichna Zveza] Early in 1920, the Yugoslav Socialist Alliance applied for readmission to the SPA , a decision which was deferred to the July 10th meeting of the NEC. A formal return took place in August 1920. Frank Petrich remained the national secretary of the Yugoslav federation at this time, and the federation at that time included 32 active locals, with a membership of 435.
In a self-critical article written by Petrich published in the New York Call in May 1921, Petrich lamented that "the joke was on" the Yugoslav federation for having believed the pious pronouncements of the ruling class about its desire to spread democracy through the war. "One must never trust the ruling class, no matter how fair their professions," declared Petrich, adding that the federation had further learned that "no matter what happens in the home country the worker who has come from abroad must not dabble too deeply in the politics of the motherland," instead leaving national politics to those on the scene. Petrich lamented the departure of the Croatians from the Yugoslav Alliance during the war, stating that they had been afflicted with "the infantile sickness of Left Wingism."
By May 1921, Petrich indicated that the two years of "passive inactivity" were at an end and that 12 new locals had been organized, and the membership of the federation expanded to 750.
[fn: Frank Petrich, "Jugo-slavs, Who Left Party in 1914 [sic.], Come Back," in The New York Call, May 28, 1921, pg. 7. Frank Petrich, "Report of the Jugoslav Federation," in The Socialist World, July 1923, pg. 15.]
x. 4th Convention of the Yugoslav Federation --- Chicago, IL --- July (?) XX-XX, 1921. The agenda for the 1921 convention established by the Executive Committee of the Yugoslav Federation was as follows:
1. Secretary's report since 1916; 2. The reports of the Slovenian and Serbian sections; 3. Literature and press; 4. The International; 5. Immigration: Its laws and citizenship/ 6. Ways and means for propaganda; 7. Cooperative movemnet; 8. The Yugoslav question; 9. Declaration of principles; 10. Constitution; 11. Special resolutions.
[fn: Frank Petrich, "Jugo-slavs, Who Left Party in 1914 [sic.], Come Back," in The New York Call, May 28, 1921, pg. 7.]
Proletarec remained the newspaper of the Federation, which continued publishing until 1952. The Federation also published an annual yearbook containing original articles and translations in the Slovenian language. This group was one of the largest Language Federations affiliated with the SPA in the 1920s.
x. 5th Convention of the Yugoslav Federation --- Chicago, IL --- May 27-29, 1923. The May 1923 convention of the JSZ was the first gathering of the Slovenian-Serbian group held after the conclusion of the war. It was attended by 21 regular delegates, 5 fraternal delegates, 4 agenda delegates, and 8 members of the Executive Committee -- a total of 38. The gathering adopted a number of resolutions, including a lengthy resolution on the immigration question and another on the situation in Yugoslavia, which was criticized due to the fact that new national boundaries there had been drawn by fiat by the imperialist powers at Versailles rather than on the basis of self-determination, as had been promised by Wilson & Co. during the war.
The Socialist Party continued to have an affiliated Yugoslav Socialist Federation [Jugoslovanska Socialistichna Zveza -- JSZ] throughout the decade of the 1920s and beyond -- primarily a Slovenian group. In 1927, 7.4% of the Socialist Party's paid membership came to it through its Yugoslav Federation. The year 1928 proved to be rougher for the group, however, with the paid membership of the Federation plummeting 18% to about 675 members.
[fn: Letter of National Executive Secretary Willam H. Henry to the NEC of the SPA, Nov. 24, 1928. Original in Bob Millar collection.]
The JSZ had headquarters at 3639 W 26th Street in Chicago and issued an 8 page weekly called Proletarec [The Proletarian]. The first seven pages of each paper was in the Slovene language and the back cover in English.
In 1931, the officers of the Yugoslav Socialist Federation were:
Charles Pogorelec -- Secretary
Executive Committee (7): Frank Alesh, Peter Kokotovich, George Maslach, Filip Godina, Fred A. Vider, Joshko Oven, Frank Zaitz.
"Nadzorni Odbor" (3): Sava Bojanovich, Donald J. Lotrich, Blazh. Novak.
"Prosvetni Odsek" (4): Charles Progorelec (Sec.); Anton Garden, Ivan Molek, John Rak.
"Nadzorni Odbor Slov. Sekcije" (3): Frank Margolle, Angeline Zaitz, Frank Udovich.
[fn. Proletarec, No. 1220 (Jan. 29, 1931), pg. 7.] logo here South Slavonian Federation of the Socialist Labor Party A group of South Slavic Socialists refused to follow the Federation into affiliation with the Socialist Party in 1910 and instead affiliated with the Socialist Labor Party. This South Slavic Socialist Labor Party Federation, which seems to have been comprised mostly of Serbs, published its own newspaper, Radnicka borba [The Workers' Struggle]. This South Slavic SLP Federation continued to hold a major place in the party until the 1970s, when the Socialist Labor Party eliminated its Language Federations.
[fn: John Kraljic, "South Slavic Federation," posted to the Historians of American Communism Newsgroup, Oct. 15, 2004.] x. Convention of the South Slavonian SLP --- Milwaukee, WI --- Sept. 3-5, 1921.
Until July of 1923, the South Slavonian Federation issued a monthly in the Slovenian language called Socijalisticna Zarja [Socialist Dawn]. The publication was terminated for financial reasons. The Federation also included a certain percentage of Ukranian SLP members -- the Ukrainians not having sufficient organizational presence for their own Federation -- and published a Ukrainian-language monthly called Robitnychyi Holos [The Workers' Voice] from an Akron editorial office.
[fn:Milos Malencich: "South Slavonian Federation," in 16th National Convention, Socialist Labor Party, May 10-13, 1924: Minutes, Reports, Resolutions, Platform, Etc., pp. 90-92.]
South Slavic Federation of the (old) Communist Party of America
1. First Convention --- Chicago --- Sept. 12, 1919. The South Slavic Federation held a Convention in Chicago on Sept. 12, 1919. Nicholas Hourwich and Isaac Ferguson attended on behalf of the old CPA.
The CPA briefly issued a Croatian-language organ called Glas Komunista [Communist Voice], published in Chicago under the editorship of P.B. Stankovich. The first issue was dated Nov. 1, 1919.
Most Croatian Federationists and some Serbs joined the Communist Party, where they formed the South Slavic Section. The Section published a Croatian language newspaper, called variously Radnik and Radnicki glasnik. In late 1921, during the 5 months between formation of the unified CPA and the split of the Central Caucus faction, this Communist Party South Slavic Section had an average monthly paid membership of 527.
South Slavic Federation of the United Communist Party of America There were more South Slavic (Croatian & Slovenian) "groups" (Primary Party Units of the UCP, consisting of 5-10 members) than those of any other language, some 144 out of 673 total (21.4%) in December of 1920. The overwhelming majority of these were concentrated in the Cleveland and Chicago districts.
[fn: DoJ/BoI Investigative Files, NARA M-1085, reel 940, doc. 501 -- downloadable below.]
The last South Slavic organizer of the UCP (mid 1921) was S.M. Zemlin ("Evans"), who also edited the official organ of the Federation.
The South Slavic Federation held a Conference in the Midwest that began on July 16, 1921.
[fn: Comintern Archive f.515, op. 1, d. 75, l. 220]
Yugoslav Section of the Workers Party of America [Jugoslavenska Sekcija Radnicke Stanke Amerike] The Yugoslav Section of the WPA produced an official organ called Radnik. The Federation maintained headquarters at 2741 W 22nd Street, Chicago (Summer 1923) and was headed by Secretary M. Rajkovich.
1st National Conference of the South Slavic Section --- Chicago? --- May 27-31, 1923 The 1923 conference of the South Slavic Federation determined to issue the official organ of the federation, Radnik, 3 times weekly. It specified that all members must join the unions of their trade and be active in the TUEL and to be active as well in the work of the Labor Defense Council.
A new Bureau for the federation was elected, consisting of 5 members from Chicago (*) and 4 members from outside the city:
P. Bozurich (Barberton, OH), T. Cuckovich*, M. Goreta (Cleveland), Frank Japich*, J.R. Jurich (Detroit), Ch. Kruzich*, S.M. Loyen*, John Mavrich (East Pittsburgh, PA), and M. Rajkovich* (Secretary).
Alternates elected by the May 1923 conference included: George Karlovich (Zeigler, IL), W.M. Papa (Milwaukee), Mrs. M. Rajkovich (Chicago), A. Kovacevich (Farrell, PA), and J. Jurcich (Whiting, IN).
[fn: Comintern Archive f.515, op. 1, d. 233, l. 27.] 2nd National Conference of the South Slavic Section --- Chicago --- April XX-XX, 1924 The 2nd National Conference of the South Slavic Section of the Workers Party was attended by 55 delegates. C.E. Ruthenberg delivered a report on party activity in the name of the CEC of the WPA. Ruthenber stated that the former editors of the South Slavic official organ, Cvetkov and Kutuzovich, represented an "opportunist tendency," which the Bureau of the South Slavic Section, which deposed them, "fought for Communism." The policy of the Bureau towards the former editors was unanimously approved by the convention. Expelled members and those who voluntarily left the party during the recent controversy were to apply for readmission to their respenctive branches, the convention determined.
[fn: "South Slavic Section, WP, in Conference," Daily Worker, April 8, 1924, pg. 4.]
The "Educationalists" Movement in the Communist Party's South Slavic Section In the early 1920s a movement originated in the Communist Party's South Slavic Section around the persons of Teodor Svetkov, editor of Radnik, and Djuro Kutuzovic. This group, called the Prosvjetasi (Educationalists), argued that the working class could not achieve its liberation until it freed itself from religion and mastered the natural and social sciences. These individuals were expelled from the party in 1924 and established a group called Jugoslavenski prosvjetni savez, which published the paper Novi svijet.
[fn: John Kraljic, "South Slavic Federation," posted to the Historians of American Communism Newsgroup, Oct. 15, 2004; 1921 membership figure from Comintern Archive: f. 515, op. 1, d. 75, l. 12.]
MAY 1908
"Report of Committee on Foreign Speaking Organizations to the National Convention of the Socialist Party, May 17, 1908." Committee report to the 1908 SPA Convention in Chicago, delivered by S.A. Knopfnagel. The Committee advocated the acceptance of all foreign language organizations seeking affiliation with the Socialist Party, subject to 5 conditions: "(1) They are composed of Socialist Party members only. (2) Any foreign speaking organization having a national form of organization of its own be recognized only if all the branches composing this organization having been chartered by the national, state, or local Socialist Party organizations, and pay their dues to the respective Socialist Party organizations. (3) No foreign speaking organization asking the Socialist Party for recognition shall issue their own particular national, state, or local charters. Same to be issued only by the respective organizations of the Socialist Party, as the case may require. (4) All foreign speaking organizations affiliated with the Socialist Party must and shall conform in every respect with the Socialist Party national, state, and local constitutions, platforms, and resolutions. (5) They should function only as agitation, education, and organization bureaus of the Socialist Party." Includes an amendment made from the floor but not published in the SP's Official Bulletin (probably due to incompetence rather than malice) prohibiting the refusal of admission to the SPA on account of race or language.
MAY 1912
"Report of the South Slavic Section to Socialist Party National Convention, May 1912," by Frank Petrich. The South Slavic Socialist Federation affiliated with the Socialist Party of America in January of 1911. This is the report of the Translator-Secretary of the Yugoslav Federation Frank Petrich to the 1912 Indianapolis Convention of the Socialist Party of America. Details about membership demographics, size, and the financial status of the organization up to March 31, 1912, are provided.
MAY 1913
"Report of the South Slavic Socialist Federation to the National Committee of the Socialist Party of America, May 1913," by Alex Susnar. The South Slavic Socialist Federation affiliated with the Socialist Party of America in January of 1911. This is the report of the new Translator-Secretary of the Yugoslav Federation to the 1913 plenum of the National Committee of the Socialist Party of America. Some details about organizational size over time are provided.
no specific month"The South Slavic Socialist Activities in the United States," by Frank Petrich [1916] Short history of the Yugoslav socialist movement in America by the Translator-Secretary of that Federation for the Socialist Party, Frank Petrich. Petrich indicates that there were 4 nationalities included in the South Slavic Federation: Croats, Slovenes, Serbs, and Bulgars. The South Slavic Federation was organized in July 1910 at a unity convention in Chicago, Petrich indicates. This convention determined that the Federation should affiliate itself to the Socialist Party of America, which was brought about in January 1911. At that time over half of the Federation's 635 members were Croats, followed by 250 Slovenes; there were only 45 Serbs and a handful of Bulgars in the organization. By the end of 1911, the South Slavic Federation had grown to 1,266 members, with the number of Slovenes coming to exceed the number of Croats in the organization, according to Petrich's figures. Membership peaked in 1914 at just over 2,600; thereafter membership tailed off to about 2,000, a level at which it remained at the time of this article. Sixty percent of the South Slavic Federation's locals were located in the states of Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio, according to Petrich's statistics. "Eighty-five percent of the South Slavic people in the United States are industrial laborers, a good third of them working in the coal mines and the rest of them in the steel mills; 14% of them have their trade, and one percent are farmers," Petrich notes.
SEPTEMBER 1918
"South Slavic Federations Withdraw From Socialist Party; May Combine with Social Democratic League," by Emanuel Haldeman-Julius [event of Sept. 20, 1918] The war in Europe was a divisive issue within the South Slavic Federation of the Socialist Party of America, with the radical Croatian component staunchly supporting the party's unbending anti-militarist position, while the large Slovenian and small Serbian component bitterly disagreeing. The federation effectively split over this issue, with the Slovenian and Serbian Federationists voting to separate from the SPA at a conference held in Springfield, Ill. on Sept. 20, 1918. The main resolution of the Slovenian-dominated South Slavic conference states that the tactics of the Socialist Party had "estranged the American toiling masses, thus making itself impossible of representing them politically or otherwise" and effectively excluded socialists "from all actual participation in the peace conference, and also from cooperation in reconstruction after the war." In effect, the Socialist Party had rendered itself "merely a pacifistic sect," in the judgment of the Slovenian socialists, who withdrew. This event was gleefully reported by Managing Editor Emanuel Haldeman-Julius of The New Appeal, the social-patriotic incarnation of The Appeal to Reason, who breathlessly speculates that the Slovenian socialists might well soon join the upstart Social Democratic League which Haldeman-Julius "provisionally" headed. Pouring on the invective, Haldeman-Julius calls the action of the Slovenian socialists "additional proof that The New Appeal was entirely justified in its policy against the party's treasonable stand against the government and against the democratic ideals of the Entente." About 6 weeks later, the war would end, effectively terminating Haldeman-Julius' delusions of grandeur as a party leader. A few months after that Haldeman-Julius again altered his personal business plan, turning to the mass marketing of "Little Blue Books" -- a rather more effective means to the fame and fortune he so anxiously desired.
"Membership Series by Language Federation for the Socialist Party of America: Dues Stamps Sold by Month -- January 1917 to March 1919." [compiled with footnotes by Tim Davenport] This document compiles and tallies complete dues information for 10 of the Socialist Party's 15 foreign language Federations as well as making use of incomplete statistics for the 5 others, drawing inferences from known statistics to fill in the blanks. It shows that far and away the largest Socialist Party Federation in the period was the Finnish, with a 1918 average membership in excess of 10,000; followed by the German (6150), Lithuanian (3,800), Jewish (nearly 3,800), and South Slavic (estimated at 2,300 in 1918 despite the disruption of having withdrawn from the party briefly in October over the question of the war). The figures show that in the 1st Quarter of 1919, the 15 language federations combined sold approximately 19,000 more dues stamps each month than they averaged during the previous year. This gain was not limited to the 7 federations summarily suspended by the National Executive Committee in May 1919, however, with the unsuspended Finnish Federation (+2,275), Jewish Federation (+2,450), German Federation (+1,800), Scandinavian Federation (+600), and Czech Federation (+450) accounting for nearly 40% of the total increase in the membership of the language groups in the period. The data shows a single gross dues anomaly among the suspended federations (March 1919 -- Ukrainian Federation) and potentially suspicious rates of growth in the 1st Quarter of 1919 in 2 others (Russian and Lithuanian). Dividing the sums of the Federation membership totals in the table into the known official paid memberships of the Socialist Party as a whole (1917 - 80,379; 1918 - 82,344; 1919-QI - 104,882) provides the information that an estimated 44.2% of SPA duespayers were members of foreign language federations in 1917, 45.8% in 1918, and 54.1% in the 1st Quarter of 1919.
JULY 1920
"Correspondence Relating to the Application of the South Slavic Federation for Readmission to the Socialist Party of America from Frank Petrich, Secretary.' [July 1, 1920] The Slovenian-dominated South Slavic Federation withdrew from the Socialist Party on Sept. 20, 1918, over the issue of the war (the Slovenian and Serbian members of the federation being generally pro-war in orientation, the SPA maintaining a strong anti-militarist line throughout). The anti-war and revolutionary socialist Croatian section stayed within the SPA before leaving for the Communist movement in 1919, but the changed situation after the termination of the war left the Slovenians on the outside looking in. This document collects several pieces of correspondence to and from Frank Petrich, the Slovenian Secretary of the South Slavic Federation, dealing with the federation's ongoing effort to gain readmission to the Socialist Party. The NEC of the Socialist Party was in no forgiving mood, it seems, as the first formal proposal for readmission was defeated on June 1, 1920 by a vote of 6-1. Petrich continued his campaign for readmission, however, writing an extensive letter to NEC member William Henry of Indiana on June 26 attempting to explain the situation within the South Slavic Federation. Petrich unapologetically skirts the issue of the federation's pro-war stance. "We were against the war then, as we are against it today. But the war came in spite of our opposition. ...We could not believe that passivity in such a crisis is a virtue of Socialism; we thought such tactics erroneous because it does not allow to exploit the situation in the best interests of international Socialism. There were many problems the war had to settle -- problems in which the working class had interests. Of course, our thought was wrong because we were in minority -- and as a rule the minorities are always 'wrong," Petrich coyly asserts. Petrich indicates that a section of the Slovenian and Serbian socialists were coquetting with "Laborism" [the Farmer-Labor Party], a trend which would "become impossible" if the South Slavic Federation were readmitted. Petrich states he would be in attendance at the forthcoming July 10, 1920, physical meeting of the NEC, at which the matter of the South Slavic Federation's readmission would be reconsidered.
DECEMBER 1920
"United Communist Party -- "Groups" According to Language: As of December 1920." This is based upon an internal document of the United Communist Party captured by the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation in the April 1921 raid on UCP National Headquarters in New York. The UCP prided itself on having largely eliminated the federation-based form of organization which typified its rival, the Communist Party of America. Groups (Primary Party Units of between 5 and 10 members) were nevertheless based around language as well as geography and statistics tabulated by the organization. This snapshot from the midpoint of the UCP's one year of existence surprisingly shows more South Slavic (Croatian and some Slovenian) language groups than any other (144), followed by the Russian (136), English (121), German (61), Latvian (49), Yiddish (37), Lithuanian (34), and Finnish (31) language groups.
MAY 1921
"Yugoslavs, Who Left Party in 1914, Come Back: Secretary of South Slavic Federation Says There Are 32 Branches Now Doing Active Work..." by Frank Petrich [May 28, 1921] Head of the Yugoslav Socialist Federation Frank Petrich offers a brief synopsis of his group's relationship with the Socialist Party of America in this article prepared for the Socialist press. Petrich notes that prior to the 1919 split the South Slavic Federation had included 3200 dues-paying members. The federation had been suspended from the party during the faction fight between Regulars and the organized Left Wing section, however, and by the August 1920 return of the Yugoslav federation to SPA's ranks, only 435 members in 32 branches remained. The Croatians had left the federation for the Communist movement, but the Slovenian and Serbian sections remaining had begun to slowly rebuild, with 12 new branches formed since the August 1920 reentry and the federation's ranks back up to the 750 mark. This was regarded by Petrich as the tip of the iceberg, since 75,000 Slovenes alone were enrolled in national benefit societies. "If they have such a splendid “Red Cross” organization, they surely should have an equally powerful political fighting organization," Petrich declared.
"Why Punish the Socialist Movement?" by Frank Petrich [May 30, 1921] Party loyalist Frank Petrich, head of the Socialist Party's Yugoslav Federation, makes this complaint about proposed changes to the party constitution which will have the effect of forcing federation branches to participate directly in the affairs of their associated English-speaking locals to purchase dues stamps, instead of being able to purchase them directly through the language federation, as previously. Petrich declares that such an amendment aims "at the controlling point of the federations' organization system" and is an attempt "to deprive Language Federations of their autonomy." This would place the federations in the position of supplicants for funding from state and local committees, who would be under no obligation to aggressively carry on propaganda work in the languages in question. Petrich characterizes this change as centralization at any price and argues that it will have a negative effect on the party in general and the language federations in particular. "Who are the forces that are trying to lead the Socialist Party into a blind alley and through it to punish the Socialist movement?" Petrich asks.
DECEMBER 1922
"Membership Series by Language Federation for the Workers Party of America. 'Dues Actually Paid' -- (March to June) vs. (July to Oct.) 1922 and 8 Month Average." Tim Davenport, ed. [from report of Dec. 24, 1922] This document summarizes federation-by-federation membership data presented to the 2nd National Convention of the Workers Party of America, based upon dues statistics generated through the month of October 1922. The statistics show that nearly half of the WPA in its first year were members of the organization's Finnish Federation. English was the 2nd largest of the 14 language sections (1 out of 8 WPA members hailing from English language locals), while the Yiddish language locals included 1 member out of 10.
no specific month"Membership Series by Language Federation for the Workers Party of America. 'Dues Actually Paid' -- January to December 1923." Official 1923 data set of the Workers Party of America, compiled from a document in the Comintern Archive. This series shows a great numerical dominance of the WPA by its Finnish Federation, accounting for a massive 42.8% of the average monthly paid membership of the organization (6,583 of 15,395). The total of the English language branches is the 2nd strongest amongst the federations (7.6%) followed by the South Slavic (7.5%), Jewish [Yiddish language] (6.9%), and Lithuanian (6.0%) Federations. In all, there were statistics kept for 18 different language groups of the WPA in 1923, including the English and the barely organized Armenian sections.
"Initiation Stamps Sold by Federation for the Workers Party of America. January to December 1923." Official 1923 data set of the Workers Party of America, compiled from a document in the Comintern Archive. This series once again (repeating the previous published 1924 series) shows a schizophrenic pattern of stamp sales among language groups . Some federations clearly did not collect the initiation fees called for in the WPA constitution at all (Jewish, German, Latvian) while at the same time the quantities sold via the English branches are ridiculously high. Over 53% of the initiation stamps sold for the entire WPA were credited to the English branches -- nearly three times as many initiations than there were average duespayers in those English branches! Even assuming a significantly higher than average "membership churn" rate for English branches, there is clearly some other unexplained phenomenon at play in these English branch initiation stamp sale figures...
MAY 1923
"Problems of the Party (IV): Be American!" by John Pepper [May 26, 1923] In the 4th installment of his "Problems of the Party" series, party leader John Pepper analyzes the continued division of the Workers Party of America into a multiplicity of Language Federations, noting that not only the spoken language varies from group to group, "but often the ideology." He notes that "Our Russian comrades have a different historical tradition from the Italians, the Germans from the Poles. The workers belonging to various nationalities are still very deeply rooted in the social and political conditions of their old countries." Main issues of concern differed from group to group, as did their practical activity: "Our Italian comrades arrange a collection for the persecuted Communists of Italy, our German comrades send relief for the hungry children of German Communists. Our Hungarian comrades put forth great efforts to collect money for political prisoners suffering in Horthy's prisons. Our Polish comrades have made a collection for the support of the Communist election campaign in Poland. Our Ukrainian comrades collect money for the support of the Ukrainian publishing activities in Europe. Our Russian comrades are of course with heart and soul interested in relief of Soviet Russia. Our Jewish comrades collect money for needy Jewish workers in the Ukraine." Very often non-citizens and alienated from American political life, the Federations tended to retreat into their own "Ghettos," Pepper states. Political education and political activity had to be directed towards bringing the foreign-born majority of the WPA membership into the real American political struggle. To this end, Pepper puts forward the slogan "Be American!" -- a slogan which he says "means to struggle against the whole capitalist class of America; it means the hardest struggle against 100 percent nationalism of the jingoes. Be American means for the militant Communist to present the claim for the workers' rule of America."
"Report of the Jugoslav Federation on the 4th Convention of the JSZ: Chicago -- May 27-29, 1923," by Frank Petrich [end of May 1923] Report to the Socialist Party of the 1923 convention of the Yugoslav Federation, Socialist Party (JSV) by the Secretary of the organization, a leading Slovenian Socialist. The JSV convention was attended by 21 regular and 17 other delegates. It passed resolutions following those of the 1923 Socialist Party Convention as well as an extensive supplemental resolution on the Immigration Question, reproduced here. Legislation was recommended guaranteeing immigrant workers the right to move from job to job, banning importation of labor for the purposes of strikebreaking, and easing the process of naturalization of immigrants into American citizenship. Also includes an excerpt of the resolution on the Yugoslav situation, in which the lack of self-determination of peoples (previously touted during the war years) is decried.
no specific month"Membership Series by Language Federation for the Workers Party of America. 'Dues Actually Paid' -- January to December 1924." Official 1924 data set of the Workers Party of America, compiled from a document in the Comintern Archive. This shows a continued numerical dominance of the Workers Party of America by its Finnish-language federation, averaging a paid membership of 7100 (41% of the entire organization) for the year 1924. Impressive growth is shown by the Yiddish-language ("Jewish") federation, which moved to the third largest language group in the WPA in 1924. The English branches comprised the second largest language group in the WPA, but still remained just 11% of the overall organization. The South Slavic federation (predominately Slovenian and Croation) was the 4th largest language group in the WPA, topping the Russian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian federations.
"Initiation Stamps Sold by Federation for the Workers Party of America. January to December 1924." Official 1924 data set of the Workers Party of America, compiled from a document in the Comintern Archive. An extremely interesting monthly series in which two unexplained anomalies are apparent: (1) The failure of at least 8 of the WPA's 18 language sections to make more than a token effort to collect the $1 initiation fee and obvious similar behavior (to lesser degree) among branches of other language groups; (2) A preposterously large sale of 5,264 initiation stamps to "English" branches, which averaged a paid membership of just 1909 over the course of the year. Either there was a revolving door in the English branches that was entirely dissimilar to the situation in any other language group of the WPA; or there was some sort of effort to collect initiation fees among "English" workers without organizational follow up; or there was some sort of strange accounting practice used by the WPA in which miscellaneous sales of initiation stamps were lumped into the "English" category (or some combination of these explanations). A perplexing question in raised, with further archival research clearly necessary.
MAY 1924
"Report of the South Slavonic Socialist Labor Federation to the 16th Convention of the SLP, May 1924," by Milos Malencich. Report of the National Secretary of the Yugoslav Federation of the SLP to that party's quadrennial national convention about the size and state of the organization. No hard membership figures are provided, but Malencich does give a useful accounting of party publications, noting the termination of a Slovenian monthly in July 1923 and the existence of a Ukrainian monthly. Malencich notes that the World War "has had the result of inflaming the tribal hatreds aong Servian, Croatian, and Slovenian workers."
OCTOBER 1932"South Slavic Convention Unanimous for CEC and Comintern" (Daily Worker) [events of Oct. 17-20, 1925] Brief recap of the 1925 convention of the Yugoslav section of the Workers (Communist) Party, attended by 29 delegates in Chicago, said to represent 1,360 members (i.e. about 8% of the party). The delegates heard a keynote report by General Secretary C.E. Ruthenberg and obligingly provided unanimous support for a new restructuring of the party on the basis of shop and street nuclei and the transformation of language federations into "language fractions" which would soon have the effect of cutting party membership in half. A new 14 member bureau to govern the South Slavic section was elected, including 8 residents of Chicago who would constitute and "Executive Council" for daily affairs, with C. Novak as secretary. Also of note a mention of an inner dispute involving a "Comrade Fisher" on the losing end; whether this individual is the "Ed Fisher" of the 1920 factional war remains unclear.
"New Activity Under New Form," by William F. Kruse [Oct. 23, 1925] The forthcoming restructuring of the Workers (Communist) Party is given an upbeat spin in this article from The Daily Worker. Kruse makes clear that the elimination of casual members in the language federations was not only expected but welcomed by the American party leadership. The "old territorial form of organization" being abandoned was a legacy of social democracy and its obsession with the bourgeois-democratic electoral process, Kruse notes, whereas the new form of organization was "the fruit of worldwide revolutionary experience." Kruse notes that opposition to the change is concentrated in the Finnish and German federations. He implies that the concern is misplaced, noting that in the Minneapolis district of the Workers Party, out of more than 60 towns in which the WPA had a presence, in over 50 there was only a single Finnish or Yugoslav branch, reducing the difficulty of forming multilingual shop nuclei. The loss of some members would be "undeniable, and also unavoidable," writes Kruse. "Elements, weak, unassimilated and unassimilable, will drop out. But by far the largest part of our proletarian elements will not only remain but will be heartened by the change to increase their strength." A network of "worker clubs" would fulfill the role formerly played by Finnish socialist halls, Kruse indicates. Those members lost in the change would be individuals "who 'belong' for reasons of social or lingual gregariousness" who were "no material for our revolution, which must come from the workshop."
APRIL 1931
"This Post-War Generation and Our Time: Will It Be Able to Find a Way Out?" by Anna P. Krasna [April 30, 1931] A little heard perspective: the views of a Depression-era Socialist rather than a Communist; of a woman, not a man; of a Slovene-American, not an Anglo-American. Anna P. Krasna, a writer, appeals to the youth of America to wake up and begin to take an active interest in politics, as a new war was in the wind. The post-war generation had been bred upon illusions of individual success and was learning that the brutal reality of the economic system was different, Krasna stated. "We are hoping that the youth, seeing the future holds nothing but misery in store for them, or perhaps a chance to die a heroic death for the international speculators and exploiters, shall demand the right to live as comfortably as the modern technical improvements permit" -- this to be achieved through participation in "the groups of those who believe in equality for all."
APRIL 1936
"To All Members of the Communist Party in the Cleveland Area from P. Margetic in Cleveland, circa April 1, 1936." This esoteric mimeographed document provides clues about the nature of party life in the non-English speaking section of the Communist Party USA, specifically the organization's Yugoslav component. As the CP's Yugoslav organization was primarily Croatian rather than Slovenian, it is not surprising that this is the language used in this document. The mimeographed circular announces changes in the Yugoslav party organization enacted by the CPUSA's Central Committee "with the help of the National Bureau in Chicago, Ill." Two new editors were appointed and others removed; 3 local organizers were named. The forthcoming local conference was to be an event at which all Yugoslav members were required to attend. Tallies of Croat, Serb, and Slovene members were to be turned in by fraction leaders to the conference and thereafter "special bureaus for these listed nations" were to be established.
"To All Members of the Communist Party in the Cleveland Area from P. Margetic in Cleveland, circa April 1, 1936." **IN CROATIAN** Same as the above. Non-machine readable pdf of the original Croatian language document, announcing a forthcoming conference of Yugoslav members of CPUSA in Cleveland, at which "special bureaus" for the Croatian, Serbian, and Slovenian nationalities were to be established.
