¹ This essay is based on a broader study of the responses of social democratic and labour parties to the war, the Russian revolution and the question of peace. For a stimulating introduction to the subject, see Ferro, Marc, The Great War 1914–1918 (London, 1973), ch. 16Google Scholar. The article by Meynell, Hildemarie, ‘The Stockholm conference of 1917’, International Review of Social History,v, (1960), 1–25, 202–25CrossRefGoogle Scholar, is dated and ascribes the failure of the Stockholm initiative to the intransigence of the Leninist left and the refusal of the Allied governments to grant passports to delegates.

² Mayer, Arno, Political origins of the new diplomacy 1917–1918 (New York, 1970, paperback edn)Google Scholar. Stillig, Jürgen, Die Russische Februarrevolution 1917 und die Sozialistische Friedenspolitik (Cologne, Vienna, 1977)Google Scholar offers a detailed analysis of Allied governmental policy towards the Stockholm conference.

³ Ferro, Marc, The Russian revolution of February 1917 (London, 1972), pp. 353–4Google Scholar. The wartime activities of the ‘northern neutrals’ are dealt with by Grass, Martin, Friedensaktivitat und Neutralität (Bonn, Bad Godesberg, 1975)Google Scholar and Agnes Blänsdorf, Die Zweite Internationale und der Krieg (Stuttgart, 1979).Google Scholar

⁴ Sukhanov, N. N., Zapiski 0 revolyutsii (7 vols., Berlin, Petrograd, Moscow, 1922–3), ii, 259–70, 333–48Google Scholar. Tsereteli, I. G., Vospominaniya 0 feveral'skoy revolyutsii (2 vols., Paris, 1963), 1, 32, 45–7. Stillig, Februarrevolution, pp. 115–17, 238.Google Scholar

⁵ This proposal had been made originally on 24 April in the executive committee of the Soviet, and was probably given additional impetus by the visit of the Danish socialist Borgbjerg, with details of the Scandinavian Stockholm initiative and the German socialists’ peace programme. Stillig, Februarrevolution, pp. 116–23. Social-Demokraten (Danish), 9, 10, 11, 15 May 1917 for Borgbjerg's reports from Russia.

⁶ Stillig, Februarrevolution, pp. 126–30. Sinanoglou, I. (ed.), ‘Journal de Russie d'Albert Thomas’, Cahiers du monde russe et soviétique, xiv (1973), 146, 147–8, 195–8.Google Scholar

⁷ Shlyapnikov, A. (ed.), ‘Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya i evropeyskie sotsialisty’, Krasnyi arkhiv, xv (1926), 79–81 for the original proposals and the final invitation. Sukhanov, Zapiski, IV, 86–7. Tsereteli, Vospominaniya, 1, 243.Google Scholar

⁸ ‘Journal de Russie’, pp. 175–6.

⁹ Vandervelde, E., Trois aspects de la révolution russe (Paris, 1918), pp. 178–9Google Scholar. It is not clear why Henderson did not sign the letter, though he agreed with its contents: see his reference to the Soviet proposals as ‘most objectionable’ in his telegram received in London on 8 June: Labour Party executive committee minutes, 20 june 1917, Labour Party archives.

¹⁰ Tsereteli, Vospominaniya, 1, 200–10.

¹¹ Albarda to Wibaut, 9 May, 5 June 1917: Wibaut to Albarda, 12 June 1917, Wibaut papers, file 227, Internationaal Instituut voor Sociaal Geschiedenis, Amsterdam. (IISG)

¹² Troelstra to Wibaut and Vliegen, 9 June 1917, Troelstra papers, file 540, IISG. Het Volk, 29 June 1917.

¹³ Balabanoff, A., Die Zimnurwalder Bewegung 1914–1919 (Leipzig, 1928), pp. 66–9, 75–107Google Scholar. Lademacher, Horst, ed., Die Zimmerwalder Bewegung (2 vols., The Hague, 1967), 1, 447–84Google Scholar. Yermansky, O., Iz perezhitogo (Moscow, 1927), pp. 163–75. W. Dittmann, Erinnerungen (typescript, no date), pp. 802–5, IISG.Google Scholar

¹⁴ ‘Fevral'skayarevolyutsiya’, Krasnyi arkhiv, 16 (1926), 27–9Google Scholar. Notes of the meeting between the Dutch-Scandinavian Committee and the Soviet delegation, 9–11 July 1917, Troelstra papers, file 423, IISG.

¹⁵ Notes of the meeting with the Soviet delegation, 9 Sept. 1917, Troelstra papers, file 423, IISG. This assertion is echoed by Wade, Rex, The Russian search for peace, February-October 1917 (Stanford, 1969), pp. 106–7, but not by Stillig, Februarrevolution, p. 240.Google Scholar

¹⁶ The French and Italian governments had already announced that passports would not be granted to socialist delegations to Stockholm. On the shifting attitude of the British government towards Stockholm, see Stillig, Februar revolution, pp. 151 ff. and Wade, The Russian search, pp. 108–11.

¹⁷ Stansky, Peter (ed.), The left and war: The British Labour party and World War I (NewYork, 1969) pp 220–2.Google Scholar

¹⁸ The Labour party adjourned party conference (21 August 1917) (London, no date), pp. 14–18, 20–1.Google Scholar

¹⁹ Mayer, Origins, pp. 224–5. Kriegel, A., Aux origines du communisme français (2 vols., Paris, 1964), 1, 165–8.Google Scholar

²⁰ These memoranda are printed in Comité organisateur de la conférence internationale de Stockholm, Stockholm (Stockholm, 1918).Google Scholar

²¹ See the telegram from Branting and Huysmans to the Labour party in August 1917, approving of the conditions arrived at in Paris, and adding that it was ‘absolutely necessary’ for the cause of the Entente to be defended at the conference. Labour party executive committee minutes, 14 Aug. 1917, Labour party archives. See also the interviews of the Italian minister to Stockholm with Branting and Huysmans: I documenti diplomatici italiani. Quinta serie: 1914–1918 vii: 1 geimaio-15 maggio 1917 (Rome, 1978), 570, 681–2.Google Scholar

²² These differences have been carefully analysed by Martin Grass, Friedensaktivität, pp. 24–7, 67–8, 268–71.

²³ Notes of the meeting with the S.P.D. delegation, 11 June, Troelstra papers, file 427, IISG. Scheidemann, P., Memoiren eines Sozialdemokraten (2 vols., Dresden, 1928), ii, 9–11Google Scholar. Troelstra, P., Gedenkschriften (4 vols., Amsterdam, 1931), iv, 126–30Google Scholar. Stockholm, pp. 112–13 and P. 32 shows the gulf between the S.P.D. and French majority socialist position on this issue.

²⁴ See the Italian minister's report of the interview with Branting, 19 April 1917, in I documenti diplomatici, p. 570. Troelstra, P., De Stockholmsche conferentie. Hoar werk en beteekenis (Amsterdam, 1917)Google Scholar, and his draft ‘Das Stockholmer Friedensprogramm’, Troelstra papers, file 419, IISG.

²⁵ Het Volk, 22 Dec. 1917, Undated letter, possibly November 1917, from Troelstra to members of the Dutch-Scandinavian Committee, Troelstra papers, file 420, IISG. On Stauning's initiative, see Fluger, H., Den socialdemokratiske partiledelse, Alexander Helphand og den II Internationales jredsbestrabelser 1914–1917 (unpublished thesis, University of Copenhagen, 1974), PP. 102–6.Google Scholar

²⁶ This was especially true of the parties of eastern Europe: see Rosdolsky, R., ‘Die serbische Sozialdemokratie und die Stockholmer Konferenz von 1917’, Archiv für Sozialgeschichte, vi/vii(1966–7), 583–95Google Scholar. Leon, G., The Greek socialist movement and the first world war (Boulder, 1976), pp. 36–48Google Scholar. Kirby, D., ‘ Stockholm-Petrograd-Berlin: International social democracy and Finnish independence, 1917’, Slavonic and East European Review, LII (1974), 63–84.Google Scholar

²⁷ The Times, 16 July 1917. The former editor of the New States man was the Times’ special correspondent in Stockholm during the summer of 1917.

²⁸ Tsereteli, , Vospominaniya, 1, 209–10, 311. Vandervelde, Trois aspects, p. 192Google Scholar. Protokoll der Verhandlungen des Parteitages der Deutschen Sozial-demokratischen Arbeiterpartei in Österreich... 19–24 Oktober 1917) Vienna, 1918), pp. 34, 283.Google Scholar

²⁹ Wheeler, Robert, ‘ Revolutionary socialist internationalism: rank-and-file reaction in the USPD’, International Review of Social History, XXII (1977), 334–7Google Scholar. W. Wetter, ‘Frieden durch Revolution? Das Scheitern der Friedenskonzeption der radikalen Linken in der deutschen Revolution von 1918/1919’, in Huber, W., Schwerdtfeger, J., Frieden, Gewalt, Sozialismus (Stuttgart, 1976), pp. 282–357.Google Scholar