The onset of the First World War, however, curtailed any imminent action by the Alliance. In his 1936 book, The Strange Death of Liberal England, George Dangerfield argued that if war had not broken out, there would have been a devastating general strike, coordinated by the Triple Alliance, in October 1914.[2]
First World War
There was a cessation of trade union activity during the war. The industries represented by the Triple Alliance (mining, the railways and other transport systems) were temporarily brought under state control during the war.
The mining industry was privatised on 1 April 1921, and the mine owners immediately threatened wage reductions. The Miners' Federation of Great Britain planned a co-ordinated response with its allies in the Triple Alliance on Friday the 15th.
Following some confusion over what terms the Miners' Union would be prepared to accept, the transport workers' and railwaymen's unions decided not to call their members on strike in sympathy with the miners. That was subsequently remembered as Black Friday by many socialists and trade unionists, who regarded the collapse of the Triple Alliance as a betrayal of solidarity and a major defeat for trade unionism.
The Triple Alliance was significant in securing government subsidies for miners' wages on Red Friday in July 1925 by threatening a general strike. The Triple Alliance agreed to back the miners in their dispute against mine owners who had announced future wage cuts and had increased work hours a month previously. That threatened a complete halt to the production and transport of coal.
