Milwaukee had one of the most successful Socialist movements anywhere in the US, electing 3 mayors and playing a major role in city politics during the early to mid 20th century. As a Wisconsinite, I was wondering how the city could have turned out differently if the Socialists had been less successful. From what I've gathered the main reason the party was so successful was due to the organizing efforts of Victor Berger, who built a formidable party machine based on strong links to the city's labor movement. I assume that without Berger, the city's Socialist movement would have been nowhere near as successful. Milwaukee Socialists were famous for their pragmatic and evolutionary "Sewer Socialism", emphasizing electoral success and bread-and-butter issues like clean municipal government and consumer safety protections over revolution and class warfare. Many Socialist Party members didn't see this as "real socialism", with national Party Chairman Morris Hilquilt famously declaring that in Milwaukee "Socialism consists of merely providing clean sewers."
How would Milwaukee have fared without the strong Socialist movement it had in the early 20th century? A lot of their reforms were just typical Progressive Era policies of the time, so is it possible that a reform-minded city government would have just enacted most of them around the same time, just without the red coat of paint?
How would Milwaukee have fared without the strong Socialist movement it had in the early 20th century? A lot of their reforms were just typical Progressive Era policies of the time, so is it possible that a reform-minded city government would have just enacted most of them around the same time, just without the red coat of paint?