Fabian society founded

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Jessica Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

Domains

Politics

Dates

Date of occurrence 1884-01-04

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

Resources

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In the midst of the establishment of various radical socialist groups, which called for change to be brought about by revolution, the Fabian Society was founded with the aim of introducing socialist principles into British government, by gradualist, reformist and non-revolutionary means. Its first members included diverse cultural luminaries such as George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Annie Besant, Edith Nesbit, Virginia and Leonard Woolf, Ramsay Macdonald and Emmeline Pankhurst, but the pre-eminent figures were Sidney and Beatrice Webb. It received derogatory comments from more conventional political groups for its inclusion of outlandish ideas, and also from more radical groups, who pointed out that it was a perfect halfway house for those too timid to see that socialism could not come…

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158 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Fabian society founded". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 August 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5288, accessed 11 May 2024.]

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