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"Full Steam Ahead!" (1892)

This 1892 cartoon from the Socialist newspaper Der wahre Jakob illustrates the conflict between organized labor and employers. The lettering on the head of the train reads “Eight-Hour Work” – a reference to one of the central demands of organized labor: a shorter work-day. As the cartoon suggests, most European Socialists viewed the arrival of a worker-dominated society as inevitable. An imposing train, with cars labeled Germany, France, and England, represents the labor movement, which is destined to roll over the bull of capitalism.

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© Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz / Dietmar Katz