Discussions of the Winnipeg general strike often start from the contemporary debate about whether it was a conspiracy to overthrow the government or a fight for union recognition and a living wage.
Given the scale of the general strike and its political impact, however, it was difficult to consider it only an ordinary collective bargaining dispute.
This led some historians to study local labour relations in detail  while others examined the nature of labour reform and radical activism in western Canada.
Churches, immigrants, women, soldiers, and municipal politics have also been the subject of study.
The “red scare” promoted by business and government spokesmen attracted attention, as did the legal manoeuvres that led to the arrest and conviction of prominent strike supporters on charges of sedition.


While some historians regarded the strike as a western labour revolt rooted in unique conditions in western Canada, others have pointed to widespread labour unrest across Canada, both in 1919 itself  and also during the decade from 1917 to 1925.
Recent accounts of the strike have also noted that most strikers were not union members, suggesting that the events might be described as an urban rebellion against the failings of the capitalist social order as it existed at the end of World War I.
Discussions of the Winnipeg general strike often start from the contemporary debate about whether it was a conspiracy to overthrow the government or a fight for union recognition and a living wage. Given the scale of the general strike and its political impact, however, it was difficult to consider it only an ordinary collective bargaining dispute. This led some historians to study local labour relations in detail  while others examined the nature of labour reform and radical activism in western Canada. Churches, immigrants, women, soldiers, and municipal politics have also been the subject of study. The “red scare” promoted by business and government spokesmen attracted attention, as did the legal manoeuvres that led to the arrest and conviction of prominent strike supporters on charges of sedition.

While some historians regarded the strike as a western labour revolt rooted in unique conditions in western Canada, others have pointed to widespread labour unrest across Canada, both in 1919 itself  and also during the decade from 1917 to 1925. Recent accounts of the strike have also noted that most strikers were not union members, suggesting that the events might be described as an urban rebellion against the failings of the capitalist social order as it existed at the end of World War I.
Winnipeg general strike