The Masses

Associated with the Bohemian SOCIALISM of Greenwich Village, The Masses was a radical journal that reflected the political and cultural changes of its time. The political, economic, and social turmoil of the early 20th century was transforming American society. Between the end of the Civil War and the end of World War I, the country went from being a largely rural agrarian society to an increasingly urban industrial one. These transformations helped give rise to a variety of progressive, socialist, and radical political movements in the early decades of the new century. Changes in print media also played an important role in enabling these radical political movements to get their message to an increasingly large audience.

The most significant transformation in print media was the emergence of investigative journalism, associated with the MUCKRAKERS. Magazines and journals such as Collier’s, McClure’s, Everybody’s, and The Nation began running articles exposing political and corporate corruption. They became immensely popular among the general public and pressured politicians and business leaders to enact important reforms. The popularity of the new political magazines skyrocketed. By 1906 circulation among the 10 most popular magazines publishing investigative reports topped 3,000,000.

Socialist and radical groups, with whom many investigative journalists had close connections, quickly realized the potential the print medium had to vastly expand the audience they were able to reach. Among the most well-written and effective magazines in the newly emerging radical press was The Masses. Established in 1911 by Piet Vlag, The Masses largely reflected the views of its Marxist editor, Max Eastman. Between 1911 and 1914, a veritable who’s who of the political Left published in the pages of The Masses. The journal quickly became one of the leading progressive voices in the country. Contributors to the magazine included Upton Sinclair, John Reed, Mabel Dodge, Randolph Bourne, and others. Eastman and others on the staff believed that the war in Europe was nothing more than a conflict between competing factions of capital. Between 1914 and 1917, its writers lampooned both the Allied and Central powers and strongly advocated that the United States remain neutral.

After the United States entered World War I, the magazine’s editors came under intense pressure to change its stance on the war. When Eastman refused, the postmaster general banned the magazine’s distribution, and legal action was initiated aimed at shutting the magazine down permanently. Other radical and progressive magazines, such as The Nation, found themselves under intense pressure to support the nation’s war effort. Even after the war ended, the federal government continued to place radical and progressive magazines under surveillance for their support of the RUSSIAN Revolution, sexual radicalism, and outspoken criticism of the United States. The Masses and the RADICAL AND labor PRESS tapped into a strong undercurrent of social inequality and utilized innovations in the print media to achieve an unprecedented level of exposure and support for radical and progressive causes.

Further reading: William L. O’Neill, The Last Romantic: A Life of Max Eastman (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978).

—Robert Gordon