Leonard Woolf thought that is era was characterised by the emergence of a new communal psychology'. Outline what he meant by this, and assess whether the concept is consistent with the speeches of Jean Jaures (1907-14) and the Stuttgart declaration of the Socialist [second] International (1907). Were Jaures and the International utterly unrealistic?.
Leonard Woolf believed that his era, the time of the First World War, was characterised by the emergence of what he called a new communal psychology' . Woolf's theory on the rise of socialism as a relatively new way of thinking is evident in the speeches made by Jean Jaures, a French patriot, and the Stuttgart declaration of the Socialist [second] International. Jaures and the International show Woolf's idea of The Dead Mind', which is one of the reasons why they were unrealistic in attempting peace in Europe .
Woolf believed that his hypothesis on communal psychology was somewhat alarming as " nothing is so unusual or so dangerous as thought- . Woolf's view was that during the First World War communal thoughts began to emerge through the suffering caused by the destructive nature of war. Woolf is describing the onset of socialism, which was at the time a relatively new concept . However, socialism has similar characteristics to all other ideals and views around at the time. The Kaiser and the Tsar both still believed in the Divine Right of Kings, which could be classified under Woolf's theory of the dead mind' . Woolf believed that these dead ideas were a great part of communal psychology's content, which was " largely the ideals, beliefs and aims of the dead- . The thoughts that were being used at that time were thought generations ago, according to Woolf . Woolf applies his dead mind' theory to socialism, as socialism came predominantly from the writings of Karl Marx, who died before the twentieth century and before socialism expanded throughout Europe .