Th ough more moderate, the British case still looks quite impressive. Wage share rose from 71 percent in 1918 to 78 percent in 1921. Th is was an unprecedented increment with respect to the prewar years (in 1913 it was at 67 percent). Even if the surge is numerically not as striking as the Italian case, two factors must be kept in mind to evaluate the potentially explosive eff ect of the British circumstances. First, British workers were in possession of a signifi cant amount of the GDP, a measure of their strength, which gave them a greater voice in settling economic agendas; second, that power had still increased like never before. Th e troubles for capital were embodied in a 7-percentage-point drop in profi t share between 1918 and 1920 which swept away the war gains. Th e postwar profi t share was onethird of the prewar amount. As in Italy, these class gains were also fuel for a movement to nationalize and give British workers a central, potentially independent role in the production process.

Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, loc. 1485