the National Student Strike Against War on April 13, 1934 and 1935, commemorating American entry into the First World War. The first strike, coordinated only with the NSL, drew 25,000 students nationwide, 15,000 of which were in New York City. The second demonstration however, in April 1935, drew 175,000 students, 160,000 outside of New York, and was co-sponsored by the National Student Federation of America, the National Council of Methodist Youth, YMCA, YWCA, the Interseminary Movement, the youth section of the American League Against War and Fascism, among others. An important aspect of the two annual strikes was an Americanized version of the Oxford Pledge, in which students pledged "We will not support the government of the United States in any war it may conduct." Principles The Student League for Industrial Democracy proclaimed its goal to be the establishment of "a classless cooperative society in which men will have an equal opportunity to achieve the good things of life." It took a Fabian approach to this long-term objective, advocating a minimum program which included the organization of labor, expansion of merit-based academic scholarships, defense of civil liberties and academic freedom, and opposition to "any manifestation of militarism in education, especially the R.O.T.C." Merger With the Student League for Industrial Democracy and the Communist-led National Student League working together so often, there arose sentiment in favor of amalgamating the two organizations. The NSL proposed this first in December 1933, and again the next year. The leadership of the SLID, however, was weary of the NSL uncritical view of the Soviet Union and less than democratic nature of the NSL. Due to the unprecedented size of the April 1935 student strike, however, pressure from within the SLID ranks became difficult for its more cautious leadership to contain. This was especially true on the West Coast, were the local SLID members felt it that anti-fascist unity was a pressing need in the wake of a local red scare. With its California chapters already planning an amalgamation conference for the fall, in June 1935 the SLID National Executive Committee relented buy appointed a committee to discuss the merger with representatives from the NSL. By October they arrived at an agreement to merge the two organizations at a convention that December into a new group to be named the American Student Union. Footnotes Publications Joseph Lash The campus strikes against war New York: Student League