War prevented further progress towards a new institution although summer schools and other educational initiatives, led by Fred Hall, proved popular. Co-operators demanded better educational provision and new legislation. However, relationships between the co-operative movement and the state seriously declined during the war, prompting a fundamental re-think of the movement’s political and educational stance. Co-operation was directly assaulted by the increasing power of corporate cartels, bolstered by influential press barons and acquiescent governments. It thus became even more imperative for the movement to instil and maintain co-operative ideals and identity among the membership. In the optimistic aftermath of the war, the 1919 Congress formally passed a resolution to bring the Co-operative College into being. Immediately, the College attracted a mix of studentsstudents from the British movement and overseas, for instance from India, Australia and Sweden. The timing was unfortunate, as the series of interwar depressions made fundraising extremely difficult and a bespoke college edifice failed to materialise. A functioning college did take shape, albeit on a relatively modest scale, with a body of students from around the world, studying and living together. Co-operators continued to discuss what they meant by a college and what its role should be.