None_Provided
Pacifism in Britain can be traced back to the Quakers as early as 1661. It did not hit it's peak however until the interwar period of 1918-1945. For the purposes of this research, pacifism will be defined as the "absolute renunciation of military force." Pacifism was just one of many pro-peace groups active in Britain in the interwar period. Their belief was that war is never necessary or justified. Just as many other groups have divisions within them, so to did the pacifists. These divisions both had separate schools of thought that varied greatly from one another. It should be noted however that pacifism not be confused with pacificism. Pacificism is the belief that war should be prevented whenever possible, but that sometimes it is necessary, in such cases as defending your country from outside aggression. The main organization that pacifists voiced their opinions through was the Peace Pledge Union. The members of this group were totally devoted to the eradicat!ion of all wars. The peace movement in Britain, including the pacifists "was the most influential in the world." The two main divisions within the pacifists group were the moralists, and the utilitarianists.4 The moralist approach is based on the ass
No government, moreover, would dare to launch a war with so large a section of the men of military age in opposition. Countries that were competing against one another in an arms race usually became more paranoid of each other. "15 The inevitability of WWII brought with it more decline in PPU membership. Pacifism was not the only ideology expressed in the peace movement however. This new League, they thought, would act impartially for all countries, in order to avoid warfare. Many pacifists were tired of old groups that seemed to becoming stagnant. "War is provoked by a conscious preparedness for war. The PPU's cohesiveness can be attributed to the fact that "they (the groups leaders) shared his (Sheppard's) view that the PPU should steer clear of sectional, oppositional movements and campaigns that might cause internal division, and threaten public support. The moralist also believed that wars caused nations to lie to their citizens. "7 During the interwar period, the main pacifist group was the Peace Pledge Union. The disarmament of nations was not limited to only weapons of mass destruction. What is unique about this belief is that defencists's believe that offensive! attacks are also justifiable. This paranoia would often lead one country to believe that the other was acting aggressively, even when there were no aggressive intentions.
Common topics in this essay:
James Ram,
Arthur Ponsonby,
Nations League,
George Lansbury,
Germany PPU,
Japan China,
Canon Sheppard,
Pacifism Britain,
Pledge Union,
Lastly PPU,
peace movement,
modern war,
war justified,
believed war,
worldwide peace,
british peace,
interwar period,
believed war justified,
pacifism britain,
belief war,
equal distribution,
socialist form government,
peace pledge union,
british peace movement,
oxford claredon press,
|
Acceptance Essays
