Opposition to World War I

Opposition to World War I
After the War a Medal and Maybe a Job, antiwar cartoon by John French Sloan, 1914. Digitally restored

Opposition to World War I was mainly by left-wing groups, but there was also opposition by Christian pacifist and nationalist groups.

The trade union and socialist movements had declared before the war their determined opposition to a war which they said could only mean workers killing each other in the millions in the interests of their bosses. But once the war was declared, the vast majority of the socialist and trade union bodies decided to back the government of their country and support the war. For example, on 25 July 1914, the executive of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) issued an appeal to its membership to demonstrate against the coming war, only to vote on 4 August for the war credits the German government wanted. Likewise the French Socialist Party and its union, the CGT, especially after the assassination of the pacificist Jean Jaurès, organised mass rallies and protests until the outbreak of war, but once the war began they argued that in wartime socialists should support their nations against the aggression of other nations and also voted for war credits.[1]

The few exceptions were the Russian Bolsheviks (though the success of the 1917 Revolution was due to the war among the other countries), the Socialist Party of America, the Italian Socialist Party, Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg and their followers in Germany, and very small groups in Britain and France. In Sweden, the socialist youth leader Zeth Höglund was jailed for his anti-war propaganda, even though Sweden did not participate in the war.

Contents

In Britain

During the First World War, Bertrand Russell was one of a very small number of intellectuals engaged in pacifist activities, and, in 1916, he was dismissed from Trinity College following his conviction under the Defence of the Realm Act. A later conviction resulted in six months' imprisonment in Brixton prison. Russell was released from prison in September 1918.

In other allied countries

In Australia two referendums in 1916 and 1917 resulted in votes against conscription, and were seen as opposition to an all-out prosecution of the war. Groups opposed to conscription ranged from trade unions to religious leaders.

In Canada opposition to conscription and involvement in the war centered on the French Canadian community. Following the 1917 elections, the government implemented the Military Service Act 1917 that came into effect in 1918.

In Ireland the Conscription Crisis of 1918 had long-term repercussions, uniting several nationalist parties and playing a part in the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922.

In Russia, opposition to the war led to soldiers also establishing their own revolutionary committees and helped foment the October Revolution of 1917, with the call going up for "bread, land, and peace". After the revolution, the Bolsheviks called for an armistice, but the world powers refused, worried about the possible spread of revolution. The Bolsheviks agreed a peace treaty with Germany, the peace of Brest Litovsk, despite its harsh conditions. They also published the secret treaties signed by Russia with Western powers, hoping that publications would encourage international workers' resistance against the war.

In 1917, a series of mutinies in the French army led to dozens of soldiers being executed and many more imprisoned. These soldiers were rehabilitated by the French government in the 1990s.

In the United States

Come on in, America, the Blood's Fine! (1917) by M.A. Kempf.
His Best Customer (1917) by Winsor McCay.

Leading up to 1917 and the declaration of war against Germany, the labor unions, socialists, members of the Old Right, and pacifist groups in the United States publicly opposed participation, the obvious motive for the 1916 Preparedness Day Bombing stemming from this. When Woodrow Wilson ran for reelection in 1916 on the slogan "He Kept Us Out of War", he received support from these groups (although the Socialist Party of America ran its own candidate, Allan Benson). After being reelected, though, events quickly spiraled into war. The Zimmermann Telegram and resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany provoked outrage in the U.S., and Congress declared war on April 6. Conscription was introduced shortly thereafter, which the anti-war movement bitterly opposed.

The Espionage Act of 1917 was passed to prevent spying but also contained a section which criminalized inciting or attempting to incite any mutiny, desertion, or refusal of duty in the armed forces, punishable with a fine of not more than $10,000, not more than twenty years in federal prison, or both. Thousands of anti-war activists and unhappy citizens were prosecuted on authority of this and the Sedition Act of 1918, which tightened restrictions even more. Among the most famous was Eugene Debs, chairman of the Socialist Party of the USA for giving an anti-war speech in Ohio. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld these prosecutions in a series of decisions. Conscientious objectors were punished as well, most of them Christian pacifist inductees. They were placed directly in the armed forces and court-martialed, receiving draconian sentences and harsh treatment. A number of them died in Alcatraz Prison, then a military facility. Vigilante groups were formed which suppressed dissent as well, such as by rounding up draft-age men and checking if they were in possession of draft cards or not.

Ben Salmon was a Catholic conscientious objector and outspoken critic of Just War theology. During World War I the Catholic Church denounced him and the The New York Times described him as a "spy suspect." The US military (in which he was never inducted) charged him with desertion and spreading propaganda, then sentenced him to death (this was later revised to 25 years hard labor).[2]

Around 300,000 American men evaded or refused conscription in World War I. Aliens such as Emma Goldman were deported, while naturalized or even native-born citizens, including Eugene Debs, lost their citizenship for their activities. Helen Keller, a socialist, and Jane Addams, a pacifist, also publicly opposed the war, but neither was prosecuted, likely because they were sympathetic figures (Keller working to help fellow deaf-blind people and Addams in charity to benefit the poor).

In 1919, as the soldiers came home, disturbances continued, with veterans fighting strikers, the Seattle General Strike, race riots in the South and the Palmer Raids following two anarchist bombings. After the election of Warren G. Harding in 1920, Americans were eager to follow his campaign slogan of "Return to Normalcy." Anti-war dissidents in federal prison, such as Debs, and conscientious objectors, had their sentences commuted to time served or were pardoned on December 25, 1921. The Sedition Act was repealed in 1921, but the Espionage Act remains, and Richard Nixon attempted to invoke it in 1971 to prevent the Pentagon Papers being published. Many U.S. Supreme Court decisions since then have substantially, but not explicitly, gutted the provisions used to stop dissent. Media withheld much oppostition to the war.

See also

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Opposition to World War II — was most vocal during the early part of World War II, and stronger still before the war started. Some communist led organizations with links to Comintern opposed the war during the period of the Hitler Stalin pact but then backed it after Germany …   Wikipedia

  • World War I — This article is about the major war of 1914–1918. For other uses, see World War One (disambiguation) and Great War (disambiguation). World War I …   Wikipedia

  • Opposition to the War of 1812 in the United States — Opposition to the War of 1812 was widespread in the United States, especially in New England. Many New Englanders opposed the conflict on political, economic, and religious grounds. Contents 1 Background 2 Official opposition 3 Popular opposition …   Wikipedia

  • World War II, Ethnic Minorities in —    World War II and the Japanese Occupation transformed relations between the indigenous and nonindigenous ethnic minorities and the Burman (Bamar) ethnic majority. In Lower Burma, the Japanese invasion and antiIndian incidents led to the… …   Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar)

  • World War II — the war between the Axis and the Allies, beginning on September 1, 1939, with the German invasion of Poland and ending with the surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945, and of Japan on August 14, 1945. Abbr.: WWII * * * or Second World War (1939–45)… …   Universalium

  • Opposition to the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) — Foreign troops forcibly breaking into an Afghan home to conduct a house search, with a woman and child in the background. Opposition to the decade long Afghanistan war stems from numerous factors these include the view that the U.S. invasion of… …   Wikipedia

  • World War I — the war fought mainly in Europe and the Middle East, between the Central Powers and the Allies, beginning on July 28, 1914, and ending on November 11, 1918, with the collapse of the Central Powers. Abbr.: WWI Also called Great War, War of the… …   Universalium

  • World War I — Première Guerre mondiale « Grande Guerre » redirige ici. Pour les autres significations, voir …   Wikipédia en Français

  • World War I — noun the war, conducted mainly in Europe and the Middle East, between the Triple Entente (Great Britain, France, and Russia, aided by the US, Belgium, Japan, countries of the British Empire including Australia and New Zealand, and others) and the …  

  • Vietnam during World War II — World War II was an event as decisive to Vietnam as the French taking of Đà Nẵng in 1858. Nationalist sentiments intensified in Vietnam, especially during and after World War I, but all the uprisings and tentative efforts failed to obtain any… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”