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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

Many find it surprising that some pacifists, whom are against all types of warfare, actually support things like police agencies and the death penalty. The reason this is possible is that they believe that, "nation states, by civilizing their domestic behaviour, have earned the right to employ (force) as a punishment of last resort."7

The utilitarianist approach to pacifism also carried much weight in interwar Britain. This approach was both inviting and successful due to the economic downturn that had begotten British society at this time. Utilitarianists wanted to end war, not because of the bloodshed, but because of more economic factors. They believed that the cost of waging a modern war was more than what was gained, assuming that a nation was even victorious. They believed that the money spent on wars would be better allocated to help the country domestically. Some utilitarianists even went so far as to suggest that weapons producers encouraged some wars in order to gain a profit.6

Taylor, Richard and Young, Nigel. Campaigns for Peace: British peace movements

have had the potential for conflict among nations. The

1945. Toronto: University of Toronto Press Inc., 1999.

e in control. "Only when countries adopt a socialist form of government will the world finally be secure for peace."19 Still some pacifists believed that capitalism could remain, and the world could achieve peace. This is evident in the following passage by George Lansbury.

In the twentieth century. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1987.

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Approximate Word count = 2153
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

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