One hundred years ago

Pacifism in WW1

Pacifism in WW1

• BEF was a volunteer army in 1914;

• Conscription introduced in 1916;

• Rise in conscientious objectors; 16,000 in WW1, called ‘conchies’

• Some served as non-combatants

• On the home front a rise in pacifist organisations like the Women’s Peace Crusade;

• After the war, greater recognition of pacifism as a religious and political stance.

Dick Sheppard• Born 2nd September 1880,

Windsor;• Anglican Priest and Army

Chaplain (1915);• Started the social outreach

work at St Martin’s in the Fields, London;

• Established the Peace Pledge Union in 1936.

• Died 31st October 1937

Geoffrey A Studdert Kennedy

• Known as ‘Woodbine Willie’;

• Born 27th June 1883, Leeds;

• Anglican Priest and Army Chaplain (1915-1919);

• Awarded MC in 1917;• Worked for the Industrial

Christian Fellowship;• Died 8th March 1929

Arnold Wynne

• A master at Silcoates School 1902-3;

• Quaker and pacifist;• Lecturer at the

University of Cape Town;• Served in the RAMC and

then as a officer in the• King’s Liverpool

Regiment

‘The conviction came home to him that the only way to peace was by war’Christian World, 1917

The Gospel of Peace

• ‘Not peace at any price but love and all cost’.(Dick Sheppard)