Abstract
At first sight, a study of peace movements may not appear central to an examination of the origins of the Second World War when compared to the ambitions of dictators, the deliberations of cabinets, or the plans of general staffs. Yet such an appearance is misleading. A study of peace movements brings us to the heart of a vital issue. In 1919, over much of western Europe, and above all in France and Britain, the prevailing sentiment was ‘Never again’ — no more war. If that feeling had continued to prevail in these parliamentary democracies, where the support of public opinion was necessary to go to war, there would have been no war in 1939, or at any rate the conflict would have taken a very different form, with France and Britain standing aside for some time. A crucial precondition for the outbreak of war in 1939 was the transformation of the sentiment of ‘Never again’ into the reluctant but resolute acceptance of conflict that actually obtained when war began.
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Further Reading
P. Brock and T. P. Socknat, eds, Challenge to Mars: Essays on Pacifism from 1918 to 1945 (Toronto, 1999 )
M. Ceadel, Pacifism in Britain, 1914–1945: The Defining of a Faith (Oxford, 1980)
N. Ingram, The Politics of Dissent: Pacifism in France, 1919–1939 (Oxford, 1991 )
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© 2003 P. M. H. Bell
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Bell, P.M.H. (2003). Peace Movements. In: Boyce, R., Maiolo, J.A. (eds) The Origins of World War Two. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-3738-4_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-3738-4_16
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-94539-1
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