Towards a New Internationalism: Pacifist Journals Edited by Women, 1914–1919

Abstract

Within a few weeks after the declaration of war, the organizations which had always considered themselves as last bastions of peace — the Socialist International and the International Peace Bureau — disbanded. Most socialists, who had never condemned war in itself and had never questioned the possibility of distinguishing between defensive and aggressive warfare — in particular those with a democratic and liberal background — considered their respective countries to have been unjustly attacked. As well as several pacifists, they aligned themselves with their governments.1 Only a minority of absolute pacifists sought to reinforce internationalist aspirations which were threatened by the war, and to give expression to all the ‘free voices’ that emerged from the war-affected countries.2 Placed under strict surveillance, they endured arrest and expulsion, their bases were closed, their publications censored, their homes searched, and their passports withdrawn.