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The Woman's Peace Party (WPP), an American pacifist organization, was the first American peace organization to make use of direct action tactics such as public demonstration, founded at a two-day convention in Washington, D.C.
The convention at which this party was established called for the "immediate convocation of a 'convention of neutral nations in the interest of an early peace.'" The party endorsed a limitation on arms, opposition to American militarism, democratization of foreign policy, removal of economic motivations for war, and expanded electoral franchise for women.
Photo Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman%27s_Peace_Party#/media/File:Peace-Marcher.jpg -
Eugene V. Debs gives antiwar speech in Canton, Ohio at the meeting of the local Socialist Party.
Debs knew of the danger of federal prosecution and carefully omitted word of WWI and of Pres. Woodrow Wilson, generally criticizing war. Even so, he was prosecuted for violating the Espionage Act and was sentences to 10 years in prison. While in prison, Debs ran for President in the 1920 elections and received about 1 million votes. Pres. Warren G. Harding, on Dec. 25, 1921, commuted his sentence.
Photo Source: https://library.indstate.edu/rbsc/debs/photos_f.html -
The War Resisters League (WRL) is founded in this year, the oldest secular pacifist organization in the U.S., by men and women who had opposed WWI. This continues to be one of the leading radical voices in the antiwar movement.
This long-lasting organization maintained its opposition of war through WWII, the Vietnam War, nuclear weapons in the '70s and '80s, and continues today with protests against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the impact of war at home.
Photo Source: http://www.resisters.ca/index_en.html -
German pacifict Ernst Friedrich's "Krieg dem Kriege!" is published for the first time, later becoming a "pacifist bible" that rallies the movement under slogan "no more war." The book records human costs of war and uses images from the First World War.
Ernst wished to enlighten people with this book by sharing with the public horrific, traumatizing images of the First World War. The book's content mimicked war propaganda by showing pictures with appropriate subtitles. The book has, since its birth, been translated into more than 50 languages, spreading what has been described as "photography as shock therapy" to the masses meant to "horrify."
Photo Source: http://fotografie.hfg-karlsruhe.de/imaging/related-book-war-against-war-krieg-dem-kriege -
The American Peace Mobilization was created in this year from the remains of the American League for Peace and Democracy and the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League.
The program of the group was described in its "5 Planks to Defend America." It proposed (1) the withdrawal from the European War, (2) the defeat of militarism, regimentation, conscription, and "M Day" for the American people, (3) restoration of the Bill of Rights, including free speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of thought, (4) the end of War Profiteering, and (5) a decent standard of living for all.
Photo Source: gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/ -
The America First Committee (AFC), established by Yale Law School student R. Douglas Stuart, Jr., was the foremost U.S. isolationist pressure group against the American entry into WWII. It remains one of the largest antiwar groups in American history.
The AFC advocated four basic principles: (1) the U.S. must build an impregnable defense for America, (2) no foreign power, nor group of powers, can successfully attack a prepared America, (3) American democracy can be preserved only by keeping out of the European war, and (4) "aid short of war" weakens national defense at home and threatens to involve America in war abroad.
Photo Source: https://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2016/04/29/adl-wants-trump-to-ditch-new-slogan/ -
The Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO) was founded in Philadelphia in this year, dedicated to helping people avoid or resist military conscription or seek discharge after voluntary enlistment.
This organization was active in supporting conscientious objectors ("CO's"), war resisters, and draft evaders during the Vietnam War. It stressed the importance of secular and activist CO's. More importantly, their staff trained counselors to "to give informed and non-directive advice during the Vietnam era" for men facing the draft.
Photo Source: https://mholloway63.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/what-happened-on-july-27th-conscientious-objectors/ -
The Committee for Non-Violent Action (CNVA) is formed in this year, resisting the U.S. government's program of nuclear weapons testing.
This antiwar group was one of the first organizations to employ nonviolent direct action to protest against the nuclear arms race. They later focused on general antiwar issues and actually merged in 1968 with the War Resisters League (WRL). Their use of nonviolent direct action influenced and inspired later movements, including the first Greenpeace activists, who used similar methods.
Photo Source: https://popularresistance.org/thousands-mobilize-for-nuclear-abolition/ -
The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) holds the first antiwar teach-in at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Students, faculty, and local citizens participate in debates, lectures, and film presentations in special antiwar seminars meant to challenge assumptions about the Vietnam War. Regular classes were canceled, and rallies and speeches dominated for 12 hours. This initiated similar forms of protest in many other colleges and universities.
Photo Source: https://reactingtovietnam2009spring8.wikispaces.com/teach-ins -
Youth International Party (whose members are known as "Yippies"), was established as a youth-oriented "revolutionary offshoot" of free speech and antiwar movements of the '60s.
This highly theatrical anarchist group was well known for their sense of humor and politically themed pranks. They had no official "membership" or levels of authority. They were the first on the "New Left" to exploit mass media to attract coverage. The group proposed a "New Nation" concept which called for the production of counterculture and cooperative institutions to eventually supplant the system in place.
Photo Source: http://collections.museumca.org/?q=collection-item/2010541073 -
The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam takes place: millions initiate a massive demonstration and teach-in across the U.S. against American involvement in the Vietnam War.
This event was a clear success as a large antiwar demonstration. Millions around the world marched in solidarity. A month later, a second Moratorium march was held in Washington, D.C., drawing more than 500,000 more demonstrators, each with a placard bearing the name of a dead American soldier or a destroyed Vietnamese village.
Photo Source: http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/vietnam-moratorium-october-15-1969-news-photo/538700608#vietnam-moratorium-october-15-1969-picture-id538700608 -
The Minnesota Antiwar Committee begins with 13 people who committed civil disobedience to protest the Iraq bombing.
The group began in protest of the Iraq War and the oppression of Iraqis by a U.S.-endorsed government that ignores "their basic needs and denies them real decision-making power." Today, the group works against direct U.S. intervention around the world, including the use of drones to terrorize populations. It organizes vigils, rallies, marches, and the like to challenge "the injustices of U.S. foreign policy."
Photo Source: http://antiwarcommittee.org/event/2017-al-nakba-events/ -
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During this time, the antiwar group known as the "ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition" has organized many of the largest antiwar demonstrations in the U.S., including demonstrations of hundreds of thousands against the Iraq War.
From their first major political rally and march in Washington D.C. protesting the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan (Sep. 29, 2001) to their march on the White House against the U.S.-backed Israeli massacre in Gaza (Aug. 2, 2014), ANSWER is dedicated to the fight against racism and imperialism, internationally and here at home. -
Code Pink: Women for Peace is kicked off as a four-month all-day vigil in front of the White House throughout the winter of 2002. The vigil drew the attention and support of a multitude of organizations. Codepink is committed to a state of nonviolence.
This program, founded as a grassroots effort to prevent U.S. attacks on Iraq, conducted protests and high-visibility publicity actions to end U.S.-funded wars and occupations, challenge global militarism, and redirect U.S. resources into other "life-affirming" activities. Today, this program continues to press for Iraqi justice and consequences for war criminals.
Photo Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_Pink#/media/File:Code_Pink_July_4.jpg -
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) is born of formerly active-duty U.S. military personnel, Iraq- and Afghanistan-War veterans, and other veterans who had served since the September 11 attacks.
This advocacy group protests the U.S. military in Iraq. It advocates immediate withdrawal of all Coalition forces in Iraq and reparations paid to the Iraqi people. It also provides support services for returning veterans to include health care and mental health.
Photo Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Veterans_Against_the_War#/media/File:Ivaw.jpg
