Opposition to World War I
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Opposition to World War I included socialist, anarchist, syndicalist, and Marxist groups on the left, as well as Christian pacifists, Canadian and Irish nationalists, women's groups, intellectuals, and rural folk.
The socialist movements had declared before the war their opposition to a war which they said could only mean workers killing each other in the interests of their bosses. But once the war was declared, most socialist and trade union bodies decided to back the government of their country and support the war. For example, on 25 July 1914, the executive of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) issued an appeal to its membership to demonstrate against the coming war, only to vote on 4 August for the war credits the German government wanted. Likewise the French Socialist Party and its union, the CGT, especially after the assassination of the pacificist Jean Jaurès, organised mass rallies and protests until the outbreak of war, but once the war began they argued that in wartime socialists should support their nations against the aggression of other nations and also voted for war credits.
See also
- List of peace activists
- List of anti-war organizations
- Dulce et Decorum est
- Home front during World War I
- British propaganda during World War I
- Italian propaganda during World War I
- Zimmerwald Conference
