Geography and Two Centuries of Education for Peace and International Understanding

Abstract

The modern peace movement can be traced back at least to the early 1800s, when peace societies were established in Britain and the United States, among other countries. The British journal The Herald of Peace, founded in 1819, and underpinned by Quaker doctrine, was an early protagonist for education for peace. From this time, peace movements were marked by two strands: the more uncompromising pacifist, openly envisaging propaganda and indoctrination as legitimate means of promoting its views, and the more ameliorative internationalist, which reluctantly accepted the concept of the Just war. For most of the period up to the First World War, the justification for geography in the curriculum was more militaristic than pacific. Between the wars, however, the internationalist strand of the peace movement gained momentum, buttressed by the educational efforts of the League of Nations. The strategy of the League of Nations to seek to eliminate militarism and national vainglory from geography and history textbooks was maintained by UNESCO after the Second World War. Geographical educationists and textbook writers lent support, sometimes cautious, to education for peace and international understanding. The final section of this article addresses the nature of the guidance. An historical perspective can usefully offer latter-day promoters of education for peace and international understanding, and suggests the kind of contribution geography can advantageously offer.