Pacifism: Sources of Inspiration and Motivation

Abstract

From those who belong to or participate in the peace movement as well as from those who comment on it, one sometimes gains the impression that this movement is a phenomenon of the contemporary world, unheard of until comparatively recent times. The great number of peace organisations and movements currently existing and the substantial following some of them attract, coupled with the unprecedented attention they receive in the various media help to reinforce this impression and to provide material evidence for the assertion. Within the peace movement itself there exists, however, a section which knows better — consisting as it does of those whose involvement in campaigns for peace goes back as far as the days of the World War I. Next to the many newcomers there are thus the stalwarts of the peace movement, who ‘have been here before’, and who, for a variety of reasons and irrespective of the outcome of their previous involvement, are taking part again in current activities. But the most conclusive evidence for the fact that peace movements have existed before is to be found, of course, in the records of history. Man’s longing for peace and his incessant strivings to bring it about before the present time is documented in the rich legacy which these movements have left behind, and which is preserved in a number of famous libraries throughout the world. We wish to refer here only to the collections of books, pamphlets, journals and archival and other material in the libraries of the Peace Palace in the Hague, the Nobel Institute in Oslo, and the United Nations in Geneva.