Women and the Peace Movement

When the world erupted into war in 1914, the United States stayed neutral. The American public was not ready to go to war, but tensions built and the United States entered the war in 1917. Leaders, such as Theodore Roosevelt, pushed for American involvement in the war. There were multiple perspectives on the war, but one of the lesser known perspectives is that of women, not only in the United States, who wanted international peace and an end to war for both the present and the future. Jane Addams was a leader of the peace movement and was one of the founders of the Women’s Peace Party. Women across the country organized their own chapters of the Women’s Peace Party, which were active before and during the war.

The movement grew on an international level, as the telegram allowed women to communicate more quickly with women in other countries, and they were able to write letters back and forth. Through months of organizing and planning, women of “belligerent” and “neutral” countries came together at the International Congress of Women at the Hague in the spring of 1915, which would eventually become the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and still exists today. Led by Addams, the Congress created a list of resolutions to spread across the world. Committees worked together to travel across Europe and share the resolutions with leaders of neutral and belligerent countries, determined to end the war and create peace. The Congress did not only communicate the need for this war to end, but a plan for improvements countries needed to make to ensure international peace and prevent future wars. As women were meant to stay in the private sphere, it was unusual for women to be meeting with leaders of countries. Despite their best efforts, women were unable to stop the war or prevent future wars, but their ideas influenced President Woodrow Wilson’s infamous Fourteen Points in reaching peace after the war.

When Addams returned from the International Congress of Women, she quickly drew criticism for sharing her beliefs on the brutality of the war after hearing that soldiers were given alcohol before going into battle. Criticism did not deter Addams’ peace efforts and she continued to advocate against the war and work for a peaceful solution. As often seen with periods of war, patriotism was on the rise and when the United States entered the war, it became un-American to be against the war. Continuing to speak, Addams was even accused of committing treason and sedition. These claims were not far fetched given the culture of the period. The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 were both passed to prevent dissenting voices from speaking out against World War I. Under the Espionage Act, over 2,000 people were convicted and under the Sedition Act, over 800 people were convicted. Because of this culture, the United States government turned against Addams and portrayed her as a dangerous person. Despite the limitations of these laws, Addams continued to advocate for international peace and organized another International Congress of Women in 1919, with several conferences in the decades following the war. In the end, Addams’ public image was reformed and she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, which made her the first American woman to receive the award.

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Image: Jane Addams at the 1915 International Congress of Women at the Hague.