7

Opposition to Compulsory Military Service in Britain Before the Great War by Thomas Kennedy

During the f i n a l days of t h e nineteenth century, t h e s h a t t e r i n g defea ts of "Black-

A s i g n i f i c a n t by-product of t h i s humil ia t ion and f e a r was t h e week" i n South Africa s t ruck a severe blow not only t o B r i t i s h self-esteem but t o B r i t a i n ' s sense of secur i ty a s well. e a r l y twentieth century controversy over conscr ipt ion. Inevi tably, t h e lamentable showing of the B r i t i s h Army aga ins t t h e Boers i n t h e e a r l y s tages of t h e war generated demands f o r t h e imposition of some form of compulsory military service. f o r r e - i n s t i t u t i o n of t h e Militia Bal lot and t h e Tory Government's solemn assurances t h a t it would use any necessary means, including conscr ipt ion, t o win t h e war,2 enforced m i l i - tary serv ice was n e i t h e r p o l i t i c a l l y poss ib le nor m i l i t a r i l y feas ib le . S t i l l , t h e South African War was t h e c a t a l y t i c agentwhich brought about a dual reac t ion . On t h e one hand, t h e s t ruggle with t h e Boers galvanized and, t o a degree, uni ted a n t i m i l i t a r i s t , anticon- s c r i p t i o n i s t elements i n B r i t i s h soc ie ty . On t h e other , f r u s t r a t i o n over the war l e d t o increasingly s t r i d e n t condemnations of t h e voluntary system of r e c r u i t i n g and equal ly vigor- ous demands f o r a grea t . I1Pan-Britannic M i l i t i a " ra i sed by compulsory means.3

But, desp i te alarmed c r i e s

What follows i s a b r i e f , preliminary study o f t h e Edwardian debate over compulsory m i l i - tary service. In a sense, of course, t h i s s t ruggle was merely academic. Neither t h e Con- serva t ive nor Liberal governments of t h e period ser ious ly contemplated conscr ipt ion; i t was t r a d i t i o n a l l y unpopular and inordinately expensive. S t i l l , conscr ipt ion became a ma- j o r p o l i t i c a l i s s u e and t h e continuing dialogue about it was an important exerc ise i n popu- lar democracy. Furthermore, a discussion of t h e question focuses on t h e inadequacies and i l l u s i o n s of both s ides o f t h e question. The imperial is t -Social Darwinist view t h a t , ul- t imately, force was t h e only e f f icac ious means o f resolving p o l i t i c a l quest ions now seems a s naive as t h e l i b e r a l - r a d i c a l dream t h a t reason and science had a t long last put univer- sal peace within the grasp of Western c i v i l i z a t i o n .

In l a t e February 1902 a group convened by Baron Newton, Thomas Wodehouse Leigh, con- s i s t i n g la rge ly of r e t i r e d o f f i c e r s and right-wing p o l i t i c a l f igures , formed t h e National Service League (NSL), a p o l i t i c a l pressure group whic it has been asser ted , "permeated t h e s o c i a l l i f e of England" during the Edwardian era.b' From t h e beginning, t h e NSL's ra ison d ' e t r e was t o promote t h e compulsory c rea t ion of a B r i t i s h "Nation i n Arms." And i f i t s e a r l y growth was only s teady, by 1910 t h e League could claim over 100,000 dues- paying supporters as well as t h e votes of a t least one hundred f i f t y members of Parliament.5 Ultimately, of course, t h e NSL f a i l e d t o secure compulsory m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e i n peacetime, but it was, withal , a dynamic and e f f e c t i v e propag da body with impressive grass roots support among t h e middle and lower middle c lasses . tY

The a l l i a n c e o f an t iconscr ip t ion is t s which opposed t h e NSL and its supporters might a t times have acted in concert aga ins t t h e commonly perceived threat, but s ince t h e i r movement was never r e a l l y coordinated, t h e s c a t t e r e d forces need t o be i d e n t i f i e d . Oppo- nents of conscr ipt ion can be c l a s s i f i e d as those who opposed compulsion on "prac t ica l" o r u t i l i t a r i a n grounds and those whose opposition was founded upon some p o l i t i c a l , e t h i c a l o r re l ig ious pr inc ip le . ists, fo r example, most members of t h e Liberal government, re jec ted compulsion f o r reasons ranging from f i s c a l conservatism t o p o l i t i c a l expedien y t o military philosophy, but such antagonism r a r e l y transcended t h e immediate s i tua t ion .? Only an opposition sustained by deep-seated conviction would make a permanent contr ibut ion t o that extraordinary phenomenon, of which ant iconscr ipt ionism became a v i t a l p a r t , t h e modern B r i t i s h peace movement. The categories used here t o c l a s s i f y I1principled" an t iconscr ip t ion is t s -- r e l i g i o u s , p o l i t i c a l ,

Only t h e latter w i l l be considered here. P r a c t i c a l ant iconscr ipt ion-

8

and e t h i c a l -- a r e not absolute , but they do a r i s e from separate ideological roots and tend t o work themselves out i n d i f f e r e n t ways.

Religious res i s tance t o conscr ipt ion made l i t t l e i f any impact on members of l a r g e r , t r a d i t i o n a l denominations such as Anglicans and Roman Cathol ics . And although there were a number of small l feso ter ic" s e c t s which might reject m i l i t a r y serv ice or war f o r a v a r i e t y of reasons, t h e only s i g n i f i c a n t body of re l ig ious p a c i f i s t s i n Edwardian England was t h e Society of Friends. The challenge of conscr ipt ion came a t a propi t ious time f o r Friends, converging a s it did with a remarkable resurgence of B r i t i s h Quakerism which began around 1885. b i b l i c a l literalism and evangelical r i g i d i t y which had dominated t h e i r Society during t h e nineteenth century and began to stress such pr imit ive but neglected doctr ines a s the ega l i - t a r i a n concept of the "Inner Light" o r presence o f the Divine "Seed" i n a l l human beings. The chief ramif icat ions of t h i s theological revol t -- a wide-ranging s o c i a l activism and a renewed dedicat ion t o t h e Quaker peace testimony -- allowed Friends t o take the lead i n many phases of the str g l e against conscription and, indeed, created the contemporary

P o l i t i c a l opposition t o conscr ipt ion was centered i n B r i t i s h s o c i a l i s t p a r t i e s .

I n the course of t h i s so-called "Quaker Renaissance" younger Friends re jec ted t h e

image of t h e i r Society. Y A l -

though not a l l s o c i a l i s t s were against compulsion, most of them re jec ted m i l i t a r y serv ice f o r t h e c a p i t a l i s t s t a t e . inevi tab ly fought t o advance i m p e r i a l i s t - m i l i t a r i s t ob jec t ives , placed most of t h e burden on t h e working c lasses and saved a l l t h e rewards f o r t h e p a r a s i t i c bourgeoisie. Thus, while t h e g r e a t majority of s o c i a l i s t s condemned wars aimed a t dividing t h e in te rna t iona l brother- hood of workers, some were prepared, when t h e day of judgment a r r ived , t o take up arms aga ins t t h e i r c a p i t a l i s t oppressors. However, t h e l a r g e s t and most important s o c i a l i s t organizat ion, the Independent Labour Par ty (ILP), was s t rongly influenced by t h e p a c i f i s t views of i t s leader Keir Hardie, whose b e l i e f s wer an undi f fe ren t ia ted mixture of non-

Even the l e a s t m i l i t a n t s o c i a l i s t believed t h a t c a p i t a l i s t wars,

conformist Chr is t ian i ty and c o l l e c t i v i s t ideology. 8 Ethica l o r humanitarian object ion t o compulsory serv ice was ra re ly p a c i f i s t . Rather, it

Both t h e in te rna t iona l - incorporated aspects of nineteenth century l i b e r a l ideology which were most e f f e c t i v e l y expressed by t h e independent o r r a d i c a l wing of t h e Liberal Par ty . i s t t r a d i t i o n of Cobden and Gladstone which s t ressed t h e wasteful i r r a t i o n a l i t y of war and t h e moral teachings of John S t u a r t M i l l and T.M. Green which emphasized t h e necess i ty f o r personal l i b e r t y and individual d igni ty contributed t o t h e Radical opposition t o compulsory m i l i t a r y service. Free t rade , f r e e thought and f r e e conscience were watchwords of t h e l i b - e r a l rad ica ls who ac t ive ly opposed conscription.1°

During the Boer War, opposition t o compulsory m i l i t a r y serv ice had played only a minor r o l e i n t h e a c t i v i t i e s o f the r e v i t a l i z e d B r i t i s h peace movement. t h e c o n f l i c t , many an t iconscr ip t ion is t s came t o bel ieve t h a t t h e obvious inadequacy of B r i t a i n ' s mi l i ta ry response had, i r o n i c a l l y , made the threat of conscr ipt ion more danger- ous than ever. alism saw B r i t a i n ' s mi l i ta ry weahess a s t h e chief t h r e a t t o a l l t h e i r grandiose designs. These imper ia l i s t s , s a i d t h e i r c r i t i c s , were so badly shaken by t h e South African experi- ence t h a t only universal mi l i ta ry serv ice would ease t h e i r anxiety and r e s t o r e t h e i r con- f idence i n the ever-victorious march of Empire. Thus, when t h e B r i t i s h Friend, taking a cue from John A. Hobson, warned i n 1903 t h a t "imperialism necessar i ly means Mi1itarism,l1l1 not only Quakers but left-wing l i b e r a l s a s well as s o c i a l i s t s could readi ly agree. Such a conclusion was re-enforced i n 1904 when a Royal Commission on the mil i t ia and volunteers ( t h e Norfolk Commission) reported t h a t some form of compulsion was e s s e n t i a l i f Br i ta in hoped t o build an arm able t o f u l f i l l i t s imperial ob l iga t ions a s well as maintain an adequate home defense.Q2 The Balfour Government refused t o a c t on t h e advice of t h e Norfolk Commission, but many an t iconscr ip t ion is t s viewed such demands f o r enforced mi l i ta ry s e r v i c e as evidence of an i m p e r i a l i s t - m i l i t a r i s t p l o t t o ensure s o c i a l control while working out plans f o r external aggression.

But i n t h e aftermath of

Opponents of conscr ipt ion surmised t h a t t h e s t i l l powerful forces of imperi-

Suspicions deepened a f t e r 1905 when t h e NSL i n t e n s i f i e d

9

i t s e f f o r t s under the aggressive leadership of septuagenarian F ie ld Marshall Lord Frederick Sleigh Roberts, m i l i t a r y hero o f t h e Boer War, i n c lose cooperation with imper ia l i s t p o l i - t i c i a n s l i k e Alfred Lord Milner and Leopold Amery. Moreover, i t must be s a i d t h a t t repida- t ions about a possible e l i t i s t conspiracy, o f t e n dismissed as t h e paranoid imaginings of assor ted cranks, did, i n f a c t , have some v a l i d i t y . Recent scholarship has tended t o con- f i r m the argument f i r s t set f o r t h by Caroline P la e and Elie Halevy t h a t militarism was indeed a s i g n i f i c a n t f a c t o r i n Edwardian Br i ta in . 0

The NSL's publ ic campaign was only t h e most obvious manifestation o f Edwardian militarism. Support f o r conscr ipt ion ran through t h e up er echelons of B r i t i s h s o c i e t y including a con- s iderable port ion of leading army 0 f f i c e 1 - s . ~ ~ After 1905 m i l i t a r y planning was dominated by a c l ique of so-called tlthinkingll s o l d i e r s who, epitomized and led by Henry Wilson as d i r e c t o r of mi l i ta ry operat ions, conceived of in te rvent ion i n a cont inenta l war aga ins t Germany as t h e primary funct ion of the B r i t i s h Regular Army.l5 These c o n t i n e n t a l i s t s dreamed of and schemed f o the day when conscr ipt hordes of Bri tons would give them proper scope f o r t h e i r ambit ions. lg Such views were s t rongly supported by Itnew imper ia l i s t s" l i k e Milner, Amery, F.S. Oliver and Clinton Dawkins as well as respectable Germanophobic newspaper edi- t o r s such as J . L . Gamin, Leo Maxse, and J . S t . Loe Strachey.lT worked t o prepare t h e battleground f o r a war they believed would come, car icatured and p i l l o r i e d an increasingly ha te fu l Teutonic enemy, and helped t o c rea te a s o c i a l atmosphere t h a t would permit thousands of young men t o march o f f t o s laughter a s cheer fu l ly and heed- l e s s l y as adolescents rushing t o a f o o t b a l l match.18

Collect ively these men

In attempting t o combat t h e broad-based propaganda o f the National Service League and i t s a l l i e s , an t iconscr ip t ion is t s could i d e n t i f y three major conscr ip t ion is t ob jec t ives . Most obviously, t h e NSL attempted t o convince "respectable" middle c l a s s opinion of t h e necessi ty f o r enforced m i l i t a r y serv ice t o defend the endangered Nation and Empire. The second t a r g e t of t h e conscr ip t ion is t campaign was t h e working c lasses . j e c t i v e seemed not so much t o convince a s t o cont ro l . I n r a t h e r heavy-handed and conde- scending fashion, the NSL s t ressed the need t o r e s t o r e working c l a s s pa t r io t i sm and stamp out t h e seemingly ubiquitous lfhooliganismll of young working c l a s s men slouching about on s t ree tcorners . The t h i r d and, f o r an t iconscr ip t ion is t s , most ins id ious l e v e l o f a c t i v i t y was the attempt by t h e NSL t o introduce m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g as a regular p a r t of t h e c u r r i - culum i n a l l B r i t i s h schools a s w e l l a s t o dominate and control various youth groups a s vehicles f o r carrying forward t h e crusade f o r compulsory m i l i t a r y serv ice .

Here t h e chief ob-

An account i n t h e NSL paper, The Nation i n A r m s , of a League meeting a t t h e Holy Innocents' Church, Fallowfield, Manchester during which Major Strachan and M r . Hors fa l l discussed plans f o r t r a i n i n g small boys f o r war, might, i n the modern reader , evoke thoughts of a darkly humorous Monty Python s k i t . l 9 t l e reason to smile a t what they viewed as a growing menace t o a r a t i o n a l , peaceful soc ie ty . The NSL did not i n i t i a t e t h e development of semimilitarized youth groups but attempted t o take f u l l advantage of t h i s la te-Victor ian phenomenon. form as methods of d i r e c t i n g and cont ro l l ing urban youth had commenced i n 1883 with t h e formation of t h e Boys' Brigade in Glasgow. Such groups pro l i fe ra ted , general ly with some re l ig ious connection ( t h e Church Lads' Brigade, t h e Catholic Boys' Brigade, e t c . ) , u n t i l t h e founding of t h e e n t i r e l y secular , spectacular ly successful , Boy Scouts by Lt.-General Robert Baden-Powell i n 1908. 2o

But Edwardian opponents of conscr ipt ion saw lit-

The use of m i l i t a r y d r i l l and uni-

Anticonscr ipt ionis t wr i te rs , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n Quaker journals , had been quick t o warn lovers of peace about t h i s d i s turb ing manifestat ion of Chris t ian Soldier ing, see ing i t e a r l y on as an attempt by conscr ip t ion is t s " to operate through youth groups" to accomplish t h e i r militarist objectives.21 But t h e s t ruggle f o r t h e minds and bodies of B r i t i s h youth heated up percept ively i n t h e aftermath of t h e Boer War.

Early i n 1903 the Clerk of t h e London Representative Meeting of t h e Society of Friends sen t a Memorial t o t h e Government expressing "s t rong object ions" t o the model course for

10

physical t ra in ing issued by t h e Board of Education i n 1902. T h i s course, s a i d the p r o t e s t , was la rge ly modeled on the infan t ry d r i l l book and was intended to induce " the mi l i ta ry s p i r i t with i t s f a l s e idea ls of nat ional greatness.1122 in t h i s case successful ly , f o r the removal of mi l i ta ry inf luence from t h e schools, many educators were attempting t o enlarge i t s scope. In 1904 a deputation of School Masters t r i e d t o convince a skept ica l Secretary of S t a t e f o r War t h a t mi l i ta ry d r i l l should be made c0mpulsory.~3 proposed t h a t the Incorporated Associatio340f Headmasters condemn mi l i ta ry t r a i n i n g i n schools, h i s motion was defeated 67 t o 8 !

But while Quakers might p e t i t i o n ,

And when Arthur Rowntree, Headmaster of the Friends' Bootham School,

Anticonscr ipt ionis ts did win a v ic tory of s o r t s i n 1907 when the Government withdrew clauses from the T e r r i t o r i a l and Reserve Forces B i l l which would have l inked s ta te-aided school cadet corps with the T e r r i t o r i a l Force. a t the t h e t h a t it was " iniqui tous, vulgar and absurd" t o make " l i t t l e ch i ldren wave f l a g s and behave l i k e so ld ie rs . lr25

Indeed, S i r Henry Campbell-Bannerman s a i d

Despite t h e Prime Minis te r ' s words, t h e National Service League continued t o preach t h a t compulsory t r a i n i n g f o r boys was second only t o t h e l lnat ion i n arms" as a means of saving t h e Empire. To t h i s end, the Lads' Drill Association -- founded by t h e Earl of Meath in 1899 t o make drill and r i f l e shooting l'as much a p a r t of a l a d ' s education a s learn ing t o read and write" -- was incorporated i n t o t h e NSL. And Lord Roberts himself l o s t no opportunity t o recount how even "qui te l i t t l e boys" were keen t o l e a r n t o shoot and "how i n t h e i r own l i t t l e way . . . they have found pleasure i n , and reaped benef i t from, shooting. The r a d i c a l , s o c i a l i s t and p a c i f i s t press condemned such pronouncements as "s tupid," llreactionarylT and even "d iabol ica l , " warning t h a t what Roberts and company r e a l l y wanted was cont inental s t y l e conscr ipt ion and a program f o r inculcat ing t h e t e n e t s of chau- v i n i s t i c mil i tar ism i n small chi ldren. 27

Were they overreacting? d i d t h a t behind t h e wholesome, heal thy fun of groups l i k e t h e Boy Scouts lurked " the idea of preparat ion f o r k i l l i n g the enemies of your country1!?28 c e r t a i n l y near ly everyone seventy years l a t e r -- would have scoffed a t t h e idea of t h e Boy Scouts being a c a t ' s paw f o r conscr ip t ion is t s . o f London, S i r Francis Vane, warned readers of theWestministerGazette t h a t the na t iona l Boy Scout Council was weighted down with leaders of t h e National Service League and t h a t t h e r e was a grave danger of t h e i r introducing i n t o scout ing a system with " a l l t h e e v i l s o f mil i tar ism. 11*9 Some opponents of conscr ipt ion, including Quakers George Cadbury and T. Edmund Harvey, were s u f f i c i e n t l y concerned about t h i s t h r e a t t o jo in t h e Council of S i r Francis Vane's National Peace Scouts i n order to encourage t h i s a l t e r n a t i v e t o militarism i n scouting. Vane's group, however, was never a se r ious r i v a l t o t h e Baden-Powell move- ment and, indeed, of t h e Great War.35 The National Service League never succeeded i n i t s e f f o r t s t o make m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g a compulsory p a r t of every boy's education but , given t h e growing t o l e r - ance f o r mi l i ta ry ideas and values i n Edwardian soc ie ty , t h e continued p i c t u r i n g of war as a romantic adventure and, f i n a l l y , t h e joyous mass volunteering o f ex-Scouts and Boy B r i - gaders in 1914, one might readi ly accept John Springhal l ' s conclusion " t h a t t h e propaganda of t h e National Service League and o thers l i k e it . . . did not f a l l e n t i r e l y on fallow ground. I13l

Did an t iconscr ip t ion is t s go too f a r i n bel ieving a s some of them

Probably most Edwardians -- and

Yet i n March 1910 t h e ex-Scout Commissioner

outh groups with m i l i t a r y trappings continued t o grow up t o t h e outbreak

On the other hand, conscr ip t ion is t e f f o r t s among t h e working c lasses seem t o have borne l i t t l e f r u i t . c r u i t s (even a t reduced membership r a t e s ) and by t h e Trades Union Con ress's p e r s i s t e n t s tance against llconscription o r any form of forced mi l i ta ry service.1152 Some observers believed t h a t working c l a s s res i s tance t o enforced m i l i t a r y serv ice r e f l e c t e d t h e growing inf luence of socialism. It is c e r t a i n l y t r u e t h a t t h e Independent Labour Par ty helped t o d i r e c t t h e f i g h t against conscription. lant of attempts by m i l i t a r i s t s t o lead t h e working c lasses a s lambs t o t h e s laughter .

The National Service League was f r u s t r a t e d by a lack of working c l a s s re-

The par ty newspaper Labour Leader was ever v i g i -

11

In t h e introduct ion t o an an t iconscr ip t ion pamphlet, Keir Hardie e f f e c t i v e l y summarized the p a r t y ' s cons is ten t a t t i t u d e towards conscr ipt ion:

Compulsory m i l i t a r y serv ice is t h e negation of democracy. t h e youth of t h e country, under penal ty of f i n e and imprisonment, t o l e a r n t h e a r t of war. That i s epotism, not democracy. . . . Conscrip-

It compels

t i o n is t h e badge of t h e s lave. $3

The ILP a l s o pushed t h e Parliamentary Labour Par ty t o organize a na t iona l campaign

"rt against armaments, militarism and compulsion which culminated i n l a t e 1910 with s i v e pro tes t" of 10 ,000 persons a t Albert Hall under t h e chairmanship o f Hardie.3 Shor t ly t h e r e a f t e r , a Labour Par ty Conference i n Leicester represent ing more than one mi l l ion work- ers overwhelmingly passed a staunchly antimilitarist resolut ion. 35

There were, of course, a few prominent s o c i a l i s t defectors t o t h e pro-conscription camp; but t h e Social Democratic Federat ion 's idea of a worker's army and Robert Blatchford 's Germanophobic demands o r immediate conscr ipt ion and m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g f o r a l l boys over ten were aberrat ions .3l These maverick s o c i a l i s t s created some hope among conscr ipt ionis ts37 and much consternation i n labor and s o c i a l i s t c i r c l e s (Fenner Brockway resigned from t h e SDF bec use Harry Quelch, t h e e d i t o r of i t s journal , J u s t i c e , joined t h e National Service L e a g ~ e 3 ~ ) , but there was no groundswell of working c l a s s support f o r conscr ipt ion. Indeed, i n 1912 a f t e r t h e Government had used troops as s t r ikebreakers , even Blatchford abandoned conscriptionism because, as he t o l d Lady Roberts with m i l i t a r y power, and I t e l l t h e workers so ." j9

t h e r u l i n g c lasses could not "be t r u s t e d

I f Blatchford a r r ived a t such a conclusion r a t h e r l a t e i n t h e day, t h e more t y p i c a l s o c i a l i s t j o u r n a l i s t had been preaching it r i g h t along. t h e Bradford Pioneer, t o l d h i s readers i n 1913 t h a t i f t h e B r i t i s h Government would r e f r a i n from meddling i n Continental a f f a i r s ,

Fred Jowett, M.P. and e d i t o r of

there w i l l be no necessi ty f o r t h e Conscription t h a t i s being preached so f r e e l y . l i b e r t y , but t o enable our r u l e r s t o adventure i n a r i sky foreign pol icy, which might commit Great Br i ta in t o sending an army aga ins t a Continental power. 40

It is not t o repel invasion we a r e asked t o s a c r i f i c e our

Jowett ls parliamentary colleague Phi l ip Snowden was so sure t h a t t h e labouring c lasses had received and accepted t h e an t iconscr ip t ion is t message t h a t he wrote i n the Daily Mail "no system of compulsory m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g and serv ice could be enforced long as t h e a t t i t u d e of t h e working-classes t o i t remains what it is ." F ina l ly , a few months before t h e beginning of t h e Great War, t h e Radical j o u r n a l i s t H.N. Bra i l s ford wrote with some assurance of s o c i a l i s t success i n inf luencing t h e "mass-mind":

t h i s country so %

The work of education and organisat ion on behalf of peace i s c a r r i e d on adequately only by t h e S o c i a l i s t p a r t i e s and they alone represent a force whose undivided vote w i l l always be c a s t against mil i tar ism and imperialism.42

Additional evidence could be c i t e d which might lead one t o conclude t h a t t h e s o c i a l i s t and Labour p a r t i e s had brought t h e grea t majority of workers i n t o the an t iconscr ip t ion is t camp. Such evidence, desp i te its abundance, i s , I think, somewhat misleading. Most B r i t i s h workers d id oppose compulsion but not from any ideological object ion t o war and k i l l i n g o r because of a s o c i a l i s t commitment t o in te rna t iona l working class s o l i d a r i t y . Rather, t h e i r largeby s u l l e n and cynical r e j e c t i o n of conscr ipt ion arose from a mis t rus t of t h e r u l i n g c lasses and a r e a l i z a t i o n t h a t compulsory m i i t a r y serv ice would be one more f a c t o r i n diminishing workers cont ro l o f t h e i r own l i v e s . $3

Middle-class opponents of compulsion were cor rec t i n assuming t h a t t h e bulk of t h e

laboring c lasses shared t h e i r re jec t ion of any conscr ipt ion system, but most of them, however sympathetic, did not understand the basis f o r working c lass a l i e n a t i o n . They l a r g e l y took for ranted " the deep-lying [pacif is t ] i n s t i n c t o f g rea t masses of the manual workers.T14f I ronica l ly , they were l e s s secure about the i n s t i n c t s of the middle and lower middle c lasses who were being subjected (with some success i t would seem, given t h e increasing membership r o l l s of the NSL) t o conscr ip t ion is t propaganda which was "a mischievous mixture of high tone words and low idea ls" and came as e a s i l y from t h e p u l p i t a s t h e columns of "respectable" weekly journals . The Society of Friends was espec ia l ly a c t i v e i n attempting t o come t o gr ips with the "paganism" which s t i l l influenced popular r e l i g i o n a s well a s popular opinion. A s an e d i t o r i a l i n the B r i t i s h Friend pointed out i n June 1910: duty as it has r a r e l y been . . . i n s p i t e of a l l t h e seeming retrogression towards uni- v e r s a l mi l i ta ry service.1145

"The publ ic ear i s open f o r Chris t ian teaching on nat ional and in te rna t iona l

The most prominent Friends t o take up t h e s t ruggle against mil i tar ism were wealthy mem- bers of the Rowntree and Cadbury famil ies -- tagged "Cocoa Quakers" by t h e right-wing press -- who used p a r t of the for tunes they earned making chocolate t o buy newspapers and support organizations t h a t spread the anti-war, ant i -conscr ipt ion message. 46 O f g rea te r i n t e r e s t f o r purposes of t h i s study was t h e dramatic confrontation between Edward Grubb, e d i t o r of the B r i t i s h Friend and one of the leading f igures i n the Quaker Renaissance, and J . S t . Loe Strachey, e d i t o r of The Spectator and a s t rong supporter of t h e National Ser- v i c e League.

In 1909 S t . Loe Strachey co l lec ted a s e r i e s of h i s proconscr ipt ionis t a r t i c l e s from

In h i s book Strachey urged compulsory mi l i ta ry The Spectator i n t o a volume e n t i t l e d A New Way of Li fe (London, 19091, p r o f i t s from t h e sale of which were t o go t o the NSL.47 t r a i n i n g f o r a l l able-bodied men l e s s a s a mi l i ta ry measure than a s a means of rescuing B r i t i s h manhood from t h e self-indulgence, complacency and materialism which were undermin- ing t h e nat ional character . Universal m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g , Strachey s a i d , would revive t h e c i t i z e n ' s sense of duty toward things more meaningful than l e i s u r e , p r o f i t and s e l f - aggrandisement; i t w uld, indeed, begin t o move the Nation toward t h a t "new way of l i f e f o r which I plead.1f48

A s a Quaker theologian of some repute , Grubb had cons is ten t ly emphasized t h e necessi ty f o r Friends t o make peace testimony a c e n t r a l a r t i c l e of t h e i r f a i t h , but h i s reply t o Strachey, The True Way o f Life (London, 1909), was as much t h e response of a Victor ian l i b e r a l as a man of God.qy Grubb was p a r t i c u l a r l y appal led by Strachey 's IIegelian i n s i s - tence t h a t service t o t h e s t a t e , espec ia l ly as a t ra ined k i l l e r , was t h e most e f f icac ious means of abol ishing v ice , apathy and avarice . To present t h e task of t r a i n i n g t o destroy human l i f e a s t h e highest goal t o which t h e c i t i z e n could a s p i r e , Grubb s a i d , was a denial not only of b s i c Chris t ian pr inc ip les but of every progressive idea l t o which Western man had aspired. 58

Furthermore, Grubb believed t h a t Strachey badly misread t h e publ ic mood when he claimed t h a t any scheme f o r compulsory m i l i t a r y serv ice would be met with near ly universal acceptance. who would "face imprisonment and worse r a t h e r than submit t o m i l i t a r y training.1151 Crubb may have been overly sanguine about t h e s i z e of res i s tance t o compulsion, he did issue a prescient warning about t h e problems a modern l i b e r a l s t a t e would face when it de- manded mi l i ta ry serv ice of i t s e n t i r e male population.

There were thousands of B r i t i s h subjec ts , Grubb sa id , most of them not Quakers, While

Short ly after Grubb's warning t h a t there would be a c t i v e res i s tance t o any attempt a t conscr ipt ion, both Austral ia and New Zealand introduced a system of compulsory m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g f o r boys. f o r the working out of t h e i r idea ls . "outrageous infringements of l i b e r t y of conscience being perpetrated by t h e m i l i t a r y party"

Thus, Friends and o thers had a t e s t i n g gmund,once removed from B r i t a i n , When reports reached B r i t i s h an t iconscr ip t ion is t s of

13

i n Australasia , Grubb's B r i t i s h Friend expressed t h e hope t h a t Quakers could be found "who w i l l take t h e r i s k of going out t o those Dominions t o help i n organizing an a g i t a t i o n f o r t h e repeal of t h e compulsory clauses of the Act.1152

Friends were indeed found t o take up t h i s challenge. One o f these, W.H.F. Alexander, wrote from Auckland i n 1912 t h a t Quakers and t h e i r allies were " a t c l o s e g r i p s with t h e com ulsor m i l i t a r i s i n of t h e bo hood of a nat ion" and warned t h a t what had happened i n New'Zealaid today c o d well happin i n Br i ta in tomorrow.53 This ac tua l confrontat ion with enforced m i l i t a r y serv ice seemed t o heighten resolve within t h e Society of Friends not only t o oppose "any proposal of conscr ipt iont1 but a l s o t o construct ively draw a t t e n t i o n t o "other forms of na t iona l se rv ice than so ld ie r ing and destruct ion." experience gave English Quakers l i k e John P. Fletcher p r a c t i c a l exp

I n addi t ion, t h e Australasian ience i n opposing com-

pulsion which would be put t o use during t h e war years i n Br i ta in . 9t After 1910 many younger Friends had decided t o make a "war aga ins t war" and conscrip-

t i o n t h e i r uppermost COIlCt)I'n, but t h i s obsession was not shared by most Liberal and r a d i c a l opponents of compulsory serv ice . For these la t ter , there were too many e x i s t i n g e v i l s t o be put r i g h t t o worry overmuch about t h e p o t e n t i a l danger of conscr ipt ion. even the p o t e n t i a l f o r conscr ipt ion seemed s l i g h t . A Liberal government was i n power and the Liberal Par ty was, according t o the Westminster Gazette (27 Feb. 19141, !'as s o l i d f o r t h e voluntary pr inc ip le as . . . f o r Free Trade." So long as t h e Navy -- overlarge, per- haps, but preferab le t o a bloated Army -- guarded t h e seas and t h e T e r r i t o r i a l Force -- the Liberals ' own voluntary home defense army -- protected the shores , t h e r e was l i t t l e pos- s i b i l i t t h a t any form o f conscr ip t ion is t "moonshine" could be f o i s t e d on t h e B r i t i s h people. $5

Furthermore,

A few Radical p u b l i c i s t s , espec ia l ly Charles Trevelyan and J . A . Far re r , d id wr i te seri- ous and well-argued s tudies which probed t h e p o l i t i c a l shadows f o r hidden motives behind t h e p a t r i o t i c rhe tor ic of oonscr ip t ion is t s and discovered the images of i m p e r i a l i s t aggres- s ion o r increased s o c i a l control lurking there.56 c a l j o u r n a l i s t s -- Gardiner, Massingham, Hirst, Hobhouse, Hobson -- tended, when deal ing with such questions a s conscr ipt ion, t o display what Zara S te iner has c a l l e d "a kind o f wil led optimism.I157 ment would not support it and, i n any case, the people would not have i t . vinced t h a t as more and more men recognized t h e i r r a t i o n a l i t y and wastefulness of war, the dangers of mil i tar ism would diminish accordingly. Clinging t o t h i s op t imis t ic view, l i b e r a l - rad ica ls of ten explained untoward developments i n terms of conspiracy theor ies r a t h e r than a s underlying tendencies toward i n s t a b i l i t y and violence. Thus, t h e d e t e r i o r a t i o n of Anglo- German r e l a t i o n s was o f t e n charged t o a Foreign Office c l ique t h a t manipulated and misled S i r Edward Grey.

These were earnest and c i v i l i z e d men, but because they general ly f a i l e d t o come t o g r i p s with t h e nature of the soc ie ty i n which they l ived , they could not be l ieve t h a t t h e worst would happen and t h a t t h e s o l i d Gladstonian ground beneath t h e i r f e e t would be swept away by a d i s a s t e r beyond t h e ken of t h e i r nineteenth century l i b e r a l imaginations.

But most popular and i n f l u e n t i a l rad i -

Enforced mi l i ta ry serv ice was impossible, they f e l t , because t h e govern- They were con-

Similar ly , t h e European arms race was blamed upon armaments manufacturer who were unnatural ly perpetuat ing in te rna t iona l tensions f o r t h e sake o f personal p r o f i t . 58

In Apri l 1913 representat ives of each an t iconscr ip t ion is t fac t ion -- t h e r a d i c a l s , t h e s o c i a l i s t s and t h e re l ig ious p a c i f i s t s -- spoke i n t h e House of Commons against a b i l l , one of many per iodica l ly introduced by supporters of t h e National Service League,59 which would have required compulsory m i l i t a r y t r a i n i n g f o r t h e T e r r i t o r i a l Force. 6o The leading spokes- man f o r t h e independent Liberals was J . H . Whitehouse, M.P. f o r Mid Lanark. While denouncing any form of compulsion a s "wholly unnecessary" except f o r those who wished t o embark upon mi l i ta ry adventurism, Whitehouse derided t h e tendency t o depict t h e bearing of arms as " the ul t imate and f i n a l test of . . . patr iot ism." But h i s speech a l s o contained one curious in- clusion which re f lec ted t h e lack of any real uni ty among ant iconscr ip t ion is t s ; he concluded by s inging t h e pra i ses of llhealthy" and llresourcefulll groups l i k e t h e Boys' Brigade, t h e Church Lads' Brigade and t h e Boy Scouts, organizat ions which s o c i a l i s t s and Quakers had

1 4

long depicted a s insidious representat ives of militarism.61 were made by I . L . P . leader Keir Hardie and by Arnold Rowntree, a Liberal M.P. and a Quaker. Hardie a t tacked the measure under consideration as t h e t h i n end of the wedge, " the f i r s t s t e p i n making mil i tar ism the dominant f a c t o r i n the country." I t represented, he s a ' d , t h e desperate attempt of a decadent r u l i n g c lass " to ge t a f resh g r i p on the people."i2 I n a s imi la r vein, Rowntree expressed the f e a r t h a t an enlarged conscr ipt army might be- come a s t r ike-bear ing too l of t h e r i c h and powerful. Then, speaking a s a Friend, Rowntree went on t o explain h i s own strongest object ion to conscr ipt ion, t h a t it would "force men aga ins t t h e i r conscience t o take service."

Other s i g n i f i c a n t speeches

Rightly o r wrongly (he continued] , there a r e la rge numbers of people i n t h i s country, with a profound regard f o r the s a n c t i t y of human l i f e , who bel ieve t h a t i n every human personal i ty there is something of the divine, and t h a t f o r Parliament t o force men against t h e i r w i l l t o t r a i n t o k i l l one another i s a function t h a t it has no r i g h t t o per f0rm.~3

The measure under considerat ion, l i k e those t h a t had preceded i t , was e a s i l y defeated. The f a c t t h a t it was had l i t t l e t o do with s t i r r i n g an t i -conscr ip t ion is t speeches. No sys- tem of enforced military serv ice was introduced i n Great Br i ta in because no prewar c r i s i s was s u f f i c i e n t t o force any Government t o undertake t h e p o l i t i c a l and f i n a n c i a l r i s k neces- s a r y t o the imposition of such a system.

After the onset of t h e Great War, however, t h e t h r e a t of conscr ipt ion quickly became f a r more immediate and r e a l than it ever had been during t h e Edwardian e ra . began, the " large numbers of people" of whom Arnold Rowntree had spoken f a i l e d t o mater ia l ize . Those who opposed t h e war and continued t o f i g h t against conscr ipt ion were r e l a t i v e l y few and increasingly unpopular. But when t h e No-Conscription Fellowship was organized i n November 1914 f o r men of enlistment age who were "not prepared t o take up arms i n case of Conscrip- tion,It i t drew i t s s t rength from t h e same sources which had l e d t h e pre-war s t rupple against conscr ipt ion -- t h e I.L.P., t h e Society of Friends and t h e independent Liberals .6q In the war years t h a t followed, these young men, and t h e o lder men and women who la ter associated with them, became t h e shock troops of t h e most impressive, most important twentieth cen- t u r y peace army, t h e B r i t i s h peace movement. By e a r l y 1916 they had f a i l e d i n t h e i r a t - tempts t o prevent conscr ipt ion, but t h e r e s u l t i n g confrontat ion with t h e S t a t e brought f o r t h heroes and heroines of peace who provided t h e B r i t i s h l e f t with i t s most admired, respected and i n f l u e n t i a l f igures during t h e interwar period when t h enlarged peace movement was s ig-

Once t h e war

n i f i c a n t i n shaping publ ic a t t i t u d e s toward war and peace. %5

NOTES

1. For a r t i c l e s i n favor of the Militia Bal lot see Sidney Low, "The Mi l i ta ry Weakness of England and the M i l i t i a Bal lot ," Nineteenth Centur Birchenough, t l O u r Last Effor t f o r a V o l u n t a r d t l Nineteenth Century 49 ( A p r i l 1901) :545-55; and S i r George Sydenham Clarke, "The Defense of the Empire and t h e Militia Bal lo t , " Nineteenth Century 47 (January 1900) :2-13.

47 (March 1900) :365-77; Henry

2. 4 .H .C . , 90; 1060, 9 March 1901. The speaker was War Minister S t . John Broderick. Also see Lowell J. S a t r e , "St. John Broderick and Army Reform, 1901-1903," Journal of B r i t i s h Studies 1 5 / 2 (Spring 1976) :117-39.

3. See espec ia l ly George F. Shee, The Bri ton 's F i r s t Duty: The Case f o r Conscription (London, 1901).

4 . See Clinton Dawkins t o Leo Maxse, 19 Feb. 1902, Maxse Papers, 450, T 501, West Sussex Record Office, Chichester; The Times, 9 March 1901; Lord Newton, Retros ec t ion (London, 1941) , pp. 115-16; and Denis Hayes, Conscription Confl ic t (London, +- 19 9 ) , pp. 36 39.

15

The quotation i s from Caroline Playne, The Pre-War Mind i n Br i ta in (London, 1928), p. 147 and J . O . Springhal l , "The Boy Scouts, Class and Militarism i n Relat ion t o B r i t i s h Youth Movements, 1903-1930,1' In te rna t iona l Review of Social History 1 4 (1971--Part 2 ) : 156n.

5. See The Nation i n A r m s , n . s . , 5 (January 1910) :1 and (June 1910) :263; and Anne Summers, "Militarism i n Br i ta in Before the Great War," History Workshop 2 (Autumn 1976) :113.

6. Ib id . , and Zara S. S te iner , Br i ta in and t h e Origins of t h e F i r s t World War (New York, 1977), pp. 160-62.

7. The most Drominent examDle o f non-ideological anticonscriDtionism was General S i r Ian

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

1 4 .

15.

Hamilton's Compulsory Service (London, 1510) wr i t ten a t t h e behest o f R.B. Haldane, the Secretary of S t a t e f o r War, who a l s o provided a lengthy introduct ion. reason f o r t h i s a t t a c k on t h e effect iveness of compulsory m i l i t a r y serv ice was Haldane's f e a r t h a t t h e National Service League was inf luencing men not t o j o i n t h e voluntary T e r r i t o r i a l Force. Also see Haynes, Conscription Confl ic t , pp. 98-100.

For an excel lent discussion on the general top ic of Chris t ian pacifism i n Br i ta in , see Martin Ceadel, Pacifism i n Britain, 1914-1945 (Oxford, 1980), pp. 10-11, 18-27. The best discussion t o d a t e of t h e Quaker Renaissance i s R.A. Rempel's unpublished paper "Edward Grubb and t h e Quaker Renaissance i n Br i ta in , 1880-1914. For Quaker responses t o the Boer War, see Rempel's "Br i t i sh Quakers and t h e South African War," Quaker History 64 (1975) :75-95.

See David Martin, Pacifism (New York, 1965), pp. 205-7; John Rae, Conscience and P o l i t i c s (London, 1 9 7 o ) , p . 10-12; and Pe ter Brock, Twentieth Century Pacifism (New York, 1970), pp. 10-12. Recent biographies o f Keir Hardie are by Kenneth 0. Morgan (London, 1975) and Fred Reid (London, 1978).

For discussion of r a d i c a l - l i b e r a l a t t i t u d e s towards war and conscr ipt ion, see Ceadel,

The chief

Pacifism i n Britain, pp. 1-30 passim; Michael Howard, War and t h e Liberal Conscience (New Bnmswick, N . J . , 1978); and Martin, Pacifism, pp. 205-7.

B r i t i s h Friend (BF), June 1903, 135. Also see i b i d . , March 1903, 50. Hobson occasion- a l l y wrote a r t i c l e s f o r t h e B r i t i s h Friend and h i s ImDerialism had considerable i n f l u - ence among l i b e r a l Quakers.

Report of the Royal [Norfolk] Commission on t h e M i l i t i a and Volunteers (Cd. 2061, 1904) XXX.

Some important recent works which touch on t h e inf luence of mi l i ta r i sm i n Edwardian Br i ta in a r e John Springhal l , Youth, Empire and Society: B r i t i s h Youth Movements, 1883- 1940 (London, 1977) and "The Boy Scouts, Class and Militarism," 125-58 passim; Summers, "Militarism i n Br i ta in ," 104-23; and Ste iner , Origins of the F i r s t World War, pp. 155- 60. For earlier works see Playne, Pre-War Mind i n Br i ta in , pp. 124-65 and El ie Halevy, A History of t h e English People i n 1905-1915 (London, 1934), pp. 152-90.

See H. Arnold-Forster, w, 30 May 1904 and 4 and 5 Aug. 1904, Arnold-Forster Papers, Add. Mss. 50338 and 50339, B r i t i s h Library, London. f o r t h e summary of a proconscr ipt ionis t speech by General S i r Nevi l le Lyt t le ton , head of t h e Army Council and Chief of t h e General S t a f f .

For a summary, see The Times, 29 May 1904.

Also s e e The Times , 8 Ju ly 1904

See Michael Howard, The Continental Commitment (London, 1972) Chapter 2; S m u e l R. Williamson, The P o l i t i c s of Grand St ra tegy (Cambridge, Mass. , 1969) ; John McDermott, "The Revolution i n B r i t i s h Mi l i ta ry Thinking from t h e Boer War t o t h e Moroccan Crisis,"

1 6

Canadian Journal of H i s to rx 9 (August 1974) :159-77; and J . E . Ty le r , The B r i t i s h Army and t h e Continent, 1904-1914 (London, 1938) . Nicholas d'ombrain, War Machinery and High Pol icy: Defence Administration i n Peacetime B r i t a i n , 1902-1914 (London, 1973) , pp. 103-5, 141-51 provides an e x c e l l e n t ana lys i s of t h e post-Boer War " thinking" army.

16. See t h e Dia r i e s of General S i r Henry Wilson, 1 5 September and 10 October 1905, 5 March 1906, 3 November 1909, 1 5 and 29 May and 3 June 1912, Henry Wilson Papers, Imperial War Museum, London.

17. Paul Guinn, B r i t i s h S t r a t egy and P o l i t i c s , 1914-18 (Oxford, 1965), p. 2. Also see Max Be lo f f , Imperial Sunset , vol . 1: B r i t a i n ' s L ibe ra l Empire, 1897-1921 (New York, 1970) , pp. 130-31 and Robert J . S c a l l y , Origins o f t h e Lloyd George Coal i t ion (Princeton, 1975), PP. 132, 136.

18. Michael Howard, "Lest We Forget : 'Oh What An Unlovely War . . . l , t l Encounter 22 (January 1964) :64 and Paul F u s s e l l , The Great War and Modern Memory- 1975), pp. 18-29.

19. The Nation i n Arms ( N I A ) , n . s . , 2 (Apr i l 1907) :108.

20. Sp r ingha l l , Youth, Empire and Soc ie ty , pp. 22-36 and Benjamin F. Trueblood,"The Boys' Brigade: Its Character and Tendencies" (London: Peace Society, n.d.1.

21. I b i d . , p. 2. There a r e numerous references t o and warnings about t h e Boys' Brigade and t h e m i l i t a r i z i n g o f youth i n t h e B r i t i s h Friend, 1887-1898. "Chris t ian So ld ie r s t1 (London: I n t e r n a t i o n a l Arb i t r a t ion League, 1907).

Also see Samuel Mil l iken,

22. BF , March 1903, 57.

23. H. Arnold-Forster, Diary, 1 4 Dec. 1904, Arnold-Forster Papers, Add Ms. 50342, B r i t i s h Library, London.

24. BF, Feb. 1910, 49-50.

25. Quoted by i b i d . , June 1907, 164.

26. Speech t o Annual Meeting of Preparatory Schools Rifle Associat ion, 22 Dec. 1910, Roberts Papers (RP), 7101-23, l 2 5 / l , 73-76, National Army Museum (NAM), London. For t h e Lads D r i l l Association see The National Se rv ice Journal (NSJ) n . s . , 1 (Oct. 19061, 60-61 and J . O . Springhal l , "Lord Meath, Youth and Empire," Journal o f Contemporary History 5/4 (1970).

Daily News, 17 Feb. 1906. 27. NSJ n . s . , 1 (Dec. 1906) , 96 quot ing New Age, 1 5 Nov. 1906; BF, March 1906, 58; and

28. BF, Feb. 1910, 36.

29. "A Danger i n t h e Boy Scout Movement," Westminister Gazet te , 1 March 1910. BF, March 1910, 77-78. c i l , s ee R. Baden-Powell t o Lord Rosebery, 11 Feb. 1910, Rosebery Papers, 83, National Library of Scot land, Edinburgh and Spr ingha l l , "Boy Scouts , Class and Militarism," 137x1, 1%.

Also see i b i d . , Sept . 1909, 236 and The Friend, 24 Sept . 1909, 648.

Reprinted i n For a l i s t of t h e prominent m i l i t a r y men on t h e Boy Scout Coun-

30. For "Peace" Scouts see C. Brightwen Rowntree, "The Adult School and t h e Boy Scout ," Friends' Q u a r t e r l y Examiner 44 (1910) : 324-31; I r e n e Midgley, l lScouting fo r Boys," i b i d . , 46 (1912) :449-52; and BF, June 1910, 165. I n 1913 Quaker M.P. Arnold Rowntree

17

joined the National Council of Boy Scouts, presumably t o prevent fur ther mil i tar ism i n the movement and to t r y t o d i r ec t it toward more soc ia l ly and morally wholesome a c t i v i t i e s .

31. Springhall, Woy Scouts, Class and Militarism,” 158. Also see Playne, Pre-War Mind i n Bri ta in , p. 162; I .F. Clarke, Voices Prophesying War (London, 19661, p. 131; and H.J . Hanham, “Religion and Nationality in the Mid-Victorian Army,“ in War and Societx, M.R.D. Foot, ed. (New York, 19731, pp. 172-74.

32. For example, see NSJ, 1 (Feb. 1904) :64 and 1 (Oct. 1904) :212-13.

33. The pamphlet was Harry Dubery, “A Labour Case Against Conscription,” (Manchester: ILP, 1913).

34. The Friend, 16 Dec. 1910, 839-40; BF, Jan. 1911, 2; and Steiner , Origins of the F i r s t World W a r , p. 134.

35. BF, Feb. 1911, 31-32.

36. For the SDF see Walter Kendall, The Revolutionary Movement i n Br i ta in , 1900-1921 (London, 1969), pp. 47-49; Hayes, Conscription Conflict, p. 227; and NSJ, 1 (Aug. 1904) :186 and n.s . , 2 (Feb. 1907) :45. On Blatchford, see ib id . , 1 (Aug. 1904) :183-85 and h i s En land and German (London, 1909), pp. 27-28, 35-37. Also see Lord Roberts t o Blatch:ord, 10 and 21 Dzc. 1909, RP, 7101-23,122/11, 84 and 89, NAM.

37. See S i r Dighton Probyn t o Roberts, 6 Jan. 19[10], RP, 7101-23, 53/26;! NAM; S t . Loe Strachey to Blatchford, 8 March 1910, Strachey Papers, S/2/11/1, House of Lords Record Office (HLRO), London; and Herbert C . McIlewaine t o Lord Milner, 25 June 1910, Milner Papers, 194, Bodleian Library, Oxford.

38. Interview with Lord Brockway, House of Lords, March 1975.

39. Blatchford t o Lady Roberts (copy), 29 March 1912, RP, 7101-23, 47/85, NAM. Also see correspondence between S t . Loe Strachey and working c lass writer Stephen Reynolds, Jan.-Feb. 1909, Strachey Papers, S/24/1/9 and s/16/3/2, HLRO and Reynolds’sbook, Seems So: A Working Class V i e w of Po l i t i c s (London, 1911).

40. Bradford Pioneer, 25 April 1913. Also see Fenner Brockway, Socialism Over Sixty Years (London, 1946), p. 1 4 1 and Phi l ip Snowden i n Morning Post, 3 Feb. 1914.

41 . Daily Mail, 4 Dec. 1912.

42. Henry N . Brailsford, The War of S tee l and Gold (London, 19151, p. 161.

43. This i s a view taken by Richard Price, An Imperial War and the Br i t i sh Working Class (London, 1972), pp. 233-41 and by Standish Meacham, A Life Apart: The English Working Class, 1890-1914 (Cambridge, Mass., 1977). Also see Springhall, llBoy Scouts, Class and Militarism, If 141-48.

44. BF, Dec. 1910, 323-24.

45. BF, June 1910, 157.

46. George Cadbury (1839-1922), owner of the famous cocoa and chocolate works a t Bournvllle, acquired the control l ing in t e re s t i n the Daily News i n 1901, par t ly as a forum fo r his anti-Boer War views. The Rowntree family of York was also ac t ive i n supporting progressive journalism and

Also see The Friend, 28 March 1913, 197-98 and BF, Jan. 1910, 1-2.

Cadbury also owned four newspapers i n and around Birmingham.

18

anticonscription, antimilitarist organizations.

47. The NSL probably gained little from the book for its sales were, in Strachey's words, "very disappointing indeed." S/11/4/23, HLRO.

Strachey to Lord Northcliffe,l2 July 1909, Strachey Papers,

48. A New Way of Life, pp. 6, 29, 59-65, 76-85.

49. For Grubb see James Dudley, The Life of Edward Grubb, 1854-1939: A Spiritual Pilgrimage (London. 1946). R.A. Remuel and I are currently collaborating on a new study of Grubb. , . . his impact on the Societiof Friends and the place of Friends-in early 20th century British society.

.

50. Grubb, The True Way of Life, pp. 48-49, 56.

51. Ibid., pp. 40-42, 44-45, 63-64 and BF, Oct. 1909, 270-71.

52. Ibid., June, 1912, 163. Also see ibid., Feb. 1910, 54; Jan. 1911, 23-4; April 1911, 113; and The Friend, 23 Dec. 1910, 855.

53. Ibid., 23 May 1913, 335-36. Also see R.L. Weitzel, "Pacifists and Anti-Militarists in New Zealand, 1909-1914," The New Zealand Journal of History 7 (October 1973) :123-47, and Margaret E. Hirst, The Quakers in Peace and War (London, 1923), pp. 487-92.

54. The Friend, 4 April 1913, 215-16. W.H.F. Alexander also published a pamphlet on this campaign, !!The Peril to Civil and Religious Liberty from Modern Imperialism" (Auckland, 1913); J.P. Fletcher was a leader in both the No-Conscription Fellowship and Friends' Service Committee during the First World War.

55. Morning Leader, 30 March 1911.

56. Charles Trevelyan, "Democracy and Compulsory Service," (London, 1913); J.A. Farrar's anticonscriptionist works are Moral Cant About Conscription (London, 1907), Invasion and Conscription (London, 1909) and Liberalism and the National Service League (London, 1912). Also see Summers, "Militarism in Britain," 120.

57. Origins of the Great War, p. 146. My analysis of Edwardian Radicals owes much to Steiner, ibid., pp. 136, 144-54 and to A.J.A. Morris's introduction to Edwardian Radicalism, 1900- 1914 (London, 1974). A.G. Gardiner was editor of the Daily News; F.W. Hirst, J.A. Hobson, Leonard Hobhouse, and Henry W. Massingham wrote for various liberal-radical journals but were best known for their association, under Massingham's editorship, with The Nation.

58. See Clive Trebilcock, "Radicalism and the Armament Trust," in ibid., pp. 180-201 and A Revision," Journal of Con- "Legends of the British Armaments Industry, 1890-1914:

temporary History 5/4 (1970) :1-19.

59. For a discussion of the various Edwardian bills for compulsion, see Hayes, Conscription Conflict, pp. 86-97, 123-35.

60. The National Service (Territorial Force) Bill was moved by C.J.S. Sandys, see 5 H.C., 51:1517-1594, 11 April 1913.

61. Ibid., 1533-35.

62. Ibid., 1591-93.

1 9

63. Ib id . , 1564-66.

64. For t h e No-Conscription Fellowship, see Thomas C . Kennedy, The Hound of Conscience: A History of t h e No-Conscription Fellowship, 1914-1919 (Universi ty o f Arkansas Press, 1981).

65. An important recent study o f t h i s per iod is Ceadel, B r i t i s h Pacifism, pp. 64-293.

~~

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