Editing Pacifism (section)

====Peace movements====
During the period of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], although no formal [[peace movement]] was established until the end of hostilities, a significant peace movement animated by universalist ideals did emerge, due to the perception of Britain fighting in a [[reactionary]] role and the increasingly visible impact of the war on the welfare of the nation in the form of higher taxation levels and high casualty rates. Sixteen peace petitions to [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] were signed by members of the public, anti-war and anti-[[William Pitt the Younger|Pitt]] demonstrations convened and peace literature was widely published and disseminated.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ceadel, Martin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lx4xr3PsdI8C&q=freemason+hall+1843+london+peace |title=The Origins of War Prevention: The British Peace Movement and International Relations, 1730–1854 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0198226741}}</ref>

[[File:Henry Richard, Vanity Fair, 1880-09-04.jpg|thumb|upright|"Peace". Caricature of [[Henry Richard]], a prominent advocate of pacifism in the mid-19th century]]

The first peace movements appeared in 1815–16. In the United States the first such movement was the [[New York Peace Society]], founded in 1815 by the theologian [[David Low Dodge]], and the [[Massachusetts Peace Society]]. It became an active organization, holding regular weekly meetings, and producing literature which was spread as far as [[Gibraltar]] and Malta, describing the horrors of war and advocating pacificism on [[Christianity|Christian]] grounds.<ref>''Pacifism to 1914 : an overview'' by Peter Brock. Toronto, Thistle Printing, 1994. (pp.&nbsp;38–39).</ref> The [[Peace Society|London Peace Society]] (also known as the Society for the Promotion of Permanent and Universal Peace) was formed in 1816 to promote permanent and universal peace by the [[philanthropy|philanthropist]] [[William Allen (philanthropist)|William Allen]]. In the 1840s, British women formed "Olive Leaf Circles", groups of around 15 to 20 women, to discuss and promote pacifist ideas.<ref>''The Long Road to Greenham : Feminism and Anti-Militarism in Britain since 1820'', by [[Jill Liddington]]. London, Virago, 1989 {{ISBN|0860686884}} (pp.&nbsp;14–15).</ref>

The peace movement began to grow in influence by the mid-nineteenth century.<ref>Gavin B. Henderson, "The Pacifists of the Fifties" ''Journal of Modern History'' 9#3 (1937), pp. 314–341, on British developments. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1898869 online]</ref> The London Peace Society, under the initiative of American consul [[Elihu Burritt]] and the reverend [[Henry Richard]], convened the first [[International Peace Congress]] in London in 1843.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cortright, David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JCgvvXUzu-oC |title=Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1139471855}}</ref> The congress decided on two aims: the ideal of peaceable arbitration in the affairs of nations and the creation of an international institution to achieve that. [[Henry Richard|Richard]] became the secretary of the Peace Society in 1850 on a full-time basis, a position which he would keep for the next 40 years, earning himself a reputation as the 'Apostle of Peace'. He helped secure one of the earliest victories for the peace movement by securing a commitment from the [[Great Power]]s in the [[Treaty of Paris (1856)]] at the end of the [[Crimean War]], in favour of arbitration. On the European continent, wracked by [[1848 Revolution|social upheaval]], the first peace congress was held in [[Brussels]] in 1848 followed by [[Paris]] a year later.<ref>{{cite web |last=André Durand |title=Gustave Moynier and the peace societies |url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jnaw.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308023153/https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jnaw.htm |archive-date=8 March 2016 |access-date=2 December 2013 |publisher=[[International Committee of the Red Cross]]}}</ref>

After experiencing a recession in support due to the resurgence of militarism during the [[American Civil War]] and [[Crimean War]], the movement began to spread across Europe and began to infiltrate the new socialist movements. In 1870, [[Randal Cremer]] formed the [[International Arbitration League|Workman's Peace Association]] in London. Cremer, alongside the French economist [[Frédéric Passy]] was also the founding father of the first international organisation for the arbitration of conflicts in 1889, the [[Inter-Parliamentary Union]]. The [[National Peace Council]] was founded in after the 17th [[Universal Peace Congress]] in London (July August 1908).

An important thinker who contributed to pacifist ideology was Russian writer [[Leo Tolstoy]]. In one of his latter works, ''[[The Kingdom of God Is Within You]]'', Tolstoy provides a detailed history, account and defense of pacifism. Tolstoy's work inspired a [[Tolstoyan movement|movement named after him]] advocating pacifism to arise in Russia and elsewhere.<ref>''Tolstoy's Pacifism'', by [[Colm McKeogh]], Cambria Press, 2009, {{ISBN|1604976349}}, (pp.&nbsp;105–107).</ref> The book was a major early influence on [[Mahatma Gandhi]], and the two engaged in regular correspondence while Gandhi was active in South Africa.<ref>''Pacifism in the Twentieth Century'', by [[Peter Brock]] and [[Nigel Young]]. Syracuse University Press, New York, 1999 {{ISBN|0815681259}} (p. 73)</ref>

[[Bertha von Suttner]], the first woman to be a [[Nobel Peace Prize]] laureate, became a leading figure in the peace movement with the publication of her novel, ''Die Waffen nieder!'' ("Lay Down Your Arms!") in 1889 and founded an Austrian pacifist organization in 1891.