Editing Pacifism (section)

==Government and political movements==
[[File:1933-may-10-berlin-book-burning.JPG|thumb|[[Erich Maria Remarque|Remarque]]'s anti-war novel ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front]]'' was banned and burned by war-glorifying Nazis.]]

While many governments have tolerated pacifist views and even accommodated pacifists' refusal to fight in wars, others at times have outlawed pacifist and anti-war activity. In 1918, The United States Congress passed the [[Sedition Act of 1918]]. During the periods between World Wars I and World War II, pacifist literature and public advocacy was banned in Italy under [[Benito Mussolini]], Germany after the rise of [[Adolf Hitler]],<ref name="bz">Benjamin Ziemann, "Pacifism" in ''World Fascism:An Encyclopedia'', edited by Cyprian P. Blamires. ABC-CLIO Ltd, 2006.  {{ISBN|1576079406}} (pp.&nbsp;495–496)</ref> [[Francoist Spain|Spain]] under [[Francisco Franco]],<ref>Brock and Young, pp.&nbsp;96–97, 311.</ref> and the [[Soviet Union]] under [[Joseph Stalin]].<ref name="nsleu">''Notes sur l'anarchisme en U.R.S.S : De 1921 à nos jours''. Les Cahiers du Vent du Chemin. Paris, 1983.</ref> In these nations, pacifism was denounced as cowardice; indeed, Mussolini referred to pacifist writings as the "propaganda of cowardice".<ref name="bz" />

Today, the United States requires that all young men register for selective service but does not allow them to be classified as conscientious objectors unless they are drafted in some future reinstatement of the draft, allowing them to be discharged or transferred to noncombatant status.<ref>{{cite web |title=Conscientious Objection Today, Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors |url=http://www.objector.org/advice/conscientious_objector-6.html#pgfId-183 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070804114116/http://www.objector.org/advice/conscientious_objector-6.html#pgfId-183 |archive-date=4 August 2007 |access-date=30 July 2007}}</ref> Some European governments like [[Swiss Civilian Service|Switzerland]], Greece, Norway and Germany offer [[civilian service]]. However, even during periods of peace, many pacifists still refuse to register for or report for military duty, risking criminal charges.

Anti-war and "pacifist" political parties seeking to win elections may moderate their demands, calling for [[de-escalation]] or major [[arms reduction]] rather than the outright [[disarmament]] which is advocated by many pacifists. [[Green parties]] list "[[non-violence]]" and "[[decentralization]]" towards anarchist co-operatives or minimalist village government as two of their ten key values. However, in power, Greens often compromise. The German Greens in the cabinet of Social Democrat [[Gerhard Schröder]] supported an intervention by German troops in Afghanistan in 2001 if that they hosted the peace conference in Berlin. However, during the 2002 election Greens forced Schröder to swear that no German troops would invade Iraq.

[[File:Марш за мир и свободу (15).jpg|thumb|[[March of Peace]], which took place in Moscow in March 2014]]

Some pacifists and [[multilateralism|multilateralists]] are in favor of international criminal law as means to prevent and control international aggression. The [[International Criminal Court]] has jurisdiction over war crimes, but the crime of aggression has yet to be clearly defined in international law.

{{Quote needed|date=June 2023}}The [[Constitution of Italy|Italian Constitution]] enforces a mild pacifist character on the Italian Republic, as Article 11 states that "Italy repudiates war as an instrument offending the liberty of the peoples and as a means for settling international disputes&nbsp;..." Similarly, Articles 24, 25 and 26 of the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|German Constitution]] (1949), Alinea 15 of the French Constitution (1946), Article 20 of the [[Constitution of Denmark|Danish Constitution]] (1953), [[Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution]] (1947) and several other mostly European constitutions correspond to the United Nations Charter by rejecting the institution of war in favour of [[collective security]] and peaceful cooperation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitutional clauses providing for limitations of national sovereignty to achieve cooperation, peace and disarmament |url=http://www.ne.jp/asahi/peace/unitednationsreform2007/liste24list_en.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720025109/http://www.ne.jp/asahi/peace/unitednationsreform2007/liste24list_en.html |archive-date=20 July 2009 |access-date=17 August 2008}}</ref><!-- Quote the articles -->

===Pacifism and abstention from political activity===
However, some pacifists, such as the [[Christian anarchism|Christian anarchist]] [[Leo Tolstoy]] and [[autarchist]] [[Robert LeFevre]], consider the state a form of warfare. In addition, for doctrinal reason that a manmade government is inferior to divine governance and law, many pacifist-identified religions/religious sects also refrain from political activity altogether, including the [[Anabaptists]], [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] and [[Mandaeans]]. This means that such groups refuse to participate in government office or serve under an oath to a government.

===Anarcho-pacifism===
{{Main|Anarcho-pacifism}}
[[File:Benjamin D. Maxham - Henry David Thoreau - Restored - greyscale - straightened.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Henry David Thoreau]], early proponent of anarcho-pacifism]]

Anarcho-pacifism is a form of [[anarchism]] which completely rejects the use of violence in any form for any purpose. The main precedent was [[Henry David Thoreau]] who through his work [[Civil Disobedience (Thoreau)|Civil Disobedience]] influenced the advocacy of both Leo Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi for [[nonviolent resistance]].<ref name="ppu.org.uk">{{cite web |title=The pacifist and anarchist tradition by Geoffrey Ostergaard |url=http://www.ppu.org.uk/e_publications/dd-trad8.html#anarch%20and%20violence |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514052437/http://www.ppu.org.uk/e_publications/dd-trad8.html#anarch%20and%20violence |archive-date=14 May 2011 |access-date=1 March 2010}}</ref> As a global movement, anarcho-pacifism emerged shortly before [[World War II]] in the Netherlands, Great Britain and the United States and was a strong presence in the subsequent campaigns for [[nuclear disarmament]].

Violence has always been controversial in anarchism. While many anarchists during the 19th century embraced [[propaganda of the deed]], [[Leo Tolstoy]] and other anarcho-pacifists directly opposed violence as a means for change. He argued that anarchism must by nature be nonviolent since it is, by definition, opposition to coercion and force and since the state is inherently violent, meaningful pacifism must likewise be anarchistic. His philosophy was cited as a major inspiration by Mahatma Gandhi, an [[Indian independence movement|Indian independence]] leader and pacifist who self-identified as an anarchist. [[Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis]] was also instrumental in establishing the pacifist trend within the anarchist movement.<ref name="woodcock">{{Cite book |last=Woodcock |first=George |title=Anarchism: a History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements |publisher=Broadview Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1551116297 |location=Peterborough}}</ref> In France, anti-militarism appeared strongly in individualist anarchist circles as [[Émile Armand]] founded "Ligue Antimilitariste" in 1902 with [[Albert Libertad]] and George Mathias Paraf-Javal.

===Opposition to military taxation===
{{Main|Conscientious objection to military taxation}}
Many pacifists who would be conscientious objectors to military service are also [[tax resistance|opposed to paying taxes]] to fund the military. In the United States, the [[National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund]] works to pass a national law to allow conscientious objectors to redirect their tax money to be used only for non-military purposes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mission of National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund |url=http://www.peacetaxfund.org/aboutus/mission.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165301/http://www.peacetaxfund.org/aboutus/mission.htm |archive-date=3 March 2016 |access-date=8 July 2010}}</ref>