Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

Whilst Europe was engaged in the First World War, over 1,000 women from across Europe and America made the dangerous trip to The Hague with the aim of stopping the war

Manifesto of the International Congress of Women (1915-10-15) by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. UK SectionOriginal Source: LSE Library

Once they arrived at the Women's Peace Congress in The Hague, they founded the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (or WILPF) "to study, make known and eliminate the causes of war". That same year they produced this manifesto which sets out their aims.

2nd International WILPF Conference, 1919 (1919) by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. UK SectionOriginal Source: LSE Library

By 1919, WILPF held a second congress in Zurich; pictured here is the British delegation. It was the first time members of WILPF from opposing sides of the war had been able to meet since the 1915 congress. The number of countries represented rose by four to sixteen in 1919. 

1932 protester (c. 1920s) by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. UK SectionOriginal Source: LSE Library

WILPF were critical of some aspects of the Treaty of Versailles. They gave the following statement at the 1919 Zurich congress: “This International Congress of Women expresses its deep regret that the terms of peace proposed at Versailles should so seriously violate the principles upon which alone a just and lasting peace can be secured…The terms of peace…create all over Europe discords and animosities which can only lead to future wars. ”

WILPF Croydon Armband (1926) by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. UK SectionOriginal Source: LSE Library

In 1926, WILPF established a joint council to plan a nationwide peace march under the slogan of "Law Not War". Pictured here is one of the armbands used by the London (Croydon) branch of WILPF. 

Ruth Landon (1926) by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. UK SectionOriginal Source: LSE Library

The march (referred to as the "Peace Pilgrimage") went ahead in May of that year, with marches across the country all converging towards Hyde Park in London. An eyewitness remembers: “Here were women of the Guild House in blue cassocks and white collars, bearing their banners aloft; behind them walked members of the League of Nations Union, with bannerettes representing various countries of the world…At the head of each procession rode a woman in a Madonna blue cloak on a white horse.”

Disarmament (c. 1930s) by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. UK SectionOriginal Source: LSE Library

During the 1920s and 1930s, WILPF continued to actively campaign for worldwide disarmament. Ahead of the League of Nations World Disarmament Conference in 1932, WILPF circulated a disarmament petition. Shop fronts were taken over in Britain to promote the petition. 

Going to Geneva (1932-01) by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. UK SectionOriginal Source: LSE Library

By the end of 1931, more than 3 million people had signed the petition, with Britain contributing over 1.5 million. The signatures were packed into crates and a large crowd gathered to see them off at Victoria station. To this day, WILPF continues to campaign for peace and political, economic and social justice.

WILPF members in Geneva, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. UK Section, 1932, Original Source: LSE Library
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Credits: Story

Images from the archives of the British section of WILPF held at LSE Library. Text adapted from an LSE History blog post about the collection.

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The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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