The American Union Against Militarism (AUAM) was an American

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

organization established in response to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The organization attempted to keep the United States out of the European conflict through mass demonstrations, public lectures, and the printed word. Failing in that effort with American entry into the war in April 1917, the Union battled against

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, action which subjected it to state repression, and

military intervention Interventionism refers to a political practice of intervention, particularly to the practice of governments to interfere in political affairs of other countries, staging military or trade interventions. Economic interventionism refers to a diff ...

. The organization was eventually dissolved after the war in 1922.

Organizational history

Establishment

In January 1915 a group of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

pacifists known as the "Henry Street Peace Committee" organized an organization known first as the "Anti-Militarism Committee" in an effort to keep the United States from entering World War I in support of the

Entente powers The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...

against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the

Austro-Hungarian empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

.Robert C. Cottrell, ''Roger Nash Baldwin and the American Civil Liberties Union.'' New York: Columbia University Press, 2000; pg. 47. The committee emerged from among the activists in a

settlement house The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and s ...

project located on the city's

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

. Feelers were extended to Roger Baldwin to head the new national organization, which he declined. Instead,

Lillian Wald Lillian D. Wald (March 10, 1867 – September 1, 1940) was an American nurse, humanitarian and author. She was known for contributions to human rights and was the founder of American community nursing. She founded the Henry Street Settlement in N ...

of the Henry Street Settlement was elected chairwoman and lawyer

Crystal Eastman Crystal Catherine Eastman (June 25, 1881 – July 28, 1928) was an American lawyer, antimilitarist, feminist, socialist, and journalist. She is best remembered as a leader in the fight for women's suffrage, as a co-founder and co-editor with ...

became executive director of the organization.Cottrell, ''Roger Nash Baldwin and the American Civil Liberties Union,'' pg. 48. The slogan advanced by those favoring American entrance into the European conflict was that of "Preparedness." Throughout the latter part of 1915 this campaign gathered steam, inspiring the fledgling Anti-Militarism Committee to change its name to the "Anti-Preparedness Committee" in about January 1916 and to the American Union Against Militarism (AUAM) later in that year. Baldwin involved himself in the activities of the

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

chapter of the AUAM but had grown tired of life in the Midwest and sought to relocate in the East. In February 1917, Baldwin wrote to the national office of the organization, urging it to hold mass meetings in opposition to American participation in the war, an eventuality which seemed imminent. With Crystal Eastman in ill health, the national office responded in March with a telegram signed by a number of liberal and radical worthies asking Baldwin once again to head the organization. This time Baldwin accepted, and he headed for New York to replace Eastman as executive director in the group's office, located in the Munsey Building on Fifth Avenue. Lillian Wald resigned from the AUAM in August 1917, along with other moderates, over the decision by Baldwin, Eastman, and others in the organization to send delegates to a Minneapolis convention of the

People's Council of America for Democracy and Peace The People's Council of America for Democracy and the Terms of Peace, commonly known as the "People's Council," was an American pacifist political organization established in New York City in May 1917. Organized in opposition to the decision of the ...

in September.Lillian Wald to Crystal Eastman, letter of August 27, 1917, Wald Papers, Columbia University, Box 88. Cited in "The American Union Against Militarism and World War I," an unpublished M.A. thesis by Holly Byers Ochoa, May, 1977, at the City College of the City University of New York. The latter organization was formed to advance the Russian soviet system in the United States. Particularly in its early years, the AUAM was a broadly constituted organization, including religious pacifists, socialists, and liberals, united in a distaste for war and militarism and a commitment to the maintenance of

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

.Cottrell, ''Roger Nash Baldwin and the American Civil Liberties Union,'' pg. 49. The organization was not explicitly socialist, but rather was dedicated to a pacifist critique of international and American policy. With American entrance into the war, a campaign against dissent was initiated, touching radical political activists, trade unionists, and critics of the war alike. Baldwin and the AUAM were in the forefront of the campaign to push back in defense of the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

liberties of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the right of peaceable assembly to address grievances.Cottrell, ''Roger Nash Baldwin and the American Civil Liberties Union,'' pg. 50. The organization placed a strong emphasis on

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

, sending Baldwin to

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

regularly in an attempt to win elected officials to the ideas of the American Union.Cottrell, ''Roger Nash Baldwin and the American Civil Liberties Union,'' pg. 51.

Activities

Activities included lobbying, publishing, a lecture campaign, and the establishment of a Civil Liberties Bureau. Out of this grew the

National Civil Liberties Bureau The National Civil Liberties Bureau (NCLB) was an American civil rights organization founded in 1917, dedicated to opposing World War I, and specifically focusing on assisting conscientious objectors. The National Civil Liberties Bureau was the rei ...

which later became the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

. In 1919, the organization was subpoenaed by the New York legislature's Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities, popularly known as the

Lusk Committee The Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities, popularly known as the Lusk Committee, was formed in 1919 by the New York State Legislature to investigate individuals and organizations in New York State suspected of sedition. ...

, which considered the organization's efforts and pacifist ties to be a vehicle for

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

propaganda. Most notable actions were their work in the effort to avert war with Mexico in 1916 and the encouragement of opposition to peacetime

following World War I. The office was raided by the government and AUAM publications were sometimes stopped by the postal authorities but the organization continued despite these actions. The group was also known for a time as the American Union for a Democratic Peace and the League for an American Peace. It ceased operations in 1922.

Footnotes

Notable members

* Roger Baldwin *

John Haynes Holmes John Haynes Holmes (November 29, 1879 – April 3, 1964) was an American Unitarian minister, pacifist, and co-founder of the NAACP and the ACLU. He is noted for his anti-war activism. Early life Holmes was born in Philadelphia on November 2 ...

Owen Lovejoy Owen Lovejoy (January 6, 1811 – March 25, 1864) was an American lawyer, Congregational minister, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, and Republican United States Congress, congressman from Illinois. He was also a "conductor ...

Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian minister who achieved fame as a socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. Early years Thomas was the ...

Oswald Garrison Villard Oswald Garrison Villard (March 13, 1872 – October 1, 1949) was an American journalist and editor of the ''New York Evening Post.'' He was a civil rights activist, and along with his mother, Fanny Villard, a founding member of the NAACP. I ...

* Lillian D. Wald

External links