The Bryce Group was a loose organisation of British

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

members which was devoted to studying international organisation. The organization was the first to fully flesh out a blueprint for a League of Nations and organize a popular movement around establishing the League. The group was founded in 1914 by

Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson (6 August 1862 – 3 August 1932), known as Goldie, was a British political scientist and philosopher. He lived most of his life at Cambridge, where he wrote a dissertation on Neoplatonism before becoming a fellow. H ...

, and some of its early meetings were attended by

Viscount Bryce A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

. Bryce chaired the

Committee on Alleged German Outrages The Committee on Alleged German Outrages, often called the Bryce Report after its chair, Viscount James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, James Bryce (1838–1922), is best known for producing the "Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages," pub ...

, and its 1915 report, popularly known as the "Bryce Report", became the focus of much of the group's work.{{cite book , last1=Cline , first1=Catherine Ann , title=Recruits to Labour , url=https://archive.org/details/recruitstolabour00clin , url-access=registration , date=1963 , publisher=Syracuse University Press , location=Syracuse, New York , pag
15
ndash;17 The group concluded that, in order to minimise future atrocities, nations should agree a binding treaty, which would compel them to take disputes to arbitration, and provide sanctions against both signatories and non-signatories, to compel them to accept this arbitration. Some group members disagreed with these conclusions; for example,

Arthur Ponsonby Arthur Augustus William Harry Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede (16 February 1871 – 23 March 1946), was a British politician, writer, and social activist. He was the son of Sir Henry Ponsonby, Private Secretary to Queen Victoria and ...

objected to all use of force, while John A. Hobson believed that any international organisation would be ineffective unless it had the power to reduce international inequalities. While the Bryce Group was small, it proved highly influential, as through its links with the

League to Enforce Peace The League to Enforce Peace was a non-state American organization established in 1915 to promote the formation of an international body for world peace. It was formed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia by American citizens concerned by the outbr ...

it influenced

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

's thinking. Late in 1915, the group merged into the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fa ...

Research Committee, and thereby its proposal became a key part of Labour Party international policy. Membership of the group overlapped with that of the

League of Nations Society The League of Nations Society was a political group devoted to campaigning for an international organisation of nations, with the aim of preventing war. The society was founded in 1915 by Baron Courtney and Willoughby Dickinson, both members of t ...

, and also the

1917 Club __NOTOC__ The 1917 Club was a club for socialists that met in 4 Gerrard Street, Soho, in Central London, during the early part of the 20th century. It had been founded in December 1917 by Leonard Woolf and Oliver Strachey. Although its name mark ...

. Over the next decade, most of its members joined the Labour Party.

References

Liberal Party (UK) Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1914 Organizations disestablished in 1915 League of Nations