The New Commonwealth was an international organisation created in London in 1932 with branches in France and Germany. It advocated pacifism, disarmament and multilateral resolution of conflicts through political lobbying and different publications.
Aims
The New Commonwealth Society was created in October 1932 in London, with the former Labour member of parliament
George Barnes as its first President, and with
Henry de Jouvenel of France,
Ernst Jäckh
Ernst Jäckh (February 22, 1875 – August 17, 1959) was a German journalist, diplomat, author, and academic who later lived in Great Britain and the United States. He is most known for having advocated for first Germany, and then the United Sta ...
of Germany, and the American
Oscar T. Crosby as vice-presidents. It advocated the creation of an international tribunal and an international police force.
Later, the Society defended the creation of an international air force which would act as a military arm of the
League of Nations, promoting disarmament and keeping the world's peace. Those promoting the New Commonwealth included the millionaire
David Davies, 1st Baron Davies, who became its chairman, others who had taken part in building up the
League of Nations Union, and
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, who was elected as the organization's president.
Ernst Jaeckh
Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst"
* Anton Ernst (1975-) ...
was appointed as international director.
[ Perry Anderson, ''The New Old World'' (2011), p. 497]
In a speech to the Society in May 1937, Churchill said
Some of the ideas of the New Commonwealth Society were later incorporated into the
United Nations Charter.
Publications
To promote its aims, the Society published a monthly, ''The New Commonwealth'', from 1932 to 1950. It also published a quarterly from 1935 to 1943, first named ''New Commonwealth Quarterly'', later renamed the ''London Quarterly of World Affairs''.
[ Otto Neurath, ''Empiricism and Sociology'' (Dordrecht, D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1973)] Otto Neurath was a member of the editorial committee.
The Society also published many pamphlets and books.
Notes
Bibliography
*Christoph Johannes Ploß, ''Die "New Commonwealth Society"'' (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2017)
{{Authority control
Organizations established in 1932
Peace organisations based in the United Kingdom
Arms control