The No-Conscription Fellowship was a British

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 which was founded in London by Fenner Brockway and Clifford Allen on 27 November 1914, after the First World War had failed to reach an early conclusion. Other prominent supporters included John Clifford,

Bruce Glasier John Bruce Glasier (25 March 1859 – 4 June 1920) was a Scottish socialist politician, associated mainly with the Independent Labour Party. He was opposed to the First World War. Biography Glasier was born in Glasgow as John Bruce, but grew u ...

, Hope Squire, Bertrand Russell, Robert Smillie and Philip Snowden.

Background

A focus of the campaign was the Military Service Act which introduced

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 ...

in 1916. Branches were established across the country, leaflets were produced and deputations sent to lobby Parliament. They were successful in getting provision for

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

s in the bill, but opposed the establishment of the army's Non-Combatant Corps.

History

The founders and other members were jailed for their opposition to conscription. Bertrand Russell took over from Clifford Allen as the chairman of the organisation while Catherine Marshall took over from Fenner Brockway as secretary. Marshall was in love with Clifford Allen and, when he was suffering from the effects of imprisonment, she drove herself to the point of exhaustion and Lilla Brockway then resumed the role of secretary in 1917, as she had been provisional secretary in 1916. The National Committee in 1916 was A. Barratt Brown,

Alfred Salter Alfred Salter (16 June 1873 – 24 August 1945) was a British medical practitioner and Labour Party politician. Early life Salter was born in Greenwich in 1873, the son of Walter Hookway Salter and Elizabeth Tester. Following education at The ...

, Aylmer Rose, Bertrand Russell, C.H. Norman, Catherine Marshall, Clifford Allen, Edward Grubb, Fenner Brockway, John P. Fletcher,

Morgan Jones Morgan Jones may refer to: *Morgan Jones (actor, born 1879) (1879–1951), American silent film actor and screenwriter *Morgan Jones (actor, born 1928) (1928–2012), American film and television actor *Morgan Jones (broadcaster), Welsh television ...

, Rev. Leyton Richards, Will Chamberlain. The Scottish organisation was led by Marjory Newbold, whose husband Walton became a Communist MP. Branches were established across the country and the first national convention was held on 27 November 1915 at the Congregational Memorial Hall. The second convention was held the following year on 8 April at Devonshire House — a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

meeting place in

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into ''Bishopsgate Within'', inside the line wall, and ''Bishop ...

Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer. It was Webb who coined the term ''collective bargaining''. She ...

, who was pro-war, recorded the occasion in her diary, From March 1916 the NCF published ''The Tribunal''. In an effort to suppress this publication, the police raided the

National Labour Press The National Labour Press (NLP) was founded in 1909 to undertake printing for the Independent Labour Party (ILP). It published the ''Labour Leader'' as well as other ILP material. It was originally located at 30 Blackfriars Street. In July 1915 ...

and dismantled the printing press. However the NCF had a secret press and were able to continue publishing. Historian Thomas Kennedy says that during the last two years of the war, the NCF remained a:Thomas C. Kennedy, "No-Conscription Fellowship" in Fred M. Leventhal, ed., ''Twentieth-century Britain: an encyclopedia'' (Garland, 1995) pp 571-72. :minor but troublesome irritant to the authorities, using its surprisingly resilient propaganda machinery to expose brutal or illegal treatment of conscientious objectors as well as to agitate, especially among the industrial working classes, an end to the conflict.

Background

History

See also

References

Further reading