International Congress of Women1915 (22785230005)

Women at the Hague was an

International Congress of Women The International Congress of Women was created so that groups of existing women's suffrage movements could come together with other women's groups around the world. It served as a way for women organizations across the nation to establish formal m ...

conference held at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

, Netherlands in April 1915. It had over 1,100 delegates and it established an International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace (ICWPP) with

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage ...

as president. It led to the creation of the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

(WILPF).Paull, John (2018
The Women Who Tried to Stop the Great War: The International Congress of Women at The Hague 1915
In A. H. Campbell (Ed.), Global Leadership Initiatives for Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding (pp. 249-266). (Chapter 12) Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Preparations

The 1915 International Congress of Women was organized by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

feminist

Anita Augspurg Anita Theodora Johanna Sophie Augspurg (22 September 1857 – 20 December 1943) was a German jurist, actress, writer, activist of the radical feminist movement and a pacifist. Biography Augspurg was born the youngest daughter of the lawyer ...

, Germany's first female jurist, and

Lida Gustava Heymann Lida Gustava Heymann (15 March 1868 – 31 July 1943) was a Germans, German feminist, pacifist and women's rights activist. Together with her partner Anita Augspurg she was one of the most prominent figures in the bourgeois women's movement ...

(1868–1943) at the invitation of the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

pacifist, feminist and

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

Aletta Jacobs Aletta Henriëtte Jacobs (; 9 February 1854 – 10 August 1929) was a Dutch physician and women's suffrage activist. As the first woman officially to attend a Dutch university, she became one of the first female physicians in the Netherlands. I ...

to protest the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

then raging in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, and to suggest ways to prevent war in the future. The scheme of an International Congress of Women was formulated at a small conference of women from neutral and belligerent countries, held at

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

early in February 1915. A preliminary programme was drafted at this meeting, and it was agreed to request the Dutch women to form a committee to take in hand all the arrangement for the Congress and to issue the invitations. The expenses of the Congress were guaranteed by British, Dutch and German women present who all agreed to raise one third of the sum required. Invitations to take part in the Congress were sent to women's organisations and mixed organisations as well as to individual women all over the world. Each organisation was invited to appoint two delegates. Women only could become members of the Congress and they were required to express themselves in general agreement with the resolutions on the preliminary programme. This general agreement was interpreted to imply the conviction (a) That international disputes should be settled by pacific means; (b) That the parliamentary franchise should be extended to women.

The Congress

The Congress opened on April 28 and was attended by 1,136 participants from both neutral and belligerent

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective Identity (social science), identity of a group of people unde ...

s, adopted much of the platform of WPP and established an International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace (ICWPP) with

as president. WPP soon became the US Section of ICWPP The Congress was carried on under two important rules: # That discussions on the relative national responsibility for or conduct of the present war, # Resolutions dealing with the rules under which war shall in future be carried on, shall be outside the scope of the Congress.

Delegations

There were problems in getting 1200 women together during wartime. The delegation from Britain was trimmed by the Foreign Office to 24 delegates and actually only two (or three) made it to the Hague. Italy only managed one delegate and she was keen to note that she did not represent her country. One woman also came from Canada to represent what was called at the time "the Colonies". Countries represented included the United States, which sent 47 members; Sweden, 12; Norway, 12; Netherlands, 1,000; Italy, 1; Hungary, 9; Germany, 28; Denmark, 6; Canada, 2; Belgium, 5; Austria, 6, and Great Britain, 3, although 180 others from there were prevented from sailing owing to the closing of the North Sea for military reasons. The Congress, which was attended by a large number of visitors as well as by the members, was extremely successful. Proceedings were conducted with the greatest goodwill throughout, and the accompanying resolutions were passed at the business sessions.

Committee members

*Austria: Leopoldine Kulka, Olga Misar *Armenia: Lucy Thoumaian *Belgium: Eugenie Hamer, Marguerite Sarten *Denmark:

Thora Daugaard Theodora (Thora) Frederikke Marie Daugaard (22 October 1874 – 28 June 1951) was a Danish women's rights activist, pacifist, editor and translator. In 1915, she attended the International Women's Conference in The Hague, together with Clara Tybj ...

, Clara Tybjerg *Germany: Dr.

(Secretary and Interpreter) *Great Britain and Ireland:

Chrystal Macmillan Jessie Chrystal Macmillan (13 June 1872 – 21 September 1937) was a suffragist, peace activist, barrister, feminist and the first female science graduate from the University of Edinburgh as well as that institution's first female honours gradu ...

(Secretary),

Kathleen Courtney Dame Kathleen D'Olier Courtney, DBE ( – ) was a leader in the suffragist movement in the United Kingdom. Life Kathleen D'Olier Courtney was born the youngest of five daughters and the fifth of seven children of Lieutenant (later Major) David ...

(Interpreter) *Hungary: Vilma Glücklich,

Rosika Schwimmer Rosika Schwimmer ( hu, Schwimmer Rózsa; 11 September 1877 – 3 August 1948) was a Hungarian-born pacifist, feminist, world federalist, and women's suffragist. A co-founder of the Campaign for World Government with Lola Maverick Lloyd, her ...

*Italy: Rosa Genoni *Netherlands: Dr.

, Hanna van Biema-Hymans (Secretary), Dr. Mia Boissevain *Norway: Dr. Emily Arnesen, Louise Keilhau *Sweden:

Anna Kleman Anna Kleman at the International Congress of Women in 1915 Anna Sofia Kleman (1862–1940) was a Swedish insurance officer and feminist. She is remembered for her work as a women's rights activist and pacifist, especially in regard to voting right ...

, Emma Hansson *USA:

(President),

Fannie Fern Andrews Fannie Fern Andrews (Phillips) (1867–1950) was an American lecturer, teacher, social worker, and writer. Biography Fannie Fern and Frank Edward Phillips were twins, born on 25 September 1867 at Middleton, Annapolis (Nova Scotia) to Anni ...

Alice Hamilton Alice Hamilton (February 27, 1869Corn, JHamilton, Alice''American National Biography'' – September 22, 1970) was an American physician, research scientist, and author. She was a leading expert in the field of occupational health and a pioneer ...

References

Bibliography