The Ligue internationale de la paix (League of Peace and Freedom) was created after a public opinion campaign against a war between the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

and the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

over

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. The

Luxembourg crisis The Luxembourg Crisis (, ) was a diplomatic dispute and confrontation in 1867 between France and Prussia over the political status of Luxembourg. The confrontation almost led to war between the two parties, but was peacefully resolved by the ...

was peacefully resolved in 1867 by the Treaty of London but in 1870 the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

could not be prevented so the league dissolved and refounded as the 'Société française pour l'arbitrage entre nations' (League of arbitration between the Nations) in the same year. The Société française pour l'arbitrage entre nations can be seen as a precursor of the

Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides administrative support in international ...

, founded with the first

Hague Peace Conference The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amon ...

in 1899, and a precursor of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

, founded with the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

in 1919 and followed by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. The establishment of the Permanent Court of Arbitration was also set up by the

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...

that Frédéric Passy founded together with

William Randal Cremer Sir William Randal Cremer (18 March 1828 – 22 July 1908) usually known by his middle name "Randal", was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament, a pacifist, and a leading advocate for i ...

in 1889.

History

The first "Society of Peace" was created in 1830 by Jean-Jacques de Sellon. Several people from various countries meet between the

Allaman Castle Allaman Castle () is a castle in the Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of Allaman in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Vaud, Vaud in Switzerland. It has its origins in the 11/12th Century but the main components were built ...

and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

at the initiative of Sellon's account, who then founded the "Société de la Paix de Genève". Jean-Jacques de Sellon started from the principle of the inviolability of the human person, which led him first to lead a campaign for the

abolition Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to something by law, and may refer to: *Abolitionism, abolition of slavery *Capital punishment#Abolition of capital punishment, Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment *Abolitio ...

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

and the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

, then to devote himself to propaganda in favor of peace and arbitration between nations. The first European Peace Congress, convened by the London Peace Society on the initiative of the

American Peace Society The American Peace Society was a pacifist group founded upon the initiative of William Ladd, in New York City, May 8, 1828. It was formed by the merging of many state and local societies, from New York, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, ...

, met in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1843. A congress was held in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1848 then – chaired by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

– in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from August 22 to 24, 1849. Next came the congresses in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in 1850, then in London in 1851. The year 1867 was marked by strong international tension, after the victory of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

over

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and Prussia were on the verge of war.

Frédéric Passy Frédéric Passy (20 May 182212 June 1912) was a French economist and pacifist who was a founding member of several peace societies and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He was also an author and politician, sitting in the Chamber of Deputies fro ...

, journalist at ''Le Temps'', led a campaign against this war, as did, for example, Evariste Mangin, director of the Nantes newspaper ''Le Phare de la Loire''. On May 30, 1867, Frédéric Passy founded the International League of Peace and Freedom in Paris.

Inaugural Congress (1867)

The Inaugural Congress of the League of Peace and Freedom (French: Ligue internationale de la paix et de la liberte) was originally planned for September 5, 1867 in

Emile Acollas Emile or Émile may refer to: * Émile (novel) (1827), autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life * Emile, Canadian film made in 2003 by Carl Bessai * '' Emile: or, On Education'' (1762) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a treatise o ...

set up the League's Organising Committee, which enlisted the support of

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...

Élisée Reclus Jacques Élisée Reclus (; 15 March 18304 July 1905) was a French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork, ''La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes'' ("Universal Geography"), over a period of ...

, and his brother Élie Reclus. Other notable supporters included contemporary activists, revolutionaries, and intellectuals such as

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

Louis Blanc Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc ( ; ; 29 October 1811 – 6 December 1882) was a French Socialism, socialist politician, journalist and historian. He called for the creation of cooperatives in order to job guarantee, guarantee employment for t ...

Edgar Quinet Edgar Quinet (; 17 February 180327 March 1875) was a French historian and intellectual. Biography Early years Quinet was born at Bourg-en-Bresse, in the ''département'' of Ain. His father, Jérôme Quinet, had been a commissary in the army, ...

, Jules Favre, and

Alexander Herzen Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (; ) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the precursor of Russian socialism and one of the main precursors of agrarian populism (being an ideological ancestor of the Narodniki, Socialist-Revolutionaries, Trudo ...

. Ten thousand people from across Europe signed petitions in support of the Congress. They also counted on the participation of the

International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, social democratic, communist, and anarchist g ...

(IWMA), inviting the sections of the IWMA and its leaders, including

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

, to attend the Congress. They decided to postpone the opening of the Congress until September 9, so as to enable delegates of the Lausanne Congress of the IWMA (to be held on September 2–8) to take part.

While the balloting was going on, Citizen Marx called attention to the Peace Congress to be held in Geneva. He said: It was desirable that as many delegates as could make it convenient should attend the Peace Congress in their individual capacity; but that it would be injudicious to take part officially as representatives of the International Association. The International Working Men’s Congress was in itself a peace congress, as the union of the working classes of the different countries must ultimately make international wars impossible. If the promoters of the Geneva Peace Congress really understood the question at issue they ought to have joined the International Association. The Bee-Hive Newspaper'' August 17, 1867, reporting on a meeting of the IWMA Central Council.">The_Bee-Hive_(journal).html" ;"title="rom ''The Bee-Hive (journal)">The Bee-Hive Newspaper'' August 17, 1867, reporting on a meeting of the IWMA Central Council./blockquote> The anarchist
Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, s ...
also played a prominent role in the Geneva Conference, and joined the Central Committee. The founding conference was attended by 6,000 people. As Bakunin rose to speak:
the cry passed from mouth to mouth: "Bakunin!"
Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...
, who was in the chair, stood up, advanced a few steps and embraced him. This solemn meeting of two old and tried warriors of the revolution produced an astonishing impression .... Everyone rose and there was a prolonged and enthusiastic clapping of hands.

Bern Congress (1868)
The second congress of the League of Peace and Freedom took place in
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
from September 21 to 25, 1868. Invited to be officially represented there, the International Workingmen's Association (IWA) decided a few days earlier, at its Brussels Congress, not to send a delegation there. The Bern congress was mainly marked by lively debates during the discussion on "the relationship of the economic and social question with that of peace and freedom", between the democratic majority ( Gustave Chaudey, Friborg, etc.) and the socialist minority (
Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, s ...
, Walery Mroczkowski,
Élisée Reclus Jacques Élisée Reclus (; 15 March 18304 July 1905) was a French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork, ''La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes'' ("Universal Geography"), over a period of ...
, Giuseppe Fanelli, Aristide Rey, etc.). The Socialists presented the following resolution: At the end of the discussions this resolution was rejected by the congress. On September 25, the socialist minority decided to quit the League for Peace and Freedom and to create the
International Alliance of Socialist Democracy The International Alliance of Socialist Democracy was an organisation founded by Mikhail Bakunin along with 79 other members on 28 October 1868, as an organisation within the International Workingmen's Association (IWA). The establishment of the ...
.

The Lausanne Congress (1869)
The Bern Congress was nearly the last. The central committee, one of whose main tasks was to prepare the next meeting of the League, performed its mission very poorly and it was the Geneva committee which had to take the initiative for the 3rd Congress. On July 11, 1869, the Lausanne congress saw the election of a new central committee headed by Jules Barni. He proposed the following discussion program: determining the bases of a federal organization for Europe, the problems of the Eastern question and the
Polish question The Polish question ( or ) was the issue, in international politics, of the existence of Poland as an independent state. Raised soon after the partitions of Poland in the late 18th century, it became a question current in European and American d ...
in relation to the principles of the League. The committee decided to offer the honorary presidency to
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
, who officially accepted in a letter of September 5, 1869. It was during this congress that
Ferdinand Buisson Ferdinand Édouard Buisson (; 20 December 1841 – 16 February 1932) was a French educational public servant, pacifist, and Radical-Socialist (left liberal) politician. He presided over the League of Education from 1902 to 1906 and over the Hum ...
read a speech which ended with the famous tirade: "children to say to themselves: a uniform is a livery, and any livery is ignominious, that of the priest and that of the soldier, that of the magistrate and that of the lackey."

Dissolution
The league disappeared with the
Franco-Prussian war The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...
of 1870, then was re-founded under the name of the ''French Society of Friends of Peace'', which became the ''French Society for Arbitration between Nations''. The Society of Arbitration between Nations prefigured the
Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides administrative support in international ...
created by
Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amon ...
. It published the magazine ''United States of Europe''.

See also
*
List of anti-war organizations In order to facilitate organized, determined, and principled opposition to the wars, people have often founded anti-war organizations. These groups range from temporary coalitions which address one war or pending war, to more permanent structured ...

References

Bibliography

André Durand: ''Gustave Moynier and the peace societies''. In: ''International Review of the Red Cross'', no 314, p. 532–550 (31-10-1996)
{{Authority control 1867 establishments in Switzerland Karl Marx Mikhail Bakunin Peace organisations based in Switzerland International arbitration courts and tribunals Organizations established in 1867 International Workingmen's Association