Women who opposed the first world war

 WOMEN WHO OPPOSED THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Women in Black against War, Madrid.

Madrid. Malatesta Publishing House. 2018.

Pages 155. 

 

In the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the First World War that began in 2014, there were many publications dedicated to the war, its origins, development, consequences and effects on the population and the new frontiers.

At a time in modern history when there were initiatives and hopes for the elimination of borders, voices were raised that saw the war that was being prepared as a way of separating and pitting populations, and both the war itself and its consequences were going to affect all areas of society in a catastrophic way.

In the big amount of publications generated by the centenary, the references we found to opposition to the war were minimal and poor, but they seemed to us to be only the top of the iceberg. From the beginning of our search the findings were numerous and very valuable. They seemed to us to be so current in their approach and analysis that many of them could be a reference for our work against war in the 21st century: the causes and origins of war; how the powers created enemies among equals; what it meant for the civilian population and the ecosystem; the human lives it took, both in mobilised men and civilians, and the endless resources it needed; the denunciation of new armaments; the persecution by different governments of people who opposed it; the activities of feminists against war...

The validity of all these approaches and the determination with which they confronted the war, with serious personal consequences, drove us to rescue from oblivion and to pay homage to those women who preceded us, and that is what we do in this book. It has been our challenge to try to bring together in a single text their names, their lives, their contributions to feminism and pacifism, albeit in a very brief way, and to disseminate it so that it becomes known.

We also find important and diverse initiatives from civil society, both collectively and individually, and not only in the academic field. We think that these organisations could have been the first to be formed to work together, in a programmed way, and to jump over borders against wars.

In addition to the sketches of biographies of women from various countries, most of them at war, we have included some organisations, publications and congresses that were made against the confrontation and to try to make the Peace of Versailles, which put an end to the Great War, a real peace and not the origin of a new conflict.

We know that there are many more biographies of women that are not reflected in the book, many more stories to be recovered because they reflect the forgotten life and work of those who preceded us in pacifism and anti-militarism. It becomes essential to rescue the thought of opposition to war - or wars - that has been left out of educational institutions despite the fact that it is also history. This learning would help demilitarise minds and internalise the meaning of war for the whole of humanity. It would help us to assume the responsibility of not leaving in the hands of states or institutions such as the UN the right to declare them, to prepare them, to execute them in our name and with our resources.

And it is the best tribute we can pay to all the Women who opposed the First World War, in particular, and all wars in general.

Translated: Concha de Sena, de Madrid