School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses

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End date: 1989 × Start date: 1984 × Type: PhD thesis × Subject: pacifists ×

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    Defending the bad against the worse: the peace movement in Australia in the 1930s: its origins, structure and development.
    Rasmussen, Carolyn Anne ( 1984)
    This study of the origins, structure and development of the peace movement in Australia in the 1930s begins with an examination of opposition to war and militarism from the Boer War to 1918 and an overview of Australian external relations between the wars. The formative influences of the experience and changing perceptions of world war one and the economic collapse at the end of the 1920s are examined in detail in order to provide insight into the elements of continuity and difference which are discernible in the peace movement in the 19308. The study then concentrates on the development and progress of the world-wide attempt to prevent the outbreak of a second world war known as the Popular Front, the aim of which was to unite all opponents of war, whatever the philosophical origin of their opposition, in a mass movement of sufficient strength to force governments to adhere to the principles of negotiation, open diplomacy and collective security as embodied in the League of Nations Covenants. The development of the Popular Front in Australia was partly derivative of European influences and partly parallel as Australians, inhabiting an outpost of European culture)were subject to much the same significant experiences of war and depression as their counterparts elsewhere. The peace movement in Australia, therefore, is placed in the context of a continuing tradition of opposition. to war and militarism and the principal focus of this study is on the liberal-humanist strand in the peace movement and its uneasy relationship with both strict pacifism and international socialism as it sought to reconcile the rejection of war as a legitimate instrument of international relations and escalating horror in the face of the aggressive expansionism of the fascist nations. The major part of this study is concerned with a detailed examination of the response of Australian peace advocates to the organisational and philosophical issues thrown up by the nature of international relations in the 1930s as they manifested themselves in the International Peace Campaign and through a consideration of the ideas and activities of a number of peace activists in the 1930s.