War Resisters' International Archives

Period 1921-2005
Total size 59.8 m.
Consultation Restricted

History

Founded in 1921 as an international association of autonomous national, regional and local radical pacifist organizations under the name Paco (`Peace' in Esperanto) in Bilthoven, the Netherlands, by Kees Boeke and others; member of the International Antimilitarist Bureau; secretariat in Bilthoven 1921-1923; renamed War Resisters' International (WRI) in 1923, with its secretariat in Enfield, a suburb of London 1923-1968, then in London 1968-1974, in Brussels 1974-1980 and from 1980 in London again; cooperated with other congenial international organizations like the International Fellowship of Reconciliation; participated in the Joint Peace Council and the Rassemblement Internationale contre la Guerre et le Militarisme; introduced the Broken Rifle as its symbol in 1932; propagated nonviolence and antimilitarism and supported conscientious objectors, victims of persecutions etc.; published the annual Roll of Honour (of war resisters in prison) and celebrated the yearly Prisoners of Peace Day (1st December); has its main sections in Western Europe, the USA, India, Japan and Australia, but much attention is also paid to the Third World, Eastern Europe and Southern Africa.

Content

File on the foundation of Paco, consisting of correspondence, convocations and pamphlets 1921-1923; minutes and agenda of and some correspondence and notes concerning Triennial Conferences 1925-1986; minutes of and other documents concerning the Council 1926-1981 and the Executive Committee 1935, 1954-1982; circulars, including circulars to members of the Council 1923-1987; general correspondence 1966-1992; copies of outgoing letters 1977-1988; correspondence with Council members and with sections and other representatives in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, German Federal Republic, Great Britain, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, USA, Uruguay and other countries, including correspondence with Grace Beaton, Harold Bing, Hem Day, Johan Galtung, Devi Prasad, Eugen Relgis, Hein van Wijk and others 1922-1991; correspondence with other international peace organizations 1928-1989; correspondence with and other documents relating to pacifist and peace organizations in various countries, most of them affiliated with the WRI 1932-1993; financial documents 1930-1980; press releases 1928-1978; copies of WRI newsletters 1965-1990; files on contacts with the UN 1948-1979; on study conferences, peace marches and training in nonviolence 1961-1990; on the help to refugees, including Jewish emigrants before and during the Second World War; on the help to members of sects, including the Duchobory in Canada, the Nazarenes in Yugoslavia and the Jehovah's Witnesses in a number of countries like Greece and the Soviet Union 1926-1969; on the position of conscientious objectors and other resisters of military service in different countries, including documents on national military service regulations 1923-1987; on WRI publications and periodicals 1923-1991; on the Roll of Honour and the Prisoners for Peace Day 1926-1983 and on other subjects; pamphlets, leaflets and press clippings 1925-1986; documents of the South American Settlement for Refugees (SASR) 1936-1960; the World Peace Brigade 1961-1967; the Internationale der Kriegsdienstgegner (IDK), Gruppe Zürich 1966-1971; the British No More War Movement 1922-1937; the WRI Youth Secretariat 1932-1936; the Lansbury House Trust Fund 1967-1985; papers of Hem Day (Belgium), consisting of correspondence, reports and documentation 1923-1961 and papers of Myrtle Salomon, chairwoman and treasurer of the WRI, consisting of correspondence and other documents from her WRI period (1921-)1975-1987 and documents relating to her membership of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), the British affiliate of the WRI 1946-1987. Annex: a file concerning Lev Nicolaevič Tolstoj and his associate Vladimir G. Čertkov, including documents concerning his son Vladimir V. Čertkov 1902-1962.

Additional records 1967-1998, including financial records 1923-1926, 1934-1955 and 1963-1976, a file on the End Conscription Campaign (ECC) in South Africa 1985-1990 and a file on the Gulf War 1990-1991.

Additional records 1977-2000; documents concerning the Triennial Conferences 1986-1994, the annual council meetings 1988-1997; 'daily files' with correspondence 1993-2000; files concerning conscientious objection 1977-1998; documents concerning sections, the Balkan Peace Team 1993-2000; a notebook written by Myrtle Solomon 1985.

Additional records 1972-2001; documents concerning the Triennial Conference 1996-1998, the annual council meeting 2000, fundraising 1972-1998, the 4th International Women's Conference 1990-1993, conscientious objection and child soldiers 1985-2000, Lansbury House Trust Fund (LHTF) 1976-1992, Alternative Defence Commission (ADC) 1978-1986 and other affiliated organizations, sections and WRI events 1976-2000; documentation 1985-2001.Documents concerning the 22th Triennial Conference ‘Choosing Peace Together’ from 19 to 24 September 1998 in Porec, Croatia 1996-1998; the WRI Women groups and the 4th International Women’s Conference ‘Women Overcoming Violence: Redefining Development and Changing Society Through Nonviolence’ in Bangkok, Thailand 1990-1993; the meetings and projects of the Lansbury House Trust Fund 1976-1992; the Alternative Defence Commission 1978-1986; the Committee for Conflict Transformation 1998-2000; the Gulf Peace Team 1985-1997 and on conscientious objection and child soldiers 1985-2000.

Additional records 1972-2005: documents concerning the WRI statement on Wars of Liberation 1990; Triennial Conferences 1994-2002; sections and associations 1981-2001; Nonviolence and social empowerment project 1991-2001; contacts with other international organizations 1982-2003; conscientious objection rights and conflicts in various countries and regions 1982-2005.

Processing information

List part 1 (inv.nrs. 1-444) made by J.R. van der Leeuw in 1984

List accrual 1991 (inv.nrs. 445-497) made by Amanda Elsinghorst and Henk Hondius in 1992

List accruals 1994 (inv.nrs. 498-529), 1997 (inv.nrs. 530-590) and 1999 (inv.nrs. 591-606) made by Henk Hondius in 1994, 1997 and 2000

List accrual 2002 (inv.nrs. 607-681) made Bernard Mantel in 2003

List accrual (inv.nrs. 682-794) made by Marie-Christine Engels in 2005

List accrual 2005-2007 (inv.nrs. 795-996) made by Erhan Tuskan in 2008

Secondary creator

Day, Hem. Solomon, Myrtle. South American Settlement for Refugees. World Peace Brigade. War Resisters' International. Section Suisse. No More War Movement (London) War Resisters' International.Youth Secretariat. Lansbury House Trust Fund (London)

Alternate Form of Material

Microfiche publication by Harvester Press (1977)