Conscientious Objection

x, 265 p. ; 23 cm

Most of the men who found themselves imprisoned for conscientious objection during World War I were characterised as absolutist objectors. These men were not willing to participate in the war effor…

The Wartime Statistics Committee was established by Meeting for Sufferings in June 1917, a year after the introduction of conscription, to collect statistics on men of military age. Its records are…

The Military Service Act came into force on 2 March 1916, and Quakers nationally are marking the centenary. Our new online exhibition Matter of conscience: Quakers and conscription gives an overvie…

Last month an exciting new exhibition telling the story of World War II conscientious objectors opened at the National War Museum at Edinburgh Castle. Conscience Matters is the result of a partners…

These two volumes on war-resisters in the present borough of Southwark are a salute across a century to the men and women who stood out against the War of 14-18 by refusing to serve or by campaigning against it. John Taylor has recovered their story, and presents it here in the wider context of the home front, military failure, domestic politics, and world events, showing how the anti-war movement developed over time.

The Swarthmore College Peace Collection is open by appointment for researchers.  Please see the Swarthmore College Special Collections page for more information and to schedule an appointment.

Arthur Watts, 1888-1958, was from a Quaker family in Manchester that strongly opposed militarism and conscription. Arthur volunteered at national level on behalf of the Friends Service Committee and abroad as part of the Friends War Victim Relief Service before 1916 and again after the war. On being called up in 1916, however, Arthur took an absolutist stance, refusing to follow orders in the Non-Combatant Corps to which he was initally assigned or accept placement in the Home Office Scheme where he was later sent. He was court martialled twice and served time in prison.

Learn more about the arms trade during the First World War at the Arming all Sides website

Episode 37: Around 16,000 men refused to take up arms or fight during the First World War for any number of religious, moral, ethical or political reasons. They were known as conscientious objectors. Hear soldiers recall how they were treated for resisting military service.