| dc.description.abstract | This thesis breaks new ground in examining for the first time the history of pacifism in
interwar France. It attempts to define the contours of the French peace movement, to
describe it organisationally and in terms of its intellectual content, and finally to place
interwar pacifism in the broader context of French political culture. The study is based on
several years of primary research in Paris, London, Washington, and Philadelphia, and
makes extensive use of hitherto unused archival sources and printed primary material. Of
especial interest is the wealth of information gleaned from the Fonds Gabrielle Duchene,
the-Romain Rolland papers (which are still being catalogued), the Andre Trocm6 papers,
and others.
The first section of the thesis, on pacifisme ancien style, analyses the interwar
development of traditional 'ideological' or 'collaborative' French pacifism with roots
which go back into the nineteenth century. In the twenties this type of pacifism followed
an ascending curve in terms of pacifist commitment, but was never able to embrace the
absolute claims of the more radical pacifism which was developing within and around it.
There then emerged from this first paradigm the paradigm of pacifisme nouveau style -
which is the subject of the second section. This resulted from the slow convergence of three
complementary strands of dissent from political society: historical dissent over the origins
of the Great War and the thesis of unique German war guilt; political dissent over the
nature of contemporary French political society; and finally, a dissenting belief that
another war would spell the end of western civilisation. The third section deals with
feminist pacifism. Its evolution was in opposition to the prevailing trend already
elaborated, moving from a position of integral pacifism in the early twenties to an
increasingly 'collaborative' stance in the thirties which had close links with Soviet
inspired peace and antifascist movements in France.
One of the principal themes of this thesis is the essentially political nature of French
pacifism as opposed to the primarily ethical or religious (especially non-conformist
Protestant) thinking infusing much of Anglo-American pacifism. It also considers, among
much else, the extent to which violence was considered an acceptable tactic by some parts of
French pacifism, especially in response to the threat of incipient fascism. The thesis
concludes with two Appendices, the first examining the French government's response to the
perceived problem of conscientious objection in 1933, and the second examining the political
trajectory of Romain Rolland on the problem of peace in the interwar era. | en |
