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The War Resisters League (WRL) was formed in 1923 by men and women who had opposed World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. It is a section of the London-based War Resisters' International
War Resisters' International

War Resisters' International is an international anti-war organization with members and affiliates in over thirty countries. Its headquarters are in London, UK....
.

Many of the founders had been jailed during World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 for refusing military service
Conscription in the United States

Conscription in the United States has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War. The United States discontinued the draft in 1973, moving to an all-volunteer United States Military, thus there is currently no mandatory conscription....
. From the Fellowship of Reconciliation
Fellowship of Reconciliation

The Fellowship of Reconciliation is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries....
 many Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s, suffragists, socialists, and anarchists
Anarchists

'Anarchists' may refer to:*Supporters of the principles of anarchism*Anarchists *The Anarchists, a book*"The Anarchists " , a famous song from L?o Ferr?...
 separated to form this more secular organization. It has historically been linked to the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America

The Socialist Party of America was a Democratic socialism political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America which had split from the main organization in 1899....
, with many of its leading members also in the SP. (Many of its members are still in the Socialist Party USA
Socialist Party USA

The Socialist Party USA is one of the heirs to the Socialist Party of America of Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas. It is a democratic socialism, multi-tendency party, advocating a broad-based, social revolution from below....
.)

During World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, many members were imprisoned.






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The War Resisters League (WRL) was formed in 1923 by men and women who had opposed World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. It is a section of the London-based War Resisters' International
War Resisters' International

War Resisters' International is an international anti-war organization with members and affiliates in over thirty countries. Its headquarters are in London, UK....
.

Many of the founders had been jailed during World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 for refusing military service
Conscription in the United States

Conscription in the United States has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War. The United States discontinued the draft in 1973, moving to an all-volunteer United States Military, thus there is currently no mandatory conscription....
. From the Fellowship of Reconciliation
Fellowship of Reconciliation

The Fellowship of Reconciliation is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries....
 many Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s, suffragists, socialists, and anarchists
Anarchists

'Anarchists' may refer to:*Supporters of the principles of anarchism*Anarchists *The Anarchists, a book*"The Anarchists " , a famous song from L?o Ferr?...
 separated to form this more secular organization. It has historically been linked to the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America

The Socialist Party of America was a Democratic socialism political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America which had split from the main organization in 1899....
, with many of its leading members also in the SP. (Many of its members are still in the Socialist Party USA
Socialist Party USA

The Socialist Party USA is one of the heirs to the Socialist Party of America of Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas. It is a democratic socialism, multi-tendency party, advocating a broad-based, social revolution from below....
.)

During World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, many members were imprisoned. In the 1950s, WRL members worked in the US civil rights movement and organized protests against nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion....
s testing and so-called civil defense
United States civil defense

United States civil defense refers to the use of civil defense in the history of the United States, which is the organized non-military effort to prepare American civilians for military attack....
 drills. In the 1960s, WRL was the first pacifist organization to call for an end to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina Wars, the Vietnam Conflict, or often in Vietnam the American War occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to April 30, 1975....
. The organization's opposition to nuclear weapons was extended to include nuclear power
Nuclear power

Nuclear power is any nuclear technology designed to extract usable energy from atomic nucleus via controlled nuclear reactions. The only method in use today is through nuclear fission, though other methods might one day include nuclear fusion and radioactive decay ....
 in the 1970s and 1980s. WRL has also been active in feminist and anti-racist causes and works with other organizations to reduce the level of violence in modern culture.

Today, the War Resisters League is actively organizing against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the impact of war at home. Much of its organizing is focused on challenging military recruiters and ending corporate profit from war. It publishes an annual peace calendar, the quarterly magazine WIN: Through Revolutionary Nonviolence, and other materials and is involved in a number of national peace and justice coalitions, including United for Peace and Justice
United for Peace and Justice

United for Peace and Justice is a coalition of more than 1,300 international and U.S.-based organizations opposed to what they describe as "our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building."...
 and the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee
National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee

The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee is an United States activist group that promotes tax resistance as a way to protest against and/or disassociate from war and militarism....
. Since 1958, WRL has awarded almost annually the War Resisters League Peace Award
War Resisters League Peace Award

Since 1958, the "War Resisters League", the pacifist group founded in 1923, has awarded almost annually its War Resisters League Peace Award to a person or organization whose work represents the League's radical nonviolent program of Gandhian action....
 to a person or organization whose work represents the League's radical nonviolent program of action.

The War Resisters League annually publishes a pie chart showing how much of the U.S. federal budget actually covers current and past military expenses. This pie chart has been criticized for its allegedly spurious figures.

See also

  • List of anti-war organizations
    List of anti-war organizations

    In order to facilitate organized opposition to war, anti-war activists have often founded anti-war organizations. These groups range from temporary coalitions to more permanent structured organizations....
  • Dave Dellinger
  • Ralph DiGia
    Ralph DiGia

    Ralph DiGia was a World War II conscientious objector, lifelong pacifist and social justice activist, and staffer for 52 years at the War Resisters League....
  • G. Simon Harak
    G. Simon Harak

    G. Simon Harak, S. J. is an American peace activist and professor of theology and Director of the Center for Peacemaking at Marquette University....
  • David McReynolds
    David McReynolds

    David McReynolds is an United States democratic socialism and pacifist activist who described himself as "a peace movement bureaucrat" during his 40-year career with Liberation magazine and the War Resisters League....
  • Grace Paley
    Grace Paley

    Grace Paley was an United States short story writer, poetry and political activist....
  • Bayard Rustin
    Bayard Rustin

    Bayard Rustin was an United States civil rights activist, important largely behind the scenes in the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and American Civil Rights Movement , and one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom....
  • Carmen Trotta
    Carmen Trotta

    Carmen Trotta is a pacifist. Consistent with his service in the Catholic Worker Movement, he has been an opponent of the war in Iraq, even when it had the support of 90% of US citizens....


External links

  • - an effort to let US soldiers stay in Canada so they don't have to fight in Iraq or go to prison


Further reading

Bennett, Scott H. Radical Pacifism: The War Resisters League and Gandhian Nonviolence in America, 1915-1963 NY: Syracuse Univ. Press, 2003.