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See also anti-militarism.

The term anti-war sometimes refers to pacifism, i.e., opposition to all use of military force during conflicts, but most often is used in the context of opposing one particular nation's decision to wage war. Many activists distinguish between anti-war movements and peace movements. Anti-war activists believe that most wars have an aggressor and that their movement works to ensure that the aggressor (whose goals they see as selfish) ends their war.

Contents 1 Usage 2 History of modern anti-war movements 2.1 American Civil War 2.2 World War I 2.3 Between the World Wars 2.4 World War II 2.5 Vietnam War 2.6 South African Border War 2.7 2001 Afghanistan War 2.8 The Iraq War 2.9 Perceived risk of Iran War 3 References 4 See also 5 External links

Many groups call themselves anti-war activists though their opinions may be different: some anti-war activists may be equally opposed to both sides' military campaign; in contrast, many modern activists are against only one side's (usually the most powerful) campaigns, feeling that the war will end if one side pulls out, as with the Second Iraq War.

Anti-war movements and pacifist movements are related, but are not one and the same, although members of anti-war campaigns often marshall pacifistic imagery and arguments. Pacifism is the belief that conflict is never acceptable, and that society should not be structured to maintain a stance of readiness to fight in a conflict (See disarmament). While pacifists oppose all war, anti-war activists may be against only a particular conflict or conflicts.

The historic peace churches, the Brethren, the Mennonites and the Quakers teach that Jesus advocates nonviolence, and that his followers must do likewise.

The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

Further information: Opposition to the American Civil War

A key event in the early history of the modern anti-war stance in literature and society was the American Civil War, where it culminated in the candidacy of George McClellan for President of the United States as a "Peace Democrat" against incumbent President Abraham Lincoln. The outlines of the anti-war stance are seen: the argument that the costs of maintaining the present conflict are not worth the gains which can be made, the appeal to end the horrors of war, and the argument that war is being waged for the profit of particular interests. During the war, the New York Draft Riots were started violent protests against Abraham Lincoln's Enrollment Act of Conscription plan to draft men to fight in the war. After the war, The Red Badge of Courage described the chaos and sense of death which resulted from the changing style of combat: away from the set engagement, and towards two armies engaging in continuous battle over a wide area.

With the increasing mechanization of war, opposition to its horrors grew, particularly in the wake of the First World War. The European avant-garde cultural movements such as Dada which were explicitly anti-war.

On June 16, 1918, Eugene V. Debs made an anti-war speech and was arrested under the Espionage Act of 1917. He was convicted, sentenced to serve ten years in prison, but President Warren G. Harding commuted his sentence on December 25, 1921.

It was in the 1930s that the Western anti-war movement took shape, to which the political and organizational roots of most of the existing movement can be traced. Characteristics of the anti-war movement included opposition to the corporate interests perceived as benefiting from war, to the status quo which was trading the lives of the young for the comforts of those who are older, the concept that those who were drafted were from poor families and would be fighting a war in place of privileged individuals who were able to avoid the draft and military service, and to the lack of input in decision making that those who would die in the conflict would have in deciding to engage in it.

Many war veterans, including US General Smedley Butler, would speak out against wars and war profiteering on their return to civilian life.

Veterans were still extremely cynical about the motivations for entering WWI, but many were willing to fight later in the Spanish Civil War, indicating that pacifism was not always the motivation. These trends were depicted in novels such as All Quiet on the Western Front, For Whom the Bell Tolls and Johnny Got His Gun.

Further information: Opposition to World War II

Opposition to World War II was most vocal during its early period, and stronger still before it started while appeasement and isolationism were considered viable diplomatic options. Communist-led organizations, including veterans of the Spanish Civil War^[1], opposed the war during the period of the Hitler-Stalin pact but then turned into hawks after Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

The war seemed, for a time, to set anti-war movements at a distinct social disadvantage; very few, mostly ardent pacifists, continued to argue against the war and its results at the time. However, the Cold War followed with the post-war realignment, and the opposition resumed. The grim realities of modern combat, and the nature of mechanized society insured that the anti-war viewpoint would again find presentation in Catch-22, Slaughterhouse-Five and The Tin Drum. This sentiment grew in strength as the Cold War seemed to present the situation of an unending series of conflicts, which were fought at terrible cost to the younger generations.

Further information: Opposition to the Vietnam War

Opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began slowly and in small numbers in 1964 on various college campuses in the United States. Countercultural works such as the notorious MacBird by Barbara Garson encouraged a spirit of nonconformism and anti-establishmentarianism. This anti-war sentiment developed during a time of unprecedented student activism reinforced in numbers by the demographically significant baby boomers, but grew to include a wide and varied cross-section of Americans from all walks of life. Many veterans of Vietnam, including US Senator John Kerry, would speak out against the Vietnam conflict on their return to civilian life.

main article:South African resistance to war

Opposition to South Africa's border war spread to a general resistance to the apartheid military. Organisations such as the End Conscription Campaign and Committee on South African War Resisters, were set up.

Further information: Opposition to the 2001 Afghanistan War

There was consiserable opposition to the 2001 Afghanistan War in the United States and the United Kingdom. Opposition was organised locally by the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan^[2] and internationally in the form of protests by various anti-war organisations who would go on to organise much larger protests against the 2003 Iraq War.^[3][4]

Further information: Opposition to the Iraq War

The anti-war position gained renewed support and attention in the build up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and its allies. Millions of people staged mass protests across the world in the immediate prelude to the invasion, and demonstrations and other forms of anti-war activism have continued throughout the occupation. The primary opposition within the U.S. to the continued occupation of Iraq has come from the grassroots. Opposition to the conflict, how it had been fought, and complications during the aftermath period divided public sentiment in the U.S., resulting in majority public opinion turning against the war for the first time in the spring of 2004. Majority opinion in the most of the world has remained generally anti-war throughout. Through 2005 and 2006, Americans increasingly became to feel that the war was a mistake, that America was not safer from terrorism because of the war in Iraq, and that President Bush's policies were failing the American people. The 2006 midterm elections were a referendum on Bush and Iraq. Anti-war Democrats defeated incumbent pro-war "Stay the course" Republicans. As of the fall of 2007, polls show that a majority of Americans do not support the Iraq War.^{[citations needed]}

Further information: Opposition to war against Iran

Organised opposition to a possible future military attack against Iran by the United States is known to have started during 2005-2006. Beginning in early 2005, journalists, activists and academics such as Seymour Hersh^[5][6], Scott Ritter^[7], Joseph Cirincione^[8] and Jorge E. Hirsch^[9] began publishing claims that United States' concerns over the alleged threat posed by the possibility that Iran may have a nuclear weapons program might lead the US government to take military action against that country in the future. These reports, and the concurrent escalation of tensions between Iran and some Western governments, prompted the formation of grassroots organisations, including Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran in the US and the United Kingdom, to advocate against potential military strikes on Iran. Additionally, several individuals, grassroots organisations and international governmental organisations, including the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei^[10], a former United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq, Scott Ritter^[7], Nobel Prize winners including Shirin Ebadi, Mairead Corrigan-Maguire and Betty Williams, Harold Pinter and Jody Williams^[11], Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament^[11], Code Pink^[12], the Non-Aligned Movement^[13] of 118 states, and the Arab League^[14], have publicly stated their opposition to a would-be attack on Iran.

1. ^ Volunteer for Liberty, newsletter of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, February 1941, Volume III, No. 2
2. ^ Taliban should be overthrown by the uprising of Afghan nation. Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (October 11, 2001). Retrieved on 2006-11-11.
3. ^ Vidal, John. "Another coalition stands up to be counted", The Guardian, November 19, 2001. Retrieved on 2006-11-11. 
4. ^ "Protesters demand end to bombing", BBC, 10 November 2001. Retrieved on 2006-11-11. 
5. ^ Seymour M. Hersh (January 24, 2005). Annals of National Security: The Coming Wars. The New Yorker.
6. ^ The Iran plans, Seymour Hersh, The New Yorker Mag., April 8, 2006
7. ^ ^{a b} Sleepwalking To Disaster In Iran, April 1, 2005, Scott Ritter
8. ^ Fool Me Twice, March 27, 2006, Joseph Cirincione, Foreign Policy
9. ^ Hirsch, Jorge (November 1, 2005). The Real Reason for Nuking Iran: Why a nuclear attack is on the neocon agenda. antiwar.com.
10. ^ Heinrich, Mark; Karin Strohecker (June 14, 2007). IAEA urges Iran compromise to avert conflict. Reuters. Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
11. ^ ^{a b} For a Middle East free of all Weapons of Mass Destruction. Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (2007-08-06). Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
12. ^ Knowlton, Brian. "Kouchner, French foreign minister, draws antiwar protesters in Washington", International Herald Tribune, September 21, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-01. 
13. ^ Non-Aligned Movement (May 30, 2006). NAM Coordinating Bureau's statement on Iran's nuclear issue. globalsecurity.org. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
14. ^ Arab states against military action on Iran. iranmania.com (June 18, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-21.

This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies.(October 2007)

• Anti-militarism
• Nuclear-free zone
• Peace movement

• AntiWar.Com, columns and news links from an anti-war perspective
• "Troubled Times" Photos, documents and text include analysis of major 1969 West Berlin demonstration.
• Guide to Anti-war websites The Guardian