Opposition to World War II
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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. Some Communist-led organizations with links to Comintern opposed the war during the period of the Hitler-Stalin pact but then turned into hawks after Germany invaded the Soviet Union. In nations occupied by Germany, and even in Germany itself there was a resistance movement, but rather than opposing the war in itself, this opposed the Nazi Government and its prosecution of the war, and generally supported the Allies.
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[edit] Pacifism
Pacifist opposition to World War II was limited. During the conflict, a few organisations such as the Peace Pledge Union continued their opposition to all wars. Ammon Hennacy refused to sign up for the World War II U.S. draft and declared that he would not pay taxes in protest to his government's position.
Mahatma Gandhi's pacifist movement opposed the war[1] even to the point of advocating that the British surrender, and that Jews offer only non-violent resistance.[2]. However Gandhi still permitted the use of Indian troops and territory in a pragmatic exchange for guaranteed independence post war.
The Catholic Worker Movement was also opposed to the war.
[edit] Socialism
The communist front organizations opposed the war during the period of the Hitler-Stalin pact. In 1940, Britain's Daily Worker referred to the Allied war effort as "the Anglo-French imperialist war machine."[3]
In the U.S., organizations like the American Peace Mobilization and veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade protested in opposition to the war, conscription, and the Lend-Lease Act. They said of Lend-Lease, "Roosevelt needs its dictatorial powers to further his aim of carving out of a warring world, the American Empire so long desired by the Wall Street money lords."[4]
They reversed course when Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, and then advocated that material support be extended to the Soviets.
A small number of socialists continued to oppose the war, most holding that it was necessary to oppose all capitalist governments, not just those on the opposing side. Trotsky drew up the Proletarian Military Policy, calling for opposition to the war and support for industrial action during it. Left communists took a similar position, as did many anarchists. Within Axis countries, a few small groups, such as the Dutch Marx-Lenin-Luxemburg Front, mirrored this position.
[edit] Nationalism
A few nationalist movements in colonial countries would take no part in the conflict, which they saw as one of the colonialists' making. This was perhaps strongest in India, where some nationalists went beyond opposition to the war to form the Indian National Army and fight alongside Japanese forces. Opposition was also seen among the Sri Lankan garrison on the Cocos Islands which mutinied, in part due to the influence of the Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party.
[edit] Isolationism
This movement was strongest in the United States, where oceans separated it on both sides from the war fronts. Having seen their Wilsonian idealism for forgiveness for the Central Powers in WWI rejected, some Americans hoped to sit out this "Old World" war. The German-American Bund even marched down the avenues of New York demanding isolationism. Charles Lindbergh was perhaps the most famous isolationist.
The attack on Pearl Harbor is generally considered to have decisively ended isolationism as a viable policy.
[edit] References
- ^ Mahatma Gandhi, Wikiquote
- ^ Grenier, Richard, "The Gandhi Nobody Knows", Commentary, March 1983
- ^ Reds, Labor and the War. TIME (May 13, 1940).
- ^ Volunteer for Liberty, newsletter of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, February 1941, Volume III, No. 2
