Pazifismus in der internationalen Frauenbewegung (1914-1920): Handlungsspielräume, politische Konzeptionen und gesellschaftliche Auseinandersetzungen

In the spring of 1915, pacifist-minded women held an international peace conference in The Hague. The political commitment of the pacifists and their demands for peace and political equality in the midst of the First World War excited not only the public in the belligerent countries, but also caused violent discussions about appropriate behavior in times of war in women's movements. The war brought into question the international ties of prewar women's associations. A majority of the women on the so-called "home front" felt almost compelled to fulfill their patriotic duty—all the more so because the state-bourgeois maturity of the women, who had hitherto been politically disadvantaged. Annika Wilmers, a historian from Tübingen, examines the different positions of women's movements in Germany, Austria, Belgium and France, and traces the controversy over the nation and the pacifism, The conflicts within the international women's movement were by no means always parallel to the war fronts. Special attention is devoted to the public response to the activities of the pacifists, which deviate from the war consensus (Burgfrieden, Union sacrée). The study goes beyond the war years and also deals with the immediate postwar and revolutionary period, when the national women's associations were faced with the difficult task of resuming international contacts interrupted during the World War.