Part of a series on Anti-War topics Anti war protest in Melbourne, Australia, 2003 Anti_war is a name that is widely adopted by any social movement or person that seeks to end or oppose a future or current war. ...

Opposition to...

American Revolutionary War World War I World War II Second Boer War American Civil War War of 1812 Vietnam War Afghanistan War Iraq War War against Iran War on Terrorism Image File history File links Peace_Sign_2. ... It is widely stated that before American Revolutionary War, 1/3 of the people in the colonies favored independence, 1/3 wanted to be part of Britain, and 1/3 didnt care. ... The First World War was mainly opposed by left-wing groups, there was also opposition by Christain groups baised on pacifism The trade union and socialist movements had declared before the war their determined opposition to a war which they said could only mean workers killing each other in the... Despite lack of reporting on this, some military personnel and civilians staunchly opposed fighting the Nazis and Fascists during World War II. One key objector who would later write a novel on this was the author of Catch-22 who did not want to lose his life even if it... Opposition to the Second Boer War began slowly but grew due in part to organisations like the Stop the War Committee. ... Link titleAnti-war Popular opposition to the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865, was widespread. ... Opposition to the War of 1812 was widespread in the United States, especially in New England. ... 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. ... It has been suggested that Post-September 11 anti-war movement be merged into this article or section. ... This article is about opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the Iraq War from outside Iraq. ... Opposition to a perceived risk of a military attack on Iran by the United States is known to have started during 2005-2006. ... Criticism of the war on Terrorism address issues of methods, motives, civilian deaths, civil liberties, and human rights. ...

Agents of opposition

Anti-war organizations Conscientious objectors Draft dodgers Peace movement Peace churches In order to facilitate organized opposition to war, anti-war activists have often founded anti-war organizations. ... A conscientious objector (CO) is an individual following the religious, moral or ethical dictates of his or her conscience that are incompatible with being a combatant in military service, or being part of the armed forces as a combatant organization. ... Their actions were criminal offences and once they had left the country draft dodgers could not return or they would be arrested. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Peace churches are Christian churches, groups or communities advocating pacifism. ...

Related ideologies

Anti-imperialism Antimilitarism Appeasement Nonviolence Pacifism This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Antimilitarism is a doctrine commonly found in the anarchist and socialist movement, which may be both characterized as internationalist movements. ... Appeasement is a policy of accepting the imposed conditions of an aggressor in lieu of armed resistance, usually at the sacrifice of principles. ... Nonviolence (or non-violence) can be both a political strategy or moral philosophy that rejects the use of violence in efforts to attain social or political change. ... Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes. ...

Media

Books • Films • Songs An anti-war book is a book that is perceived as having an anti-war theme. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... An anti-war song is a musical composition perceived (by the public or critics) as having an anti-war theme on its lyrics. ...

Politics Portal ·  v • d • e

The America First Committee was the foremost pressure group against American entry into the Second World War. An advocacy group, interest group or lobbying group is a group, however loosely or tightly organized, doing advocacy: those determined to encourage or prevent changes in public policy without trying to be elected. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Membership

AFC farted on September, 4, 1940 by Yale law student R. Douglas Stuart, Jr., along with other students including future President Gerald Ford, Sargent Shriver and future Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart. At its peak, America First may have had 800,000 members in 650 chapters, located mostly in a 300 mile radius of Chicago. It claimed 135,000 members in 60 chapters in Illinois, its strongest state. [Schneider 198] Few Southern chapters existed. Fundraising drives produced about $370,000 from some 25,000 contributors. Nearly half came from a few millionaires such as William H. Regnery, H. Smith Richardson of the Vick Chemical Company, General Wood, publisher Joseph M. Patterson (New York Daily News) and his cousin publisher Robert R. McCormick (Chicago Tribune). It was never able to get funding for its own public opinion poll. The New York chapter received slightly more than $190,000, most of it from its 47,000 contributors. Since it never had a national membership form or national dues, and local chapters were quite autonomous, historians suggest the leaders had no idea how many "members" it had. [Cole 1953, 25-33; Schneider 201-2] For other persons named Gerald Ford, see Gerald Ford (disambiguation). ... Sargent Shriver and George McGovern on Aug. ... Justice Potter Stewart Potter Stewart (January 23, 1915 – December 7, 1985) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. ... Joseph Medill Patterson (January 6, 1879 - May 26, 1946) was an American journalist and publisher and the older brother of fellow publisher Cissy Patterson. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Serious organizing of the America First Committee took place in Chicago not long after the September 1940 establishment. Chicago was to remain the national headquarters of the committee. To preside over their committee, America First chose General Robert E. Wood, the 61 year-old chairman of Sears, Roebuck and Co.. While Wood would accept only an interim position, he remained at the head of the committee until it was disbanded in the days after Pearl Harbor. Robert Elkington Wood (June 13, 1879 - November 6, 1969) was an American soldier and businessman best known for his leadership of Sears, Roebuck and Company. ... Sears, Roebuck and Company (NYSE: S) was founded in Chicago, Illinois as a catalog merchandiser in 1886 by Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck. ...

The America First Committee had its share of prominent businessmen as well as the sympathies of political figures like Senator Burton K. Wheeler, Senator Gerald P. Nye, and Socialist Party leader Norman Thomas, with its most prominent spokesman being Charles A. Lindbergh. credited to the United States Senate Historical Office Burton Kendall Wheeler (February 27, 1882 – January 6, 1975) was a Montana politician of the Democratic Party and a United States Senator from 1923 until 1947. ... Gerald Prentice Nye (1892-1971) was an United States legislator and political activist, serving in the U.S. Senate from the 1920s to the 1940s Nye worked in journalism as a young man, serving as first editor and later owner of several newspapers. ... The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States. ... Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 - December 19, 1968) was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. ... Charles Lindbergh with the Spirit of St. ...

Other celebrities supporting America First were novelist Sinclair Lewis, poet E. E. Cummings, author Gore Vidal (as a student at Phillips Exeter Academy), Alice Roosevelt Longworth, and actress Lillian Gish. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright attempted to join, but the board thought he had a "reputation for immorality". Sinclair Lewis Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 — January 10, 1951) was an American novelist and playwright. ... E. E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), abbreviated E. E. Cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, and playwright. ... Gore Vidal in 1948, photographed by Carl Van Vechten Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (born October 3, 1925) is a prolific, versatile American writer of novels, stage plays, screenplays, and essays, and, of late, a liberal political pundit. ... Phillips Exeter Academy (also called Exeter, Phillips Exeter, or PEA) is a co-educational independent boarding school for grades 9-12, located on 619 acres in Exeter, New Hampshire, USA, fifty miles north of Boston. ... Alice Roosevelt, taken about 1900. ... Lillian Gish Lillian Diana de Guiche (October 14, 1893 – February 27, 1993), was an Oscar-nominated American actress, better known as Lillian Gish. ... Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959), Master of the Organic Architecture, was one of the most prominent and influential architects of the first half of the 20th century. ...

Issues

1941 cartoon.

The America First Committee launched a petition aimed at enforcing the 1939 Neutrality Act and forcing President Franklin D. Roosevelt to keep his pledge to keep America out of the war. They strongly distrusted Roosevelt, arguing that he was lying to the American people. Image File history File links 10526cs. ... Image File history File links 10526cs. ... FDR redirects here. ...

On the day after Franklin D. Roosevelt's lend-lease bill was submitted to Congress, Wood promised AFC opposition "with all the vigor it can exert." America First staunchly opposed the convoying of ships, the Atlantic Charter, and the placing of economic pressure on Japan. In order to achieve the defeat of lend-lease and the perpetuation of American neutrality, the AFC advocated four basic principles: FDR redirects here. ... The Lend-Lease program was a program of the United States during World War II that allowed the United States to provide the Allied Powers with war material without becoming directly involved in the war. ... Churchill meets FDR aboard USS Augusta at their 1941 secret meeting at Argentia, Newfoundland. ...

• The United States must build an impregnable defense for America.
• No foreign power, nor group of powers, can successfully attack a prepared America.
• American democracy can be preserved only by keeping out of the European war.
• "Aid short of war" weakens national defense at home and threatens to involve America in war abroad.

Despite the onset of war in Europe, an overwhelming majority of the American people wanted to stay out of the new war if they could.[CMH, Chapter 19]. The AFC tapped into this widespread anti-war feeling in the years leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entry into the war.

Charles Lindbergh

Charles Lindbergh had been actively involved in questioning the motives of the Roosevelt administration well before the formation of the AFC. Lindbergh adopted an anti-war stance even before the Battle of Britain and before the advent of the lend-lease bill. His first radio speech was broadcast on September 15, 1939 over all three of the major radio networks (Mutual, National, and Columbia). Lindbergh urged listeners to look beyond the speeches and propaganda they were being fed and instead look at who was writing the speeches and reports, who owned the papers and who influenced the speakers. Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. ... Combatants United Kingdom Germany Commanders Hugh Dowding Hermann Göring Albert Kesselring Strength initially 700; grew to nearly 1000 by the end of the Battle. ... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS) was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. ... It has been suggested that NBC Radio City Studios, NBC Studios be merged into this article or section. ...

The heart of Lindbergh's arguments then, as it would be in his America First speeches, was his advocacy of a hemispheric defense. He was convinced that the barriers posed by the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans would keep any potential attacker at bay. He urged the strengthening of American air power and the establishment of coastal defenses for good measure. The best hope for preserving America's peace was a strong American defense in its own hemisphere. He also routinely pointed out that Americans had not been able to vote on the issues at hand and that they were being asked to become involved in issues that were not their own but Europe's.

Charles Lindbergh speaking at an AFC rally

Throughout 1940 and 1941 Lindbergh emerged as the most recognizable of America First's spokesmen. However, while his personal fame brought a measure of potency to the movement, there were shadows of his past that served, along with other elements, to marginalize the movement's message. Despite increasing controversy about their intentions, most Americans still agreed with America First's isolationist message and continued to respect Lindbergh until public opinion slowly began to turn against him in 1941. "As each side fought for the soul of the nation," explains Pulitzer Prize winning Lindbergh biographer A. Scott Berg, "the argument boiled down to eleven months of oratory between Franklin Roosevelt and Charles Lindbergh." Although he was eventually forced to step down from the debate that left his public reputation "henceforth contaminated," Berg notes that members of the Roosevelt Administration admitted Lindbergh was one of their most formidable rivals. Image File history File links Amrally. ... The gold medal awarded for Public Service in Journalism The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical compositions. ... Andrew Scott Berg (born December 4, 1949 in Norwalk, Connecticut) is a well-known American biographer. ...

On June 20, 1940 Lindbergh spoke to a rally in Los Angeles billed as "Peace and Preparedness Mass Meeting". In his speech of that day, Lindbergh criticized those movements he perceived as leading America into the war. He proclaimed that the United States was in a position that made it virtually impregnable and he pointed out that when interventionists said "the defense of England" they really meant "defeat of Germany." Lindbergh's presence at the Hollywood Bowl rally was overshadowed, however, by the presence of fringe elements in the crowd. A planned economy is an economic system in which economic decisions are made by centralized planners, who determine what sorts of goods and services to produce, and how they are to be priced and allocated. ...

However, nothing did more to escalate the tensions than the speech he delivered to a rally in Des Moines, Iowa on September 11, 1941. In that speech he identified the forces pulling America into the war as the British, the Roosevelt administration, and the Jews. While he expressed sympathy for the plight of the Jews in Germany, he pointed out that America's entry into the war would serve them little better. He said in part:

Result

Lindbergh was later forced onto the defensive, claiming that his words had been misunderstood and that he was not an anti-Semite. The deeper problem of the AFC was that it had never really moved beyond the radio and rally format in getting its message across. There were few local chapters that worked the neighborhoods and tried to shape public opinion at the grass roots level. Still, despite its ultimate ineffectiveness, the America First committee had been potent enough to delay the passage of lend-lease and keep the Roosevelt administration from obtaining its goals without opposition for almost two years. The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ...

Official America First Committee Logo

With the formal declaration of war against Japan following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Committee chose to disband. On December 11 the committee leaders met and voted for dissolution. In the statement they released to the press was the following: Image File history File links Am1logo. ... Image File history File links Am1logo. ...

Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan has frequently praised America First and often uses its name as a slogan. [1] For this reason the movement is still an icon to paleoconservatives as well as Americans who wish to return to a foreign policy of non-intervention. This article is becoming very long. ... The term paleoconservative (sometimes shortened to paleo or paleocon when the context is clear) refers to an American branch of conservative Old Right thought that stands against both the mainstream tradition of the National Review magazine and the neoconservatives. ...

Philip Roth's novel The Plot Against America (2004) is based on an alternative history developed by Roth, in which America First's ideology prevailed in the early 1940s and a Lindbergh presidency saw the growth of Anti-Semitism in the United States. Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (born March 19, 1933, Newark, New Jersey) is an American novelist. ... The Plot Against America: A Novel (ISBN 0-618-50928-3) is a novel by Philip Roth published in 2004. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ...

See also

• America First Committee
• America First Party (1944)
• America First Party (2002)
• Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, 1940

The America First Party is a political party which was founded on January 10, 1943. ... The America First Party is a conservative political party in the United States. ... The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies (CDAAA) was an American political action group formed in May, 1940. ...

References

• Cole, Wayne S. Charles A. Lindbergh and the Battle against American Intervention in World War II (1974)
• Cole, Wayne S. America First: The Battle against Intervention, 1940-41 (1953)
• Doenecke, Justus D. The Battle Against Intervention, 1939-1941 (1997), includes short narrative and primary documents.
• Doenecke, Justus D. Storm on the Horizon: The Challenge to American Intervention, 1939-1941 (2000).
• Doenecke, Justus D. "American Isolationism, 1939-1941" Journal of Libertarian Studies, Summer/Fall 1982, 6(3), pp. 201-216. online version
• Doenecke, Justus D. "Explaining the Antiwar Movement, 1939-1941: The Next Assignment" Journal of Libertarian Studies, Winter 1986, 8(1), pp. 139-162. online version
• Doenecke, Justus D. "Literature of Isolationism, 1972-1983: A Bibliographic Guide" Journal of Libertarian Studies, Spring 1983, 7(1), pp. 157-184. online version
• Doenecke, Justus D. "Anti-Interventionism of Herbert Hoover" Journal of Libertarian Studies, Summer 1987, 8(2), pp. 311-340. online version
• Jonas, Manfred. Isolationism in America, 1935-1941 (1966).
• S. Everett Gleason and William L. Langer; The Undeclared War, 1940-1941 1953 Policy toward war in Europe; pro FDR
• Kauffman, Bill, America First! Its History, Culture, and Politics (1995) ISBN 0-87975-956-9
• Herbert S. Parmet and Marie B. Hecht; Never Again: A President Runs for a Third Term 1968.
• Schneider, James C. Should America Go to War? The Debate over Foreign Policy in Chicago, 1939-1941 (1989)