Women's Peace Army (1915 - 1919)

The Women's Peace Army was established on 15 July 1915 at the offices of the Women's Political Association, in an attempt to mobilise the women in Australia who opposed all war, regardless of political party membership. It was to be a fighting body to destroy militarism 'with the same spirit of self-sacrifice that soldiers showed on the battlefield'. 'We war against war' was the motto of the Women's Peace Army. Their flag took the feminist colours of purple, green and white. The most well-known members were Vida Goldstein, president, Cecilia John and Adela Pankhurst. With autonomous branches in Sydney and Brisbane, the Women's Peace Army projected a radical, militant image with its socialist anti-war ideology and attracted large numbers to its sometimes controversial public meetings. Other tactics included participation in peace demonstrations, support for peace candidates at elections, petitions to members of parliament and practical help to those disadvantaged by war. It participated in the anti-conscription campaigns of 1916 and 1917. With the end of the Great War, the Women's Peace Army went into recess on 18 December 1919.

Founder

• Goldstein, Vida (1869 - 1949)
• John, Cecilia Annie (1877 - 1955)

Related Corporate Bodies

• Women's Political Association of Victoria (1903 - 1919)

Related People

• Pankhurst, Adela (1885 - 1961)

Books

• Pankhurst, Adela, Put up the Sword, Women's Peace Army, Melbourne, 1915. [ Details... ]

Book Sections

• Gowland, Patricia, 'The Women's Peace Army', in Elizabeth Windschuttle (ed.), Women, class and history: feminist perspectives on Australia 1788-1978, Fontana/ Collins, Melbourne, 1980. [ Details... ]

Theses

• Francis, Rosemary, 'Women in protest movements: the Women's Peace Army and the Save Our Sons Movement.', Hons thesis, The University of Melbourne, 1984. [ Details... ]

See also

• Goldstein, Vida (ed.), The Woman Voter, 1909-1919. [ Details... ]
• Henderson, Leslie M. (Leslie Moira), The Goldstein Story, Stockland Press, Melbourne, 1973, 189 pp. [ Details... ]
• Shute, Carmel, 'Heroines and heroes: sexual mythology in Australia 1914-1918', Hecate, vol. 1, January, 1972. [ Details... ]
• Shute, Carmel, 'Blood votes and the bestial Boche: a case study in propaganda', Hecate, vol. 2, no. 2, 1976, pp. 6-22. [ Details... ]
• Sparrow, Jeff and Sparrow, Jill, Radical Melbourne : a secret history, the vulgar press, Carlton North, Vic., 2001, 223 pp. [ Details... ]
• Summers, Anne, 'The unwritten history of Adela Pankhurst Walsh', in Elizabeth Windschuttle (ed.), Women, class and history: feminist perspectives on Australia 1788-1978, Fontana/Collins, Melbourne, 1980, pp. 388-402. [ Details... ]