By Jon Overton
The early 20th century was a
turbulent period in world history. Centuries-old empires in Eastern Europe and
the Middle East were collapsing, social unrest and revolutions were sweeping
across the world, and World War I left Europe in shambles. It was in this era
that the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom was born.
At the Iowa Peace Network Open
House in December, Doris Covalt shared the history of this now century-old
women’s organization.
For several decades, middle class
women in the West had been active in social reform movements from antislavery
to workers’ rights to prison reform.
“Women soon became aware of their
own lesser status, and by the first decade of the 20th century, there was a
well-organized movement of women demanding the vote in the United States and
most countries in Europe,” Covalt said.
As a result, women started seeking
the right to vote, giving rise to the International Women’s Suffrage Alliance
in London. The suffrage movement split when World War I began in 1914. Some
thought women should support the war effort, while others believed that they
should advocate for a peaceful resolution.
Those who sought a mediated end to
World War I set up the Hague Congress in Holland, a neutral country during the
war. Members of feminist groups from 12 nations met at the conference. It was
from this meeting that the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
eventually emerged.
“The publicity, including the press
was very negative about this,” Covalt explained. “The women were portrayed as
misguided, hysterical, foolish women who think they should have anything to say
about world affairs.”
Nevertheless, organized teams,
including the prominent social reformer, Jane Addams, formed to lobby officials
from both neutral and fighting states to reach an end to the war. They met with
heads of government and foreign ministers to encourage them to start
negotiations.
While the women were ultimately
unable to prevent the war from slogging on for another few years, their efforts
influenced the League of Nations (the precursor of the United Nations) and the
1948 Declaration of Human Rights.
Decades later, the Des Moines
chapter of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom started in 1962
as the Vietnam War escalated and Civil Rights Movement gained momentum.
Today, the Women’s League focuses
on environmental protection, social justice, and opposing war.
Its members “host conferences, hold
demonstrations and marches, write letters-to-the-editor, lobby the state
legislature, contact local, state, and federal legislators on a variety of social
and environmental issues.”
Jon Overton is the Media Editor of Iowa Peace Network and an undergraduate at the University of Iowa studying Ethics & Public Policy and Sociology.
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