The Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom (WILPF) grew out of the Congress of Women,
a 1915
gathering of 1,300 women to protest
World War I. The women, who had come from all
parts of Europe to work for peace, crafted twenty
resolutions in an attempt to bring warring nations
to the peace table and end the war. Determined to
continue to work for peace, the Congress decided
to hold another meeting once the war was over. After
the armistice ended the fighting, the Congress planned
to meet and put forth proposals to assist with the
creation of the Treaty of Versailles; however, in
1919, the French government would not allow the
German
female delegates into the conference. The Congress
of Women then moved its meeting to Zurich, Switzerland.
By the end of the conference, the women grew increasingly
dissatisfied with the Treaty of Versailles, arguing
that it was more concerned with retaliation than
peace. They then decided the Congress of Women must
become
a permenant organization and renamed it the Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom.
WILPF continued its work throughout the years after
1919, remaining very involved in issues concerning
peace and security of nations. They worked avidly
for disarmament, with the active, public support of
Eleanor Roosevelt, who often spoke at WILPF conferences
and at other organizations in support of peace. In
1932, working with its Nobel Peace Prize- winning
president, Jane Addams, WILPF members collected six
million signatures forthe World Disarmament Petition
and delivered them to the World Disarmament Conference
in Geneva. WILPF members also attended the UN
planning conference in San Francisco and in 1946,
Emily Greene Balch, WILPF's first international secretary,
became the second WILPA leader to win the Nobel Peace
Prize.
WILPF continues to work closely with the United
Nations and other nonprofit organizations in campaigns
against land mines, for nuclear disarmament, and for
other humanitarian concerns.
Sources:
Cook, Blanche Wiesen. Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume
One, 1884-1933. New York: Viking Press, 1992,
364.
Cook, Blanche Wiesen. Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume
Two, 1933-1938. New York: Viking Press, 1999,
5, 122, 259, 331.
"Historical Overview." Women's International
League for Peace of Freedom. Internet on-line.
Available From http://www.wilpf.int.ch/about/bhist.htm.
"Highlights." Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom. Internet on-line.
Available From http://www.wilpf.int.ch/about/highlights.htm.
For more information on WILPF, visit
the following web site:
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