A memorial in Edinburgh to Conscientious Objectors and all who oppose war
Ever since there has been war there has been opposition and resistance to war. Here you will find stories of past and contemporary opposition to war.
By Elena (Lane) Deamant The history of the Highlands is full of tales about clan rivalries, ancient battles, and rugged wilderness. It is a place both rapidly in motion, embodied by its swooping herons and streams that flow down its mountainsides, and at a stand-still, as its past has been carefully preserved and memorialized.1 Whether… Continue reading Soldiers’ Resistance to the Glencoe Massacre of 1692
Destroyed Yugoslav National Army T-72 tank at Vukovar, 1991, 29 November 1991, Author Peter Denton, Source, CC By SA 4.0 Milan was a shopkeeper from Serbia who had voiced his opposition to the war in Kosovo during a gathering that took place outside of his store. The report states that he had said that Milosevic… Continue reading The abandoned conscientious objectors of the Yugoslav war
Men whose claims to exemption were rejected by local tribunals, as so many were, could appeal to County wide Appeals Tribunals. After the war, the records of most Appeals Tribunals were destroyed. Those of the Edinburgh Tribunal were one of a small number which were preserved and so give an important window into the significant… Continue reading Edinburgh COs
By Brian Larkin John Muir departed from Wisconsin bound for Canada on 1 March 1864, days before the third draft of the US Civil War was called on 10 March. Opinion is divided as to whether, in going to Canada he intended to avoid the draft, as did many other men including his younger brother… Continue reading Was John Muir a Draft Avoider?
By Elena (Lane) Deamant Introduction: The Cultural Backdrop The political, ideological, and ethical contentions of the Vietnam War led to the largest antiwar movement in history. Around 1964-5, when the US military began its full-throttle attacks on North Vietnam, the American public was already primed for protest activism by the ongoing civil rights and anti-nuclear… Continue reading Conscientious Objection and Opposition to the Vietnam War in the USA
By Alexander Gunnar Raboisson The right to conscientious objections remains a blurred area in which the applicability of it differs from nation to nation. If we read the factsheet on conscientious objections of the European court of human rights, it is easy to observe that it has in the past not been prevalent within the… Continue reading French Conscientious Objection to the Algerian War
By Alexander Gunnar Raboisson Finnish conscripts giving their military oath, Author: Karri Huhtanen, Source, Date 26 August 2005 Finland is the only country in Scandinavia that requires obligatory military service for all men. In the three other countries, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, conscription remains in place; but only 20% of those in the age group end… Continue reading The freedom to obey your conscience in Finland
By Elena (Lane) Deamant This article is an extended version of the article that first appeared in the Summer 2020 edition of the Peace and Justice News. In April 1941, in the midst of the Second World War, British women were conscripted for the first time into industrial work for the war effort. Lacking sufficient… Continue reading UK Women Opposing Conscription during WW2
Israel is one of only a few countries around the world where military service is compulsory for women, resulting in a multitude of unique anti-military movements by women with many different views. The military is widely recognized as a central aspect of people’s lives, as the feminist group New Profile has documented. From armed soldiers… Continue reading Feminist Conscientious Objection in Israel
Opposing War: A Memorial 