Peace movements in Australia

Peace movements in Australia have been organized to minimize the nation's involvement in foreign wars. The first significant peace organizations emerged against the Boer War (1899-1902), including the Melbourne Peace and Humanity Society (1900) and the Anti-War League (1902). Women played crucial organizational roles. During World War I, the Australian Peace Alliance (APA) formed in 1914, growing to 54 affiliated groups by 1918. It comprised pacifists, socialists, liberal Christians, trade unions, and women's groups like the Sisterhood of International Peace and the Women's Peace Army. A major focus was the anti-conscription movement. The movement diversified with Christian pacifists and secular organizations like the League of Nations Union.

The lead-up to World War II created divisions between absolute pacifists and those supporting collective security. Women's groups, particularly the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), were prominent in international disarmament efforts, including a significant 1931 petition. The peace movement experienced a resurgence in the 1960s, largely in opposition to the Vietnam War and conscription. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), founded in 1960, later integrated into the broader anti-Vietnam War movement.

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