A Challenge to Traditional Tolerance? The British Police and the Anti-War Movement in the First World War

Abstract

Peace advocates had been active in Britain since the beginning of the nineteenth century, but they were not perceived as a threat that warranted police attention. This changed with the First World War when war resistance and conscientious objection came to be widely seen as a danger to national security. This article seeks to explore the ways in which the British police, hailed far and wide, both in England and abroad, for their tolerance compared to their European counterparts, used their dramatically extended powers to supervise the anti-war campaigns and the circumstances that affected their activities.