We say no!: British Conscientious Objection in the Second World War

我们说不！：第二次世界大战中英国出于良心拒服兵役

• 批准号: AH/W005301/1
• 负责人: Linsey Robb
• 金额: $ 23.25万
• 依托单位: Northumbria University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FW005301%2F1
• 关键词: say; no; British; Conscientious; Objection

1 per cent of all men who were conscripted in Britain during the Second World War conscientiously objected. However, despite the heavy focus on his First World War counterpart, the conscientious objector is largely absent from popular and cultural representations of the Second World War in Britain. Unlike the First World War conscription was pre-planned for the 1939-1945 conflict. The National Service (Armed Services) Act 1939 not only made the provisions for wartime conscription but also allowed men to object to service on the grounds of conscience. Nearly 60,000 men applied for objector status during the six years of the Second World War, in comparison to 16,000 who men applied in the two years of conscription during the First World War. This research builds on a pilot project funded by an IHR Scouloudi Research Grant that has suggested that there were fundamental differences in the wartime experiences of British COs in the two world wars. During the First World War the relationship between COs and the state was hostile and the British Government used its power to draw COs into the military by force as well as imposing lengthy prison sentences. By contrast, during the Second World War the British state sought to make best use of the manpower of conscientious objectors. Of those who professed a conscientious objection, 12,204 were rejected and 3,577 were granted complete exemption. 45,000 men, the overwhelming majority, were directed to work deemed of "national importance" in both the civilian and military sphere. Similarly, there were very few absolutists. Many, if not most, COs were willing to work for the war effort, especially in a humanitarian context, provided they did not have to wield arms. As CO Tegla Davies wrote in his history of the Quaker-affiliated Friends Ambulance Unit: 'They felt that pacifism having been recognised by the state, should show in action what it could do to relieve the suffering and agony which years of war were bound to produce."Yet, despite this very different, and more complex, relationship, scholarship on conscientious objection remains fixated on the First World War and ignores both the very different war and indeed the very different Britain in which Second World War objection took place. Fundamentally, there is an untold story to be recovered which is not only central to understanding Britain's Second World War but also a key part of understanding British attitudes to protest. To date, there is no single socio-historical study of conscientious objection in Britain. Rose (2004) notes, in passing, that conscientious objectors held differing conceptions of idealised masculinities than their peers. However, there has been no systematic study of these ideas nor the more general lived experience of the CO. Indeed, existing work, for example by Rachel Barker (1982) and Tobias Kelly (2015) focus on the state and institutional processes of objecting rather the social impacts on men who objected to taking up arms. This research will use underexplored sources, most notably oral testimony and autobiography, in conjunction with significant archival sources to understand the lived experiences of Britain's wartime conscientious objectors and, therefore, put the men who objected at the heart of the research for the first time.

在第二次世界大战期间在英国被征召入伍的所有男人中，有1％认真地反对。然而，尽管重点放在他的第一次世界大战对手上，但良心的反对者在很大程度上没有英国第二次世界大战的流行和文化表现。与第一次世界大战不同，1939 - 1945年的冲突预先计划。 1939年《国家服务（武装服务）法》不仅制定了战时征兵的规定，而且还允许男人以良心为由进行服务。在第二次世界大战的六年中，将近60,000名男子申请了反对者身份，与第一次世界大战期间在两年的征兵中申请的16,000名男子相比。这项研究以IHR Scouloudi研究资助资助的试点项目为基础，该项目表明，在两次世界大战中，英国COS的战时经历存在根本差异。在第一次世界大战期间，COS与国家之间的关系是敌对的，英国政府利用其权力通过武力将COS纳入军队，并判处漫长的监狱刑期。相比之下，在第二次世界大战期间，英国国家试图充分利用良心拒服兵役者的人力。在自称是认真反对的人中，有12,204名被拒绝，并获得了3,577人的完全豁免。有45,000名男子，绝大多数，被指示在平民和军事领域都被视为“民族重要性”的工作。同样，绝对主义者很少。许多（即使不是大多数人）愿意为战争努力而努力，尤其是在人道主义背景下，只要他们不必挥舞武器。正如戴格拉·戴维斯（Tegla Davies）在他对Quaker附属朋友救护车部门的历史中所写的那样：“他们觉得和平主义已被国家所认可的，应该在行动中表现出可以做些什么来缓解苦难和痛苦的痛苦和痛苦，尽管这一战争势必会产生。但是，尽管这是非常不同的，更复杂的，对一致的竞争和差异的奖学金，以及对世界上的差异，这两个世界上的差异和差异都在世界上的差异，而这两个世界的差异却差不多了，这是世界各地的差异。反对是从根本上恢复的，这不仅是了解英国第二次世界大战的核心这些想法也不是公司的生活经验。的确，现有工作，例如Rachel Barker（1982）和Tobias Kelly（2015）的重点是反对的国家和机构过程，而不是对反对武器的男人的社会影响。这项研究将使用不流失的来源，最著名的是口头证词和自传，并结合重要的档案资源来了解英国战时认真的反对者的生活经历，因此，将反对研究的男人首次提出了研究的核心。