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.

第二次世界大战期间，在英国应征入伍的所有男性中，有1%的人诚心反对。然而，尽管人们对第一次世界大战中的拒服兵役者关注甚多，但在英国对第二次世界大战的流行和文化表现中，拒服兵役者却很少出现。与第一次世界大战不同，征兵是为1939-1945年的冲突预先计划的。1939年的《国民服务（武装部队）法》不仅规定了战时征兵，而且还允许男子以良心为由拒绝服役。在第二次世界大战的六年里，有近6万人申请拒绝服兵役，而在第一次世界大战的两年征兵期间，有1.6万人申请拒绝服兵役。这项研究建立在一个由《国际卫生条例》Scouloudi研究基金资助的试点项目的基础上，该项目表明，在两次世界大战中，英国军官的战时经历存在根本差异。在第一次世界大战期间，狱警和国家之间的关系是敌对的，英国政府利用其权力，以武力和施加长期监禁的刑罚来吸引狱警进入军队。相比之下，在第二次世界大战期间，英国政府试图最大限度地利用出于良心拒服兵役者的人力。在那些声称出于良心拒绝服兵役的人中，有12204人被拒绝服兵役，3577人被完全豁免。45,000人，绝大多数，被要求从事被认为在民用和军事领域具有“国家重要性”的工作。同样，也很少有绝对主义者。许多（如果不是大多数的话）战地指挥官愿意为战争效力，特别是在人道主义的背景下，只要他们不需要使用武器。正如泰格拉·戴维斯（Tegla Davies）在他关于贵格会附属的朋友救护单位的历史中所写的那样：“他们认为，和平主义已经得到了国家的认可，应该在行动中展示它能做些什么来减轻多年战争必然带来的痛苦和痛苦。”“然而，尽管这种关系非常不同，也更加复杂，但关于良心拒服兵役的学术研究仍然专注于第一次世界大战，而忽视了另一场战争，以及发生二战拒服兵役的英国。从根本上说，有一个不为人知的故事需要恢复，这不仅是理解英国第二次世界大战的核心，也是理解英国对抗议态度的关键部分。到目前为止，在英国还没有关于良心拒服兵役的社会历史研究。Rose（2004）顺便指出，拒服兵役者对理想男性气质的看法与同龄人不同。然而，并没有对这些观点进行系统的研究，也没有对CO的更普遍的生活经验进行研究。事实上，现有的工作，例如Rachel Barker（1982）和Tobias Kelly(2015)，关注的是反对的国家和制度过程，而不是反对拿起武器的男性的社会影响。这项研究将利用未被充分发掘的资源，最显著的是口头证词和自传，结合重要的档案资源来了解英国战时良心拒服兵役者的生活经历，因此，第一次把反对的人放在研究的核心位置。