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英国应征入伍的所有男性中，有 1% 出于良心反对。然而，尽管人们重点关注他的第一次世界大战对应者，但出于良心拒服兵役者在英国第二次世界大战的大众和文化表现中基本上缺席。与第一次世界大战不同，征兵是为 1939-1945 年冲突预先计划的。 1939年《国民服役（武装部队）法》不仅对战时征兵做出了规定，还允许男子以良心为由拒绝服兵役。在第二次世界大战的六年期间，有近 60,000 名男子申请了反对者身份，而第一次世界大战期间的两年征兵期间，有 16,000 名男子申请了反对者身份。这项研究以 IHR Scouloudi 研究基金资助的试点项目为基础，该项目表明英国军官在两次世界大战中的战时经历存在根本差异。第一次世界大战期间，军官与国家之间的关系是敌对的，英国政府利用其权力以武力将军官拉入军队，并判处长期监禁。相比之下，在第二次世界大战期间，英国政府寻求充分利用依良心拒服兵役者的人力。在那些声称出于良心拒服兵役的人中，有 12,204 人被拒绝，3,577 人获得完全豁免。 45,000 人（其中绝大多数）被安排从事民事和军事领域被认为具有“国家重要性”的工作。同样，专制主义者也很少。许多（如果不是大多数）军官愿意为战争努力，特别是在人道主义背景下，只要他们不必携带武器。正如泰格拉·戴维斯 (CO Tegla Davies) 在他的贵格会附属之友救护队历史中所写的那样：“他们认为，和平主义已经得到国家的认可，应该在行动中表明它可以采取哪些措施来减轻多年战争必然造成的痛苦和痛苦。”然而，尽管存在这种非常不同且更加复杂的关系，关于依良心拒服兵役的学术仍然专注于第一次世界大战，而忽视了这场截然不同的战争，以及第二次世界大战中发生的非常不同的英国。 发生了异议。从根本上说，有一个不为人知的故事有待恢复，它不仅是理解英国第二次世界大战的核心，也是理解英国抗议态度的关键部分。迄今为止，英国还没有针对依良心拒服兵役的单一社会历史研究。 Rose（2004）顺便指出，出于良心拒服兵役者对理想化男性气质的看法与同龄人不同。但目前还没有系统研究 事实上，现有的工作，例如雷切尔·巴克（Rachel Barker，1982）和托比亚斯·凯利（Tobias Kelly，2015）的研究重点关注反对的国家和制度进程，而不是对反对拿起武器的人的社会影响。这项研究将使用未被充分探索的来源，尤其是口头证词和自传，并结合重要的档案来源来了解英国人的生活经历。 战时出于良心拒服兵役者，因此首次将反对者置于研究的核心。