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British Methodists and the First World War

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British Methodists and the First World War Methodist History, 4J:J(October 2002) BRITISH METHODISTS AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR MICHAEL HUGHES Methodists across the world have for centuries found the ms elves divided on the difficult question of war and peace. Bishop C. Dale White has rightly noted that members of The United Methodist Church "have been ambivalent about war from our beginnings," seeking both to ''counsel to men and women who believe it is their duty to participate in the military, while.at the same time supporting conscientious objectors in their plea to do alternative service."1 The whole issue of the correct response to the challenge of war was subject to vig­ orous debate at the recent 2000 United Methodist General Conference. The war in Afghanistan that fallowed the tragic events in New· York and Washington last September has forced Methodists both in the United States and beyond to think carefully once again about issues of international vio­ lence. Methodist across the world may be committed to building a just peace, but differences undoubtedly exist between those who accept the possibility of a "just war" and others who believe that a -commitment to absolute pacifism is the only possible response to the teachings of Christ. These differences about war and peace have deep roots in the Methodist tradition. The rest of this arti-_ cle examines how British Methodists responded to the horrors of the First World War that broke out in 1914. It will be seen that the debates about the rights and wrongs of war that took place in the main Methodist churches in Britain during the 1914-1918 war revolved around many of the issues that still prove so painful for the Christian conscience in the contemporary world. 2 British Methodism never really developed a coherent doctrine of war dur­ ing the hundred years or so following the death of John Wesley in 1791. Wesley himself was certainly no pacifist, although he was quick to condemn war as the product of human depravity. While it is not clear that he ever artic­ ulated a coherent ']ust war1' theory of his own, he was certainly ready to com­ mit himself to the thirty-seventh of the Thirty-Nine articles of the Church of England, which roundly declared that, ''It is lawful for Christian men at the commandment of their magistrate to wear weapons and serve in wars."3 There 'Bishop C. Dale White, "United Methodist and War," Response: The Voice of Women in Mission (published by the Women's Division, General Board of Global Ministries), November 2001. 2This article is based on material in the Methodist Archives and Record Centre (henceforth MARC) at the John Rylands Library Manchester. I am indebted to Peter Nockles and Gareth Lloyd of MARC for their help. 3Briane K. Turley, "John Wesley and War,'' Methodist History 29, 2 (1991): 96-11 l. 316 British Methodists and the First World War 317 were, however, always those in 18th century Methodist circles, most notably the itinerant Yorkshire preacher John Nelson, who rejected the use of armed force on the grounds that, "I cannot bow my knee before the Lord to pray for a man, and get up and kill him when I have done."4 This tension remained vis­ ible throughout the 19th century. The Peace Society, established in London in 1816, counted a number of Methodist ministers among its supporters throughout the following decades.5 Most leading British Methodists were, though, reluctant to endorse the Society's view that war could never be justified under any circumstances. When the long-standing Eastern Question came to a boil in the late 1870s, an editorial in the Wesleyan Methodist Recorder obseryed that there was no prospect of ending war in a world that was not yet permeated by the spirit of Christ. 6 Indeed, by the 1890s, the Methodist press was full of demands for the British government to take forceful action to prevent the Turkish slaughter of Christians in Armenia, along with numerous condemnations of the Salisbury administration's desire to avoid any form of intervention in the region. 7 The "Nonconformist Conscience," at least in its Methodist guise, appeared ready to accept that war could sometimes represent the lesser of two evils. The out­ break of the Boer War in the autumn 1899 showed, though, that the whole question of war still had the potential to create sharp divisions within the var­ ious Methodist connexions.8 Most Wesleyan ministers and their congregations were happy to subscribe to the view that the struggle which took place in South Africa during 1899- 1902 was a justified one, since the British empire represented a force for civ­ ilization and tolerance in the face of Boer aggression. 9 A minority strongly dissented from this view. The Rev. Samuel Keeble was so incensed by the trenchant views articulate by Hugh Price Hughes' Methodist Times in support of British policy that he established a new weekly newspaper, the Methodist Weekly, to provide a forum for those who were critical of the war. 10 4Wesley's Veterans: Lives of Early Methodist Preachers told by themselves, 5 vols. (London: Culley, 1909-1914), 3 (1912), 120. 5For a detailed history of the Peace Society and its significance in the wider development of l 9th­ century pacifist sentiment, see A.C.F. Beales, The History of Peace (London: G. Bell ai1d Sons, 1931 ); Peter Brock, Pacifism in Europe to 1914 (Princeton: Princeton University Press), 367-406. 6Methodist Recorder, March 9, 1878. 7See, for example, the editorial in the Methodist Times, September 17, 1896. For a more general discussion of The Nonconformist Conscience and Britain's international role,'· see D.W. Bebbington, The Nonconformist Conscience (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1982), 106-126. 8Before the fonnation of a single Methodist Church in Britain in 1932, Bristish Methodists were divided in a number of different bodies (the largest of which were the Wesleyans, the Primitive Methodists and the United Methodists.) 9For a useful discussion of Wesleyan attitudes towards Empire, see Stephen Koss, "Wesleyanism and Empire," Historical Journal, 18, 1 (1975): 105-118. ' 0See, for example, the editorial by Keeble in Methodist Weekly, November 8, 1900. 318 Methodist History Opposition to the war was even more pronounced in the smaller Methodist churches. One former President of the Primitive Methodist Church strongly denounced British policy in South Africa, 11 while the Primitive Methodist Leader and the Primitive Methodist World were willing to print at least some articles and letter attacking the war. The debate that erupted with­ in Methodism over the Boer War focused for the most part on the objectives for which it was fought. Critics of the war usually condemned British policy on the grounds that it was dictated by a small number of financiers seeking to I gain better access to the gold mines of the Transvaal; they did not, in most J cases, reject war on the grounds that it was contrary to the teachings of Christ. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914, which led to destruction of human life on a scale far beyond the imagination of previous generations, led I to an important change in the terms of the debate. The horrors of the Somme and Ypres encouraged an increasing number of Methodist to argue that war I could never, under any circumstances, be reconciled with the teachings of I Christ. The following pages trace the emergence of a pacifist minority within [ the main British Methodist connexions during the period 1914-1918, as well as examining the debate between those who supported the war against the central powers and others who argued that Christians should never engage in or support such a conflict. I The established hierarchies of the main connexions moved quickly to express their support for the war which broke out in the summer 1914. The Extraordinary Committee of Privileges, which served as the highest decision­ making body of the Wesleyan Church between Conference, passed a unani­ mous resolution in September declaring that its members were, "absolutely convinced that the British government [had] acted the part of peacemak­ ers ... and that our country only drew its sword when plighted faith and nation­ al safety left no alternative course." 12 The President of Conference, Rev. Dinsdale Young, praised the thousands of young Wesleyans who rushed to enlist in the armed forces, declaring in a speech at Blackpool in September that, "love of country is part of the love of God." 13 Most leading figures in the Primitive Methodist and United Methodist Churches took asimilar stand. Rev. Arthur Guttery, who became President of the Primitive Methodist Conference in 1915, wrote numerous articles during the first year of the war condemning German aggression and demanding that the Kaiser should be hanged unless it could be proved that he was certifiably mad. 14 11 See, for example, the views expressed by Rev. John Smith in his letters to the Primitive Methodist World, December 28, 1899; January 11, 1900. 12Methodist Times, September 17, 1914. 13Methodist Times, August 27, 1914. 14 Primitive Methodist Leader, August 13, 1914, December 24, 1914. British Methodists and the First World War 319 When the Primitive Methodist Conference met in the summer 1915, its representative were, like their counterparts in the Wesleyan Church, happy to approve a Conference Address praising church members who had accepted "the call of duty" and enlisted in the armed forces. 15 The main Methodist con­ nexions also 1noved quickly to deal with the immediate demands of wartime. The Wesleyan Church greatly increased the number of its chaplains in the armed forces, 16 while the Primitive Methodists and United Methodists appointed dedicated army chaplains for the first time in their history, in uni­ son with a number of other Nonconformist denominations.
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