Power of NONVIOLENCE

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/powerofnonviolenOOgreg The Power of NONVIOLENCE THE POWER OF onviolence RICHARD B. GREGG SCHOCKEN BOOKS • NEW YORK First schocken edition 1966 Published by arrangement with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Nyack, N. Y. Copyright © 1935 by Richard B. Gregg. Second Revised Edition Copyright © 1959 by Richard B. Gregg Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 66-24905 Manufactured in the United States of America TO MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI CONTENTS Preface 9 1. Modern Examples of Nonviolent Resistance 15 2. Moral Jiu-Jitsu 43 3. What Happens 52 4. Utilizing Emotional Energy 60 5. How Is Mass Nonviolence Possible? 66 6. The Working of Mass Nonviolent Resistance 72 7. An Effective Substitute for War 93 8. Nonviolence and the State 103 9. Persuasion 113 10. The Need for Training 141 11. Training 149 Notes by Chapters 176 Index 188 PREFACE TiHERE WILL always be conflicts, great and small, in human af- fairs. The H-bomb has made it obvious that total war can no longer settle conflicts. And clearly no conflict can be ended in its inner reality by the alleged deterrence from the possession of nuclear weapons. In such a stalemate the possibility of using nonviolent resistance might be worth examining. At first mention, the term "nonviolent resistance" seems self-con- tradictory. How can any resistance be effective in this modern world unless it has in it and backing it up, great strength, power and, if need be, weapons? At least a threat of violence seems an essential of resistance. Nevertheless, there have been instances in history where great courage, deep conviction and a fine cause have prevailed, without violence, against armed might. Gandhi's struggle for the freedom of India was one instance. In this book we shall examine the nature of the force used in such instances, and see whether it can be applied to other conflict situations. The unity of the human species is not only a biological and phy- siological fact; it is, when wisely and fully asserted and acted upon, a great power. Human unity is actual in man's universal capacity to think, feel, will, understand and act, and to apprehend spiritual truths. Human unity is a power that can overcome all differences of race, nationality, ideology or culture. Military leaders have aroused partial unity by means of fear, pride, anger, hate and lies. But unity can also be aroused, more fruitfully and enduringly, by love and the desire for justice. This book is a partial examination of how and why human unity can help solve human conflicts. Is nonviolent resistance intellectually and morally respectable or not? If it is at all practical anywhere, to what extent, and why? Is it applicable in the West, or not? It is difficult for one trained in modern Western modes of thought and action to understand this idea or to believe that its practice can be cogent. Even Gandhi's explanations of it fail to carry weight with most of us. His explanations come out of a background of thought, 10 PREFACE feeling and attitude to life very different from ours. The assumptions of Indians are different, and so are their social experiences, the ele- ments of thought which are implicit but never definitely stated, their historical allusions, their analogies and figures of speech. Therefore I have felt it desirable to restate and explain this method in modern Western concepts and terminology. I have not limited the explanation merely to Gandhi's own concepts or to India, but have tried to explain and evaluate the principle in its application in any country, at any time, under any circumstances and for any cause. I have attempted to show why persuasion of this sort is more powerful and more permanently advantageous than phy- sical coercion. If we want a better world, we must be prepared to do some careful thinking. It is time we stopped being sketchy on a matter that touches us all so closely. For in reality this matter of handling conflict con- structively is of immediate concern to everyone who has ever been angry or afraid, resentful, revengeful or bitter; who has ever taken part in a fight, mob violence or war; or who has been the object of anger, hatred, exploitation or oppression. It touches all those who are troubled lest the vast economic, political and social questions that are pressing upon all nations will issue in still more appalling violence and increased insecurity for everyone, or even destruction of the human race. It is also important to those who hope that some- how the ideals of mankind can be made practical and harmonized with its conduct. My qualifications for writing this book are experiences of conflict involved in my three years' practice of law and seven years in industrial relations work, followed by a stay in India of nearly four years beginning early in 1925, of which about seven months alto- gether were spent at Gandhi's own ashram at Sabarmati, another six- week visit to India in March and April, 1930, another visit there of about the same length in the winter of 1949-50. and eighteen months of teaching, writing and travel in India in 1956-1958, many discus- sions with Gandhi and a careful study of most of what he wrote, so far as I could find it; also a study of much of the other literature of the entire subject of conflict and peace. To all the clear, profound and sensitive minds with which I have come in contact, in India and in other countries, in the past and the 1 PREFACE 1 present, I owe a great obligation. To Gandhi especially I am grate- ful. For criticism and help I desire to thank especially my wife, W. Norman Brown, Caroline F. Tupper, Blanche Watson, John Nevin Sayre, the late Rufus M. Jones, my sister, Marjorie T. Gregg, Alfred Hassler, William Robert Miller and the late C. F. Andrews. I want also to thank all the authors and publishers who have kindly per- mitted me to quote from their books and articles. The first edition of this book was published in 1934. It was revised in 1944 and now events since then call for another revision. Richard B. Gregg Chester, N. Y. November 1958 The Power of NONVIOLENCE 1 MODERN EXAMPLES OF NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE T HERE HAVE BEEN many instances of the successful use of nonviolent resistance in different countries and at different times. Be- cause the taste of historians inclines more toward politics and wars, these other events have received but slight attention at their hands, and the records of many of them have been lost. In some instances the nonviolent resistance was by individuals, in other instances it took a mass or corporate form. The latter form is rarer and perhaps more significant. For this reason and because this book is not pri- marily a history, I will attempt to tell of only a few outstanding successful modern examples of the latter sort. HUNGARY The first to be considered occurred in Hungary during the mid- nineteenth century. 1 The emperor Franz Josef was trying to subordi- nate Hungary to the Austrian power, contrary to the terms of the old treaty of union of those two countries. The Hungarian moderates felt helpless, as they were too weak to fight. But Ferenc Deak, a Catholic landowner of Hungary, protested to them: "Your laws are violated, yet your mouths remain closed! Woe to the nation that raises no protest when its rights are outraged! It contributes to its own slavery by its silence.^The nation that submits to injustice and oppression, 5 without protest is doomed/* ^} Deak proceeded to organize a scheme for independent Hungarian education, agriculture and industry, a refusal to recognize the Aus- trian government in any way, and a boycott against Austrian goods. He admonished the people not to be betrayed into acts of violence, — 16 THE POWER OF NONVIOLENCE nor to abandon the ground of legality. "This is the safe ground," he said, "on which, unarmed ourselves, we can hold our own against armed force. If suffering must be necessary, suffer with dignity." The advice was obeyed throughout Hungary. When the Austrian tax collector came, the people did not beat him or even hoot him they merely declined to pay. The Austrian police then seized their goods, but no Hungarian auctioneer would sell them. When an Aus- trian auctioneer was brought, he found that he would have to bring bidders from Austria. The government soon discovered that it was costing more to distrain the property than the tax was worth. The Austrians attempted to billet their soldiers upon the Hun- garians. The Hungarians did not actively resist the order, but the Austrian soldiers, after trying to live in houses where everyone des- pised them, protested strongly against it. The Austrian government declared the boycott of Austrian goods illegal, but the Hungarians defied the decree. The jails were filled to overflowing. No represent- atives from Hungary would sit in the Imperial Parliament. The Austrians then tried conciliation. The prisoners were released and partial self-government given. But Hungary insisted upon its full claims. In reply, Emperor Franz Josef decreed compulsory military service. The Hungarians answered that they would refuse to obey it. Finally, on February 18, 1867, the Emperor capitulated and gave Hungary her constitution. The campaign seems to have been defective because of some violence of inner attitude on the part of the Hungarians.

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