By the summer of 1917, the conscientious objector,
Clifford Allen had been court-martialled three times and served
two prison sentences with hard labour (4 months and then 5 months).
He was charged with refusing to obey military orders. On completion
of each prison sentence he was returned to his military unit and
placed under arrest again.
Before his third court-martial on 25 May 1917, he published a leaflet,
Why I Still Resist. He declared himself a Socialist who
supported the Government and the nation in the defeat of German
autocracy but only through peaceful means. He stood by his principles
and chose to serve a sentence of hard labour rather than accept
some form of civil work instead. Visit background
information on pacifism and conscientious objectors.
'I resist war because I love Liberty. Conscription is the denial
of Liberty. … You can shut me up in prison over and over again,
but you cannot imprison my free spirit. The duty of every citizen
is to serve his fellow men. In all humility I believe I am being
faithful to this obligation of citizenship by pursuing my present
policy. … the liberty of Britain can only be saved by Peace.'
NAS: GD40/17/518/4
On 31 May 1917, he wrote a long letter to Lloyd George from his
military prison cell on Salisbury Plain in which he explained the
reasons behind his behaviour. This source contains images and a
transcript of key exctracts from Clifford Allen's letter.
|
![](images/spacer.gif) |
Dear Mr Lloyd George
I have today been paraded before the troops here and received
my third successive sentence of imprisonment with Hard Labour.
This time my sentence is for two years.
Before I am removed to prison I think it right to make
known to you that, like other men similarly situated, I
have recently felt it my duty to consider carefully whether
I ought not for the future to refuse all orders to work
during imprisonment. I have decided that it is
my duty to take this course.
… I am anxious you should understand that I have
not arrived at this decision from any lust for martyrdom.
|
|
|
… You consider us cowards
in that we are at any rate safe and better off in prison than
in the trenches. …That is not why we are in prison.
Before the Tribunals many of us were offered as a condition
of exemption an opportunity of finding ordinary civil work
in which we should have been free to live our everyday lives,
exempted from every kind of military service. We refused this
offer, claiming Absolute Exemption. |
|
|
Then the Government, which included yourself, punished
us for this by arresting us and sending us to be soldiers,
although we had already proved to the entire satisfaction
of the Tribunals that we had a genuine objection to every
kind of military service. Naturally we refused to be soldiers
and were then… packed off to prison for disobedience
to military service.
Next you offered to release us from prison not
on condition that we would go to the trenches, but provided
we would sign an agreement to engage in safe civil work
with other men similarly minded to ourselves. We were nominally
transferred to Army Reserve, and if we misbehaved, we should
be sent back to our regiments. A recent stipulation has
been that those who accept this work should not engage in
the public propaganda of their opinions. Again we refused
this ostensibly attractive offer and chose to remain in
prison in Hard Labour.
|
|
|
… I think this shows that – mad or insane-
we are at least not cowards. It is not the fear of physical
death in the trenches that has led to our remaining in prison,
but rather a fear of spiritual death which we believe must
follow our assent to any Conscription Scheme, military or
civil.
… When we say we can only accept Absolute Exemption,
we mean this. ... we believe war to be wrong. Thus we believe
the same of Militarism, and thus we believe the same of
Conscription, which is designed to equip the nation in its
military and civil spheres for war. And so we say nothing
in the world will induce us to accept any compromise or
enter into any bargain with a Conscription Act.
Our repeated refusal of all these offers does not, however,
signify unwillingness to render life service either to our
fellow-countrymen or to our fellow-men in other nations.
This duty of citizenship we have always welcomed …
it is not the act of service to which we object but service
imposed in such a way as to make us condone Conscription;
and if we were released tomorrow with Absolute Exemption
we should feel the obligations of citizenship more insistently
than ever before.
|
|
|
But forced service under Conscription is morally worthless.
Once allow that the State has the right to interfere in
the lives of its members to the extent of demanding the
taking or the sacrifice of life against their moral convictions,
or the absolute disposal of their service without their
consent, and you have embarked on a system of oppression
that a hundred Russian Revolutions or American high-minded
interventions will never compensate.
We are then so resolutely opposed to war and militarism,
and so conscious of the value of liberty, that we will not
condone conscription in any shape or form. We so prize the
right of free service that we will not acquiesce in any
variety of state slavery. That is why we refuse all these
offers.
|
![](images/greyCurvelt.jpg) |
|
|
|
![](images/greyCurvert.jpg) |
|
1. Is a conscientious objector a coward?
Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Give reasons
for your answer.
Points to consider
To agree
• Conscientious objectors are selfish
because they are not prepared to lay down their lives
for others
• They lack bravery and moral courage
• They are unpatriotic
• Their consciences won’t allow them to
fight, but they expect others to fight and die for
them
To disagree
• Conscientious objectors are principled
peace makers who believe it is wrong to use violence
• They are exercising their individual rights
to free will
• It takes more courage to stand up against
populist ideas and the views of the majority
• They are moral people who are concerned with
the bigger picture
|
|
2. Attitudes to war
What are the key differences in the viewpoints of followers
of world religions and those of non-religious beliefs
in their attitudes to war? Do they share any similar
ground?
Work in groups or in pairs. Select two world religions
and two non-religious beliefs from the lists set out
on the worksheets
(opens in a new window). Set out your research findings
on the two worksheets and present a brief feedback session
to your class.
Group discussion
topics
Extract from Source 3b - The duty of every citizen
is to serve his fellow man.
How should we interpret the duties of citizenship
today? |
|
![](images/greyCurvelb.jpg) |
|
|
|
![](images/greyCurverb.jpg) |
|
|