The National Peace Ballot of 1934–1935
In the autumn of 1934, a nationwide, but unofficial, "National Peace Ballot", in the form of a questionnaire, mainly organized by the League of Nations Union, asked five questions of all those eligible to vote. The questionnaires were distributed by roughly 500, 000 supporters of the Union, and the five questions, all "Yes" or "No" answers, were as follows:–
1. Should Great Britain remain a Member of the League of Nations?
2. Are you in favour of all-round reduction of armaments by international agreement?
3. Are you in favour of an all-round abolition of national military and naval aircraft by international agreement?
4. Should the manufacture and sale of armaments for private profit be prohibited by international agreement?
5. Do you consider that, if a nation insists on attacking another, the other nations should combine to compel it to stop?
(a) by economic and non-military measures. (b) if necessary, military measures.
It′s fairly obvious, the way the questions are worded, what answers would be given by anyone who had lived through the Great War – and the
The final results of the ballot were given on the 28th June 1935 and though these results showed a win in favour of the League of Nations, there were many who voted the other way. Also, it has to be remembered that, while 11,000,000 voted in the ballot, almost 21,000,000 voted that same year in the general election, so the figure was not really representative of the general feeling.
The "Bexhill Observer" carried many reports of meetings and discussions held locally and nationally and gave an article on how Bexhill voted but I′ve found no record on how the vote in Hooe went.
The end of the First World War, was, finally, settled with the signing of the "Treaty of Versailles", on 28th June, 1919. The Treaty, also, included the agreement to create a world-wide organization to, hopefully, avoid wars in the future. This agreement came about from a proposal made by the American President, Woodrow Wilson, who wanted, through such an organization, to stop all wars and replace conflict with discussion, to encourage world-wide disarmament, and to improve the lives of all the peoples, of all the nations, of the world. This was the beginning, and these were the aims, of what was to become. the "League of Nations"
From the beginning, this organisation was doomed to failure as the American Senate refused to ratify that part of the Treaty, Germany was not allowed to join because it had started the war, and Russia was not allowed in, as it was communist.
There being no "League of Nations" army, was another major problem, as neither Britain or France, the two main members, wanted to get involved with wars that didn′t affect Western Europe, so, when Italy invaded Abyssinia, they sided with the former and ignored the latter. On top of that, any agreement between Britain and France would have been difficult to get at the best of times!
My grandfather was, however, obviously, in favour of the leaving things to the "League of Nations", as the following letter to the "Bexhill Observer" shows. In the letter, his strong religious beliefs are, also, very apparent.
"National Peace Ballot"
"To the Editor of the "Bexhill Observer""
"Sir, "
"With your kind permission may I offer a few words for consideration by those who refuse to support the League of Nations Union, because they consider it inconsistent with Biblical prediction, and principles? "
"The angelic Christmas message spoke of peace on earth. We are bidden to have peace one with another, to strive to live peaceably with all men, and to pray for all in authority that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour′ (I Tim. ii, 2),′ whose blessing is upon peacemakers′ (Matt. v, 9). "
"The League of Nations is the only organisation that makes for peace, acting as a tribunal representative of and responsible to covenant-bound nations. "
"Sir Norman Angell has clearly and forcibly shown the collective method of preparedness for national defence is that alone which has promise of success. "
"Sign the peace ballot with "yes" for the League of Nations and international agreements. "
"Let not callous passing fatalism persuade any to commit the world to death and destruction – to the annihilation of our professedly Christian civilisation. "
"Yours truly, "
"JOHN JAMES NEWPORT"
"Hooe"
In June, the result of the "Peace Ballot" gave overwhelming support for the principle of collective security through the League of Nations, and for the pursuit of peace through armament reductions.
In spite of the "Peace Ballot" result, many people, in Britain, still had the dreadful feeling that war was coming, long before it did – and they felt that they could do nothing about it. My grandfather, as evident from the above letter, was like those people, and was strongly in favour of not going it alone but, instead, using the fledgling League of Nations to find a peaceful solution that would be acceptable to everyone. There must have been some people, in Germany or in the world, who knew or, perhaps, guessed the character, the intentions, and the ambitions of Hitler and his Nazi party but none could have had any idea of what he would unleash upon the world.
