Author: Gertjan Cobelens

10 March 2015
3 hours

WRI Archive Box 22
Box 22 contains 2 folders. 
Folder I consists of 1 subfolder. 

Subfolder 1. The cover states: general correspondence September 1974-July 1975.
This folder contains hundreds of letters, chronologically filed, regarding subscriptions and subscription fees, selecting translators for the conference, the planning committee and general in-house matters.

Folder II contains 4 subfolders.
Subfolder 1. The cover states: Leeuwenhorst Conference Center 1974-1975.
The file contains correspondence regarding the selection of the venue, brochures of and correspondence with Leeuwenhorst, maps and general travel information.

Subfolder 2. The cover states: the press on the conference / 2^nd quarter – October 1975.
Several newspaper clippings, brochures and periodicals.
* ‘War Resistance: 15^th Triennial’
Journal, 3^rd & 4^th quarter 1975, vol. 5, no. 10 & 11. Publisher: WRI. 1975. 36 pages.
Special issue featuring the death of former chairman Harold Bing and the 15^th Triennial Conference. The articles are reworkings of the draft articles for the conference: ‘The Palestine – Israeli Conflict: a Draft Statement for the WRI’ and ‘Towards Liberation: a Draft Statement’. Other articles include: 
- ‘On Taking Alternatives Seriously’ by Peter D. Jones (2 pages). He starts out with distinguishing between two kinds of pacifists: ‘Those who see their main witness as a testimony against war and those who see their prime task as creating a society where militarism is isolated and conflict can be resolved through nonviolent means as much as possible. […] Those of us committed to nonviolent revolutionary change in our own societies start from a basic criticism of the basic structures and of an analysis of how we reached this position. We see major world problems in the society we live in – the arms race, the food shortage, population growth, environmental pollution […] racism and neo-colonialism. To all those problems we need to develop alternative attitudes and structures: new economic patterns, new forms of community and family relationships, new political and decision-making structures […]’ However, the danger in developing these alternatives is that they become an end in themselves and a distraction from the basic question behind the need for alternatives. So taking alternatives seriously also means not to apply them where they have little to add.
* ‘War Resistance: International Nonviolent Direct Action’
Journal, 2^nd quarter 1975, vol. 3, no. 10. Publisher: WRI. 1975. 36 pages.
The issue contains several articles on nonviolent direct action, including ‘European Draft Resistance and Anti-militarism in Belgium’ and ‘The WRI N. Ireland Campaign’.
- ‘A Campaign of Nonviolent Direct Action by Arabs to Retain Their Land’ by Claire Gorfinkel and Howard Frederick (3 pages). The story of two Arab-Christian villages in Israel, close to the Lebanon border, which the Israeli government confiscated during the late forties and then destroyed, and the nonviolent struggle of the original inhabitants, who had been relocated to Haifa, to return to their land. Their campaign acquired international fame when the new Greek Catholic Archbishop of the Galilea, Joseph Raya, backed the protests and he and the original inhabitants embarked on a series of nonviolent direct actions, including hunger strikes, rallies and trespassing on their own land. Although the villages of K’Far Berram and Ikrit weren’t returned to the original Arab owners, nonviolent direct action did prove to be a powerful stimulus of public awareness and support.

Subfolder 3. The cover states: Lansbury House Trust Fund Grants / 1975 
The folder contains application letters and a application form for the Lansbury House Grant. 

Subfolder 4. The cover states: evaluations of the conference / 1976-1977.
The original evaluation form that was sent to all members and over a hundred replies in English, French, German and Spanish.

WRI Archive Box 23
Box 23 contains 2 folders.
Folder I consists of 2 subfolders.

Subfolder 1. The cover states: 16^th Triennial Conference 1979 / Triennial planned for 1978 in Barcelona but postponed / circulars and reports 1977-1978.
* ‘Towards Liberation: Triennial Conference WRI 1978.’
Xerox. No author. 1977. 1 page.
Provisional announcement of the 1978 Triennial Conference in Catalonia from 10-15 July. The conference theme: Towards Liberation. The choice of venue, Spain, was inspired by the death of Franco and the birth of a democratic constitutional monarchy, the choice for the Barcelona region by the vibrant nonviolent and anti-militaristic peace movement in Catalonia. Suggested topics for workshops: ‘Strategy for change’, ‘Liberation from militarism’ and ‘The breakdown of the nation state’. The conference was to take place in a college in San Cugat, 20 kilometers from Barcelona. 
* Letter to WRI members by Myrtle Solomon.
Typescript. Author: Myrtle Solomon. January 1978. 1 page. 
‘The Triennial in Barcelona from 9-16 July will allow all sections and associated movements, papers and members to regenerate our energies and commitment towards the cause of total disarmament. The recent past of the WRI still shows the signs of a profound crisis in the search for a political identity.’ 
The move to Brussels had turned out to be both a financial and a staffing nightmare, and with the loss of membership and international standing it was essential for the WRI to turn the 1978 conference into a big success. 
For lack of other candidates Myrtle Solomon remained chairwoman for another three years.
* Several documents exemplifying Spain’s complex legal procedures regarding the organization of conferences. In March the Ministry of Justice decided to enforce its application standards to the max.  
* ‘Triennial Committee Report, May ’78.’
Typescript. Author: Myrtle Solomon. 1978. 2 pages.
An unfortunate combination of tighter guidelines enforced by the Spanish Ministry of Justice and a ferocious political struggle within CANVI, the Spanish WRI section in charge of securing authorization for the conference and visa’s, ‘had a devastating effect on Triennial communication’. The WRI decided to start looking for alternative conference venues in France and Britain.  
* A letter to WRI members by Myrtle Solomon.
Typescript. Author: Myrtle Solomon. April 1978. 2 pages.
Solomon confirms the rumors but maintains that ‘the WRI conference will take place at the above dates in San Cugat, or Toulouse (South of France), or in Britain.’
* ‘Triennial Committee report, June 1978.’
Xerox. Author: Myrtle Solomon. 1978. 5 pages.
After much debate it is decided to postpone the conference to 1979.
* ‘Nonviolent Defence and Social Structure: a Civilian Defence Working paper’
Typescript. Author: Robert Polet. 1978. 6 pages.
Polet lays the ground rules for a defence organization ‘which would relate directly to the defence functions exercised by groups in the face of numerous threats and acts of aggression to which they are victim. […] Civilian defence, to be compared to the French ‘défense populaire’ or the German ‘Soziale Verteidigung’, differs from national defence in that it doesn’t react to the sporadic threat to national territories, but is continuously in action because within the system the various social institutions are under constant threat and this in turn is because human rights are always being called into question and are easily trampled down.’
‘The strategy by which Nonviolent Civilian Defence (NVCD) is realized falls into 4 stages: research into NVCD, general education in the spheres of nonviolent action and NVCD, a limited application of NVCD and completion of the process of transarmament by the public declaration that in future defence against all forms of aggression will be of an exclusively nonviolent civilian kind.’ The practical application of NVCD is based on the principle of non-cooperation: ‘It finds concrete expression in acts of fraternization (see Prague, 68), in the setting up of alternative power structures, in the pursuance of one’s work without actual collaboration, in the occupation of centers of strategic importance, in the protection of lawful institutions, etc.’

Subfolder 2. The cover states: triennial planned in 1978 but postponed / correspondence 1977/1978.
Hundreds of letters detailing the breakdown of communication between WRI, CANVI and the Spanish authorities and the frantic search for an alternative venue in France and Britain. 

Folder II.
Folder II contains 1 subfolder.
Subfolder 1. The cover states: numbered documents.
This file contains the Triennial Report; brief reports from the commissions on ‘Disarmament’, ‘Economic order’, ‘The SALT II treaty’ and ‘Transnational corporations’; financial accounts; the WRI constitution; council minutes; nomination lists; and several articles (see below).
* ‘Nomination for WRI council, 1978-1979.’
Typescript. No author. 1979. 5 pages.
The nominees for WRI council: Albert Beale, Mabel Canada, Morissett Davidson, Ellen Elster, Jean Fabre, Gerd Greame, Michel Haag, Bill Hetterington, Egbert Jahn, Harcourt Klinefelter, David MacReynolds, Hilda Morris, Ulf Noremius, Pietra Pinna, Robert Polet, Michael Randle, Sergio Salzano, Graig Simpson, Massimo Volpano, Vo Van Ai, Hein van Wijk, Helga Weber-Zucht, Beverly Woodward, 
* Provisional announcement of the 1979 conference in Sonderberg, Denmark.
Xerox. No author. March 1979. 3 pages.
* Official announcement of the 16^th Triennial Conference , 12-18 August, Sonderberg, Denmark.
Xerox. No author. May 1979. 3 pages.
Conference title: ‘Towards Liberation’. The agenda focuses on the discussion of the background papers and speeches. The background papers: ‘Development of Anti-Militarism’, ‘Popular Nonviolent Defence’, ‘Reconversion in the Arms Industry’, ‘Disarmament’, ‘Conscription & Conscientious Objectors’, ‘Roots of Oppression: Imperialist Structures, Race, Class, Sexism’, ‘Social & Political Change’, ‘Areas of Crisis’, ‘Positive Non-Alignment’ and ‘Specific Liberation Campaigns’. Speeches: ‘Towards Liberation and Strategy for Change’ by K. Helweg Peterson and ‘Liberation from Militarism and the Arms Race’ by Jean van Lierde.
* ‘WRI Triennial Reports, 1975-1979’
Newsletter. Publisher: WRI. 1979. 25 pages.
The special WRI newsletter contains brief reports from sections and affiliated groups, including Greenpeace, Movimente Nonviolenta per la Pace, Iry MIR, the Union Pacifiste de France and many others.
From the WRI Report: ‘At that time [the Spring of 1978] the WRI was in debt and had almost no financial resources; it had no staff and no prospect of staff, and since you cannot seriously plan a programme of activity without money or staff the WRI had no programme. […] It was to be or not to be […] Later in ’78 it was decided that the WRI was to be.’
* ‘The Evolution of the Notion of Reconversion.’
Typescript. Author: Pierre Arq. 1979. 6 pages.
The article deals with the political and economical viability of reconversing the military-industrial complex to non-military use.
* ‘Strategies for Change’
Typescript. Author: Jean Fabre. 1979. 4 pages.
How to reach the ‘less convinced, the indifferent ones, the people who hold political positions that are the farthest from our own?’, that is the central question the article poses. ‘There must be a permanent tension to produce meaningful political activity directed at people, and to produce it in a way that will ensure that it will be reported by press, radio and tv. Instead that most of the energies in the nonviolent movement are often invested in internal activities, informing our own members, doing research work, becoming specialists at peace […] we must be outward-going in an ambitious way. […] a golden rule, if we want to succeed in bringing about any kind of change, is to win our battles. In other words, if your objectives are right we must continue our efforts no matter what happens, ups and downs, successes and failures, until the final victory. We have no right to give up. Most campaigns taken in the nonviolent movement have ended before any relevant result was obtained. Activists shift from one battle to the next and spend their lives leaving uncompleted work all over the place.’
The answer to the original question: less talk, more action, no preaching, lead by example and never give up. 
* ‘Which Way WRI?’
Xerox. Author: Devi Prasad. 1979. 8 pages.
Any organization which takes decisions on the basis of its historical position alone becomes ‘irrelevant to contemporary problems; similarly, one which goes a long way with the current trends and responds to the contemporary situation, forgetting or ignoring its historical role and fundamentals principles, becomes superficial.’ Any organization which once started on radical principles and a radical program, but which is dogmatically tied up to its old position, which has not responded to the present, at best is transformed into a club ‘for the old guards, not necessarily old in age. Some become even reactionary in their outlook and behavior.’
The way forward for the WRI, Prasad claims: no revolutionary movement can afford to be pluralistic, no ‘revolutionary movement can ever grow without building traditions of self-criticism. […] No revolutionary movement can anymore remain revolutionary with a hierarchical structure. […] No revolutionary movement can thrive without honest and persistent efforts to build a team of workers who enjoy mutual trust and respect from each other, even when there are differences of opinion. […] No movement can now be revolutionary without a global perspective.’
* ‘Transnational Corporations and the Arms Race’
Typescript. Author: Danish Corporation Committee. 1979. 3 pages.
A detailed analysis of the Danish arms trade.
* ‘War Resisters’ International and the Third World: Draft for Private Circulation’
Typescript. Author: Devi Prasad. 1979. 7 pages.
Draft version of the later WRI pamphlet 
* ‘Council Members 1925-1979’
Typescript. No author. 1979. 5 pages.
This documents lists all council members from 1925-1928 to 1975-1979.