Advocating for Peace

The Women's Peace Party, organized in January 1915 and led by Jane Addams, was one of the most prominent organizations opposing the preparedness movement and American military intervention. In this 1915 letter to President Wilson, the party leaders argued that preparations against threats from Europe, through the buildup of the U.S. military, would only lead to arms races that would cause more problems than they solved. "These preparations," they wrote, "would create rivalry, suspicion and taxation in every country." They believed that, instead, President Wilson should concentrate his efforts on the opportunity for the "establishment of permanent peace" that "this world crisis offers." The photograph shows the American delegates, including Jane Addams, en route to the 1915 International Congress of Women that was held in The Hague, Netherlands.