Peace Through Law Association
| Association de la paix par le droit | |
ADP poster calling for War on War! Issued at the start of World War I.
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| Abbreviation | APD |
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| Formation | 7 April 1887 |
| Extinction | 1948 |
| Type | Non-governmental organization |
| Legal status | Defunct |
| Purpose | Pacifism |
| Headquarters | Nîmes, France |
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Region
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France |
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Official language
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French |
The Peace Through Law Association (French: APD: Association de la paix par le droit) was a French pacifist organization active in the years before World War I (1914–18) that continued to promote its cause throughout the inter-war period leading up to World War II (1939–45). For many years it was the leading organization of the fragmented French pacifist movement. The APD believed that peace could be maintained through an internationally agreed legal framework, with mediation to resolve disputes. It did not support individual conscientious objection, which it thought was ineffective. It would not align with the left-wing "peace at all costs" groups, or with the right-wing groups that thought the League of Nations was all that was needed.
Several pacifist organizations were active in France in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The French Society for Arbitration Between Nations (Société française pour l’arbitrage entre les nations) was founded by Frédéric Passy (1822–1912), who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. The International League for Peace and Freedom (LIPL: Ligue internationale de la paix et de la liberté) was founded in Geneva in 1867 and was chaired by Charles Lemonnier (1860–1930). The LIPL was based in Switzerland until 1919, but had a Paris committee headed by Émile Arnaud (1864–1921), who became president of the League in 1891. The League published a monthly journal, Les États-Unis d’Europe (The United States of Europe).
Louis Barnier, who founded the organization, met the English Quaker and leader of the Wisbech Local Peace Society Priscilla Hannah Peckover (1833–1931) while he was a student in England. From the Quakers he became converted to the concept of peace through arbitration. On his return he shared this new faith with his teenage friends in Nîmes. They formed a focus group called "The Wave" (la Gerbe). The association was founded on 7 April 1887 by six students led by Théodore Eugène César Ruyssen (1868–1967). At first it was named the Association of Young Friends of Peace (Association des jeunes amis de la paix). It was Protestant in nature, influenced by utopian socialism and by the cooperative school of Nîmes, which reflected the ideas of Charles Gide (1847–1932), Emmanuel de Boyve and Auguste Marie Fabre (1833–1922). Fabre was particularly influential on the young peace activists.
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