The King and Country debate

The King and Country debate took place at the Oxford Union debating society of Oxford University in England on 9 February 1933. The motion, "that this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country", was carried by 275 votes to 153. It is one of the most widely reported and discussed debates conducted at the Oxford Union.

Prior to the debate, a similar motion had been proposed at the Cambridge Union by Arthur Ponsonby in March 1927: "That lasting peace can only be secured by the people of England adopting an uncompromising attitude of pacifism". The motion was passed by 213 votes to 138 and attracted no public attention.

The Oxford Union motion was proposed by Kenelm Hubert Digby of St John's College and opposed by K. R. F. Steel-Maitland of Balliol College. Among other speakers, Quintin Hogg argued against it. Digby found some difficulty obtaining a noted speaker to support the motion: Norman Angell, Bertrand Russell, Beverley Nichols and John Strachey were all unable to attend. Finally, philosopher C. E. M. Joad agreed to come and support the motion. Joad and David Maurice Graham of Balliol, the Union's Librarian at the time and the original drafter of the motion, argued in favour at the debate.

The teller for the Ayes was Max Beloff and that for the Noes was R. G. Thomas. The President of the Union was Frank Hardie.

Digby addressed the packed chamber: "It is no mere coincidence that the only country fighting for the cause of peace, Soviet Russia, is the country that has rid itself of the war-mongering clique. The justification urged for the last war was that it was a war to end war. If that were untrue it was a dastardly lie; if it were true, what justification is there for opposition to this motion tonight?"

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