World Committee against War and Fascism

The World Committee Against War and Fascism was an international organization that was active in the struggle against Fascism in the 1930s. During this period Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, Italy invaded Ethiopia and the Spanish Civil War broke out. Although some of the women involved were Communists whose priority was preventing attacks on the Soviet Union, many prominent pacifists with different ideologies were members or supporters of the committee. The World Committee sponsored subcommittees for Women and Students, and national committees in countries that included Spain, Britain, Mexico and Argentina. The Women's branches were particularly active and included feminist leaders such as Gabrielle Duchêne of France, Sylvia Pankhurst of Britain and Dolores Ibárruri of Spain.

Japan conquered Manchuria in 1932 and support for the Nazis was growing in Germany that year, making the Soviet Union fear encirclement and attack by the capitalist powers. The German Communist Willi Münzenberg had founded the League against Imperialism in 1927, but it had collapsed in 1931. Münzenberg organized the World Congress Against Imperialist War in Amsterdam in late August 1932. He was careful to avoid including any Russian names in the advance notices other than Maxim Gorky, head of the convening committee. The congress was advertised as the World Congress Against Imperialist War in Communist publications, but simply as the World Congress Against War elsewhere. Romain Rolland and Henri Barbusse issued the invitations.

The World Congress Against War was held in Amsterdam on 27–29 August 1932, and was attended by more than 2,000 delegates from 27 countries. The majority of the delegates were not Communists. However, many belonged to organizations associated with the Communist party, or were known to by sympathetic to Russia. Most of the discussion was about the need to protect the Soviet Union. The Amsterdam meeting founded the World Committee against Imperialist War.Willi Münzenberg was the force behind organizing the World Committee, which at first was based in Berlin. Münzenberg managed to convince many prominent pacifists to join the committee. In addition to Barbusse, Rolland and Gorky the members included Albert Einstein, Heinrich Mann, Bertrand Russell, Havelock Ellis, Theodore Dreiser, John Dos Passos, Upton Sinclair and Sherwood Anderson.