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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 American military intervention and the preparedness movement. 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." |