Peace; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
A most striking instance of this statement happened a few days before
the outbreak of the war. Through a mutual friend, while in Bavaria, I
learned that Miss Anna Eckstein, an American woman, who has devoted her
life to the world's peace movement was visiting her home in Coburg
Saxe-Weimar. It was a short distance from where I was staying, and I
asked Miss Eckstein if she would come to me. The answer to my invitation
was that much as she would love to see me we should have to defer our
meeting to some other time. She was starting to make a tour of the Rhine
cities, where she was going to give important talks on the work that was
being done to encourage the world's peace. This would take most of her
time until the early fall, when she was going to a peace congress in
Vienna. She said that I might help her by forming two local centers in
Chicago for the signing of many petitions pledging ourselves for the
peace idea platform. I had not much more than read this letter and put
the petitions away for safekeeping when the word came that the great war
was declared.
Time and again during the storm and stress of war this incident appeared
as the greatest of paradoxes. Here was a young woman who has consecrated
her life, her talents, energy and friendships for the purpose of making
the idea of world peace more than a chimera. Her efforts have failed for
the time being, because monarchs and statesmen, goaded on by a foolish
idea for stronger empires and more possessions, had thrown their nations
against each other, resulting in the most cruel and disastrous upheaval
of modern times. Many of the world's nations are hurling their
tremendous armies with their siege-guns, bombs, mines, air-crafts,
submarines and navies at each other. Awful and tremendous are these
gigantic masses of destruction. What they accomplish or fail to
accomplish will be forgotten when the work of such women as Miss Anna
Eckstein and Baroness von Suttner are inscribed in glory.
It was merely by chance I had the pleasure of meeting these two
brilliant women at the time of the World's Peace Congress at The Hague.
Miss Eckstein had come as a delegate from America bringing petitions of
three million names, signed by American men and women, including many of
the foremost professors, students, writers, artists, capitalists and
workers in all lines of industry. Though born in Germany, she had come
to America because she realized that our country believes in peace more
than it does in war. For many years she worked entirely with the peace
movement in Boston. But she soon saw the need of educating the young
people to the ideals and principles of peace. She made a campaign of
this country, talking from pulpits and platforms on what the peace idea
and ideal would mean for society the world over.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account