1 Church St
Burlington, VT 05401
USA
Reclaiming Armistice Day.
This Nov 11 – the 11th day of the 11th month – marks one century since the Armistice concluding World War 1 was declared. Soldiers put down their guns, Gatling guns went silent and planes no longer dropped death from the skies. It was a moment to take a deep breathe for peace after a cataclysm that had killed 20 million soldiers and civilians and wounded another 20 million more. President Wilson called it “the war to end all wars,” but sadly, it was a war that ushered in a century of wars.
World War 1 was a deep global trauma whose reverberations continue to affect us.
Congress recognized the official end of the war saying the “date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations…” But since then, the original purpose of the event has been lost. In 1954, at the end of the Korean War, Congress amended the decision by striking out the word ‘Armistice’ – meaning an agreement made by opposing sides to stop fighting – and replaced it with Veteran’s Day. Now, instead of pausing to think about the terrible costs of war or how to prevent war, we are urged to honor soldiers without consideration of the ill begotten wars that they have been forced to fight in.
Others call the day Remembrance Day. But what do we choose to remember? I choose to remember the women who pleaded with President Wilson to stay out of the war and who proposed mediation to the warring European powers. We rarely remember all the initiatives offered before the war to stop World War 1. Such efforts have relevance for today.
The International Peace Conference that convened at the Hague in Holland in 1915, the first year of the war, was called by women from both sides of the war. They stated the crisis sufficiently: “We protest against the madness and the horror of war, involving as it does a reckless sacrifice of human life and the destruction of so much that humanity has labored through centuries to build up.”
After three days of debate, they developed 11 resolutions to resolve the conflict. The Conference endorsed measures for international cooperation, including a permanent International Court of Justice, general disarmament, national self-determination and democratic control of foreign policy.
To implement the plan they proposed a continuous conference of neutrals – either neutral countries or civil leaders. They stressed that the US was in a unique geographical position and had moral responsibility to take leadership of the task – to make propositions to the belligerents in the spirit of constructive internationalism.
Reading these proposals now in the era of Trump they sound painfully old fashioned. Might makes right and American exceptionalism is the President’s prevailing global ethos.
But women continue the dream of women 100 years ago to have a say in foreign policy. In 2000, a United Nations resolution on Women, Peace and Security (SCR 1325) was passed unanimously by the UN Security Council. It recognizes that women have a critical role to play in the ending of wars and the sustainability of peace, and insists that women be included at the peace table when conflicts are being resolved.
Has it been fully implemented? Not sufficiently. Women from the international peace group Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom came together this fall at the UN for the 18th anniversary of SCR 1325 to evaluate its progress.
Several representatives highlighted entrenched misogyny and patriarchal society as barriers to success in combating violence and ensuring women’s participation.
Moving forward, they demanded that when the UN mandates a peacekeeping mission, it must include binding language on women’s participation, women’s protection and other aspects of Women, Peace and Security.
Women are bringing the #MeToo movement to the global level, and are supporting the reclaiming of Armistice Day as a day to foster peace.
Join us on Armistice Day, Sunday, 11/11 at 12:30 for a march from the top of Church St. to the BCA Center, 135 Church St., Burlington. We’ll meet at the 2nd floor gallery from 1 to 2:30 for song, poetry and a panel discussion. For more information: robinlloyd8@gmail.com.