Faith and the First World War Conference takes place at University of Glasgow, 21st to 22nd July
A programme of events to mark the centenary of the Women’s Peace Crusade will take place on 23rd July. Beginning with a performance and procession from Glasgow Green to Glasgow Women’s Library, this event marks the launch of the exhibition ‘Forward!’ and is also an opportunity to watch a screening of MARCH.
Faith and the First World War
The extent and importance of religious faith in the First World War is undoubtedly one of the great rediscoveries of the centenary years. Among the belligerent empires and nations, religion proved to be a vital sustaining and motivating force, with the Ottoman war effort cloaked as a jihad, the United States entering the war on Good Friday 1917, and even professedly secular societies such as France experiencing a degree of religious revival. At the same time religious convictions also provided some of the most powerful critiques of the war, contributing to tireless peace-making efforts by Pope Benedict XV and to the stand of thousands of conscientious objectors in Great Britain and the United States. Faith also inspired many of the women who were active in war resistance and initiatives for peace, including Quakers, feminists and Christian socialists who were involved in the Hague Peace Congress of 1915, the resulting Women’s International League, and also grassroots action such as the Women’s Peace Crusade, which was launched in Glasgow in the summer of 1916.
This conference seeks to explore the huge diversity and significance of religious faith for those who experienced the First World War, addressing themes such as faith in the armed forces and on the home front, religion, war resistance and the peace crusade, and the role of religion in remembrance.
Key-note speakers will include Dr Lesley Orr (University of Edinburgh) and Professor Michael Snape (University of Durham).
Booking
To make a booking for this fascinating conference on 21st and 22nd July, please visit this website, or to attend the programme of events to mark the centenary of the Women’s Peace Crusade on 23rd July here at Glasgow Women’s Library, visit our event booking website here. The series of events at Glasgow Women’s Library centres upon the exhibition ‘Forward!’, the exhibition is free to attend and open during normal library opening hours and continues until 31st August.
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