Introduction
During this decade the only unconditional pacifists were the Jehovah's Witnesses[1] and the Quakers[2]. There were countless 'patriotic sermons' declarations of loyalty from the denominations, 'extraordinary divine services', manifestos 'in the name of faith' and 'martyrs'. The religious past was employed in the service of the cause of war. In the case of Christianity, the Synod of Ancyra (314), the Church Fathers and the medieval imagination were called into action to feed the argument for a 'crusade', for 'holy war', for 'just war', and for 'sacred war'. In a similar way, 'jihad' was invoked by the Muslims who fought on both sides.
These references conceal a more complex reality. For religious reasons, Belgium and France had been the target of strong criticism amongst Anglo-Saxon Protestants. They had described France as a nation of 'infidels' and Belgium was accused of supporting the Congo atrocities with the backing of King Leopold, while Germany, as 'reformed,' bore witness to the victory of progress according to the divine will. On 1 August 1914, the archbishop of Canterbury said that war between England and Germany was unimaginable “in the Twentieth Century of the Gospel of the Prince of Peace”. The declarations of war produced an abrupt about face. No denomination could be seen to be united within itself. On the ground, the most important link to solidarity was the nation, as it was constituted or was evolving. Governments were dominated by economic interest: thus France did not support the idea of internal division in the Ottoman Empire at the time of the first Arab Congress in Paris in 1913.The World Alliance for International Friendship through the Churches was split, as were the transnational Jewish organisations.
