ABSTRACT
Pacifism comes into its own as a philosophical idea and political movement in the twentieth century. Philosophers took up pacifism as an object for philosophical analysis. Pacifist parties and peace movements worked in earnest to abolish war. This chapter considers two phases of the development of pacifism. The first phase developed under the shadow of Tolstoy and in relation to the First and Second World Wars. The second phase developed during the Cold War and includes pacifism as a response to nuclear weapons as well as the successful application of strategies of nonviolence in liberation movements. There have long been a variety of people who are committed to nonviolence and opposed to war in a variety of cultures. The Second World War posed a problem for pacifists. Quakers and other members of historic peace churches remained opposed to the war.
