ABSTRACT
Ramsay MacDonald and the faction of the Independent Labour Party (ILP) opposing Britain's entry to the war must surely have pride of place in any discussion of anti-war dissent in Britain. In Britain, as in all combatant countries, such few voices as were raised in dissent were overwhelmed by a chorus supportive of the decision to resort to arms. In August 1914 MacDonald withdrew from leadership of the Labour Party when it became clear that the dissenters would be in the minority. MacDonald had already found an alternative forum for political activity. With other, like-minded dissenters, he became a prominent, founding member of the Union of Democratic Control (UDC). If, therefore, the Quakers helped to bring cohesion to the dissenting movement, they also exercised a restraining influence, reinforcing the dominance of the UDC line within dissent in general and of Morel and the moderates inside the UDC.
