The Movement Against War and Fascism (MAWF) was founded in Australia in 1933, as an Australian chapter of the World Movement Against War established in 1932 by the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

. The international movement was instigated by

Willi Münzenberg Wilhelm Münzenberg (14 August 1889 – June 1940) was a German Communist activist and publisher who served as the first head of the Young Communist International from 1919 to 1921 and as a member of the Reichstag from 1924 to 1933. He also foun ...

the German Comintern leader who founded a multitude of front organisations in his quest to spread the word and power of International Communism. The Australian movement set out to attract "fellow-travellers" and pacifists, and was relatively independent of the international organisation. MAWF organised political rallies and protests and issued the magazine ''War! What For?'' (February 1934 - May 1936), later ''World Peace'' (June 1936 - June 1939), to expose the development of fascism in Europe in the 1930s - particularly in Germany and Italy, and during the Spanish Civil War - while promoting the cause of Communism. The movement disbanded in 1939. The movement instigated the events which led to the

attempted exclusion of Egon Kisch from Australia In late 1934 and early 1935, the United Australia Party government of Joseph Lyons failed to exclude Egon Kisch, a member of the Communist Party of Germany, from entering Australia. Whirling Reporter from Prague Egon Kisch was a Communist a ...

in late 1934 and early 1935. During the 1936 to 1939

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, the MAWF played a prominent role in publicising stories from the front and condemned democratic governments for failing to come to the aid of the elected socialist government while fascist governments were supporting the right-wing rebels led by General Francisco Franco. The organisation continued to criticise democratic governments, including that led by

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Australia, from 1932 until his death in 1939. He held office as the inaugural leader of the United Australia Par ...

in Australia, for anti-free speech and anti-Communist policies, which some historians have argued weakened its otherwise prescient message about the escalating threat posed by fascism and Nazism. Indeed, the main debate between historians with an interest in the MAWF has been a preoccupation about the extent to which it was first and foremost a

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

front organisation A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gr ...

. Australian members included Mary Wren whose communist sympathies ran in stark contrast to her father

John Wren John Wren (3 April 1871 – 26 October 1953) was an Australian bookmaker, boxing and wrestling promoter, Irish nationalist, land speculator, newspaper owner, racecourse and racehorse owner, soldier, pro-conscriptionist and theatre owner. He ...

's conservative Catholicism,

Hugo Throssell Hugo Vivian Hope Throssell, Victoria Cross, VC (26 October 1884 – 19 November 1933) was an Australian soldier in the First World War who was the first Western Australian and only Australian Light Horse, Australian light horseman List of Austral ...

, and federal

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician

Maurice Blackburn Maurice McCrae Blackburn (19 November 1880 – 31 March 1944) was an Australian politician and socialist lawyer, noted for his protection of the interests of workers and the establishment of the legal firm known as Maurice Blackburn Lawyers. ...

, who was expelled from the ALP in 1937 for his membership of the MAWF. Secretary and editor of the MAWF magazine, James Normington Rawling,Pomeroy, John. 'Rawling, James Normington (1898–1966)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/rawling-james-normington-11492/text20495. was a dominating figure in the organisation's policies and messages until the organisation folded with the onset of World War in late 1939. Rawling was expelled from the Communist Party for unorthodox views and became a prominent anti-communist.

References

Anti-fascist organizations Anti-war movement {{DEFAULTSORT:Movement Against War And Fascism Political organisations based in Australia Communist front organizations Communism in Australia 1933 establishments in Australia Political organizations established in 1933

See also

References