The South Africa Conciliation Committee was a British

anti-war An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...

organisation opposed to the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. The committee was formed in 1899 in response to the outbreak of the war, for the "dissemination of accurate information", and to seek an early "peaceable settlement between this country and the Boer Republics". The Conciliation Committee campaigned chiefly for formal negotiations to end the war. Among other movements, the Conciliation Committee was seen to be taking the centre ground, aiming to keep South Africa in the British Empire rather than pressing for the British to withdraw unilaterally, making non-

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

appeals to reason. Founded by Catherine Courtney, its president was the veteran politician Leonard Courtney. Courtney recruited

Emily Hobhouse Emily Hobhouse (9 April 1860 – 8 June 1926) was a British welfare campaigner, anti-war activist, and pacifist. She is primarily remembered for bringing to the attention of the British public, and working to change, the deprived conditions i ...

as secretary. Jane Cobden Unwin, daughter of the Radical and Liberal statesman

Richard Cobden Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radicals (UK), Radical and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician, manufacturing, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti–Corn Law L ...

, was a founder member, as was the suffragist Elizabeth Maria Molteno, daughter of the first Cape

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

John Molteno Sir John Charles Molteno (; 5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a politician and businessman who served as the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1872 to 1878. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molten ...

. Other prominent members included John Clifford, president of the Stop the War Committee, Allan Heywood Bright MP, Sir Wilfrid Lawson MP, publisher

Thomas Fisher Unwin Thomas Fisher Unwin (24 January 1848 – 6 February 1935) was an English publisher who founded the publishing house of T. Fisher Unwin. Early life and career Thomas Fisher Unwin was born on 24 January 1848 in 33 Lowgate Hill, London. He was the s ...

, left-wing journalist Henry Brailsford, and Robert Spence Watson, author of ''The History of English Rule and Policy in South Africa''. Cobden Unwin's sister Ellen Melicent Cobden was also a member. There was a considerable overlap with the members of the Society of Friends of Russian Freedom. The 1900 general election was generally considered a "

khaki election In Westminster systems of government, a khaki election is any national election which is heavily influenced by wartime or postwar sentiment. In the British general election of 1900, the Conservative Party government of Lord Salisbury was return ...

", and candidates such as Bright and Lawson, who were identified as "anti war", were heavily defeated. Against this background the Committee drew considerable public opposition to its campaigning, particularly when it organised a women's demonstration against the war in the same year. However, the antagonism was not as strong as that provoked by the Stop the War Committee, with its religiously inspired utopian approach. The Conciliation Committee's distinctive role was seen by ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' as providing authentic information about the war. Emily Hobhouse visited South Africa in 1900–1; her 1901 report on the

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

s led to the Fawcett Commission, which formally confirmed her findings. The South African branch of the Conciliation Committee was founded in Cape Town in early 1900, under the chairmanship of prominent parliamentarian

. It fought a long-running (though ultimately relatively successful) battle against state censorship and martial law.H.H. Hewison: ''Hedge of Wild Almonds''. James Currey Publishers. 1989. p. 102.

References

Notes Bibliography * * * * {{anti-war Peace organisations based in the United Kingdom Second Boer War South Africa–United Kingdom relations Organizations established in 1899