Canadian Presbyterians and the Rejection of Pacifism in the Interwar Years, 1919-1939

The Presbyterian Church of Canada (PCC) and its responses to war and peace during the interwar period reflect the optimism and pessimism of the age. Pacifism had broad appeal because it was a widely diverse movement, encompassing both the views of absolute pacifists and internationalist pacifists. But, as war with Nazi Germany loomed, the differences among pacifists grew ever more apparent. Support for internationalist pacifism existed within the PCC, but absolute pacifism did not find fertile soil in the denomination. One key factor in the rejection of this more radical stance is that church union in 1925 made for a conservative and relatively uniform PCC, unwilling to adjust or abandon its core Presbyterian identity associated with the Just War tradition. Other pacifist critiques had borne fruit by turning away from the notion of Just War.