9781851246755
Distributed for Bodleian Library Publishing
King and Country
The 1933 Student Debate that Shook the World
The story of how an Oxford student group’s message of pacifism shocked the world at the onset of World War II.
Barely ten days after Adolf Hitler had become Chancellor of Germany on February 9th, 1933, the Oxford Union, the internationally renowned student debating society, sent shockwaves around the world when its members declared that they would, in no circumstances, fight for King and Country. This book tells the full story of that debate, examining the attitudes towards pacifism and appeasement in Britain between the wars while seeking to understand this fascinating period of history through the eyes of a generation that said no to war.
Table of Contents
1. The Oxford Union: ‘Nursery of Political Genius’?
2. Debate: ‘That this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country’
3. Reaction: ‘DISLOYALTY AT OXFORD: GESTURE TOWARDS THE REDS’
4. Impact: Did it influence Hitler and Mussolini?
5. Significance: The Young Men Who Shook Up England
6. Pacifism, 1931-33: from Manchuria to Berlin
7. Pacifism, 1933-35: from Geneva to Abyssinia
8. 1936: The Year That Changed Everything
9. Appeasement: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Munich, and a by-election in Oxford on the Road to War
10. War: What happened to the generation of 1933 during the Second World War?
11. Post-war: Guilty Men vs The Left Was Never Right
12. Legacy: The enduring relevance of the ‘King and Country’ debate
2. Debate: ‘That this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country’
3. Reaction: ‘DISLOYALTY AT OXFORD: GESTURE TOWARDS THE REDS’
4. Impact: Did it influence Hitler and Mussolini?
5. Significance: The Young Men Who Shook Up England
6. Pacifism, 1931-33: from Manchuria to Berlin
7. Pacifism, 1933-35: from Geneva to Abyssinia
8. 1936: The Year That Changed Everything
9. Appeasement: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Munich, and a by-election in Oxford on the Road to War
10. War: What happened to the generation of 1933 during the Second World War?
11. Post-war: Guilty Men vs The Left Was Never Right
12. Legacy: The enduring relevance of the ‘King and Country’ debate