Introduction to Non-Violence

ad them often use non-violent means simply because they have no others at their disposal at the moment. In contrast to the type of action described i

uch a hope can exist only in cases where the two opposing parties have a large area of agreement upon values, or homogeneity, and would have no basis when the oppressing group looked upon the oppressed as completely beneath their consideration. It i

. A second way of thwarting the will of the invader is to refuse that cooperation, and be willing to suffer the penal

he invader in the belief that his invasion can be made so costly that it will be impossibl

n are to be found in the histories of conquered people opposing the will of occupying forces. A similar situation may exist between a colonial people and the home government

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of homogeneity." "The Gospel of Non-Resistance," in Democracy and Empire (New York: Macmillan

Resistance

control. Such common agreement is the first requisite for the success of this method of resistance. When the people of the territory refuse to inform the police about individuals who are committing unlawful acts against the invaders, it is virtually impossible for the latter to check the expansion of non-cooperati

n and actual conquest. In his New Year's proclamation to the German people in 1944,

ns was in reality the persistent attempts at sabotage and paralyz

tance, thus preventing our soldiers and the Italians standing at their side from receiving the material wherewithal for the conduct of th

was no Jewish problem there since the Danes did not feel themselves to be inferior to the Jews. Such ideological opposition makes the Nazis angry, and it also makes them uncomfortable, since they do hold enough values in common with the Danes to understand perfectly the implications of the Danish jibes. Such psychological opposition merges into sabotage very

ontrolled schools, strikes of ministers against conforming to Nazi decrees, demonstrations, malingering, and interference with internal admini

ground press. While urging solidarity in illegal acts among the French population at hom

l wish to slow down German production, establish contacts with all the Frenchmen

der. Since the grievance of the peoples of the occupied countries is a continuous one, there is

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s, Jan. 1, 1944, p

otten in Denmark," in The New Republ

es. See such periodicals as News of Norway and News from Belgium, which can be obtai

1943, reprinted in Free Wo

cotts Again

e outbreak of the present war against Japan. Clarence Case lists five significant Chinese boycotts between 1906 and 1919. The last one was directed against foreigners and the Chinese government to protest the action of the Peace Conference in

in, with apparent ruin staring them in the face, to appeal to their home government for protection. They insisted that the boycott should be made a diplomatic question of the first order and that demands for its removal should be bac

eir non-violent resistance to Great Britain's imperial policy in the years

osition to G

to return to London empty handed, but finally an agreement was reached there with Saad Zagloul Pasha, leader of the Egyptian movement, on the basis of independence for the country, with the British retaining only enough military control to safeguard their interest in

ers were not sufficiently committed to their purpose to carry it out in the face of possible death. It appears from this experience that complete solidarity and commitment is required for the success of non-violent methods when used in this way, just as they are if such methods are used as a matter of principle. It must be recognized th

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. The last sentence is quoted from The C

s (Madras: Tagore and Co., 1921), 25-39; Charles E. Mul

rtant in the final settlement establishing the Dual Monarchy in 1867 as was the Hungarian movement of non-cooperation. The pacifist writers generally follow the account in Brockway, Non-Co-operation, 1-24. He in turn follows the book of Arthur Griffith, The R

iolence, quotes Joad: "There have been only too many occasions in history in which the meeting of violence by non-viole