Frédéric Passy

Front page of La Démocratie et l’instruction (Democracy and Education), an 1864 work assembled from his lectures.

From 1846, Passy worked as an accountant in the Conseil de Droit.[8]^: 110 In 1848, he served in the National Guard.[4]^: 46 He resigned from his Conseil position in 1849 to start a career as an economist.[4]^: 37

He was unable to secure a full-time position in education; he refused to swear the mandatory oath of loyalty to French monarch Napoleon III, believing his rule to be illegitimate.[3]^: 34 However, Passy published several books on economics during this time, the majority of them compiled from his lectures at universities in Pau, Montpellier, Bordeaux, and Nice.[4]^: 37

Passy was trained in law, but soon became interested in moral and political economy. As he contemplated the effects of war, he was inspired by the works of several liberal economists and reformers: Frédéric Bastiat, Richard Cobden, and Daniel O'Connell.[4]^: 35 Passy was most impressed by Bastiat, who developed his ideas from Cobden's Anti-Corn Law League.[3]^: 22 Bastiat held the belief that the conscription and high tax which often accompanied militarism had a largely negative effect on the poor, and Passy further developed these ideas on class conflict throughout his work.[3]^: 26

Being raised in a family of military veterans, Passy described in his autobiography how he "might easily have been drawn towards militarism". Instead, the stories about the horrors of the French conquest of Algeria pushed him to consider the effect that war had upon humanity.[4]^: 35 Years of violent discontent in Italy, Poland, and Austria and Prussia led to calls for a Europe federation from prominent liberals and socialists: Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Émile de Girardin, Passy, and Michel Chevalier were all advocates of this idea. In 1859, Passy condemned the idea that military action could be a solution to political issues, suggesting instead that Europe should have a "permanent congress to oversee the general interests of humanity" and an international police force.[3]^: 32

Recognising the importance of journalism in the fight for peace, he conceived a plan to create a journal devoted to "pacific propaganda". This led to him working with Edmond Potonié-Pierre on Le Courrier International (The International Mail), an English/French periodical devoted to the European peace movement.[4]^: 39 Passy's association with Potonié's Ligue du Bien Public (League of Public Good), a liberal and socialist group aimed at attacking monopolies and high taxation, ended when Potonié began to call for a sweeping change in social policy. He advocated for the separation of church and state, a free press, equality of the sexes, the abolition of the death sentence.[3]^: 32

In April 1867, the Paris newspaper Le Temps published three letters attacking the actions of the French concerning Luxembourg, the third of which was written by Passy. The letter invited readers to join a "peace league", and was given enthusiastic support by:[3]^: 33

Henry Richard, secretary of the Peace Society, visited Paris in that year and urged the Minister of the Interior to allow an international peace congress during the 1867 Paris Exposition. The idea was rejected, but the government eventually allowed lectures on the general principles of peace go ahead, with the condition that no questions were asked afterwards.[3]^: 33–4

In May 1867,[3]^: 34 Passy and Chevalier received permission to organize the Ligue Internationale et Permanente de la Paix (International and Permanent League of Peace).[9]^: 162 It was in the Ligue that Passy declared "war on war", believing that liberal economics would bring social change once military spending was eradicated. This differed greatly with the ideas of previous conservatives like Friedrich von Gentz, whose anti-war stance was concerned with maintaining the status quo.[3]^: 34

On 21 May, Passy delivered a lecture at the École de Médecine (School of Medicine) in Paris, discussing his views on pacifism. He explained that his views were not from a religious or political perspective, but from an economic, moral, and philosophical one. While he did suggest that defensive or independence wars could be "the most noble and magnificent task in life", he strongly condemned wars of conquest and expansion as disadvantageous to a country's wealth and moral character.[3]^: 44–5

In the same year, the French Saint-Simonian Charles Lemonnier founded a similarly named League in Geneva.[3]^: 38 This group was far more political than Passy's, founded on republican views and strongly advocating for the separation of church and state.[9]^: 163 Passy made efforts to differentiate his Ligue from this one, repeating their "anti-revolutionary aims" and avoiding political questions over human rights.[3]^: 35

Despite struggling to find adequate space for its 600 members, the Ligue held a meeting in June 1868 in which Passy gave a speech on the group's "anti-revolutionary" aims:

We do not wish to [...] overthrow anything, to transform anything but want the transformation that is occurring under our eyes to be accomplished much more rapidly. We want — now that the civilized world is becoming a single body — a living network which can not be destroyed without [...] damage for everyone; [we want] to push to the outer limits of this civilized world and then [...] to the savage or barbarian world [...] the circle beyond which the unfortunate state of nature still rules. We want [...] law and not force used to decide [...] not only the condition of individuals and cities but the condition of nations.[3]^: 34–5

The first large conflict to happen during the Ligue's existence was the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. After the Battle of Sedan and capture of Napoleon III, Passy pleaded with the Prussian royalty to remember "that you only made war to defend yourself, not to attack" and stop attacking the French people after the collapse of their government. He returned to Paris and attempted to convince the British and American embassies to provide neutral intervention in the conflict, even considering travelling by hot air balloon to the Prussian king himself. On the death of his brother-in-law in the Vosges, Passy left Paris once again, disheartened that the Ligue could not stop the war.[3]^: 43–4

With Passy having adamantly renounced the earlier group, it is understandable that Edmond Potonié was one of the main opponents of the Ligue. He believed it not to be a serious peace society due to their vastly-differing opinions on the speed of change: he believed that only rapid societal change would bring about peace, whereas Passy's group advocated a calmer legalistic approach. Other protest against the Ligue came from religious groups, with Hyacinthe Loyson being denounced by the right-wing journalist Louis Veuillot as part of a "Protestant front": efforts to recruit more Catholics to the cause largely failed.[3]^: 34

The Ligue received monetary support from notable liberals, such as John Stuart Mill (who joined on 4 August 1867)[9]^: 162 and Jean Dollfus. Subscription rates for its 600 members allowed the Ligue's treasury to have six thousand francs in 1868: founding members paid roughly one hundred francs, while associates paid five francs.[3]^: 34

Noticing the growth and popularity of the peace movement, members of the Société arranged a congress at the 1878 Paris Exposition, however they warned attendees not to raise "unpleasant" and provocative issues. 13 different nations were present among the 150 delegates, although 95 were from France.[3]^: 49 The congress was held across multiple days, involving a range of talks and speakers:

• Adolphe Franck, the French philosopher, opened the congress with an assertion that peace activism was beneficial for society. He argued that while war may previously have benefitted society, through creating communities and spreading culture, it was now nothing more than a cause of destruction and suffering.[3]^: 49
• Charles Lemonnier reviewed the contributions of previous peace societies and opposed a motion that sought to create a transnational organisation or federation, stating the young age of the movement. The delegates ignored his advice, but he was seemingly correct as it took 13 more years to create such a group.[3]^: 50
• As leader of the Société, Passy opposed a resolution which stated that war "enthrones despotism and ... aggravates the condition of the most numerous and poorest classes". He rejected it on the grounds that war was damaging for all members of society, not just the poorest, and that within republics there is no class system. Lemonnier was among those who supported the resolution in the ensuing debate on class and the Paris Commune, but the conference sided with Passy's view, refusing to recognise class as a social reality.
• Several of the congress's speakers sought to convince it to create a permanent and legal body, including the French publicist Edmond Thiaudière, who argued that transnational representatives sitting in a parliament could work together to undermine the militarists in their countries. Arturo de Marcoartu, the Spanish peace activist, spoke in favour of a worldwide initiative to establish a European parliamentary system that would abolish war between its signatories.[3]^: 50–1

The decade following the 1878 congress was a slow one for the Société, with Charles Richet noting that the meetings often consisted "only of Passy, Thiaudière and [himself]".[3]^: 52

In 1889, Passy's Société merged with Hodgson Pratt's International Arbitration and Peace Association to form the Société Française pour l'Arbitrage entre Nations (French Society for Arbitration between Nations).[10]^: 137 This new Société lost its support in the 1890s to other groups, like the Association de la paix par le droit (Peace Through Law Association), which had been founded by a group of young Protestants.[10]^: 139

In 1887, Passy and British MP William Randal Cremer petitioned their respective parliaments to support arbitration treaties between their country and the United States.[4]^: 50 Passy amassed 112 signatures from French parliamentarians, supported in his efforts by Jules Simon and Georges Clemenceau.[3]^: 56 A year later in November 1888, Cremer led a delegation of nine MPs to meet with twenty-five French Deputies to discuss working together. This meeting formed the first Inter-parliamentary Conference (later the Inter-parliamentary Union) in 1889, attended by prominent politicians like Léon Bourgeois and Jean Jaures, with Passy serving as president[4]^: 50–1

Passy was aware of the importance of education in achieving peace, encouraging a textbook for nine-to-twelve-year-olds to be written. His group sponsored a prize essay in 1896 for this purpose. Passy and d'Estournelles de Constant worked together on a 1906 educational work, La Paix et L'enseignement pacifiste (Peace and Peace Education), and in 1909 released an entire curriculum entitled Cours d'Enseignement Pacifiste (Pacifist Teaching Course).[3]^: 79

Passy was born into a Catholic family, regularly attending Mass and making friends with Ézy-sur-Eure's priest while living there in the 1850s.[4]^: 41

In 1870, Pope Pius IX's First Vatican Council issued the Pastor aeternus, which legitimised Papal infallibility and solidified his word as divine. Passy could not accept this assertion of authority, and his family switched to a non-denominational, liberal Protestantism instead. Despite his Catholic background, he was supported by members of different denominations like the Protestant pastor Joseph Martin-Paschoud and Grand Rabbi Lazare Isidor. Passy's son Paul suggested that he may have remained a "liberal Catholic" even after 1870, commenting on his close friendship with the radical Catholic priest Hyacinthe Loyson.[4]^: 40–1

While acknowledging their attendance at peace congresses, Passy disagreed with the violence that often accompanied the labour movement, considering it to be a hindrance to peace-seeking efforts. However, he did agree that socialists had "some points, some very legitimate aspirations, that we would be wrong not to take into account".[4]^: 43

In 1894, the Universal Peace Congress in Antwerp considered the ways in which members of the labour movement might be further involved with the peace movement, but Passy argued against such a co-operation. He denied any difference between social classes in a free and democratic society, and suggested that members of the labour movement join already-existing peace societies, instead of creating new society-aligned entities.[4]^: 43

Despite serving in the National Guard, Passy disapproved of the idea of garrison life, believing that it led to laziness, gambling, and promiscuity.[4]^: 46 Instead, he suggested that the citizen-soldier would be a better idea:

Do not fear that the man who will be used to working every day in order to feed his wife and to raise his children is incapable of making the effort to defend them at a moment's notice. He will have been an exact and conscientious labourer in his workshop, an honest and polite foreman, a boss concerned with the well-being and dignity of the men he employs; in other words, he will have known and fulfilled his duties each day. Now comes the exceptional day when it is necessary to call on these extraordinary virtues, on these heroic sacrifices that the country's well-being sometimes requires; rest assured that this man will still know how to fulfill his duty that day and will not fail in his task.[4]^: 46

Instead of being removed from society, they would be allowed to develop the "military virtues" within it.[4]^: 46

While sitting in the Chamber, Passy advocated for a three-year obligatory term of service for all French citizens, but suggested that those adding to "the intellectual grandeur of France" may be allowed a shorter term.[4]^: 49

When asked by young peace activists to support disarmament, Passy responded that:

While disarmament was obviously the distant aim of our efforts and our hopes, the moment had not come to ask for it.... to make what would appear to be an attack on the army or what could be interpreted as a weakening of discipline, was totally contrary to our method of seeing.[3]^: 46

He argued that it was impossible to disarm countries without first putting in place institutions that promoted international co-operation and arbitration.[4]^: 47

Like his non-denominational religious views, Passy was seemingly apolitical. He sat as an independent conservative republican,[11] yet spoke often in support of libertarian policies like free trade economics.[13]

In August 1898, Nicholas II of Russia published a rescript which called for an international conference to discuss a peace agenda. Passy saw this as proof that his neutral and apolitical brand of peacekeeping had worked, believing that leaders would see the negatives of an "infinite arms race" and work together across country lines.[3]^: 208

In 1856, Passy acquired the Désert de Retz estate in Chambourcy from Jean-François Bayard.[24] A relative called Pierre Passy lived there in 1923,[25] and the family owned the house until 1949.[24]