Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1The Edinburgh Years: Family, School, University and Beyond
- 2Chrystal Macmillan and the Scottish Women Graduates’ Case
- 3Women, Suffrage and Parliament
- 4Working for World Peace
- 5Working with National Issues and British Organisations
- 6Working with International Organisations
- 7Entering the Legal Profession and Life at the Bar
- 8The Nationality of Married Women
- 9Death, Memorials and Recollections
- 10Review and Conclusion
- Appendix 1Chrystal Macmillan’s Membership of Committees, and Select Committees to which she gave evidence
- Appendix 2Twenty Resolutions from the International Women’s Congress 1915
- Appendix 3List of visits undertaken by Women Envoys in 1915
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Working for World Peace
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 January 2026
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1The Edinburgh Years: Family, School, University and Beyond
- 2Chrystal Macmillan and the Scottish Women Graduates’ Case
- 3Women, Suffrage and Parliament
- 4Working for World Peace
- 5Working with National Issues and British Organisations
- 6Working with International Organisations
- 7Entering the Legal Profession and Life at the Bar
- 8The Nationality of Married Women
- 9Death, Memorials and Recollections
- 10Review and Conclusion
- Appendix 1Chrystal Macmillan’s Membership of Committees, and Select Committees to which she gave evidence
- Appendix 2Twenty Resolutions from the International Women’s Congress 1915
- Appendix 3List of visits undertaken by Women Envoys in 1915
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chrystal Macmillan was one of the organisers of the International Women's Congress which met at The Hague in 1915, during the First World War, and was attended by 1,200 women from twelve countries. And, as Secretary of the Congress, she guided the formation and establishment of the WILPF, the oldest women's peace organisation which continues to campaign today.
For Chrystal Macmillan, as for many of her colleagues, working for peace was a natural extension of her commitment to women's suffrage, which she believed would lead to a fairer world. Firm in that belief, many women argued that if they were able to engage fully in political life and international negotiations, there would be an end to war.
Writing in September 1914, one month after the outbreak of the First World War, Millicent Fawcett expressed the view that,
If the political citizenship of women in all the countries concerned had become an established fact long enough to secure its organisation into concrete political power, it is impossible to doubt that this power would have been used to ensure such a political reorganisation of Europe as would have rendered it certain that international disputes and grievances should be referred to law and reason, and not to the clumsy and blundering tribunal of brute force.
Despite this insight, Millicent Fawcett felt it necessary to fully support the British government's decision to engage in the war till a military victory could be achieved. However, Chrystal Macmillan continued to advocate for mediation to resolve disputes between the warring nations and proposed that, in order to avoid future wars, further study and discussion on the causes of war were required.
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- Chrystal Macmillan, 1872-1937Campaigner for Equality, Justice and Peace, pp. 65 - 86Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2024
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