Very little has been written on the peace movement during the Korean war. Historian Joseph Conlin assessed the period and concluded that \"when hostilities with North Korean troops commenced in 1950, the American antiwar movement stood at its nadir.\" Lawrence Wittner's fine book Rebels Against War is devoted to the American peace movement from 1941 to 1960. Yet out of this book's 300- odd pages, less than three concern the movement during the Korean war- and most of this discussion is focused on those elements in the movement which supported the war. This is typical of the major secondary sources on the American peace movement.
It is certainly true that the Korean war met with surprisingly little public resistance, especially initially. Republicans joined Democrats in applauding Truman's decision to intervene. More surprisingly, a number of traditionally pacifist individuals, organizations and periodicals endorsed the war, including some that had not supported World War Two. Prominent in this category were Norman Thomas, the Socialist Party, Dwight MacDonald and the Progressive.
","abstract_html":"<p>Very little has been written on the peace movement during the Korean war. Historian Joseph Conlin assessed the period and concluded that "when hostilities with North Korean troops commenced in 1950, the American antiwar movement stood at its nadir." Lawrence Wittner's fine book Rebels Against War is devoted to the American peace movement from 1941 to 1960. Yet out of this book's 300- odd pages, less than three concern the movement during the Korean war- and most of this discussion is focused on those elements in the movement which supported the war. This is typical of the major secondary sources on the American peace movement.</p> <p>It is certainly true that the Korean war met with surprisingly little public resistance, especially initially. Republicans joined Democrats in applauding Truman's decision to intervene. More surprisingly, a number of traditionally pacifist individuals, organizations and periodicals endorsed the war, including some that had not supported World War Two. Prominent in this category were Norman Thomas, the Socialist Party, Dwight MacDonald and the Progressive.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Slater, Joseph E."],"institution":"Oberlin College Honors Theses","degree_name":"BA","degree_level":"bachelors","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Koppes, Clayton"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1983,"date_issued":"1983","date_published":"1983","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:37:01Z","subjects":["History","American History","Korean","war","American","politics"],"languages":["English"],"rights":["unrestricted","This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1363879490","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Koppes, Clayton"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Slater, Joseph E."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["1983"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Oberlin College Honors Theses / OhioLINK"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Electronic Thesis or Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["bachelors"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["BA"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Oberlin College Honors Theses"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["History","American History","Korean","war","American","politics"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["unrestricted","This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1363879490"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Very little has been written on the peace movement during the Korean war. Historian Joseph Conlin assessed the period and concluded that \"when hostilities with North Korean troops commenced in 1950, the American antiwar movement stood at its nadir.\" Lawrence Wittner's fine book Rebels Against War is devoted to the American peace movement from 1941 to 1960. Yet out of this book's 300- odd pages, less than three concern the movement during the Korean war- and most of this discussion is focused on those elements in the movement which supported the war. This is typical of the major secondary sources on the American peace movement.
It is certainly true that the Korean war met with surprisingly little public resistance, especially initially. Republicans joined Democrats in applauding Truman's decision to intervene. More surprisingly, a number of traditionally pacifist individuals, organizations and periodicals endorsed the war, including some that had not supported World War Two. Prominent in this category were Norman Thomas, the Socialist Party, Dwight MacDonald and the Progressive.
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It is certainly true that the Korean war met with surprisingly little public resistance, especially initially. Republicans joined Democrats in applauding Truman's decision to intervene. More surprisingly, a number of traditionally pacifist individuals, organizations and periodicals endorsed the war, including some that had not supported World War Two. Prominent in this category were Norman Thomas, the Socialist Party, Dwight MacDonald and the Progressive.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf","p.167","72.85 MB"],"dc:identifier":["http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1363879490"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:publisher":["Oberlin College Honors Theses / OhioLINK"],"dc:rights":["unrestricted","This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws."],"dc:subject":["History","American History","Korean","war","American","politics"],"dc:title":["Voices in the Wind: American Opposition to the Korean War"],"dc:type":["Electronic Thesis or Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_level":["bachelors"],"thesis:degree_name":["BA"],"thesis:institution_name":["Oberlin College Honors Theses"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:37:01Z"}