Friends' War Victims' Relief Committee (London, England)

Society of Friends World War I relief organization.

Historical Note

The Friends' War Victims' Relief Committee was originally established by the London Yearly Meeting in 1870 to assist civilian towns damaged by the Franco-Prussian War. This Quaker relief effort is particularly notable because it established a policy of no discrimination between the sides in war. Prior to World War I, War Victims' Relief Committees were revived in Eastern Europe (1876) and in the Balkans (1912). As World War I broke out, the War Victims' Relief Committee was reestablished to undertake relief work and post-war reconstruction. The work began in the Marne district of France and expanded to include the Netherlands, Russia, Germany, Austria, and Poland. Following America's entry into the war, the American Friends Service Committee became involved with the War Victims' Relief Committee as well. The relief work of the Friends War Victims' Relief Committee was cited by Gunnar Jahn, Chairman of the Nobel Committee, as he gave the presentation speech for the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize to the Friends Service Council and the American Friends Service Committee.