Embassies of Reconciliation (Organization)

During the International Fellowship of Reconciliation conference of 1936, the Embassies of Reconciliation were formed to oppose the growing threat of war. Embassies were established in Europe, the United States, and Asia to initiate peace efforts with various world leaders. An office was acquired in London, and work commenced at the end of 1936. The Embassies issued annual reports for 1936-7, 1937-8, and 1938-9. Financial support was provided primarily through Barrow Cadbury. During its two and one-half years of active life, efforts were made to bring about some form of reconciliation and negotiated settlement. The War Resisters' International chair, George Lansbury, toured Europe and met with Hitler and Mussolini; H. Runham-Brown, Percy W. Bartlett, Charles Raven, John Nevin Sayre, Henry Carter, and Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze all played leading roles. The movement spread among Roman Catholics, notably through Max Josef Metzger (Bruder Paulus), who was to become a martyr under Hitler, and the Austrian Kaspar Mayr. The major work of the Embassies of Reconciliation ceased with the outbreak of war in 1939. It financed goodwill trips to Asia and to South America (by Muriel Lester) in 1940. In subsequent years, various grants were made. The accounts were closed in December, 1967.