Campaign for World Government (Organization)

Established in 1937, the Campaign for World Government would create a civil world federation open to peaceful, orderly change.

The Campaign for World Government was founded in 1937 in New York City by Rosika Schwimmer (1877-1948) and Lola Maverick Lloyd (1875-1944). The Campaign was the pioneer organization advocating world federal government as the only effective means of abolishing war.

The Campaign for World Government, founded by Rosika Schwimmer and Lola Maverick Lloyd in 1937, was among the first organizations to advocate a democratic federal world government.

The Campaign was divided between two offices, with the international campaign headquartered in New York City, and the national campaign located in Chicago. In 1945 the organization split into two bodies, with Edith Wynner taking the lead of the International Campaign for World Government in New York, and Georgia Lloyd leading the Campaign under its previous title in Chicago.

The Campaign for World Government was founded by the Hungarian pacifist Rosika Schwimmer and her friend and fellow veteran of World War I peace mediation efforts, Lola Maverick Lloyd. In 1937, disenchanted with the League of Nations and its perceived weaknesses, they announced the Campaign's mission to promote a federal world government directly representing the interests of the world's people, as opposed to the interests of states. While the specific methods promoted for achieving this goal shifted over the next several decades, the Campaign adhered to the concept of a populist global federalism throughout its existence.

The Campaign's early platform was outlined in 1937 in their pamphlet "Chaos, War or a New World Order?" which called for the creation of a World Constitutional Convention. At this convention, it was hoped, a framework for a Federation of Nations would be formed, and democratic elections to the federation would be scheduled. Schwimmer and Lloyd included a tentative plan for this novel federal body, including full membership for all countries, direct representation, and several organs of government. Among the plan's elements were a new international date system, the abolition of all military bodies, the peaceful transfer of people out of population-dense regions, and a combined global free-trade and command economy.

Over time, as Schwimmer and Lloyd recognized the increasing unlikelihood of national governments voluntarily forming a world government, their plan shifted emphasis to the peaceful popular demand for the election of such a body. Following this shift, the Campaign began to focus on national consciousness-raising and international conferences of other like-minded groups.

Through congressional testimony, lobbying of legislators, national letter-writing campaigns, and participation in numerous world government conferences, the Campaign continued to advance its platform. Numbered among its successes was Hamilton Fish's introduction of a resolution at the1938 New York State Constitutional Convention encouraging President Roosevelt to call a world constitutional convention, and several Congressional resolutions and bills, including the "Alexander Peace Bill" (H.J.R. 610, 76th Cong. (1940), and the "Tenerowicz Peace Bill" (H.J.R. 131, 77th Cong. (1941).

The Campaign was divided between two offices in separate cities, with the international campaign headquartered in New York City and the national campaign in Chicago. The organizational hierarchy was often amorphous in structure and job responsibilities overlapped. Until their deaths in 1944 and 1948, Lola Maverick Lloyd and Rosika Schwimmer were officially listed as co-directors, or occasionally "international co-chairmen," heading up the Chicago and New York City offices, respectively. While Lola was active in drafting the Campaign's mission, records within the collection indicate her participation to have been largely titular in later years. Documentation in the Lola Maverick Lloyd Papers (see separate finding aid) indicates the financial role she played in the organization.

In Chicago, William Bross Lloyd, Jr. headed the national campaign until 1944, when the draft for WWII led him to opt for alternate service at a conscientious objector camp. Previous to his departure, William regularly supervised Edith Wynner as head of the New York branch of his national campaign, while she simultaneously served as personal assistant to Madame Schwimmer in the international realm. There do not appear to have been regional or state branches other than Wynner's New York branch.

Additional campaign staffing was informal and included the efforts of such family members as Madame Schwimmer's sister Franciska, and Lola's daughters, Mary and Jessie. Other staff included Caroline Lexow Babcock, Frances Bird, Katherine Devereux Blake, Tracy Mygatt, and Catherine Rumball.

The overlapping offices and titles eventually resulted in discord between the two offices. Following Lola Maverick Lloyd's death in 1944, and William's departure for a civilian public service camp, the friction over authority and mission led to a falling-out between the Lloyd children and Rosika Schwimmer. In 1945, the organization split into two bodies, with Edith Wynner taking the lead of the International Campaign for World Government in New York, and Georgia Lloyd leading the Campaign under its previous title in Chicago.

The Campaign for World Government was founded by the Hungarian pacifist Rosika Schwimmer and her friend and fellow veteran of World War I peace mediation efforts, Lola Maverick Lloyd. In 1937, disenchanted with the League of Nations and its perceived weaknesses, they announced the Campaign's mission to promote a federal world government directly representing the interests of the world's people, as opposed to the interests of states. While the specific methods promoted for achieving this goal shifted over the next several decades, the Campaign adhered to the concept of a populist global federalism throughout its existence.

The Campaign's early platform was outlined in 1937 in their pamphlet Chaos, War or a New World Order? which called for the creation of a World Constitutional Convention. At this convention, it was hoped, a framework for a Federation of Nations would be formed, and democratic elections to the federation would be scheduled. Schwimmer and Lloyd included a tentative plan for this novel federal body, including full membership for all countries, direct representation, and several organs of government. Among the plan's elements were a new international date system, the abolition of all military bodies, the peaceful transfer of people out of population-dense regions, and a combined global free-trade and command economy.

Over time, as Schwimmer and Lloyd recognized the increasing unlikelihood of national governments voluntarily forming a world government, their plan shifted emphasis to the peaceful popular demand for the election of such a body. Following this shift, the Campaign began to focus on national consciousness-raising and international conferences of other like-minded groups. Through congressional testimony, lobbying of legislators, national letter-writing campaigns, and participation in numerous world government conferences, the Campaign continued to advance its platform. Numbered among its successes was Hamilton Fish's introduction of a resolution at the1938 New York State Constitutional Convention encouraging President Roosevelt to call a world constitutional convention, and several Congressional resolutions and bills, including the "Alexander Peace Bill" (H.J.R. 610, 76th Cong. (1940), and the "Tenerowicz Peace Bill" (H.J.R. 131, 77th Cong. (1941). The Campaign was also one of the few independent observers of the 1944 Dumbarton Oaks conference at which the United Nations was first planned.

The Campaign was divided between two offices in separate cities, with the international campaign headquartered in New York City and the national campaign in Chicago. The organizational hierarchy was often amorphous in structure and job responsibilities overlapped. Until their deaths in 1944 and 1948, Lola Maverick Lloyd and Rosika Schwimmer were officially listed as co-directors, or occasionally "international co-chairmen," heading up the Chicago and New York City offices, respectively. While Lola was active in drafting the Campaign's mission, records within the collection indicate her participation to have been largely titular until her death in 1944. Documentation in the Lola Maverick Lloyd Papers (see separate collection guide) indicates the financial role she played in the organization.

In Chicago, William Bross Lloyd, Jr. headed the national campaign until 1944, when the draft for WWII led him to opt for alternate service at a conscientious objector camp. Prior to his departure, William regularly supervised Edith Wynner as head of the New York branch of his national campaign, while she simultaneously served as personal assistant to Madame Schwimmer in the international realm. There do not appear to have been regional or state branches other than Wynner's New York branch.

Additional Campaign staffing was informal and included the efforts of such family members as Madame Schwimmer's sister Franciska, and Lola's daughters, Mary Maverick Lloyd and Jessie Lloyd O'Connor. Other staff included Caroline Lexow Babcock, Frances Bird, Katherine Devereux Blake, Tracy Mygatt, and Catherine Rumball.

The overlapping offices and titles eventually resulted in discord between the two offices. Following Lola Maverick Lloyd's death in 1944, and William's departure for a civilian public service camp, the friction over authority and mission led to a falling-out between the Lloyd children and Rosika Schwimmer. In 1945, the organization split into two bodies, with Edith Wynner taking the lead of the International Campaign for World Government in New York, and Georgia Lloyd leading the Campaign under its previous title in Chicago.