Introduction: Why we are holding these talks on November 11th

On November 11^th, Armistice Day, we traditionally mourn the British and allied dead. In fact, the war was a tragedy for all the peoples who took part and we should mourn all those who died.

There were people on both sides who opposed the war at the time and said it was a waste of human life and resources. These talks recount the little-known histories of some of those Germans who opposed war between 1914 and 1933.

In Britain, remembrance ceremonies are accompanied by military parades which glamorise war. By implication, the sacrifices of previous generations are presented as an example to be followed by the present generation in the next war. This is a powerful and abiding idea, deep in the British psyche. In modern Europe with nations at peace with each other since 1945, this seems completely inappropriate and dangerous.