PEACE SOCIETY, an organization
founded for the purpose of promoting
universal peace on a permanent basis among the
nations. William Allen and Joseph Price
organized a peace society in London in 1816; but
the first peace society on the European continent
was established in Geneva in 1830. At
the International Peace Congress held in London
in 1843 there were present 294 British, 37
American and six Continental delegates. The
society, more or less a religious movement, asked the support of all denominations as well as of persons who oppose war on any grounds. It has always advocated a gradual disarmament by all the nations of Europe, but its main contention is the necessity for adopting the principle of arbitration in international disputes. See ; ; .