and saving the world from the sorrow and suffering that war must always bring’ . Gladstone
pulled on these traditional views of femininity to argue that it was one which worked
alongside pacifism. 28 Cathrine Marshall also supported this view in her 1915 essay, where
she stated that women’s experiences of being heads of households could be used in
building relations between nations. 29 These connections that women made between their
femininity and maternal instincts and internationalism gained them respect within the wider
international field. We therefore see a shift occurring in the interwar years where women
moved away from simply thanking the men who created international change, to those
women being given a platform to contribute in a way that they were previously unable to do
so. We are therefore able to argue that the creation of the League of Nations and the role of
individual nations within the League gave women greater opportunities to contribute to
debates surrounding the establishment of international peace.
The Welsh League of Nations Union emphasised the role of the mother in an
international discourse, when Minnie James was asked to open the Temple of Peace in
1938. She had lost her three sons because of the war and was used as a representation of
the loss that women suffered at the hands of war. Mothers from varying nations coming
together to open the Temple of Peace was used as a symbol to reflect how mothers bear
the brunt of war, despite the masculine emphasis of remembrance. 30 On the 10 th of
November 1938, Minnie James said, ‘I feel so happy for my sons. I shall feel them near me
when I come back to open this beautiful building’ . 31 The Women’s International League for
28 McCarthy, The British People and the League of Nations , p. 182. 29 McCarthy, The British People and the League of Nations, p. 195.
30 Craig Owen, ‘The Story of Minnie James and the Temple’s ‘Mothers of Peace’’ on Welsh Centre for International Affairs <Minnie James and the Temple's 'Mothers of Peace' - Welsh Centre for International Affairs (wcia.org.uk)> [accessed on 14/11/2023]. 31 Minnie James visiting the Temple of Peace, 10 th of November 1938.
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