‘As near to war as it was possible to get in peace time’: physical education, youth, and pacifism in inter-war Britain

Abstract The relationship between nationalism, militarism, and sport has been well illustrated. But the not-so-obvious relationship between pacifism and physical training has not. This article will reveal the efforts and attempts of pacifists to distance physical education from the militaristic machinery of the state. Changes to physical education were not unilaterally influenced by national anxiety and the desire to prepare for war. Peace activists prompted a deeper reflection on the goals of physical education that resulted in the removal of state funding for the Cadet Corps in 1930. Where militarists had once mobilized the educational apparatus to adapt young bodies and equip the nation for war, pacifists sought to use physical education to instil behavioural changes in the mind. Pacifists felt that physical activity could give young people characteristics that were needed to maintain global peace: autonomy, independence, creativity, and cooperation.