Experiences of nonviolent civil interventions in twentieth-century political conflicts

Ruben Campos Palarea is researcher in the Club de Madrid

Nonviolence is originally a moral precept, a principle of behaviour. The term stems from the translation of ahimsa and its diffusion by Gandhi in his political campaigns in South Africa and India during the first half of the twentieth century.

Other reasons, beyond purely religious or ideological ones, throughout history have led people and groups to use nonviolent strategies to achieve political objectives. For example, plebeians in Ancient Rome twice (in 494 and 258 B.C.) carried out a rather peculiar initiative: they collectively decided to abandon the city and gather on the outskirts without fulfilling any of their public duties until they were granted certain rights and privileges. On both occasions, after the plebeians had held out for several days, the Roman aristocracy had to throw in the towel. In his masterpiece study on nonviolence, The politics of nonviolence action, the political scientist Gene Sharp analyses the case of the Roman plebeians alongside other similar examples from throughout history, such as the Dutch resistance against the Spanish Empire (1565-76), the pre-1775 resistance of American colonists against the British Empire or the Hungarian revolt against the Austrian invasion (1850-67).  

None of these cases featured a conscious religion- or ideology-based motive to unearth political solutions. On the contrary, the groups involved believed that avoiding a violent confrontation would be more effective for their cause. Rightly so, as in the end this proved to be the most suitable route to take.

Unlike these examples, the case of Mohandas K. Gandhi and the Indian independence movement stands out for its conscious and planned use of nonviolence. It involved thousands of people for many years and became a reference for other later experiences, such as the African-American civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. As the French philosopher and historian Paul Ricoeur pointed out, nonviolence for Gandhi wasn't just an ethical principle but mainly “a method or even a sophisticated technique for resistance and disobedience”.  

Gene Sharp, one of the leading authorities in the study of nonviolence, defines it as “a technique of socio-political action in order to apply power to a conflict. Nonviolent action consists in the use of many specific methods of psychological, social, economic and political action without the use of physical violence” . A fundamental aspect linked to this definition, specified by Sharp himself, is the need to differentiate nonviolent action from other more moderate pacific responses such as conciliation, petitions, compromise or negotiation. In his study on the political methods of nonviolence, the French philosopher Jean Marie Muller affirms that said pacific actions precede   the nonviolent campaign itself, since the latter would necessarily entail confrontation through “a strategy of resistance to the enemy's intentions, of not passively accepting the suffering inflicted and fighting the enemy's force until it is conquered”.   

On a similar note, the researcher Ronald McCarthy's definition places emphasis on this aspect of opposition to forces that nonviolent action entails:

“The meaning of nonviolent action can't be extracted from a definition of nonviolence. This concept is too vague to be used as a starting point. It would be better to understand nonviolent action as a collective idea referring to many individual methods of protest, struggle and resistance. It is better to consider nonviolent action as an array of options to confront a conflict, which are different from conventional politics or political violence. Nonviolent action consists of methods which actively present a challenge through symbolic protests, the refusal to cooperate or to behave as expected, or direct interference”.  

Nonviolent political movements have been known by numerous names in the past: passive resistance, civil resistance, anti-violence, unarmed movements... Without entering into a debate on terminology, it's better to get straight to the point. A wide range of nonviolent civil interventions in political conflicts were witnessed in the 20th century, laying emphasis on the conscientious organisation of civil groups to intervene in armed conflicts non-violently.

Examples of nonviolent civil interventions in the 20th century

Resistance to Home Rule movement in Ulster (late 19th century). Actions of Irish Land League against British absentee landlords.

Civil resistance to the Russification of Finland (1898–05).

Basic aspects of the political revolts in Russia in 1905 and 1917 (prior to the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917).  

Boycott of British products by Indian nationalists in Bengal, known as the Swadeshi movement, against the partition of this British-ruled region in India (1905-10).  

Suffragist movement in England to defend the right to vote of women (1906-17).  

Struggle of the Indian minority against racist laws in South Africa (1906-14).

Civilian protests against Japanese domination in Korea (1919-22).

Civil movement that led to the collapse of the Kapp coup (Germany 1920).

Nonviolent movement for the independence of India from the British Empire (1915-47).

Civil resistance that overthrew the dictatorship of Jorge Ubico in Guatemala (1944).

Nonviolent resistance against Nazi occupation of Denmark and Norway (1940-45).

African-American movement for civil rights in the United States of America (1955-65).

Civil resistance that toppled the dictator Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez (El Salvador, 1944).

Shanti Sena nonviolent peacekeeping force in India (since 1957).

Strikes in the Vortuka prison and other prison camps in the Soviet Union (1953).

Key aspects of the revolution against the Communist dictatorship in Hungary (1956-57).

Nonviolent fight against apartheid in South Africa (from 1960).

Nonviolent campaigns of Vietnamese Buddhist monks against the Ngô Dinh Diêm government and the Saigon regime in Vietnam (1963-66).

Struggle for the right to conscientious objection in Spain (1971-90).

Struggle for amnesty and political and national freedom in Catalunya (1971-77).

Determination of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo to find their children who “disappeared” during the Argentinian dictatorship (1977-92).

Key aspects of the revolution against the Shah in Iran (1978-79).

Workers' movement (Solidarity) in favour of political democracy in Poland (1980-89).

Creation of the nonviolent peacekeeping organisation Peace Brigades International (1981) and its initial grassroots work in Central America.

Protests to return democracy to Uruguay (1981-85).

People Power Revolution against the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos in the Phillipines  (1984-86).

Intervention of the peacekeeping organisation Witness for Peace in Central America (1983).

Hunger strikes and student demonstrations in Tienanmen Square, China (1989).  

Peaceful revolutions against the communist regimes in Eastern Europe (1989).

Civilian-led overthrow of Mathieu Kérékou's dictatorial regime in Benin (1988-90).

Birth of the German Development Service (1991).

Civilian protests against the coup d'etat in the Soviet Union (1991).

Civil unrest against the dictatorship of president Ratsiraka in Madagascar (1991-93).

Presence of the International Service for Peace in Chiapas-SIPAZ (1995) to support the peace process in this region of Mexico.  

Civil resistance of the Albanian majority against the suppression of autonomy by the Serbian government in Kosovo  (1990-99).

Civilian opposition to the invasion of East Timor by Indonesia (1975-99)

Creation of the European Network for Civil Peace Services.

Demonstrations against the Milosevic regime in Serbia (2000).

Creation of the international organisation Nonviolent Peaceforce in Delhi (2002).  

Civil condemnation of electoral fraud and the resignation of President Shevardnadze in Georgia (2003).

Orange Revolution in Ukraine to protest against electoral fraud in the presidential elections (November 2004 - January 2005)

Nonviolent demonstrations calling for the end of civil war and the overthrow of the authoritarian monarchy in Nepal (2005).

Demonstrations led by Buddhist monks in Myanmar calling for political change following decades of military rule (2007).