Anti-War Movement Timeline

In Britain in 1914, the Public Schools Officers' Training Corps annual camp was held at Tidworth Camp, near Salisbury Plain, on the eve of World War I.

The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 gave the American authorities the right to close newspapers and jail individuals for having anti-war views.

Image source: Espionage Act of 1917

On 16 June 1918, American socialist Eugene V. Debs made an anti-war speech and was arrested under the Espionage Act of 1917.

Image source: Eugene V. Debs

President Warren G. Harding commuted Eugene V. Debs's sentence on 25 December 1921, freeing the imprisoned socialist leader who had been jailed for his anti-war speech.

Opposition to US involvement in the Vietnam War began slowly and in small numbers in 1964 on various college campuses in the United States, and grew quickly as the war grew deadlier.

Image source: Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War

In 1967 a coalition of anti-war activists formed the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, which organized several large anti-war demonstrations between the late 1960s and 1972.

Image source: National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam

There was initially little opposition to the 2001 Afghanistan War in the United States and the United Kingdom, which was seen as a response to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks and was supported by most of the American public.

Image source: War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

The anti-war position gained renewed support and attention in the buildup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the U.S., with large demonstrations held around the world.

Image source: Protests against the Iraq War

The American country music band Dixie Chicks' opposition to the war caused many radio stations to stop playing their records, but they were supported by the equally anti-war country star Merle Haggard, who in the summer of 2003 released a song critical of US media coverage of the Iraq War.

Image source: The Chicks

Opposition to the conflict, how it had been fought, and complications during the aftermath period divided public sentiment in the U.S., resulting in majority public opinion turning against the war for the first time in the spring of 2004, a turn which has held since.

Image source: Iraq War

Anti-war groups protested during both the Democratic National Convention and the 2008 Republican National Convention protests held in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in September 2008.

Image source: 2008 Republican National Convention

A series of demonstrations were held opposing the Russian military intervention in Ukraine that took place in Russia in 2014.

Image source: 2014 anti-war protests in Russia

Protesters held two anti-war protest rallies on 2 and 15 March 2014, which were the largest in Russia since the 2011–2013 Russian protests against alleged electoral fraud by United Russia during the 2011 legislative election.

In May 2021, protests broke out following a flare-up of the Israel–Palestine conflict, which lasted from 6 May until 21 May when a ceasefire was signed.

Image source: 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis

Beginning in 2022, the anti-war movement was renewed following tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Image source: Anti-war protests in Russia (2022–present)

Protests escalated in Russia on 24 February 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine.

As of December 2022, more than 4,000 people, including Russian opposition politicians and journalists, had been prosecuted under Russia's 'fake news' laws for criticizing the war in Ukraine.

Image source: Russian 2022 war censorship laws

Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026 by US forces, there were small protests in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

After the assassination of Ali Khamenei on 28 February 2026 by U.S. and Israeli forces, and the outbreak of the 2026 Iran War, anti-war protests emerged in several countries around the world.