Iconic collections

7. Union of Democratic Control (1914-1967) [DDC]

CATEGORY

Pressure group archives

CONTENTS

Minutes, annual reports, periodicals, pamphlets, press cuttings, photographs, correspondence and subject files.

HIGHLIGHTS

Minutes and publications for the First World War period; files relating to British and other colonies in the process of decolonisation after the Second World War; publications about the situation in India and occupied Europe during the Second World War.

SIGNIFICANCE

This pressure group undertook a massive publicity effort during the First World War in support of parliamentary control of foreign policy and a just peace settlement.  Founder and early members included J Ramsay Macdonald, ED Morel, Charles Trevelyan and Bertrand Russell.  Joining the UDC became a kind of half-way house between leaving the Liberals and joining the Labour Party.  In the 1950s and 1960s it became an influential voice in the anti-colonial movement, and its files document decolonisation in many African states.

See the Pressure group archives subject guide for more details.