World War I

The deployment of U.S. armed forces began on April 6, 1917, and during its country’s engagement in World War I, the U.S. Fellowship of Reconciliation primarily focused its activities influencing public opinion toward peace, while also helping victims of war and war prisoners.
Pressure began to build further over AJ Muste’s pacifist views in April 1917, when the United States formally declared war on the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires. After taking two months of vacation leave in the summer of 1917, he decided that the time had come to leave. In December 1917, he formally resigned his pastorate position.
Conscription Act went into law and FOR sought to guarantee the rights of conscientious objectors and work towards establishing alternative service options.