Freemasonry during World War I

<a href="/facts/Freemasonry/zgLC9973">Freemasonry</a> during <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a> upheld its <a href="/facts/Universalism/KWh6A8Cl">universalist</a> principles, yet Freemasons in countries at war served their respective nations without restriction, thereby challenging the <a href="/facts/Lumi%25C3%25A8res/YlIacbsB">Lumières</a>-derived principles of universal fraternity that have governed Freemasonry since its inception.
The networks it established before the outbreak of war served to foster hope for a pacifist solution to the global economic tensions that were being experienced at the time. Despite the absence of a formal agreement between Masonic currents, the organization supported internationalist and pacifist movements at the beginning of the 20th century. This was achieved by creating the Universal League of Freemasons [fr] during the 1st <a href="/facts/World_Esperanto_Congress/vUKxLcgf">Esperanto Congress</a> of 1905. Additionally, the Office of International Relations was established to unite the world's <a href="/facts/Grand_Lodge/3oqPX0Ar">Grand Lodge</a>. However, this initiative did not fully achieve its primary goal and ceased to exist after the conflict. Attempts to foster closer relations between French and German Freemasonries to prevent a recurrence of armed conflict encountered significant obstacles, primarily due to the <a href="/facts/Antisemitism/kUpfFkqx">anti-Semitic</a> rhetoric propagated by the press and the mistrust prevailing among both liberal and traditional obedience.
At the outset of the hostilities, each Masonic nation rallied behind its banner, each invoking <a href="/facts/Right_of_self-defense/BQU7nEuw">self-defense</a> and defense of humanity's values. The obedience of states that chose neutrality initiated or continued relations with other Masonic nations, sometimes from both camps. Despite the violent upheavals and confrontations caused by the conflict, Masonic obediences on all continents continued their activities, and some fraternal demonstrations even took place in <a href="/facts/Prisoner-of-war_camp/Fh6YRw29">prisoner camps</a>.
Despite the ideal of universal fraternity being called into question by the actions of obedience that retreated to their respective national causes, from 1917 onward, as the end of the war approached, they placed their hopes in a new world that would be more just and enlightened. As with every significant upheaval since its inception, Freemasonry devised a future and course of action through its capacity to create new dynamics, drawing on both its ancient constitutions imbued with universalism and a <a href="/facts/Utopia/Jddz3yUp">utopian ideal</a>.

Freemasonry during World War I open-in-new

Freemasonry during World War I