Bertha Von Suttner
by Craig Johnson

"Strange how blind people are! They are horrified by the torture chambers of the Middle Ages, but their arsenals fill them with pride!"

Alfred Nobel, the man responsible for the Nobel Prizes, expressed in his will a desire for an award to be presented in honor of those who did their most to unify nations, work for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and who were champions for the creation of international peace congresses. Today the Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most prestigious awards, yet if it were not for the efforts of Bertha von Suttner, no such award might exist.

Baroness Bertha von Suttner, as her name implies, came from a very prestigious family. Nothing in her childhood or upbringing predicted she would later become an international peace hero. As the daughter of a distinguished Austrian Field Marshal, she grew up in 19th century Europe learning all the social graces that members of the aristocracy were expected to know. Her easy and care free life, however, would take a dramatic turn with the death of her father.

Financial difficulties soon followed and, it being necessary to support herself, Bertha decided to answer an advertisement for an "elderly man" seeking a confidential secretary. That man was Alfred Nobel. Although she only worked with Nobel for a week, the two established a lasting friendship. Nobel would later express his gratitude for their relationship by fulfilling her wish to see the creation of a Nobel Prize for Peace.

After leaving Nobel, Bertha and her husband went to live with friends in the Caucasus for nine years. While away, Bertha read extensively and began writing social commentaries for Austrian newspapers under the pseudonym B. Owlet. Inspired by the success of her writings, she returned to Europe in 1886 with the convictions of a social idealist, determined to use her literary talents to combat prejudices and make the world a more peaceful place to live.

Back in Europe she began her crusade against war. Bertha von Suttner became enthralled with the peace societies in London and chose to promote their ideas in her books. In 1896 she wrote one of the most influential anti-war novels of all time, Lay Down Your Arms! Having researched the many wars that plagued Europe over the past century, Lay Down Your Arms! confronts the reader with realistic descriptions of war's cruelty, suffering, and inhumanity. Since then, the book has been translated into 27 languages. Today it is considered the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the peace movement for its ability to challenge assumptions about war and militarism. Her name soon became synonymous with peace and protest against war by her attacks against militarism, condemning it as a horrific anachronism in the age of scientific and intellectual enlightenment.

Bertha von Suttner, however, did not limit her peace activities to writing. She became very influential in the international peace conferences being held throughout Europe. At the First Hague Convention of 1899, for example, she lead an entire lobby of peace activists. Despite being the only woman at the Convention, her voice and ideas were heard and the Convention ended with many successes: the creation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (later to become the International Court of Justice), a convention on war for the protection of civilian populations, and the establishment of rules of conduct for war.

Over the next fourteen years, Bertha von Suttner traveled the world lecturing extensively, writing, and attending peace conferences. In 1905 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts. Not only was this the very award she had convinced Nobel to create, but she was the first woman to receive it. Although she failed to prevent the world from exploding into war, her struggles to achieve peace are to be viewed with the utmost admiration.