In 1938 Europe was rearming militarily. Frank Buchman, initiator of the work which became known as the Oxford Group, was convinced that military rearmament alone would not resolve the crisis. At a meeting of 3,000 in East Ham Town Hall, London, on 29 May 1938, he launched a campaign for Moral Re-Armament. Buchman said, "The nations must re-arm morally. Moral recovery is essentially the forerunner of economic recovery. Moral recovery creates not crisis but confidence and unity in every phase of life."
The phrase caught the mood of the time, and many public figures in Britain spoke and wrote in support. British tennis star H. W. Austin edited the book Moral Rearmament (The Battle for Peace), which sold half a million copies.
The film documents this first publication of a book by MRA and shows shots of Frank Buchman at the East Ham Town Hall in the UK.
Shots of preparations for War in Europe, military marching; Trenches in France; Oxford Group Train arrives for World Assembly of MRA in Interlaken; 2000 delegates take part from 45 Nations.
Scenic shots of Interlaken and the hotel where assembly takes place. Frank Buchman is seen seated at the conference table. He makes a speech - 'The world is at a crossroads, the choice is guidance or guns'. The news of the Interlaken speech reaches the world via Swiss media; a radio reporting car is seen from Radio Bern.
for more details on the campaign see:
http://www.frankbuchman.info/getBookChapter.php?Style=BookDisplay&Range=...
Frank Buchman is seen waving goodbye at the train station after the assembly.
Britain takes a lead in taking MRA ideas to the nations. Lord Baldwin calls for action in Times newspaper article as does tennis star H. W. Bunny Austin who also pens an article.
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands signs an article in a Dutch newspaper. For further details on her involvement with Moral Re-Armament see pages 38 -50 from 'Reaching for a New World' by Dutch author Hennie de Pous de Jonge, published by Caux Books ISBN: 978-2-88037-520-1, 256 pages. - See more at:
http://www.iofc.org/node/44044#sthash.QWIXLznV.dpuf
Frank Buchman is seen making a world broadcast; shots of him at the BBC.
Close up shots of H.W. Bunny Austin writing with others 'Moral Re-Armament - The Battle for Peace'. See its distribution to newsagents and book seller W H Smith.
English