The world has never had peace. Somewhere and often in many places at once there has always been war. Isolated tribes have lived in peace, but few countries have avoided war for long. In one way or another, though and by one means or another, most people want peace including those who make war for the sake of peace. Movement for peace is present in the desire for peace that is common to human beings; in the institutionalizing of that desire by governmental efforts; and in the pacifist rejection of any and all war.

There are no self-confessed aggressors. In the 20th century almost every country changed the name of its war ministry or war department to the ministry or department of defense; manipulation of the language has become a fact of combat. Even in the age of nuclear weapons that beset the world in the mid-20th century, war has not been abandoned only kept below the level of mutual annihilation. Meanwhile, in the face of violence, peace movements have grown.