View source for Biography:Norman Angell

{{short description|British politician and Nobel Laureate}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| name        = Ralph Norman Angell
| image       = Norman Angell 01.jpg
| constituency_MP = Bradford North
| term_start  = 30 May 1929
| term_end    = 7 October 1931
| predecessor = Eugene Ramsden
| successor   = Eugene Ramsden
| birthname   = Ralph Norman Angell Lane
| birth_place = Holbeach, England
| death_date  = {{death date and age|df=yes|1967|10|7|1872|12|26}}
| death_place = Croydon, Surrey, England
| occupation  = [[Social:Lecturer|lecturer]], journalist, author, politician
| known_for   = Nobel Peace Prize (1933)}}

'''Sir Ralph Norman Angell''' (26 December 1872 – 7 October 1967) was an English Nobel Peace Prize winner. He was a lecturer, journalist, author and Member of Parliament<ref name=NA-Angell >[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=P629&tabType=ARCHIVE National Archives]</ref> for the Labour Party.

Angell was one of the principal founders of the Union of Democratic Control. He served on the Council of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, was an executive for the World Committee against War and Fascism, a member of the executive committee of the League of Nations Union, and the president of the Abyssinia Association. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1931 and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1933.<ref>{{citation |title=The Edinburgh Gazette |issue=14719 |page=12 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/14719/page/12|date= 6 January 1931 |access-date= 9 June 2016}}</ref><ref name=nobelprize-Angell >[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1933/angell-bio.html Angell biography], nobelprize.org; retrieved 11 September 2015.</ref>

==Biography==
[[File:High Street, Holbeach (geograph 4099230).jpg|thumb|Angell's birthplace on High Street, Holbeach, marked by a blue plaque]]
Angell was one of six children, born to Thomas Angell Lane and Mary (née Brittain) Lane in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, England.<ref name= "nobelprize-Angell"/> He was born '''Ralph Norman Angell Lane''', but later adopted '''Angell''' as his sole surname.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31809|page=2820|date= 5 March 1920}}</ref> He attended several schools in England, the Lycée Alexandre Ribot at Saint-Omer in France,<ref name= "nobelprize-Angell"/> and the [[Organization:University of Geneva|University of Geneva]], while editing an English-language newspaper published in [[Place:Geneva|Geneva]].<ref name= "nobelprize-Angell"/>

In Geneva, Angell felt that Europe was "hopelessly entangled in insoluble problems". Then, still only 17, he emigrated to the West Coast of the United States,<ref name= "nobelprize-Angell"/> where he for several years worked as a vine planter, an irrigation-ditch digger, a cowboy, a California homesteader (after filing for American citizenship), a mail-carrier, a [[Earth:Prospecting|prospector]],<ref name=BSU-Angell>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bsu.edu/library/collections/archives/normanangell/ |title=Ball State University |access-date=13 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202034/http://www.bsu.edu/library/collections/archives/normanangell/ |archive-date=27 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and then, closer to his natural skills, as a reporter for the ''St. Louis Globe-Democrat'' and later the ''San Francisco Chronicle''.<ref name="nobelprize-Angell"/>

Due to family matters he returned to England briefly in 1898, then moved to Paris to work as a sub-editor on the English-language ''Daily Messenger'',<ref name="BSU-Angell"/> and then as a staff contributor to the newspaper ''Éclair''. He also through this period acted as French correspondent for some American newspapers, to which he sent dispatches on the progress of the Dreyfus case.<ref name= "nobelprize-Angell"/> During 1905–12, he became the Paris editor for the ''Daily Mail''.

He returned to England and, in 1914, he was one of the founders of the Union of Democratic Control. He joined the Labour Party in 1920 and was parliamentary candidate for Rushcliffe in the general election of 1922 and for Rossendale in 1923. He was MP for Bradford North from 1929 to 1931; after the formation of the National Government, he announced his decision not to seek re-election on 24 September 1931.<ref>''The Times'', 25 September 1931, p. 6.</ref> In 1931 he was knighted for his public and political services, and in 1933 he was presented with the Nobel Peace Prize.<ref name= "nobelprize-Angell"/> He stood unsuccessfully for the London University seat in 1935.

From the mid-1930s, Angell actively campaigned for collective international opposition to the aggressive policies of Germany, Italy, and Japan. He went to the United States in 1940 to lecture in favour of American support for Britain in World War II, and remained there until after the publication of his autobiography in 1951. He later returned to Britain and died at the age of 94 in Croydon, Surrey.<ref name= "BSU-Angell"/>

He married Beatrice Cuvellier but they separated and he lived his last 55 years alone. He purchased Northey Island, Essex, which is attached to the mainland only at low tide, and lived in the sole dwelling on the island.

Angell's Nobel Prize medal was sold at auction at [[Company:Sotheby's|Sotheby's]], London, in 1983 for $12,000 ({{Inflation|US|12000|1983|r=0|fmt=eq}}).<ref name="English2005">{{cite book | last=English | first=James F. | title=The Economy of Prestige | publisher=Harvard University Press | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-674-01884-6 | page= 158}}</ref> It is now in the collection of the Imperial War Museum, London with its accompanying scroll.<ref name='IWM'>{{cite web|title=Nobel Peace Prize Gold Medal 1933|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30011223|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227175441/https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30011223|archive-date=27 December 2022|publisher=Imperial War Museum|access-date=21 June 2023}}</ref><ref name="English2005"/>

==''The Great Illusion''==
[[File:1933 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Norman Angell.JPG|thumb|1933 Nobel Peace Prize medal awarded to Angell]]
Angell is most widely remembered for his 1909 pamphlet, ''Europe's Optical Illusion,'' which was published the following year (and many years thereafter) as the book, ''The Great Illusion''. (The anti-war film ''La Grande Illusion'' took its title from his pamphlet.) The [[Thesis|thesis]] of the book was that the [[Finance:Economic integration|integration]] of the economies of European countries had grown to such a degree that war between them would be entirely futile, making militarism obsolete. This quotation from the "Synopsis" to the popular 1913 edition summarizes his basic argument.

{{blockquote|He establishes this apparent paradox, in so far as the economic problem is concerned, by showing that wealth in the economically civilized world is founded upon [[Finance:Credit|credit]] and commercial contract (these being the outgrowth of an economic interdependence due to the increasing [[Social:Division of labour|division of labour]] and greatly developed communication). If credit and commercial contract are tampered with in an attempt at confiscation, the credit-dependent wealth is undermined, and its collapse involves that of the conqueror; so that if conquest is not to be self-injurious it must respect the enemy’s property, in which case it becomes economically futile. Thus the wealth of conquered territory remains in the hands of the population of such territory. When Germany annexed Alsace, no individual German secured a single mark’s worth of Alsatian property as the spoils of war. Conquest in the modern world is a process of multiplying by x, and then obtaining the original figure by dividing by x. For a modern nation to add to its territory no more adds to the wealth of the people of such nation than it would add to the wealth of Londoners if the City of London were to annex the county of Hertford.<ref>{{Citation|last=Angell |first=Norman |title=The Great Illusion: A Study of the Relation of Military Power in Nations to their Economic and Social Advantage|edition=3|publisher=G.P. Putnam's & Sons|date=1913|location=New York and London|pages=X–XI|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924007365467#page/n25/mode/2up|access-date=10 June 2016}}</ref>}}During [[Social:World War I|World War I]], British historian and polemicist G. G. Coulton authored a purported refutation of Angell's pamphlet.<ref name=Coulton>[https://archive.org/details/mainillusionsofp00coulrich/page/n8/mode/2up Coulton, G.G., ''The Main Illusions of Pacifism: A Criticism of Mr. Norman Angell and of the Union of Democratic Control,'' (Cambridge: Bowes & Bowes, 1916) (retrieved November 25, 2022).]</ref>

==''The Money Game''==
Angell was also the designer of ''The Money Game'', a visual method of teaching schoolchildren the fundamentals of finance and banking. First published in 1928 by J. M. Dent & Sons, ''The Money Game, How to Play It: A New Instrument of Economic Education'' was both a book and a game. The bulk of the book was an essay on money and a discussion of economic theory, it also contained a summary of the game's story and an explanation of the rules.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-21/how-depression-era-children-learned-about-money-echoes.html|title=How Depression-Era Children Learned About Money|author=Christine Riggle|date=22 March 2012|publisher=Bloomberg.com|access-date=25 March 2012}}</ref>

==Influence==
Angell's book ''The Press and the Organisation of Society'' is cited as a source in F. R. Leavis' pamphlet ''Mass Civilisation and Minority Culture'' (1930).<ref>{{cite book|first=Patrick|last=Deane |title=History in our hands: a critical anthology of writings on literature, culture, and politics from the 1930s|location=London, UK|publisher=Leicester University Press|year=1998|isbn=0-7185-0143-8|pages=17, 20}}</ref> Vera Brittain quoted Angell's statement on "the moral obligation to be intelligent" several times in her work.<ref>{{cite book|first=Vera|last=Brittain |title=Search After Sunrise|publisher=Macmillan|year=1951|page=19}}</ref>

==Works==
* (As Ralph Lane) ''Patriotism under Three Flags: A Plea for Rationalism in Politics'' (1903)
* {{Citation|year=1909|title=Europe's Optical Illusion|edition=First|publisher=Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co.|publication-date=1909|location=London, UK|url=https://archive.org/stream/europesopticalil00ange#page/n5/mode/2up|access-date=12 December 2012}}
* {{Citation|year=1910|title=The Great Illusion: A Study of the Relation of Military Power in Nations to their Economic and Social Advantage|edition=First|publisher=G.P. Putnam's & Sons|publication-date=1910|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/stream/greatillusionas03angegoog#page/n6/mode/2up|access-date=12 December 2012}}
* ''America and the New World State'' (in U.S., 1912)
* ''War and the Workers'' (1913)
* {{Citation|year=1912|title=Peace Theories and the Balkan War|edition=First|publisher=Horace Marshall & Son|publication-date=1912|location=London, UK|url=https://archive.org/details/PeaceTheoriesAndTheBalkanWar|access-date=12 December 2012}}
* {{Citation|year=1914|title= The Foundations of International Polity|edition=First|publisher=William Heinemann|publication-date=1914|location=London, UK|page=235|url=https://archive.org/stream/foundationsofint00angeiala#page/n5/mode/2up|access-date=12 December 2012}}
* {{Citation|year=1915|title=America and the New World-State. A Plea for American Leadership in International Organization|edition=First|publisher=G.P. Putnam's & Sons|publication-date=1915|location=New York & London, UK|url=https://archive.org/stream/americaandnewwo01angegoog#page/n8/mode/2up|access-date=12 December 2012}}
* {{Citation|year=1915|title=The Problems of the War – & the Peace: A Handbook for Students|edition=First|publisher=William Heinemann|publication-date=1915|location=London, UK|page=99|url=https://archive.org/stream/problemsofwarpea00ange#page/n9/mode/2up|access-date=12 December 2012}}
* ''The World's Highway'' (1916)
* ''The Dangers of Half Preparedness'' (1916, in U.S.)
* ''War Aims: The Need for a Parliament of the Allies'' (1917)
* ''Why Freedom Matters'' (1917)
* ''The Political Conditions of Allied Success: A Protective Union of the Democracies'' (1918, in U.S.)
* ''The Treaties and the Economic Chaos'' (1919)
* ''The British Revolution and the American Democracy'' (1919)
* {{Citation|year=1921|title=The Fruits of Victory: A Sequel to "The Great Illusion"|edition=First|publisher=W. Collins Sons & Co.|publication-date=1921|location=London, UK|page=338|url=https://archive.org/stream/fruitsofvictory00angeuoft#page/n5/mode/2up|access-date=12 December 2012}}
* ''The Press and the Organization of Society'' (1922)
* ''If Britain is to Live'' (1923)
* ''Foreign Policy and Human Nature'' (1925)
* ''Must Britain Travel the Moscow Road?'' (1926)
* ''The Public Mind: Its Disorders: Its Exploitation'' (1927)
* ''The Money Game: Card Games Illustrating Currency'' (1928)
* {{Citation|year=1929|title= The Story of Money|edition=First|publisher=Garden City Pub. Co.|publication-date=1929|location=Garden City, NY|url=https://archive.org/details/storyofmoney00ange|access-date=12 December 2012}}
* ''Can Governments Cure Unemployment?'' (1931, with Harold Wright)
* ''From Chaos to Control'' (1932)
* ''The Unseen Assassins'' (1932)
* ''The Great Illusion—1933'' (1933)
* ''The Menace to Our National Defence'' (1934)
* ''Preface to Peace: A Guide for the Plain Man'' (1935)
* ''The Mystery of Money: An Explanation for Beginners'' (1936)
* ''This Have and Have Not Business: Political Fantasy and Economic Fact'' (1936)
* ''Raw Materials, Population Pressure and War'' (1936, in U.S.)
* ''The Defence of the Empire'' (1937)
* ''Peace with the Dictators?'' (1938)
* ''Must it be War?'' (1938)
* ''The Great Illusion—Now'' (1939)
* ''For What do We Fight?'' (1939)
* ''You and the Refugee'' (1939)
* ''Why Freedom Matters'' (1940)
* ''America's Dilemma'' (1941, in U.S.)
* ''Let the People Know'' (1943, in U.S.)
* ''The Steep Places'' (1947)
* ''After All: The Autobiography of Norman Angell'' (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1951; rpt. New York: Farrar, Straus and Young, 1952).  [Out of print.]

==Further reading==
* Martin Ceadel, ''Living the Great Illusion: Sir Norman Angell, 1872–1967''; Oxford University Press, 2009
* J. D. B. Miller, ''Norman Angell and the Futility of War''; Macmillan, 1986
* [[Biography:Michael Meadowcroft|Michael Meadowcroft]], "Norman Angell" in Brack & Randall (eds.) ''The Dictionary of Liberal Thought''; Politico's, 2007, pp.&nbsp;9–11
* Alberto Castelli, ''The Peace Discourse in Europe (1900–1945)'', Routledge, 2019, pp.&nbsp;21–37.

==See also==
*History of money
*Nobel Peace Prize

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Hansard-contribs|sir-ralph-angell|Norman Angell}}
* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30011223 OMD 5620: Nobel Peace Prize Gold Medal 1933], iwm.org.uk 
* {{Nobelprize|accessdate=28 April 2020}} including the Nobel Lecture, 12 June 1935 ''Peace and the Public Mind''
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* [http://www.bsu.edu/libraries/archives/findingaids/SPEC010.pdf Sir Norman Angell Papers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215114028/http://www.bsu.edu/libraries/archives/findingaids/SPEC010.pdf |date=15 February 2017 }}, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries (PDF)
* {{Gutenberg author|id=4121|name=Norman Angell}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Norman Angell}}
* {{Librivox author}}
* [http://www.panarchy.org/angell/humannature.html Norman Angell, On Human Nature] (1913)
* {{PM20}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
  | title  = Member of Parliament for Bradford North
  | years  = 1929–1931
  | before = Eugene Ramsden
  | after  = Eugene Ramsden
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Nobel Peace Prize Laureates 1926-1950}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Angell, Norman}}
[[Category:Nobel Peace Prize laureates]]

{{Sourceattribution|Norman Angell}}