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The Peace Pledge Union is a British non-governmental organization which emerged from an initiative by Dick Sheppard, canon of St Paul's Cathedral, in 1933 after he had asked men (but not women) to send him postcards pledging never to support war. 135,000 men responded and became members. The initial male-only aspect of the pledge was aimed at countering the idea that only women were involved in the peace movement. However, membership was opened up to women in 1936. Also in 1936, the remaining members of the No More War Movement joined. It should be noted that membership of the PPU has not always been restricted to those of a left leaning or liberal persuasion. One active member, in the years preceding WWII, for example, was anti-semite Ben Greene. Although originally a Labour Party member he networked with anyone who was opposed to war, including fascists, even joining the British Peoples Party (BPP) as treasurer. Nowadays, one of the PPU's most visible aspects is the White Poppy appeal, which was started in 1933 by the Women's Co-operative Guild, and is nowadays run by the PPU. This was set up to be a parallel to the red poppy appeal of Remembrance Day; a white poppy is intended to convey the same meaning of remembrance of fallen soldiers, but also stands as "a pledge to peace that war must not happen again". The appeal somewhat ironically gained popularity in 1986, when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher expressed her "deep distaste" of them, leading to the poppies getting more press coverage and becoming more visible to the public eye. Members of the PPU have included Vera Brittain, Ben Greene,Laurence Housman, Aldous Huxley, George Lansbury, Bertrand Russell, Siegfried Sassoon, Donald Soper, and Richard Stokes.
