Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

The peace sign, designed by Gerald Holtom for the first Aldermaston March.

Extra-parliamentary organisation, founded in 1957.

Beginnings In times of Cold War (1945-1991) with the Cuban Crisis (1962) and the Vietnam War, anti-war demonstrations became more popular. The CND also started as a protest against the Cold War and atomic weapons: It promoted a unilateral nuclear disarmament by the UK, as well as an international disarmament (the CND is not only against nuclear weapons but also against nuclear power stations in the UK, cf.cnduk.org).

Supporters of the CND in its 'first wave' in the 1960s were mainly young/middle-aged (upper) middle class people with intellectual needs, who associated the A-bomb with the old establishment, Empire hierarchies, and class structure which did not fit in with the developments of British society by that time (cf. Session 3 ). The protesters, who were supported by famous intellectuals such as E.M. Forster and Benjamin Britten, wanted Britain to become a moral power instead of a military one (cf. ibid.).

On the first Aldermaston March in 1958 over Easter (these Easter Marches still exist), the sign of the CND, designed by Gerald Holm, featured prominently and later became an international peace symbol (cf. 'pm.magazine'). Symbol, Aldermaston March and its slogan "Ban the Bomb" soon became part of 1960s' youth culture.

When J.F. Kennedy succeeded in the negotiations with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, the influence of the CND and its support by the public faded.

There were anti-war and anti-nuclear Easter Marches in Germany, too. Here in 1965 in Frankfurt/Main (Sueddeutsche.de)

The Bigger Picture As part of the upcoming and growing permissiveness in the 1960s, people also began to protest more overtly. Protest was one of the 3 bigger realms of permissiveness that came up due to the changes in public and economic fields as well as in private ones: (almost) full employment accompanied by more money in everybody's purse produced new subcultures, access to mass media, and the will to change the strict moral values of former generations. This lead to permissiveness in the 3 realms of sex, law, and protest culture.

Aldermaston March (sueddeutsche.de)

CND in the 1980s In the 1980s however, the CND experienced a resurgence in response to that of the Cold War. In October 1981 250,000 people joined an anti-nuclear demonstration and the CND member numbers increased rapidly (cf. Hinton 1997, 63). Different from the protests in the 1960s, in the 80s lots of independent groups supported the CND's anti-nuclear movement in Britain, some of those later affiliating. The women's movement had also a strong influence (cf. Minnion/Bolsover 1983).

The CND's growing support however, also provoked some opposition: different groups against the CND, such as 'Peace through NATO', 'British Atlantic Committee' (cf. Hansard.millbanksystems.com) and others organised counter-demonstrations, did research to mobilise public opinion on the one hand, on the other hand; spying and libel belonged to anti-CND activities, too (cf. wikipedia.com).

Whereas the CND was a rather loosely organised campaign in the beginning, it has a stable structure nowadays: it has national organisations in London, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, several regional groups and four special sections: Christian CND, Labour CND, Trade Union CND, and Ex-services CND, as well as miscellaneous youth and student groups (cf. cnduk.org). The CND still demands to eliminate British nuclear weapons and abolish them globally, the "[a]bolition of other threats of mass destruction or indiscriminate effect", a "nuclear-free, less militarised and more secure Europe" as well as the "closure of the nuclear power industry" (http://www.cnduk.org/about/aims-a-policies).

References

• cnduk.org: http://www.cnduk.org/about/aims-a-policies
• Hansard.millbanksystems.com: "Lords Hansard". Hansard.millbanksystems.com. 1981-12-17. Retrieved 2011 -01-09.
• Hinton (1997) : James Hinton "Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament", in Roger S.Powers, Protest, Power and Change, [place??] Taylor and Francis, 1997.
• Minnion/Bolsover 1983: John Minnion and Philip Bolsover (eds.) The CND Story, [place??]: Alison and Busby, 1983.
• sueddeutsche.de: http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/ostermaersche-frieden-sei-mit-euch-1.411050
• wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_for_Nuclear_Disarmament