Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is a British peace and political advocacy organisation founded during the first major wave of public concern about nuclear weapons. Its central position is that the United Kingdom should abandon its own nuclear arsenal unilaterally, while supporting international agreements aimed at the eventual abolition of nuclear weapons worldwide. The organisation also opposes the manufacture, testing and use of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological weapons, and has campaigned for tighter controls on military technology and arms transfers. CND emerged in late 1957, shortly after Britain became a nuclear-armed state and tested a hydrogen bomb. The immediate impetus came from public debate generated by writer J. B. Priestley and other critics of Britain’s nuclear policy. A founding committee was assembled in November, with Canon John Collins as chairman, Bertrand Russell as president and Peggy Duff as organising secretary. Its first major public meeting took place at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, on 17 February 1958. The organisation brought together religious leaders, scientists, writers, artists, politicians and activists, and deliberately occupied a position broader than any single political party. The movement’s early public identity was shaped by the Easter marches from London to the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston. Beginning in 1958, these demonstrations became annual events and attracted tens of thousands of participants. The campaign’s peace symbol, designed by Gerald Holtom in 1958 from semaphore representations of the letters N and D, later became an internationally recognised emblem of peace. The Aldermaston marches, the slogan “Ban the Bomb” and the symbol helped connect nuclear disarmament with the youth and counterculture movements of the 1960s. CND has historically concentrated on Britain’s nuclear deterrent, especially the Trident missile system and the infrastructure supporting it. It has also opposed the stationing of United States nuclear weapons and military bases in Europe, British membership of NATO, and military actions that could lead to the use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Its wider programme has included support for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, bans on depleted-uranium weapons, and a less militarised Europe. The organisation’s campaigns have periodically widened beyond nuclear weapons. During the Vietnam War it joined broader peace activism, and in the 2000s it worked with other organisations on opposition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It helped organise large demonstrations against a possible attack on Iraq in 2002 and 2003 and later held public activities following the 2005 London bombings. In 2006 CND expanded its focus by launching a campaign opposing nuclear power, linking civil nuclear energy to questions of proliferation, safety and the nuclear industry. CND is based in London and operates through national groups in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, regional and local branches, specialist sections and parliamentary, youth and student networks. Its specialist sections have included Trade Union CND, Christian CND, Labour CND, Green CND and Ex-Services CND. The organisation describes itself as one of Europe’s largest single-issue peace campaigns. Its influence has varied over time: it reached mass-movement scale in the late 1950s and early 1960s, experienced decline after the political setbacks of unilateralism, and revived during later periods of concern about nuclear weapons and the renewal of Trident.

CND was formed in Britain in November 1957 amid anxiety over the spread of nuclear weapons and the consequences of atmospheric testing. Britain had recently become the third nuclear power and had tested a hydrogen bomb. An article by J. B. Priestley in the New Statesman argued that Britain should renounce nuclear warfare and helped generate correspondence and political discussion. A meeting chaired by editor Kingsley Martin followed in the rooms of Canon John Collins, leading to the creation of a committee that included Collins, philosopher Bertrand Russell and organiser Peggy Duff. The organisation was publicly launched at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, on 17 February 1958. The meeting featured prominent speakers including Michael Foot, J. B. Priestley, Russell and A. J. P. Taylor and attracted several thousand people. CND drew support from a broad coalition of public figures, scientists, religious leaders, writers, artists, journalists and activists. This breadth helped distinguish it from the Soviet-aligned World Peace Council, which had dominated much of the organised international peace movement after the Second World War. CND instead became a prominent expression of an independent and largely non-aligned British peace movement. Its early objectives included Britain’s unconditional renunciation of nuclear weapons, an end to nuclear testing and the flight of nuclear-armed aircraft, opposition to missile bases, and support for a general disarmament agreement. Although a separate pacifist organisation initiated the first Aldermaston march in 1958, CND soon adopted and organised the event. The annual Easter marches from the Atomic Weapons Establishment to London became the movement’s defining public ritual. Participation reached roughly 60,000 in 1959 and approximately 150,000 in 1961 and 1962. The demonstrations also gave wider cultural visibility to the peace symbol designed by Gerald Holtom in 1958. CND had a complicated relationship with the Labour Party. Many members were Labour voters, and the organisation hoped that a Labour government might implement unilateral disarmament. Labour’s 1960 conference adopted a unilateralist position, but party leaders opposed it and the policy was reversed at the following conference. This political reversal weakened CND’s immediate prospects of influencing government policy, although the movement retained a large network of supporters and local branches. Its leadership also debated whether CND should remain a constitutional campaign led by prominent individuals or become a more participatory extra-parliamentary movement. Bertrand Russell left CND’s leadership in 1960 to establish the Committee of 100, which promoted more direct forms of protest. The relationship between the two organisations was sometimes tense, but the emergence of direct action broadened the repertoire of British anti-nuclear activism. CND itself developed more formal structures over the following decade: a national council was created in 1961, and formal membership arrangements followed in 1966. The organisation continued to attract a significant minority of the public even when it was not close to achieving its policy goals. During the 1960s CND broadened its work to include opposition to the Vietnam War and other forms of militarism. It remained active through periods when public concern about nuclear weapons fluctuated, including after the Cuban Missile Crisis. In later decades it returned repeatedly to the question of Britain’s nuclear deterrent. The replacement and renewal of the Trident system became one of its principal campaigns, alongside opposition to the presence of United States nuclear weapons and military facilities in Europe. CND’s contemporary programme combines national and international objectives: the removal of British nuclear weapons, global nuclear abolition, stronger arms-control agreements, opposition to chemical and biological weapons, and resistance to depleted-uranium weapons. It has also opposed military interventions that might involve weapons of mass destruction. In the early twenty-first century it worked with groups including the Stop the War Coalition on demonstrations opposing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since 2006 it has additionally campaigned against nuclear power in Britain. The organisation now operates from London through national, regional, local and specialist groups, including trade-union, Christian, Labour, Green and ex-services sections.

• 2007

  Parliament Square Trident rally

  [1]Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org

  CND held a rally during the House of Commons debate on renewal of the Trident system.

• 2006

  Nuclear-power campaign launched

  [1]Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org

  CND extended its campaigning to oppose the nuclear power industry in the United Kingdom.

• 1961

  National council created

  [1]Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org

  CND created a national council to give supporters a more formal role in the organisation’s governance.

• 1960

  Committee of 100 established

  [1]Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org

  Bertrand Russell left CND to help establish the Committee of 100, a separate organisation favouring direct action against nuclear preparations.

• 1958

  Public launch in Westminster

  [1]Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org

  CND held its first major public meeting at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, on 17 February.

• 1958

  Aldermaston marches begin

  [1]Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org

  The organisation supported and subsequently organised Easter marches between London and the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston.

• 1958

  Peace symbol adopted

  [1]Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org

  Gerald Holtom designed the symbol associated with CND, based on semaphore representations of nuclear disarmament.

• 1957

  Founding committee formed

  [1]Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org

  A committee was formed in November to campaign for unilateral British nuclear disarmament, with Canon John Collins as chairman, Bertrand Russell as president and Peggy Duff as organising secretary.

Non-governmental peace and political advocacy organisation focused on unilateral British nuclear disarmament, global nuclear abolition and arms control.

Product categories. Political advocacy and public campaigning · Peace and disarmament education · Research, publications and policy briefings · Public demonstrations, vigils and marches · Campaign materials and membership activities

• 2007Trident renewal opposition

  United Kingdom

  CND organised a Parliament Square rally against the British government’s proposal to renew the Trident nuclear weapons system.

  Outcome. The government’s renewal motion passed in the House of Commons, despite opposition from 161 MPs.

  Source
• 2006Nuclear power opposition campaign

  United Kingdom

  CND launched a campaign against nuclear power, arguing that the civil nuclear sector should be considered alongside weapons proliferation and the broader nuclear industry.

  Outcome. The campaign broadened CND’s remit from nuclear weapons to opposition to nuclear power development.

  Source
• 2003Anti-war march against the Iraq invasion

  United Kingdom

  CND participated in the large 15 February demonstration against military action in Iraq, continuing its cooperation with broader anti-war organisations.

  Outcome. The action became part of CND’s expanded campaign against militarism and war.

  Source
• 2002Don't Attack Iraq

  United Kingdom

  Working with the Stop the War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain, CND helped organise demonstrations opposing a prospective attack on Iraq, including a major protest on 28 September.

  Outcome. The campaign connected CND’s anti-nuclear work with wider opposition to military intervention and the possible use of weapons of mass destruction.

  Source
• 1958Aldermaston Marches

  United Kingdom

  CND organised annual Easter demonstrations between the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston and central London. The marches became the organisation’s most recognisable early campaign and helped popularise the peace symbol and anti-nuclear message.

  Outcome. The marches became major events in British peace activism and a lasting part of the movement’s public identity.

  Source

• 2007

  Parliamentary mobilisation against Trident renewalStrategy

  Background

  The House of Commons was considering a government proposal to renew Britain’s Trident weapons system.

  Action taken

  CND organised a public rally in Parliament Square and mobilised political opposition to the renewal motion.

  Aftermath

  The renewal motion passed with government support, while 161 MPs voted against it.

  Source

• 2006

  Expansion into opposition to nuclear powerStrategy

  Background

  The organisation broadened its interpretation of nuclear risk beyond military weapons and responded to renewed British interest in nuclear energy.

  Action taken

  CND launched a campaign against the nuclear power industry in the United Kingdom.

  Aftermath

  The campaign expanded CND’s public agenda to include civil nuclear energy and the wider nuclear sector.

  Source

• 1958

  Adoption of mass marches as a central campaign methodStrategy

  Background

  The organisation needed a visible public method for opposing Britain’s nuclear weapons and reaching supporters beyond parliamentary politics.

  Action taken

  CND adopted the Aldermaston Easter march and made large public demonstrations a core part of its campaigning.

  Aftermath

  The marches attracted large crowds and became a defining feature of British peace activism.

  Source

• 2007

  CND campaigns against renewal of Trident[1]Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org

  Campaign · Other

  CND organised a rally in Parliament Square during the parliamentary debate on renewing the United Kingdom’s Trident weapons system. The event drew more than 1,000 participants according to the cited account.

• 2006

  CND broadens campaigning to nuclear power[1]Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org

  Campaign

  The organisation launched a campaign opposing nuclear power in the United Kingdom, extending its anti-nuclear agenda beyond weapons.

• 1958

  CND organises first public meeting in Westminster[1]Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The newly formed organisation held its first major public meeting at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, establishing its public campaign for British nuclear disarmament.

• 1958

  First Aldermaston march[1]Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org

  Campaign

  CND supported the first major march from London to the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston, beginning a series of Easter demonstrations that became central to the movement.

1. 1Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamenten.wikipedia.org
2. 2Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament official websitecnduk.org