NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AFTER THE COLD WAR

Part 4: Archives of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, 2006-2008

Established in 1958, the aim of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is to rid the world of nuclear weapons in order to create a genuine security for future generations. Working as a network of local groups and individual members CND membership covers the whole of Britain. Over the decades CND has continued to campaign non-violently, talking to schools and colleges, organising peace camps and running stalls at festivals such as Glastonbury and Reading. CND members work with political parties, the media and trade unions, while Christian CND works through the churches, organising its own protest actions. Demonstrations, rallies and marches are organised in towns throughout Britain including Barrow, where the Trident nuclear submarines are built, and at Faslane in Scotland where the submarines and their nuclear-armed missiles are based. Nationally produced leaflets, posters and pamphlets provide further publicity for the campaign and Campaign, the CND’s membership magazine, reports on news, analysis and campaigning ideas. While at local level journals and local group newsletters reflect the views of the ordinary CND member.

As a British campaign CND concentrates on British nuclear weapons, but they are also committed to working with anti-nuclear groups in other countries in the tracking of nuclear materials. CND have also been present at international disarmament negotiations, covering such areas as nuclear testing and non-proliferation, for instance at the United Nations in New York and Geneva, where they provide delegates with advice and analysis.

In Parts 1-3 of this project we brought together the complete CND archive from 1989-2005. This part documents the first fifteen years after the end of the Cold War, a period that began with much rejoicing as the Berlin Wall fell. The archive includes full runs of the National Council Committee on CND, papers of its sub-committees, and Annual Conference Programmes and Papers. It also features all of their periodicals and printed sources such as Sanity, Campaign and CND Today, as well as Information/Defence Briefings, Press Releases, specialist sections of CND, the campaigns in Scotland and Cymru, and local CND newsletters.

Part 4 continues the CND archive covering the years 2006-2008, with material on all aspects of the development and progress of the movement. In February 2008 CND celebrated its 50th Anniversary with a Global Summit for a Nuclear Free World at London’s City Hall. This was followed by many other events, including a special Easter Monday demonstration at Aldermaston. Papers relating to these events may be found in this update together with:

• National Council Meeting Minutes and Mailings
• Admin and Finance Group Minutes
• Officers Meetings Minutes
• Annual Review continued as Campaign Review
• Conference Reports and Minutes
• International Advisory Group Report Minutes
• Press Releases
• Campaign
• Briefings and Leaflets
• Lobby, Parliamentary Newsletter of CND
• Peaceline – Newsletter of London Region CND
• Nuclear Transport
• Nuclear Education Trust Meetings Minutes
• Non-Violent Resistance Network Newsletter
• Labour CND
• Specialist Interest Groups: Christian CND, Student CND, Musicians Against Nuclear Arms, Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases, Peace Tax Campaign
• Scottish CND
• Wales CND
• Local Group Newsletters

There is much good information on the development and progress of the CND campaigns concerning:

• Trident Replacement
• International campaign to abolish nuclear weapons
• Lakenheath Action Group
• Criticisms of nuclear power and the campaign for a safe, genuinely sustainable, global and environmentally friendly solution to energy requirements
• Campaign against the war in Iraq
• Campaign against the war in Afghanistan

These archives provide valuable information on all aspects of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament as a pressure group working at local, national and international levels to rid the world of nuclear weapons. This is an essential collection for all those interested in Peace Studies, Modern Politics, Pressure Group Tactics and Popular Opinion.