Special Collections Department
Records of the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Manuscript Collection Number: 263
Accessioned: Acquired from Dr. James Nathan, ca. 1980.
Extent: 4 linear ft.
Content: Correspondence, minutes, publications, clippings, and microfilm.
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: May 1993 by Paul Dziewisz.
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Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229
Table of Contents
Historical Note
Fearing a retreat by the United States back into isolationism after World War II, Britain felt compelled to provide for its own defense. In a secretive era under the Labour Party, the British government began work on its own atomic weapons in 1947, and tested its first atomic bomb in Australia five years later. Over the next decade, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) grew in face of Soviet imperialism, and the United States and Britain pursued coordinated but independent nuclear programs.
By 1957, two groups had emerged to coordinate the anti nuclear movement in Britain. The National Committee for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons Tests (NCANWT) and the Emergency Committee for Direct Action Against Nuclear War (DAC) were created to oppose the Conservative Party's White Paper on Defense (1957) which openly supported a nuclear program. The White Paper expressed the first official government support for what had been a secretive ten-year effort to produce an atomic weapon.
The formation of NATO in 1949 and eventually the Korean War prompted a NATO effort to match the nuclear weaponry of the Soviet Union. The NATO nuclear relationship progressed to the point where, in 1958, the United States based several of its nuclear fleet submarines and intermediate range nuclear missiles in Britain, thereby committing the U.S. to respond to Warsaw Pact aggression and allowing Britain to feel more confident.
It was at this point that the peace movement took its first steps toward prominence in the British political arena. Initially the peace movements were small and independent, but they forced the issue of disarmament onto the political agenda of the parties. The Labour Party, in power from 1945-51, initiated the British nuclear program. By 1957, Labour was the opposition party, torn between its left and center-left components. The left demanded Britain's unilateral nuclear disarmament to set an example for the United States and the Soviet Union. Debate raged within the Labour Party and among non-Parliamentary notables, the most influential of whom was the author J.B. Priestley.
Priestley's article in The New Statesmen in support of unilateral disarmament prompted a meeting of Britain's intelligentsia. Those attending included Bertrand Russell, Sir Julian Huxley, Kingsley Martin, Priestley, and members of NCANWT. The meeting resulted in the formation of the CND with Bertrand Russell installed as President, Canon Collins as Chairman, and Peggy Duff from NCANWT as organizing secretary. This prominent group was able to draw a large following.
The first major decision facing the newly organized CND was whether to endorse the "street politics" of the DAC or to utilize available links with Parliament to promote their agenda. The first important direct action endorsed by the CND was the DAC- organized Aldermaston march. The protest attracted 10,000 people its first year (1958), and upwards to 50,000 and 100,000 participants by the early 1960s. In addition, the CND worked through traditional channels to pressure the Labour Party Conference to adopt a unilateralist plank in their 1960 platform. They were successful in both approaches, but the CND began to split between the supporters of direct action and those who favored making use of traditional channels.
The debate became public in 1960. Bertrand Russell resigned his presidency and formed the "Committee of 100." The breakaway Committee advocated non-violent direct action (billed as civil disobedience by the English media) throughout the country. The common purpose of the Committee of 100 and the DAC brought on their merger within a year.
In the meantime, Canon Collins and the CND survived the media fiasco and loss of support created by Russell's split. The CND distanced themselves from the Committee of 100 by insisting that, unlike Russell's group, the CND was not strictly pacifist and, furthermore, believed unilateral disarmament could be pursued most effectively through the existing political system. However, lacking a formal membership until 1966, the CND found it difficult to use the political process. Their main target, the Labour Party, was not united, and the issue of unilateral nuclear disarmament became a pawn in the power game being played within the Party.
By 1963 the Labour Party under Harold Wilson had rejected unilateralism, the British Navy was equipped with polaris missiles from the United States, the world had seen through the Cuban Missile Crisis that nuclear war could be averted, and the Partial Test Ban Treaty (banning nuclear tests in the atmosphere) had been signed. That year was the last of the Aldermaston marches.
CND activity remained in decline until the debate over inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) deployment in Europe arose during the late 1970s. Even then, the strength and effectiveness of the movement could not reach the peak it achieved in the early 1960s.
Sources:
Byrne, Paul. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. New York: Croom Helm, 1988.Note: Much of the organizational information has been derived from the contents of the collection.
See also:
Mattausch, John. A Commitment to campaign: a sociological study of CND. New York: Manchester University
Press, 1989.
Thayer, George. The British political fringe: a profile. London: Anthony Blond Ltd., 1965.
Scope and Content Note
The material surveys the issues of the nuclear disarmament movement in England beginning with the formation of the CND in 1958. Several contentious issues are documented throughout the collection. These issues include discussions of the impact of nuclear weapon strikes on Great Britain and of nuclear weapons in general, the effectiveness of unilateral disarmament as a national policy, the merits of non-violent protest vs. civil disobedience, and the ability of pressure groups to stimulate political change. To a lesser degree, the collection reflects the impact of Bertrand Russell, his political thinking, and his role in persuading public opinion.
The collection, as a record of the CND, includes official documents and publications of the organization; and reference files of published articles, newspaper clippings, and papers dealing with nuclear disarmament. The history of the CND is well documented through these materials. Highlights include the initial meeting of the CND leaders in 1957, descriptions of the annual Aldermaston march and its planning, the breakaway of Bertrand Russell and his Committee of 100, information on the creation of the CND symbol (which gained international recognition as the peace symbol) and the dependent, fragile relationship of the CND with the Labour Party. Additionally, the records provide information on the development of CND structures, strategies, and planning.
The material is divided into three distinct series. The first series, Files of the CND, contains materials from the yearly conferences, files of the regional CND organizations, and information regarding the Committee of 100. The second series, Publications of the CND, features many of CND's official periodicals from 1962-1967. These provide insight to the concerns and changing policy positions of the organization. Finally, the third series, Press Clippings and Articles, is a set of newspaper clipping files, 1960-1963, which chronicle British press coverage of significant world events, nuclear issues, and the CND. In addition, the series includes reference articles on a wide range of disarmament topics.
Series Outline
I. Files of the CND and the Committee of 100, 1958-1972
1. Microfilm from the Commonwealth Library
2. CND files index
3. CND files
II. Publications of the CND, 1963-1968
1. Action for Peace
2. Resistance
3. Underground
4. Youth Against the Bomb
III. Press Clippings and Articles, 1958-1970
1. Chronological clipping files
2. Subject clipping files
3. Resource articles
Appendix: Publications of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Contents List
1 Series I. Files of the CND and the Committee of 100,
1958-1972.
This series consists of minutes, agenda,
correspondence, and leaflets of the national and
the regional branches of the CND. Most of the
files exist here in original form, however some
also appear on the microfilm of CND records from
the Commonwealth Library. After the microfilm,
the series includes a CND file index and
individual files which were removed from binders
but retained in their original order. The
contents of the files reveal work accomplished at
the various conferences and meetings, the
evolution of issues, work done on special topics,
and distinctions between the national and regional
branches of CND.
F1 Files on microfilm, 1959-1970
The folder consists of three reels of microfilm
chronicling material borrowed from the Commonwealth
Library and processed by London Microfilm Ltd. The
films contain approximately 3,500 exposures. The
contents are outlined as follows:
Film 1
- Annual Conferences: 1959, 1960, 1964, 1965/66,
1967
- National Committee
- Easter: 1963, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967,
1968, 1968 additional material, 1969, 1970
- Groups
- Correspondence: 1965
Film 2
- Correspondence: 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969,
miscellaneous correspondence & memoranda A-Z
- North West CND and YCND
- YCND Executive
- YCND Conference 1968
- Other organizations
- New supporters
- Fact sheets
- Advertising
- Ministry of disarmament
- Material for magazines and leaflets
- Polaris
1 Series I. Files (cont'd)
Film 3
- The Bensen Affair
- Labour Party
- Pre-1964 Group Files
- Campaign Caravan and Workshops
- Operation "Peanuts"
- Committee of 100
- T.U. and Factory
- Direct Action Committee
- Policy 1 and Policy 2
- Executive correspondence
- Office administration and organisation
F2 CND file index
These index pages have been removed from within the
files. They should be used to determine the content of
the folders in this series.
F3 National Conference, 1959
F4 Annual Conference, 1962
F5 Special Conference, July 13-14, 1963
F6 Annual Conference, October 1963
F7 Annual Conference, 1964
F8 Annual Conference, 1965
F9 Annual Conference, 1968
F10 Annual Conference, November 1969
F11 Annual Conference, October 1970
F12 Annual Conference, October 1971
F13 CND councils and committees
F14 Letters and mailings, 1958-1966
F15 Letters and mailings
F16 Letters and mailings
1 Series I. Files (cont'd)
F17 Letters and mailings
F18 Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
F19 Committee of 100
F20 Peace News
F21 Peace Pledge Union
F22 Miscellaneous
F23 London Region CND
F24 West Midlands CND
F25 Orpington CND
F26 Colleges and University CND
F27 Christian CND
F28 Labour CND
F29 Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament regarding
conferences
F30 Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament regarding
mailings
F31 Committee of 100
F32 Committee of 100, correspondence
F33 Committee of 100, regarding "Talking Points"
F34 London Committee of 100
F35 Christian Committee of 100
F36 Hampstead Committee of 100
F37 Committee of 100, miscellaneous
F38 Drafts of a proposal to restructure the CND
1
Series II. Publications of the CND, 1963-1968.
This series is an extensive collection of
newsletters and weekly papers published by the
CND. The publications provide insight into issues
of the day and cleavages which distinguished
separate factions from one another.
F39 Action For Peace, 1963
F40 Resistance, 1964
F41 Resistance, 1964
F42 Resistance, 1965
F43 Resistance, 1965
F44 Resistance Shall Grow, 1967
F45 Resistance, 1967-68
F46 Underground, 1967
F47 Youth Against the Bomb, 1960
F48 Youth Against the Bomb, 1961
F49 Youth Against the Bomb, 1962
F50 Youth Against the Bomb, 1963-65
2
Series III. Press Clippings and Articles, 1958-1970.
This series represents a collection of reports and
writings chronicling current events and issues of
the anti-nuclear movement. There are three
subseries. The first includes a set of clipping
files arranged in chronological order dealing with
both news about the CND and nuclear affairs. The
second subseries, arranged in alphabetical order
by subject, involves clipping files on several
countries and organizations. The final subseries
consists of collected reference articles
pertaining to a vast array of nuclear issues.
These articles are contributed from such broad
fields as physics, ethics, and military strategy.
Series III.1. Chronological Clipping Files.
This subseries consists of a collection of news
clippings, some in their original form and some
which have been removed and placed in folders.
F51 September-October 1960
F52 October 1960
F53 October-December 1960
F54 September 1960-February 1961
F55 July-November 1961
F56 Scrapbook of pamphlets and leaflets
F57 February-April 1962
F58 1964-1969
F59 News clippings on disarmament, 1965
F60 News clippings on disarmament, 1966
F61 News clippings on disarmament, 1967-68
F62 News clippings regarding the CND, 1958-1970
F63 Press clippings regarding the Committee of 100
F64 Press clippings regarding the Polaris submarine
2 Series III. Clipping Files (cont'd)
Series III.2. Subject Clipping Files.
These articles were originally stapled to the back
of old memos and housed in three binders. A
subject index file precedes the series of files
removed from each binder. Preservation
photocopies have been made and the original
clippings were discarded. F130 and F131 contain
samples of the old memos used for scrap pages in
the binders.
F65 Index for Book 1
F66 Reference file A
F67 Reference file B
F68 Reference file C
F69 Reference file D
F70 Reference file E-F
F71 Reference file G
F72 Reference file H
F73 Reference file IJK
F74 Reference file L
F75 Reference file M
F76 Reference file N-O
F77 Reference file PQR
F78 Reference file ST
F79 Reference file U-V
F80 Reference file W
F81 Reference file XYZ
F82 Index for Book 2 (July/August 1963)
F83 Africa
F84 Britain
3 Series III. Clipping Files (cont'd)
Series III.2. Subject (cont'd)
F85 Canada
F86 China
F87 Cuba
F88 France
F89 Germany and Greece
F90 India
F91 Iraq, Italy, and Japan
F92 Malaysia
F93 Pakistan, Poland, and Portugal
F94 Red Cross, South Africa, and the Soviet Union
F95 The United Nations and the United States
F96 Venezuela, Vietnam
F97 Index for Book 3 (September 1963)
F98 Algeria and New Zealand
F99 Britain
F100 China
F101 Dominican Republic
F102 Egypt
F103 France
F104 Germany
F105 India and Indonesia
F106 Malaysia
F107 Norway
F108 Pakistan and Portugal
3 Series III. Clipping Files (cont'd)
Series III.2. Subject (cont'd)
F109 Soviet Union
F110 South Africa
F111 United Nations
F112 United States
F113 Yugoslavia
F114 South Africa and Algeria
F115 Britain
F116 China, Czeckoslovakia, Canada, and Cuba
F117 Formosa and France
F118 Gambia, Greece, Germany, and Guiana
F119 Hungary
F120 India, Indonesia, Iraq, and Japan
F121 Kenya
F122 Laos and Latin America
F123 The Middle East and NATO
F124 Pakistan and Rhodesia
F125 Singapore and Soviet Union
F126 The United Nations, United States, and Vietnam
F127 United States and South Vietnam
F128 Western Europe
F129 Yugoslavia
3 Series III. Clipping Files (cont'd)
Series III.2. Subject (cont'd)
F130 Scrap sheets
This folder and the next contain the scrap pages to
which the clippings were originally attached. Only
papers which were legible, unique, and displayed
information not readily available elsewhere in the
collection have been preserved. The papers deal with
an eclectic range of topics.
F131 Scrap sheets
Series III.3. Reference Articles
This subseries consists of a variety of articles
both published and unpublished.
F132 "Research Report," Peace Research Center
F133 Vietnam International, September 1972
F134 "American Atrocities in Vietnam," Eric Norden
F135 World Issues, Autumn 1972
F136 "The Labour Party's Foreign Policy," Bertrand Russell
F137 "Non-violence in 1973 Newsletter"
F138 "Power in a Post-Colonial Setting: The Why and Whither
of Religious Confrontation in Ulster," Anne Boserup
F139 "Britain Considers Her Weapons," Gene Sharp
F140 Protest! vol. 1, no. 1
F141 Peace Centre Newsletter, 1972
F142 "Song - To the Men of England (1819)" - (poem) Percy
Bysshe Shelley
F143 Society for Social Responsibility in Science Newsletter
F144 Anarchist publications
F145 "Briefing #11," October 1969
F146 Revolution: Violent and Non-Violent, February 1968
F147 Assorted anti-nuclear publications
3 Series III. Clipping Files (cont'd)
Series III.3. Reference (cont'd)
F148 "Libertarian Readings: A Short Anthology"
F149 "Studies in Nonviolence" vols. 1 and 2 published by the
Peace Pledge Union
F150 Leaflets and flyers of Kropotkin's Lighthouse
Publications
F151 "Bibliography on Peace, Freedom, and Non-Violence"
published by Kropotkin's Lighthouse Publications
F152 "The CND: An Organization in Transition," D.L. Hagger
F153 "Evolution and War," Stanislav Andreski
F154 "Faith Under Fire," Canon Collins
F155 Pacificism: An Introductory Perspective
F156 The Partisan Press Catalogue for 1972
F157 "Vietnam: A Voice from the Villages" and "The National
Liberation Front," Katsuichi Honda
F158 One World, October 1946
F159 "Future: A Foreign Policy for the H-Bomb Age,"
September 1956
F160 "Bulletin of the Non-Violence Commission of the Peace
Pledge Union," 1957
F161 Bulletin of the Medical Association for the Prevention
of War, June 1961
F162 World Peace calendars and diaries
F163 "Christians and Atomic War," an article published by
the British Council of Churches
F164 "Balance of Life," Jonathan Howard
F165 "Discussing Defense and Disarmament," Tudor David
F166 "Ruthless Realism About NATO, Nuclear Weapons, and U.S.
Bases," Konni Zilliacus MP
3 Series III. Clipping Files (cont'd)
Series III.3. Reference (cont'd)
F167 "What a Nuclear Explosion is Like...," the Home Office
and Scottish Home Department
F168 "Home Defense and the Farmer" published by Her
Majesty's Stationery Office
F169 "Disarmament - The Way Ahead," Hugh Thomas
F170 "Programme for General and Complete Disarmament"
F171 "Speech to the UN General Assembly," September 18, 1959
F172 Labour Worker, Mid-April 1965
F173 Socialist Leader, April 24, 1965
F174 New Statesmen, October 19 - March 1, 1963
F175 Tribune, Labour's Independent Weekly, May 1955
F176 Newsletter regarding the Lancaster Hoper Project and
the Peace and Conflict Research Programme - March 1971
F177 Now: Preview 2
F178 Copies of Freedom Through Anarchism: October 19, 1946;
November 2, 1946; November 16, 1946; January 4, 1947;
and April 17, 1965
F179 New Generation, November 1962
F180 On Trial
F181 Touch Paper, April/May 1968
F182 Middle East Coexistence, Autumn 1970
F183 "H-Bomb War: What Would It Be Like," published by Peace
News LTD.
F184 "Peace Research: A Perspective," Robin Jenkins
F185 Parlimentary Debates for February 27, 1958
F186 The Rushlight, February 1964 and Spring 1965
F187 Peace Research, June 1970
3 Series III. Clipping Files (cont'd)
Series III.3. Reference (cont'd)
F188 "The Politics of Anti-War Coalitions: The Case of
Britain," Frank Myers
F189 Scientist and Citizen, 1965 and 1966
F190 Nuclear Information, February 1964
F191 Call to Women, 1962-1963
F192 Win, dedicated to A.J. Muste
F193 War/Peace Report, January 1971
F194 Danilo Dolce Bulletin, October 1963
F195 "When All the Beautiful People Come to the Aid of the
Party"
4 F196 "Looking for the Marches," Theodore Roszak
F197 "Beyond the Left, Farther Than the Right"
F198 Book review of The British General Election of 1970,
Butler and Pinto-Duschinsky
F199 "Non-Alignment," Conor Cruise O'Brien printed in New Statesmen
F200 "The Anti-bomb Movement in Britain," Andrew Maxwell
printed in Contemporary Issues, January 1963
F201 Peace News, April 1958
F202 Black Dwarf featuring "Bertrand Russell's Testament"
F203 "Armed for Neutrality" from the Daily Telegraph
Magazine, May 7, 1941
F204 "The Middle Class Get Psychotherapy and the Working
class Get Pills," Arthur Hopcraft
F205 "What's Wrong With the World?"
F206 "First Find the Problem," Jerome Bruner
F207 "What Did You Do In the Cold War Daddy?"
F208 "After Kennedy - What?," Sanity broadsheet
4 Series III. Clipping Files (cont'd)
Series III.3. Reference (cont'd)
F209 Copies of the Labour Peace Bulletin, 1960-61
F210 Copies of Labour Peace Newsletter, 1967-71
F211 Publications of the Labour Peace Fellowship
F212 Labour Peace Fellowship broadsheet
F213 Mud Pie: The CND Story, Herb Greer
F214 "The Relationship Between the Study of International
Relations, Peace Research, and Strategic Studies" by
Michael Banks, a UNESCO publication
F215 "Note on the development of Conflict Studies at the
London School of Economics" (May 1969) and "Diplomatic
Behavior Project"
F216 "An Empirical Approach to Demonstrations," PhD.
proposal by T. Hamlett
F217 "The History, Theory, and Practice of Conflict Research
in Great Britain"
F218 Correspondence between CND General Secretary Dick
Nettleton and Professor Patrick Slater
F219 "Guide to the Common Market"
F220 Pamphlets on Britain and the European Common Market
F221 "The London School of Non-Violence"
F222 International Confederation for Disarmament and Peace
"Programme for Action"
F223 "Richardson Institute Newsletter," May-June 1971
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