History of CND

Scotland

Scottish CND was formed shortly after the formation of CND in London in 1958. Protests were made about atmospheric testing and the growing threat of nuclear annihilation. There was strong support from members of the Labour Party and from communists, from Local Authorities and Trade Unions.

In May 1959 a march in Glasgow attracted 4,000. The establishment of the US Polaris submarine base in Holy Loch in the Clyde in 1961 was met with large demonstrations. After 1968 when the British Polaris base was set up at Faslane near Helensburgh, it too became a focus for protest.

The announcement by President Regan in 1983 of "Star Wars" - the first version of National Missile Defence (see Anti-Ballistic Systems) together with the arrival of Cruise at Greenham led to a mass "die-in" in George Square in Glasgow and a march of 20,000. CND, although principally an anti-bomb movement has also been a leader in the anti-war peace movement. In 1982 it opposed the Falklands War, in 1995 the war in the Balkans and in 1998 the Gulf War.

In each of these conflicts there was, of course, the possibility of hostilities spreading with the threat of nuclear weapons being used.

For information about British CND see A brief history of CND  

On August 6th 1945 the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in Japan. Three days later on August 9th, another bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) had it's first public meeting on February 1958 in Westminster, London.