Search | Wilson Center Digital Archive

Switch to Visualization

Great Britain Disarmament Clear All

Related Resources

Placeholder image for when a places image is not available

Western Europe

Great Britain

Placeholder image for when a Topics image is not available

Anti-Nuclear Peace Movements

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)

1957-

Soviet soldier taking a photograph of another soldier in Red Square, Moscow, 1959

Eastern Europe

Soviet Union

Aerial view of National Mall

North America

United States

Nuclear Debate Pamphlets

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

Ruddock, Joan Mary

1943-

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

Kent, Bruce

1929- 2022

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

Soviet Peace Committee (SPC)

1949- 1991

Portrait of Mao Zedong on Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, China, 1972.

East Asia

China

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

Coalition for Peace through Security (CPS)

1981-

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

Youth for Multilateral Disarmament

-

Satellite image of Western Europe

Western Europe

Placeholder image for when a places image is not available

Western Europe

France

Placeholder image for when a Topics image is not available

British Nuclear History

Nuclear Proliferation

Sino-Soviet Relations

Results:

1 - 10 of 62

Display:

Sort By:

Documents

January 26, 1968	"Defence And Oversea Policy Committee: Non-Proliferation: Memorandum By The Minister Of State For Foreign Affairs " Subsequent to De Gaulle's November 1967 veto of Wilson's EEC application, senior British ministers still saw the European question as having considerable importance. Shortly before his departure from the role of Foreign Secretary, George Brown reported to the Defence and Oversea Policy Committee that the ructions over Article 3 of the NPT would be "particularly awkward for us as potential members of EURATOM and the E.E.C." De Gaulle's second "Non!" only served to postpone Britain's membership of the EEC, as Edward Heath's Conservative government successfully campaigned for accession, which took place in 1973.
October 2, 1967	Letter from Derek Day (Foreign Office) to Michael Palliser (Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister) Responding to a request from Michael Palliser (Wilson's Private Secretary for foreign affairs), the Foreign Office's seasoned Europe-watcher Derek Day argued that the government needed to balance three – sometimes conflicting – UK interests. First, there was the position as a European power, particularly with regard to the ongoing EEC application. Second, there was the UK's status as a nuclear power, in which the UK shared “special responsibilities” with the US, exemplified by the UK's acquisition of Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missiles as its primary nuclear deterrent. Third, there was the desire to see a non-proliferation treaty concluded, which sometimes meant disagreement with both the United States and the Soviet Union. Day contended that the United Kingdom seemed to have been successful in positioning itself as understanding European anxieties, with Bonn having congratulated Wilson's administration on bring “good Europeans.” Day's assessment was seen and lauded by Wilson, who hoped that it was correct.
October 28, 1966	J. A. Thomson (Head of Planning Staff, Foreign Office) to J.E.D. Street (Head of the Atomic Energy and Disarmament Department, Foreign Office), 'German Views on Non-Proliferation' Before and after de Gaulle's November 1967 veto of Britain's second EEC application, Britain's position in Europe and its relationships with existing EEC states shaped the UK's role in the NPT negotiations. Prior to 1967, London canvassed opinion in EEC capitals, particularly in Bonn. As the NPT negotiations wound their way through the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament (of which the United Kingdom was a member) in 1967, British representatives reported deep-seated concerns in Bonn, Brussels, the Hague, Luxembourg City, Paris, and Rome that a non-proliferation agreement might threaten the continued functioning of EURATOM, namely that its power might be subsumed into the IAEA, opening non-nuclear-weapon states (NNWS) up to commercial espionage conducted by inspectors representing the nuclear-weapon states (NWS).
Date unknown	Questions and Answers about Space Weapons This CND pamphlet sets out the case against the development of the Strategic Defense Initiative which was being pursued by the Reagan Administration.
July 3, 1985	Letter, Joan Ruddock and Bruce Kent to Vice-President of the United States George Bush This letter to then Vice-President Bush sets out CND's opposition to the British Government's involvement in the Reagan Administration's Strategic Defense Initiative (popularly known as Star Wars).
Date unknown	Russian Roulette: Don't Let CND Gamble with Peace This poster produced by the Coalition for Peace through Security suggests that peace groups such as the CND paradoxically endanger peace. The image also associates the CND with the Soviet Union.
Date unknown	CND: Communists, Neutralists, Defeatists This leaflet produced by the Coalition for Peace through Security attacks the CND specifically as being 'Communists, neutralists, defeatists'. It likens the CND to 'the Appeasers during the 1930s'.
Date unknown	The Soviet Union Needs You! Support Unilateral Disarmament! This leaflet produced by Youth for Multilateral Disarmament suggests that the policy of the UK divesting itself of nuclear weapons - called 'one-sided disarmament' in the leaflet - would serve Soviet interests and weaken Britain.
April 1983	Welcome to the Greenham Common Blockade, A Non-Violent Direct Action, Easter 1983 This pamphlet provides participants with information on taking part in a blockade of RAF Greenham Common, where Cruise missiles would be deployed from the end of 1983. Readers are encouraged to engage in direct action, and extensive legal advice is given to clarify what forms of action are legal.
Date unknown	30 Questions and Answers about CND [Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament] Pamphlet produced by CND to explain the organisation and the causes for which it was campaigning.