ABSTRACT
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was formed in 1958 to campaign against nuclear weapons. It quickly became a mass protest movement, symbolized by the annual march from London to the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston. CND's greatest influence was at the height of the Cold War in the early 1980s when a decision was made to site American cruise and Pershing missiles in Britain, and when, under the hawkish leadership of Reagan and Thatcher, the threat of a nuclear conflict increased. At this time, too, the Labour Opposition adopted unilateral nuclear disarmament. However, Conservative electoral dominance in the 1980s, a warmer climate between the USA and the Gorbachev-led Soviet Union, multilateral disarmament progress, and, ultimately, the collapse of the Soviet Union, significantly reduced CND's role. CND still exists, in a much-reduced capacity, still campaigning against Britain's independent nuclear capacity.
