9a. Introduction

In this module, we will explore the anti-nuclear movement that began at the end of the Second World War and continues today. It is also referred to as the nuclear disarmament movement. This peace movement emerged as a response to the use of the first nuclear weapon in war – the atomic bomb dropped by the American government on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, on April 6 and 9, 1945. But it strengthened as development and testing of nuclear weapons continued in the decades that followed, and in the midst of a Cold War between superpowers – the United States and Soviet Union – that existed until the early 1990s.

Opposition to nuclear weapons continues today, as development and testing is ongoing, by more nations, and as global politics generates new diplomatic tensions.

As a university student in the 1980s, I recall the urgency and fear that many of us felt about the potential for global destruction in a world where the use of nuclear weapons seemed to be just a press of a button away. In some respects, attitudes then were similar to the present-day fears around climate change that are so pressing today (2020). 

Because of the nature of the conflict and the diverse responses to it, I find the anti-nuclear movement to be among the most interesting peace movements to learn about.

Characteristics

The anti-nuclear movement is quite different from the peace movements we have studied thus far, even though some of the tactics of the movement are based on principles and ideas we have seen before. Here is a summary of its features; I use the present tense because it is not just a movement of the past:

• It is directed towards the elimination of a particular kind of weaponry;
• It is a global, mass movement, not isolated to a particular country or region;
• Not all anti-nuclear activists are pacifists or advocates of nonviolence;
• The movement changes momentum according to critical moments in world politics;
• Some activists are concerned only with the policy of their own government;
• Governmental diplomacy and negotiation are part of both the problem and the solution;
• Some parts of the movement are very status quo and are not on the fringe of society;
• Some aspects of anti-nuclear activism are very radical;
• The movement is diverse and includes many sectors of society – politicians, scientists, activists;
• It can take credit for the best known peace symbol of the 20th century.

© Course Author and University of Waterloo

You were introduced to this peace symbol in the first module of the course. Remember its history?

beatingthebomb. (2012, February 23). Beating The Bomb - Trailer 2 - Peace Symbol. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcGeBgZMG6o

The Conflict – ‘The Bomb’

The first characteristic of this peace movement is that its objective was, and is, the elimination of a particular kind of weaponry – referred to simply as ‘the bomb.’ When we learn about the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945, we think about the hitherto unimaginable horror and destruction that this new technology of war brought to the people of Japan.

Famous physicist Albert Einstein, who was a pacifist, said this at the time:

The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything, save our modes of thinking… and thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe.¹

Those bombs, called ‘Little Boy’ and ‘Fat Man,’ were tiny in comparison to what exists in the world today. This comparative graph gives you a sense of that: 

The Reaction

For reaction to the Bomb and nuclear weapons testing, watch: If You Love This Planet.

Some of the images in the film are disturbing, particularly of victims and survivors of the atomic bomb attacks in Japan. Just giving you notice.

The film was made in 1982, a high point of the anti-nuclear movement. It is not only a documentary that reflects back on historic events. Historians would call this a ‘primary source’ that provides evidence and information from a particular moment in history. The title of the film is noteworthy, since today we might think it refers to climate change. Think about similarities between then and now. The film was actually banned for a short while by the United States government because it was considered anti-nuclear, left-wing propaganda.

Dr. Helen Caldicott (1938- ) is an Australian physician who was active in many anti-nuclear organizations, including Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Nuclear Freeze campaign.