The nuclear age
Nuclear weapons were developed and stockpiled throughout the Cold War. Atomic weapons were used for the first time in warfare in August 1945 on the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The decision to use atomic bombs at the end of the Second World War was controversial and is still hotly debated today.
The wholesale destruction and damage to people and buildings was shocking and raised many questions about the morality of using that kind of weapon against civilians, although their use arguably prevented a potentially devastating battle for the Japanese home islands.
MAD
Arguments in favour of nuclear weapons were centred on the idea of deterrence. The United States and the Soviet Union claimed that possessing nuclear weapons would reduce the possibility of an attack from the enemy. If both sides had weapons of equal destructive power, then it would be in the interests of all parties not to start a war. Peace was therefore maintained by the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).
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The United States and the Soviet Union came close to an open conflict during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. The fact that the United States and the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons raised the stakes and both sides made concessions to resolve the crisis. Everybody realised how easily a nuclear war could have started. Tensions relaxed for a while and in July 1963 the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Britain’s nuclear programme
Britain did not have the resources of the United States and the Soviet Union and as a result had a more modest nuclear weapons programme. But Britain wanted to retain its status as a global power and the British government considered having nuclear weapons to be an important part of this.
In August 1952 Britain’s first plutonium bomb was tested. In October of the same year, during Operation Hurricane at the Monte Bello islands in Australia, Britain’s first atomic bomb was exploded. In 1957 Britain embarked on a series of tests (Operation Grapple) at Christmas and Malden Islands that finally resulted in the successful detonation of a hydrogen bomb.
Britain at the frontline of the Cold War
Due to its geographical location and alliance with the United States, Britain was at the frontline of the Cold War. It was another reason to have a nuclear deterrent.
During the Berlin Blockade in 1948, war with the Soviet Union seemed to be a real possibility. In response, the United States sent sixty B-29 Superfortress bombers to Britain. Their arrival was well covered by the press. Even though they were armed with conventional weapons, they were called ‘atomic bombers’ because they were the same type of aircraft which had dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From then on, Britain would be home to hundreds of American aircraft, and thousands of personnel and families, throughout the Cold War.
Just a few months before the bombers arrived, the British government had surrendered its veto over the United States use of the atomic bomb. This had been secured by Winston Churchill in 1943. Without the veto, the British government had no control over the use of the bombers which were now based in the country. And with the series of Anglo-American alliances between 1948 and 1950, known as the Burns-Templer Agreements, Britain was effectively at the forefront of any potential confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Surviving a nuclear attack
With the British government pushing ahead with the development of nuclear weapons and Britain at the frontline of the Cold War, many people were very concerned about what would happen if there actually was a nuclear war.
The Civil Defence Corps was established in 1949 and was supposed to take control in the event of a nuclear attack. In the early 1960s the home was considered the key to survival. People were advised to stay put, and construct shelters in their homes. The Civil Defence Corps was disbanded in 1968.
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In March 1980 the Protect and Survive civil defence campaign began. Through films, pamphlets and radio broadcasts the campaign instructed the public on how to survive a nuclear attack. This involved recognising the warning sounds, building a fallout room and stockpiling essential supplies.
Protest
In 1958 the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was launched in London. Its membership was diverse and included novelists, politicians, students, left-wing intellectuals, celebrities and members of the clergy, notably Bruce Kent.
The stated aim of CND was to persuade the British government to abolish nuclear weapons and set an example to the rest of the world. Campaigners believed that spending millions on weapons that could potentially annihilate the human race was irresponsible and foolish. The devastation caused by the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was often used by campaigners to demonstrate the horror of nuclear weapons.
For the next six years CND was a powerful force for unilateral nuclear disarmament and demonstrations were well publicised. Every year at Easter, CND held a protest march from London to the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston. The campaign waned after the Test Ban Treaty in 1963 but revived in the 1980s. In 1983 CND organised the famous fourteen mile human chain which started at Greenham Common, passed the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston and ended at the Royal Ordnance Factory at Burghfield.
Women played an important role in anti-nuclear protests during the 1980s. In August 1981, the Women’s Peace Camp was established at Greenham Common. RAF Greenham Common was being used by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1951. In 1980 the British government announced that it would be the first site to house Cruise missiles.
The women’s camp received a great deal of publicity and international recognition. Protesters lived in primitive conditions and did their best to disrupt nuclear convoys. In December 1982 over 20,000 women surrounded the base to protest at the plans to install Cruise missiles. There were further protests when the missiles arrived in November 1983.
In May 1991 the Ground Launched Cruise Missiles (GLCM) wing at the base was deactivated but protesters remained at Greenham Common until 2000. A memorial now marks the site of the peace protests.
Legacy
To date there has not been a nuclear war but many countries are developing their nuclear capability. The power and status that nuclear weapons had during the Cold War is still relevant today.
