Fonds GB 0210 CNDNAT - CND Cymru National Archive,

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is a British movement, founded in 1958, which seeks the eradication of all nuclear weapons. CND was founded in reaction to the British government's decision in 1957 to become the third country to test a thermonuclear weapon. There were protest marches at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, Hampshire, from 1958 into the early 1960s. CND became a membership organization in 1966 and continued throughout the 1970s as a smaller, but nevertheless active, movement. The arrival of Cruise Missiles and Trident in Britain led to a revival of the campaign in the 1980s, and CND subsequently became the largest group of its kind in Britain. The focus of CND activities broadened since the 1950s, and they now encompass a wide range of issues relating to nuclear weapons, such as peace, military activity, and nuclear power in general. A branch of CND was established in Cardiff in 1958, and small local anti-nuclear groups appeared in other parts of Wales, such as the Aberystwyth Committee on Nuclear Weapons. These independent groups later became affiliated to the Welsh National Council of CND. The National Council remained a distinctively Welsh organization, and this Welshness still characterizes the activities of its successor, CND Cymru, set up in 1981. CND Cymru works for international peace and disarmament and a world in which the vast resources now devoted to militarism are redirected to the real needs of the community and the environment. The organisation aims to achieve a non-violent, nuclear-free world based on respect for human rights and the rights of all life. CND Cymru works through lobbying, participating in demonstrations, organising events and taking part in non-violent direct action. It is also involved in education work, drawing attention to important issues. In particular, CND Cymru's recent focus has been to draw attention to the obscenity of the British Nuclear Weapons System, Trident. The organisation offers solidarity and positive support for others sharing the aims of peace, disarmament and a truly just world.