Women, the Political Left and Peace Campaigning in Britain, 1945 -1970

Abstract

The history of women's peace campaigning in Britain has been described in terms of two phases or waves of mass activism. The first arose from the radical suffrage and labour movements during the First World War and continued until the mid-193 Os. The second was a shorter phase which emerged in response to the marked deterioration of East-West relations and the escalation of the nuclear arms race at the beginning of the 1980s. The period between these two waves is seen as a relatively low point in women's peace activism. General histories of peace campaigning in Britain during these decades have tended to concentrate on the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the anti- Vietnam War movement: both of which involved women, but the neither of which were women-led. There was, however, an identifiable and vital women's peace movement in Britain, rooted mostly in the political left, during the quarter-century after the Second World War. Although it did not constitute a mass movement, women's activism during this period was organised, purposeful and influential. This dissertation examines this neglected phase of women's peace campaigning between 1945 and 1970.