In the early 1980s the peace movements in most of the Western countries captured public attention as never before. This largely resulted from NATO’s decision in 1979 to deploy new medium range missiles in Europe in 1983 if negotiations with the Soviet Union to limit this type of weapon system failed. The main purpose of the peace movements in Europe was to put pressure on their respective governments to accept Soviet proposals in negotiations and not to deploy new missiles. Many large demonstrations and other ‘happenings’ were organised for this purpose. The Soviet and other Warsaw Pact countries accompanied and supported the activities of the peace movements by propaganda and disinformation campaigns. The national peace movements, despite their common aims, had different historic backgrounds and characteristics.

This book, originally published in 1985, presents an authoritative review of the peace movements in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany and the United States. The authors discuss not only the history and organisation of each peace movement, but also their international cooperation, media coverage and prospects for the future.