Peace camp
Peace camps are physical
camps that are set up outside
military bases by members of the
peace movement who for one reason or another oppose either the military bases themselves or the politics of those who control the bases. They began in the 1920's and then became world famous in
1982 due to the tremendous worldwide publicity generated by the women-only peace camp at
Greenham Common,
England.
Peace camps are known from the 1920s.
The first modern
peace camps were the various women-only peace camps at
Greenham Common,
England, set up in
1981. Other mixed peace camps sprang up in
Upper Heyford,
Daws Hill in
High Wycombe,
Molesworth common,
Lakenheath,
Naphill and
Faslane, where the camp remains.
Naphill
A
bunker was constructed for
Strike Command on
National Trust land (
Bradenham Village) near
High Wycombe,
England between
1982 and
1985. Naphill Peace camp was set up to witness and oppose this construction.
The Angry Pacifist magazine was produced out of Naphill Peace camp.
People came to live outside these military bases in order to witness and
nonviolently protest against the presence of
nuclear weapons in
Europe that were directed against the then
Soviet Union by the
United States, calling for
nuclear disarmament. The women at Greenham Common were particularly against the placing of US
cruise missiles at Greenham Common, something they claimed made the area a direct target of Soviet Union aggression. During the eighties the
United States Air Force had land-based cruise missiles at several of the above locations, not only Greenham Common; they have since been moved back to the
USA, though there remains a US military presence in the UK, and the UK continues to possess and develop nuclear weapons itself. Due to these factors the concept of the peace camp remains alive today; because of Faslane Peace camp there has continuously been at least one peace camp outside a military base in the UK since 1982.
There is also currently a women's peace camp at
Aldermaston for one weekend a month. A peace camp was set up at
Fairford on
17th February 2003. On
May 13,
2005 protestors set up a peace camp on Drake's Island, just off
Plymouth.
In August
2005 Cindy Sheehan set up
Camp Casey, a peace camp named after her son, outside the
Texas ranch of
United States President
George W. Bush, through which she has attracted considerable media attention.
The term "peace camp" is often used to describe political factions before or during wartime that are opposed to a particular war. These are not a physical camps. Currently, there is an
Israeli peace camp.
*
Greenham Women's Peace Camp*
Faslane peace camp website*
BBC news - Peace caravan becomes museum piece (Faslane)*
Aldermaston peace camp*
Fairford peace camp*
BBC news - Fairford protesters move to new site*
BBC news - Police move 'petty' say protesters (Fairford)*
Indymedia - video on Greenham (
.wmv format)
*
Trident Ploughshares - Coulport peace camp*
BBC article on Drake's island
