Direct Action Committee: Difference between revisions
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The '''Direction Action Committee''' Against Nuclear War was |
The '''Direction Action Committee''' Against Nuclear War (DAC) was formed in 1958 with the aim “to assist the conducting of non-violent direct action to obtain the total renunciation of nuclear war and its weapons by Britain and all other countries as a first step in disarmament”.<ref>http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/documents/CwlDACCLD.pdf</ref> |
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==Origins== |
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The Committee was formed by Allen Skinner, Hugh Brock and Arlo Tatum and was joined by others, including [[Michael Randle]], [[April Carter]], [[Pat Arrowsmith]], [[Walter Wolfgang]], [[Frank Allaun]] and [[Michael Scott (Reverend)|Michael Scott]]. Its sponsors and public supporters included [[Alex Comfort]], [[Doris Lessing]], [[Linus Pauling]] and [[Bertrand Russell]]. |
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The DAC was a forerunner of the [[Committee of 100]] and was born from the supporters and sympathisers that [[Harold Steele]] gained from his protest against [[British]] [[H-Bomb]] testing on [[Christmas Island]].<ref>http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/documents/CwlDACCLD.pdf</ref> In the end he never got to Christmas Island but successfully represented the anti-nuclear cause in Japan instead.<ref>http://archives.lse.ac.uk/dserve.exe?dsqServer=lib-4.lse.ac.uk&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27CND/2008/2%27)&dsqDb=Catalog</ref> |
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This group of people decided to organise one of the first marches to [[Aldermaston|Aldermaston Marches]] and committee for organising this march became the Direct Action Committee. The original committee was just [[Allen Skinner]], [[Hugh Brock]] and [[Arlo Tatum]] but [[Michael Randle]] (who became Chair), [[April Carter]] (Secretary), [[Pat Arrowsmith]] (Field Secretary), Michael Scott and Will Warren soon joined. <ref>http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/documents/CwlDACCLD.pdf</ref> |
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==Aims and Methods== |
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The Committee decided that in order to achieve their eventual aim of disarmament there should be two aims of their direct action. Firstly to demonstrate their opposition to nuclear weapons at their own personal cost.<ref>http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/documents/CwlDACCLD.pdf</ref> This was partly because the campaign was a largely middle class campaign and as they were asking workers in the Nuclear Weapons industry to leave their jobs they felt that they should show that they are prepared to go to jail and lose their own jobs for the cause. |
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The second aim of their direct action was to raise public awareness of the issues<ref>http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/documents/CwlDACCLD.pdf</ref> |
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Their methods to achieve these aims were marches and vigils. Pickets and trades union campaigns, to convince workers to stop working in Nuclear Weapons associated industries<ref>http://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/collections/ulr/06_05.pdf</ref>. They campaigned at elections for their causes and participated in civil disobedience.<ref>http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/documents/CwlDACCLD.pdf</ref> |
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The Committee was prepared to go to jail for their cause and so set up reserve committees so that it could continue if they went to jail. |
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==Actions== |
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The first action planned by the Committee was the 1958 Easter weekend march from London to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, followed by a weeklong vigil. In the end the march was jointly organised by other groups including the [[CND]]. Some months after the original march the DAC continued the campaign with an eight week picket to raise awareness of the facility in the local area and get trade unions to black work on the facility. To achieve this the Committee visited trade unions, distributed leaflets, held factory gate meetings, and canvassed in the surrounding villages.<ref>http://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/collections/ulr/06_05.pdf</ref> |
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The action was widely regarded as a success with claims of some workers leaving the facility and lorry drivers not delivering their cargo. The event also helped the CND campaign get off the ground by generating many new activists.<ref>http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:Gyq6L7-sxfEJ:www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php%3Fid%3D14439+%22direct+action+committee+against+nuclear+war%27%27&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=firefox-a</ref> The CND then turned the march into a annual event but reversed the direction of the march.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/18/newsid_2909000/2909881.stm</ref> |
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The protest against the Christmas Island tests was to be a voyage by Harold Steele to the test site. Because of organizational problems it did not take pace, but Steele traveled to Japan in May 1957 where he presented the anti-nuclear case. In the autumn of that year, the Direct Action Committee made a protest march to the [[Atomic Weapons Research Establishment]] at [[Aldermaston]] and subsequently organised non-violent protests against the installation and manufacture of nuclear weapons in Britain. In Easter 1958, they organised a 52-mile march from London to the Aldermaston, reluctantly supported by the newly-formed [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]] (CND). This was the first of the [[Aldermaston marches]], taken over by CND the following year and led by them for many years. |
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In 1961, following the formation of the [[Committee of 100 (United Kingdom)|Committee of 100]], which organised civil disobedience against nuclear weapons on a larger scale, the Direct Action Committee disbanded, most of its members becoming active in the new organization. |
In 1961, following the formation of the [[Committee of 100 (United Kingdom)|Committee of 100]], which organised civil disobedience against nuclear weapons on a larger scale, the Direct Action Committee disbanded, most of its members becoming active in the new organization. |
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Revision as of 20:42, 27 October 2009
The Direction Action Committee Against Nuclear War (DAC) was formed in 1958 with the aim “to assist the conducting of non-violent direct action to obtain the total renunciation of nuclear war and its weapons by Britain and all other countries as a first step in disarmament”.[1]
Origins
The DAC was a forerunner of the Committee of 100 and was born from the supporters and sympathisers that Harold Steele gained from his protest against British H-Bomb testing on Christmas Island.[2] In the end he never got to Christmas Island but successfully represented the anti-nuclear cause in Japan instead.[3]
This group of people decided to organise one of the first marches to Aldermaston Marches and committee for organising this march became the Direct Action Committee. The original committee was just Allen Skinner, Hugh Brock and Arlo Tatum but Michael Randle (who became Chair), April Carter (Secretary), Pat Arrowsmith (Field Secretary), Michael Scott and Will Warren soon joined. [4]
Aims and Methods
The Committee decided that in order to achieve their eventual aim of disarmament there should be two aims of their direct action. Firstly to demonstrate their opposition to nuclear weapons at their own personal cost.[5] This was partly because the campaign was a largely middle class campaign and as they were asking workers in the Nuclear Weapons industry to leave their jobs they felt that they should show that they are prepared to go to jail and lose their own jobs for the cause.
The second aim of their direct action was to raise public awareness of the issues[6]
Their methods to achieve these aims were marches and vigils. Pickets and trades union campaigns, to convince workers to stop working in Nuclear Weapons associated industries[7]. They campaigned at elections for their causes and participated in civil disobedience.[8]
The Committee was prepared to go to jail for their cause and so set up reserve committees so that it could continue if they went to jail.
Actions
The first action planned by the Committee was the 1958 Easter weekend march from London to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, followed by a weeklong vigil. In the end the march was jointly organised by other groups including the CND. Some months after the original march the DAC continued the campaign with an eight week picket to raise awareness of the facility in the local area and get trade unions to black work on the facility. To achieve this the Committee visited trade unions, distributed leaflets, held factory gate meetings, and canvassed in the surrounding villages.[9]
The action was widely regarded as a success with claims of some workers leaving the facility and lorry drivers not delivering their cargo. The event also helped the CND campaign get off the ground by generating many new activists.[10] The CND then turned the march into a annual event but reversed the direction of the march.[11]
In 1961, following the formation of the Committee of 100, which organised civil disobedience against nuclear weapons on a larger scale, the Direct Action Committee disbanded, most of its members becoming active in the new organization.
References
"Pat Arrowsmith recalls organising against Britain's Bomb", Socialist Worker online, 18 March 2008
- ^ http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/documents/CwlDACCLD.pdf
- ^ http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/documents/CwlDACCLD.pdf
- ^ http://archives.lse.ac.uk/dserve.exe?dsqServer=lib-4.lse.ac.uk&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==%27CND/2008/2%27)&dsqDb=Catalog
- ^ http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/documents/CwlDACCLD.pdf
- ^ http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/documents/CwlDACCLD.pdf
- ^ http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/documents/CwlDACCLD.pdf
- ^ http://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/collections/ulr/06_05.pdf
- ^ http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/documents/CwlDACCLD.pdf
- ^ http://www.amielandmelburn.org.uk/collections/ulr/06_05.pdf
- ^ http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:Gyq6L7-sxfEJ:www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php%3Fid%3D14439+%22direct+action+committee+against+nuclear+war%27%27&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=firefox-a
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/18/newsid_2909000/2909881.stm