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.

First peace camps

Peace camps are known from the 1920s.

The eighties

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.

Reasoning behind the protest

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.

21st century

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.

Different meaning of the word

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.

External links

Peace