The Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp was a 19-year long land occupation outside of the RAF (Royal Air Force) Greenham Common military base in the UK which became a symbol of the global struggle against nuclear weapons. After WW2, during the Cold War, the US and Soviet Union were locked in an arms race to develop nuclear weapons, making the risk of nuclear war very real. In 1979, NATO, the US-led coalition of Western nations, purchased land from the UK government in a rural part of England called the Greenham Commons as part of their Cold War strategy: In case the US ever went to war with the Soviet Union, they wanted to store nuclear missiles in the UK so they could nuke the Soviets faster from a shorter range.
But the problem was - Greenham Common was originally meant to be communal land for everybody, and the plan would bring nuclear weapons onto British soil, putting all British citizens at risk. In response, a group of women called Women for Life on Earth marched over 100 miles from Cardiff to the new military base in 1981. They soon realized marching wouldn’t be enough so they set up an occupation outside the base that would last nearly two decades. Despite constant attempts to evict them, harassment from far-right groups, and legal challenges - they won. In 1987, the US and Soviet Union signed the INF treaty which called for the dismantling of short range nuclear missiles and the work of the women at Greenham Commons Peace Camp was a major factor in the treaty getting signed.
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