Timeline

In celebration of Scottish CND’s sixtieth anniversary, ‘A Peace of History’ shares the rich heritage of the Scottish peace movement. Browse the history timeline online below - using the filter buttons to narrow your search.

View the artwork from our touring exhibition, photographs and posters, video interviews and profiles of people in the peace movement, Coalitions & networks, Reports & Publications and an Atomic Scotland map.

Browse the timeline


    1910s World War 1
  • August 1914

    5,000 protested WW1 in Glasgow and Scottish Socialist Keir Hardie spoke at a large rally in London.

  • July 1916

    Women's Peace Crusade formed in Glasgow by Helen Crawfurd, Agnes Dollan and Mary Barbour.

    • 1920s Interwar period
  • 1920s

    Public attitudes to militarism change due to immense and futile loss of life during WW1.

  • 1921

    British No More War Movement founded - proposed white poppy signifying hope to end all wars.

    • 1930s

  • September 1933

    Leo Szilard develops idea of nuclear chain reaction, later saying "the world was headed for grief"

  • October 1934

    Peace Pledge Union formed to campaign against war

    • 1940s World War 2
  • August 1942

    Manhattan Project established in USA to develop nuclear weapons.

  • 16 July 1945

    Trinity Test - world's first nuclear test detonation, in the Rio Grande Valley, USA.

  • 6 August 1945

    First atomic bomb dropped on city of Hiroshima. Three days later a second dropped on Nagasaki.

  • 1946 - 1958

    US conducted atomic and hydrogen bomb tests in the Marshall Islands.

  • October 1946

    Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin said about the atomic bomb: "We've got to have this thing … whatever it costs. We've got to have the bloody union jack on top of it"

  • January 1947

    In 1941 the secret 'MAUD' committee had concluded that an atomic bomb was feasible. In 1947 the Attlee government decided to proceed with developing nuclear weapons.

  • 29 August 1949

    Soviet Union exploded its first nuclear bomb at Semipalatinsk in present-day Kazakhstan.

    • 1950s
  • 1952 - 1958

    The UK tested nuclear weapons in Australia and UK Pacific colonies. In 1956, Aboriginal people and service personnel were exposed to radiation during 'Operation Buffalo' in Maralinga, Australia.

  • 1950s

    Groups formed against Pacific islands nuclear tests - churches, trade unions and womens' organisations

  • 1953

    Aldermaston scientists planned to blow-up Duncansby Head in Scotland with a nuclear bomb

  • January 1955

    Britain's first 'V' bombers capable of dropping nuclear weapons came into service

  • July 1955

    Russell-Einstein Manifesto highlighted the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and called for world leaders to seek peaceful resolutions to international conflict. Signatories included eleven leading intellectuals and scientists, including Albert Einstein.

  • November 1956

    During Suez Crisis false-alarms by flying geese almost triggered NATO nuclear strikes against USSR

  • June 1957

    Edinburgh Council for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapon Tests formed - a predecessor to Scottish CND

  • October 1957

    Fire in UK's Windscale nuclear reactor burned for three days spreading radioactive contamination across Europe. The reactors at Windscale were built as part of the British atomic bomb project, which produced so much Highly Enriched Uranium that there was pressure from the Chiefs of Staff to use it in nuclear weapons.

  • 17 February 1958

    First public meeting of the UK's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)

  • 21 February 1958

    CND symbol designed by Gerald Holtom for the first London-Aldermaston march in Easter 1958

  • 22 March 1958

    Scottish CND formed at a meeting in Simpson House, Edinburgh

  • 15 April 1958

    First meeting of the Executive Committee of Scottish CND. Early sponsors of SCND included Reverend George MacLeod, author Naomi Mitchison, actor Dr James Robertson Justice and Sir Compton MacKenzie, writer, actor and founder member of the National Party of Scotland.

  • 1958

    UK's first 'high yield' nuclear weapon enters service with design defects and at least one accident

  • April 1958

    The first Aldermaston March took place, including members of Sottish CND

  • May 1958

    Local CND Groups were formed across Scotland with a series of meetings taking place in early 1959 including Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Kirkcaldy and Ayr

  • May 1959

    Scottish Aldermaston March took place in Glasgow, from Trinity Church to Kelvingrove Park

  • 29 June 1959

    20,000 people marched in London to protest H-bombs, Paul Robeson spoke and sang.

    • 1960s Protests
  • 13 February 1960

    France tests its first atomic bomb

  • May 1960

    2,000 people march in Glasgow against nuclear weapons including MPs, city councillors and church ministers

  • 05 October 1960

    Nuclear near-miss when radar equipment in Thule, Greenland mistakenly interpreted a moonrise over Norway as a large-scale Soviet missile launch.

  • November 1960

    UK government announced US Polaris base at Holy Loch near Dunoon on the Clyde estuary, nearer to cities than would have been allowed in the US. Declassified documents show Britain was pressed by USA into accepting nuclear weapons on the Clyde - Macmillan had suggested Loch Linnhe/Fort William

  • November 1960

    Scottish CND publishes statement against the Polaris base, demanding removal of all nuclear weapons from UK, written by Rev. George MacLeod

  • December 1960

    STUC Public Protest Meeting in St Andrew's Halls about Holy Loch American nuclear submarines

  • 24 December 1960

    First march against Polaris went from Dunoon to the Holy Loch where a Christmas Peace Service was conducted by Kenyon Wright (later to become Canon Kenyon Wright (Chair of the Scottish Constitutional Convention which led to the Scottish Parliament)

  • 24 January 1961

    US bomber crashes, dropping nuclear bombs in North Carolina - one bomb came close to detonating when 3 out of 4 safety catches failed. The bomb still remains in the mud, with a marker above ground.

  • 18 February 1961

    Huge anti-nuclear rally in London's Trafalgar Square addressed by a kilted Hugh McDiarmid, and demonstration at Ministry of Defence in London, to coincide with arrival of USS Proteus on the Clyde.

  • March 1961

    American ship Proteus arrives in Clyde carrying Polaris missiles, sparking off a wave of demonstrations and songs which made headlines - including a march from London to Holy Loch. Six demonstrators were charged with breach of the peace after trying to obstruct Proteus. Hamish Henderson wrote "Freedom Come All Ye" while "looking across the Clyde".

  • 08 March 1961

    American nuclear submarine 'Patrick Henry' armed with Polaris missiles arrives at the Holy Loch. 1000 people marched from Dunoon and sang anti-nuclear songs at the pier

  • May 1961

    The crew of Proteus used water hoses to repulse demonstrators who crossed the loch in kayaks.

  • August 1961

    Declassified documents show Harold Macmillan authorised RAF to launch bombers if PM not contactable - followed by a nuclear near-miss the following month with Thor missiles on alert level three and V-bombers standing at the end of the runway.

  • 30 October 1961

    Soviet Union detonates Tsar Bomba, four times larger than any tested by the US

  • 24 November 1961

    Nuclear near-miss - Strategic Air Command lost contact with NORAD and Missile Early Warning sites. The communications failure was interpreted as either a very unlikely coincidence or a coordinated attack.

  • 1962

    US conducted 31 further nuclear tests in the Pacific following the Soviet resumption of testing after the tacit 1958–1961 test moratorium

  • 14 January 1962

    1500 members of Britain's 'Committee of 100' marched through Glasgow to protest the base at Holy Loch

  • September 1962

    69 Scottish presbyterian ministers marched in Glasgow protesting against the atomic bomb - carrying a placard with the words The Cross Against the Bomb'

  • October 1962

    The Cuban missile crisis began when surveillance showed Soviet medium range ballisitic missiles in Cuba. The world came close to a nuclear war between Russia and the USA.

  • 1963-70

    A nuclear bomb designed for aircraft came into service in 1963 but was scrapped when responsibility for nuclear weapons passed from the Royal Air Force to the Royal Navy, and Polaris submarines.

  • 24 April 1963

    It was announced in the Westminster Parliament that the base for British Polaris submarines would to be at Faslane and that a Polaris depot would be built at Coulport

  • 27 May 1963

    Demonstrators sail on the Waverley from Glasgow to Hunters Quay near the Holy Loch and march to Ardnaman pier on the Holy Loch

  • 07 September 1963

    At the end of an eight week march from Glasgow demonstrators carried a large mock up of a Polaris missile inscribed 'death to a million children' to the Imperial War Museum. They were joined in London by several hundred supporters of the anti-nuclear movement. After they left the museum area the 'missile' was torn down and thrown on a corporation rubbish dump.

  • October 1964

    After being elected in 1964 the Wilson Government broke their manifesto promise and made it known they were going to continue with the Faslane base.

  • February 1965

    Increased radioactivity levels in tidal mud flats in Holy Loch reported. In 1989 a former Polaris submarine commander admitted that radioactive waste was dumped in Holy Loch.

  • 07 October 1965

    BBC nuclear war drama 'The War Game' cancelled as "too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting"

  • 16 January 1966

    US plane crashed and dropped three H-bombs on Spanish village, spreading plutonium across wide area.

  • 1966

    Over the next 30 years France conducted 193 atmospheric and underground nuclear tests in the Pacific

  • June 17 1967

    China tests its first hydrogen bomb

  • 10 May 1968

    Royal opening of Faslane base by HRH The Queen Mother

    • 1970s
  • early 1970s

    Glasgow's Scotia Bar became a hub for musicians and CND campaigners

  • March 5 1970

    UN Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty came into force. It aimed to prevent further spread of nuclear weapons and committed signatories to pursuing total nuclear disarmament. 191 countries signed the treaty, including 5 countries which had nuclear weapons - more countries have adhered to the NPT than any other arms limitation and disarmament agreement and it was extended indefinitely in 1991.

  • 10 April 1972

    Biological Weapons Convention signed

  • May 1972

    Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) Agreement signed between the United States and the Soviet Union, leading in 1991 to Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties (START) to limit multiple-warhead capacities.

  • May 18 1974

    India tests its first "peaceful" nuclear device, dubbed Smiling Buddha.

  • 01 November 1974

    US nuclear-armed submarine collided with a Russian nuclear submarine in the Clyde estuary

  • 1977

    Field Marshal Lord Michael Carver, former Chief of UK Defence Staff said of Trident "What the bloody hell is it for?"

  • 1979

    Formation of the Highland Federation of CND groups - 22 groups from Thurso to Fort William, Cromarty to Skye and over 2000 members

    • 1980s
  • 1980

    Medical Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons (MCANW) formed in 1980 to highlight the medical implications of a nuclear attack and to call for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Later became 'MEDACT'

  • May 1980

    Home Office booklet "Protect and Survive" published

  • June 1980

    The Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre was established

  • 1980

    Scottish CND and Youth CND demo and concert at Kelvingrove Park Bandstand Glasgow

  • 18 September 1980

    Arkansas USA 'Damascus incident' - Titan missile with nuclear warhead explodes after spanner dropped

  • November 1980

    Nuclear Freeze' campaign began - aimed to stop the drift toward nuclear war through US-Soviet agreement to stop testing, production, and deployment of nuclear weapons. Large rallies held worldwide in June 1982.

  • February 1981

    Margaret Thatcher says UK to acquire Trident - declassified papers now show her cabinet were opposed.

  • May 1981

    Church of Scotland votes against nuclear weapons at their General Assembly

  • 06 June 1981

    3000 anti-nuclear protestors set off on two day protest march from Faslane submarine base

  • August 1981

    Women-only Greenham Common peace camp began after a 120 mile protest march from Cardiff to Greenham Common to protest at the planned arrival of 96 American Tomahawk Cruise missiles. In December 1982 35,000 people surrounded the nine mile perimiter of the Greenham Common base.

  • April 1982

    Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands despite the UK's nuclear deterrent

  • 24 June 1982

    Mayor of Hiroshima proposed 'Mayors For Peace' a group of cities promoting the abolition of nuclear weapons - Scottish members include Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow

  • June 1982

    Faslane Peace Camp established near the submarine base

  • 1982

    A statement by the Catholic Bishops of Scotland said if it is immoral to use nuclear weapons then it is "also immoral to threaten their use". In 1983 the Church of Scotland General Assembly voted that nuclear weapons are morally and theologically wrong and "ownership of, use of and threat to use nuclear weapons are inherently evil".

  • 02 April 1983

    Mass Die-in protest in George Square

  • 26 September 1983

    Stanislav Petrov saved the world from nuclear war by disobeying orders and ignoring a nuclear false alarm

  • 22 October 1983

    1 million people protested in London against US Cruise missiles

  • September 1984

    First TV broadcast of 'Threads' - a British apocalyptic nuclear war drama

  • 1985

    Snowball Campaign encouraged people to take non-violent action to persuade the UK government to bring about nuclear disarmament. Snowball Campaign in Scotland was started in 1986.

  • February 1985

    New Zealand blocks entry to US warship as they wouldn’t declare whether they carried nuclear weapons. In a televised debate New Zealand's Prime Minister successfully argued the motion that ''Nuclear Weapons are Morally Indefensible"". In August 1985 13 members of the Pacific Islands Forum, including New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and the Cook Islands, signed a treaty for a South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone

  • June 1985

    Large demonstration in Thurso focusing on Trident links with Dounreay nuclear reactor 'HMS Vulcan'

  • 16 January 1986

    Reagan gives up opportunity for full nuclear disarmament as not prepared to stop 'Star Wars' Defence system development. Gorbachev said if USA gave up the militarization of space, USSR would be willing to reduce all nuclear forces to zero. In 2018 Donald Trump proposed a military 'Space Force'.

  • 26 April 1986

    World’s worst nuclear accident occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union.

  • 05 October 1986

    Mordechai Vanunu, a technician at Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor blew the whistle on the existence of Israel's nuclear programme. In 2013 the former speaker of Israel's Knesset said that Israel has both nuclear and chemical weapons.

  • 05 October 1986

    Thousands of people took part in Arms Around Scotland anti-nuclear protest

  • 24 October 1986

    The film 'When the Wind Blows' is released

  • March 1987

    Edinburgh Peace Festival initiated as annual event drawing together a wide coalition of groups

  • December 1987

    Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty banned nuclear-armed Cruise missiles

  • 01 May 1988

    The Glasgow Gathering for a Nuclear Free Scotland

  • December 1988

    An explosion occurred at Burghfield AWE which assembles the UK's nuclear warheads

  • August 1989

    South Africa halted its nuclear weapons programme and dismantled its existing weapons.

    • 1990s
  • 1990s

    Faslane opened for Trident

  • March 1990

    Day of Action ‘Shut Trident Out’ as groups from Edinburgh, Cupar and Stirling converged on Rosyth naval dockyard. In 1991 a 'Rosyth Watch' peace camp was set up outside the base. In 1993 the Trident refitting contract taken from Rosyth and given to Devonport dockyard in England. All the UK's decommissioned nuclear submarines remain stored in Rosyth dockyard but the UK has still never successfully decommissioned a nuclear submarine and have postponed due to concerns over costs.

  • June 1990

    US Nuclear weapons carrier ship is damaged after colliding with a barge in Holy Loch

  • May 1991

    Two Greenpeace activists were arrested after boarding a British Polaris nuclear submarine

  • 21 October 1991

    Fire on nuclear submarine HMS Sceptre at Faslane required two fire engines to extinguish. MoD figures show that there have been a total of 235 fires on nuclear submarines since 1987

  • November 1990

    Trawler Antares sunk with loss of crew in collision with nuclear submarine - officials blame mistakes by submarine crew

  • March 1992

    Last US navy ship leaves the Holy Loch after presence of 31 years

  • October 1992

    Britain's first Trident submarine was met by anti-nuclear protestors as it arrived at Faslane. A flotilla of small boats surrounded the sub.

  • September 1993

    Aldermaston scientists discover waste uranium shavings which could have triggered a nuclear explosion . A senior source wrote: "Nobody had a clue what the criticality safety limit was, how much highly enriched uranium there was or how long it had been there"

  • 08 July 1996

    International Court of Justice found threat or use of nuclear weapons illegal in international law

  • August 1996

    Last Polaris submarine decommissioned and Trident assumes responsibility for nuclear deterrent

  • 1998

    The cost of running Britain's nuclear deterrent roughly £1 billion a year according to UK government

  • 01 April 1998

    Britain ratifies the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

  • 01 May 1998

    Trident Ploughshares established, launching simultaneously in Hiroshima, Ghent, Gothenburg and Edinburgh

  • May 1998

    "India detonates its first "weaponised" nuclear bombs and states that 'nuclear weapons are an integral part of our national security.' Pakistan then detonates its first nuclear weapons in response to India's nuclear tests."

  • 12 May 1999

    The Scottish Paliament was established and opened in July 1999

  • 22 October 1999

    Greenock Sheriff Court ruled that the UK's nuclear defence policy is illegal under international law. Three direct-action protestors were cleared of charges when the sheriff upheld the womens' defence. Overturned in 2001 by the Court of Session.

    • 2000s
  • August 2000

    Monks arrested in anti-nuclear protest at Faslane, Peace Walkers marched from Aldermaston carrying a flame first ignited by the fires of Hiroshima 55 years earlier. They were joined by Trident Ploughshares and Scottish CND on the first day of a Trident Ploughshares two week disarmament camp and blockade

  • November 2000

    Nuclear submarine runs aground in Firth of Clyde - three officers were court martialled, but one was later promoted and became responsible for directing all UK submarine operations.

  • 11/09/2001

    September 11th attack in USA. The US and UK responded by bombing targets in Afghanistan in October 2001, and some US officials also tried to link the 9/11 attack to Iraq without evidence. The 'Scottish Coalition for Justice not War' and UK wide 'Stop the War Coalition' were formed as a response to these escalations.

  • February 2003

    Despite UN inspectors finding no evidence of Iraq's chemical or biological weapons, Saddam Hussein's Weapons of Mass Destruction were given as justification for war against Iraq. Newspaper headlines such as "45 minutes from doom" suggested an imminent attack, despite the UK possessing a nuclear 'deterrent' .

  • February 2003

    "Not in Our Name Mr.Blair" Large anti-war marches took place across the UK, including 80,000 people in Glasgow where Tony Blair was to address the Labour Party conference. Speakers included representatives from the SNP, STUC, EIS, Roman Catholic Church, Church of Scotland and the Lord Provost of Glasgow.

  • December 2004

    MoD report said Trident warheads carried in convoys could explode if they were involved in a major crash. These convoys are often on Britain’s roads, going through cities and towns. Comprising up to 20 vehicles, they take Trident warheads between the south of England and central Scotland many times each year.

  • July 2005

    60 page anthology published by Scottish writers and poets to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

  • July 2005

    550 protestors gathered along the perimeter Faslane perimeter fence in protest at the amount of money being spent in G8 countries on weaponry - during the G8 'Make Poverty History' summit at Gleneagles.

  • April 2006

    Catholic Bishops of Scotland called for Trident to be decommissioned, and Church of Scotland reiterated its view on the immorality of nuclear weapons. A joint statement by Cardinal Keith O'Brien and Reverend Alan McDonald urged the UK Government to renounce its plans to renew Trident, and not just to reduce nuclear arsenals but to eliminate them. In December 2006 a petition signed by 20,000 people and supported by Scotland's Roman Catholic Bishops, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and Justice & Peace Scotland was handed in to the MoD in London

  • September 2006

    Scotland's 'Long Walk for Peace' took place over six days from Faslane to Edinburgh. Bin The Bomb rallies were held in George Square, Glasgow and outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

  • December 2006

    Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair announced plan to renew UK's Trident nuclear-armed submarines

  • January 2007

    Poll: 71% of people in Scotland say it is wrong to spend £50 billion on new nuclear weapons

  • 23 February 2007

    Sixteen Greenpeace activists sailed into restricted area at the Faslane submarine base to try to mount a blockade in protest at government plans to upgrade the Trident weapons system.

  • April 2007

    Launch of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) - SCND is a partner organisation

  • May 2007

    The SNP-led Scottish Government took a clear stance against nuclear weapons, with the First Minister saying "There are few more important issues in the world than nuclear weapons. And the position of the Scottish Government is clear - we are opposed to the replacement of Trident and the deployment of Weapons of Mass Destruction on Scottish soil."

  • June 2007

    MSPs in the Scottish Parliament voted 71 to 16 against the renewal of Trident and in June 2008 MSP's voted 71 to 6 against the replacement of Trident.

  • September 2007

    The Scottish Peace Covenant, designed by Alasdair Gray for Scotland's for Peace, was signed by civic leaders at a public ceremony at the Scottish Parliament. It states 'We desire that Scotland should be known for its contribution to peace and justice rather than for waging war'.

  • May 2008

    On the 50th anniversary of the formation of SCND, Jane McKay of the STUC said: "Scottish CND developed as an organisation of people who opposed nuclear proliferation and, in this its 50th year we offer our sincere appreciation to Scottish CND not only as an organisation which was paramount in opposing Trident and nuclear weapons, but for being the core organisation galvanisiing opposition to the invasion of Iraq and the British Government's involvement in that invasion. "

  • June 2008

    Peace Chain Around Faslane

  • October 2008

    Now More Than Ever, Here More Than Anywhere' book celebrates 50 years of Scottish Songs for Nuclear Disarmament

  • 25 October 2008

    People's Budget for Peace' event took place in George Square, Glasgow led by Scotland's for Peace - to discuss the amount of money being spent on Trident and wars when ordinary people are facing rising living costs and an economy sliding into recession

  • 16 January 2009

    In a letter to The Times, senior military figures stated that nuclear weapons "have shown themselves to be completely useless as a deterrent to the threats and scale of violence we face, particularly international terrorism". Air Commodore Alisdair Mackie, a former H-bomber pilot, also called Trident "Britain’s stick-on hairy chest virility symbol."

  • February 2009

    British and French nuclear-armed submarines damaged in undersea collision

    • 2010s

  • September 2010

    In his autobiography former PM Tony Blair said of nuclear weapons: "the expense is huge, and the utility in a post-cold war world is less in terms of deterrence, and non-existent in terms of military use" but "I thought giving it up too big a downgrading of our status as a nation".

  • March 2010

    'Cut Trident Not Jobs' march of over 1,000 people from the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh where Scotland's First Minister said that spending money on renewing Trident would be at the expense of jobs and public services.

  • April 2010

    'The Humanitarian Initiative' - governments, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, UN agencies and NGOs began working together to bring the era of nuclear weapons to an end. They made a statement on the catastrophic and perisitent effects of nuclear weapons on our health, societies and environment which led to a UN process to negotiate a global prohibition on nuclear weapons (see 2017 Treaty).

  • 22 October 2010

    Nuclear submarine HMS Astute runs aground off Skye - £1bn boat described as stealthiest ever built in UK

  • March 11 2011

    Fukushima, Japan - world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, occurred after earthquake and tsunami

  • September 2011

    Faslane base fails nuclear warhead accident reponse test. The MoD launch an ‘urgent’ review of dangers with nuclear warhead convoys. This review is not concluded for a further seven years.

  • September 2011

    Make Peace Festival' in George Square Glasgow - hundreds of people formed a peace symbol.

  • December 2011

    Russian nuclear-armed submarine K-84 involved in serious fire at Roslyakovo dock

  • February 2012

    'Scotland, No Place for Nuclear Weapons' campaign launched - people were asked to sign a petition and add their location to a digital map of Scotland to show their support

  • November 2012

    Following the publication of several reports in 2012 confirming that Scottish Independence gave the best prospect for nuclear disarmament, Scottish CND's conference voted to support a resolution backing the YES campaign in the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum

  • 19 April 2013

    Abolition 2000 declaration re-affirmed at Faslane - a global campaign for a nuclear weapons convention, it had been launched in New York in April 1995 during the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review

  • July 2013

    Former Defence Secretary Michael Portillo told Andrew Neil on BBC TV's 'This Week' that Trident is an anachronism and that more than half of the army chiefs agreed with him that it should not be renewed.

  • September 2013

    "Mail The Peace" Scottish CND, Scotland's for Peace and MailArt ran a competition for 5-12 yr olds to hand paint a Peace Envelope to mark International Day of Peace

  • June 2014

    Glasgow's West End Festival parade 2014 - debut of 'Big Sandy' puppet

  • Sept. 2014

    Scottish Independence referendum - a 'No' result but a massive increase in membership of Scottish CND, and engagement by and awareness of nuclear weapons by general public. 16 year-olds were able to vote and there were more requests to speak in schools. The peace movement had a revival.

  • April 2015

    Faslane submarine catches in fishing trawler's net nearly killing fishermen

  • April 2015

    Organised by the Scrap Trident Coalition a mass Scrap Trident demonstration took place in George Square Glasgow

  • April 2015

    Leading figures from music, the arts and science, including Nobel prize winner Prof Peter Higgs (famous for the 'Higgs Boson' in Particle Physics), comedian Frankie Boyle and Mercury prize winners 'Young Fathers' call for Trident to be scrapped in a letter to the Observer.

  • 13 April 2015

    Bairns Not Bombs Blockade - Faslane

  • May 2015

    Whistleblower William McNeilly published a dossier of safety and security concerns about Trident

  • June 2015

    Major General Patrick Cordingley who commanded UK forces in the first Gulf War said in a report by the Nuclear Information Service "strategic nuclear weapons have no military use... It would seem the government wishes to replace Trident simply to remain a nuclear power alongside the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council...This is misguided and flies in the face of public opinion; we have more to offer than nuclear bombs"

  • July 2015

    Report by SCND and STUC: 'Trident and Jobs, The Case for a Scottish Defence Diversification Agency' highlighted the transferrable skills of many workers in the nuclear weapons industry. The report concluded that an agency that intervened to "shift employment away from defence dependency to socially useful employment ... could also go a long way to help meet the Scottish Government's own plans for carbon reduction and greening the Scottish economy".

  • November 2015

    SCND launched a declaration calling on the UK Prime Minister to ‘respect the democratic will of the people of Scotland and cancel the £167 billion plan to renew Trident’. A national rally was held in George Sq, and there was a mass blockade and demonstration at Faslane.

  • February 2016

    Philip Hammond, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer said in an interview on Sky News : "North Korea seem to think possessing a nuclear weapon makes it safe. In fact the opposite is true. Having a nuclear weapon makes it a target"

  • February 2016

    Tens of thousands of people opposed to Trident renewal marched in London - the biggest demonstration of its kind in a generation. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke at the rally alongside Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood.

  • May 2016

    Voting in the 2016 Scottish Parliamentary elections elected 59 MSPs, 58 of whom had expressed opposition to Trident.

  • June 2016

    Trident test mis-fired sending the missile in the wrong direction. The failed test happened just a month before a key House of Commons vote on whether to go ahead with the next generation of Trident, scheduled to become operational in the 2030s. Prime Minister Theresa May was briefed about the failed test but did not inform MPs before the Trident renewal vote in July 2016.

  • July 2016

    Nuclear-powered submarine HMS Ambush damaged by crashing into a tanker near Gibraltar

  • July 2016

    Trident No More rallies, opposing the renewal of Trident are held in 37 places around Scotland

  • July 2016

    MPs voted for renewing Trident. 58 out of 59 Scottish MPs voted against it.

  • September 2016

    The charity 'Peace Education Scotland' was established, with funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and the Nuclear Education Trust. Supported by Scottish CND, it produces resources, short films and educational materials for use in schools and elsewhere to raise awareness of issues relating to nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in an objective and balanced way. Scottish CND Education had previously produced materials for schools including 2014's "Nuclear Weapons Yes or No?".

  • September 2016

    Two people stopped a 20-vehicle nuclear weapons convoy travelling through Stirling

  • February 2017

    'Playing With Fire' report published by Nuclear Information Service. The report presented the accident record of the UK's nuclear weapons programme over its 65 year history to remind the public of the risks and alert politicians and decision makers to the need to eliminate the risks. The report was dedicated to the memory of John Ainslie "whose persistent and meticulous research exposed many of the accidents described."

  • June 2017

    Unready Scotland report published by Nukewatch scrutinised the preparedness of Scottish civil authorities to deal adequately with any incident or accident involving convoys carrying nuclear weapons which travel on public roads from Berkshire to Faslane. It concluded that they would not be able to cope.

  • 07 July 2017

    122 member countries of the United Nations endorsed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It outlaws nuclear weapons use, threat of use, testing, development and production, possession, transfer and stationing in a different country. In September 2017 Scottish CND and other organisations held a ceremony at the Scottish Parliament at which MSPs, campaigners, the general public and visitors to Scotland were given the opportunity to symbolically 'sign the UN nuclear ban treaty'. In October 2017 ICAN was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of its role in achieving the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

  • October-November 2017

    Nine Trident submarine crew were expelled from the Navy in a sex and drugs scandal. In a separate incident Royal Marines guarding Falsane were court-martialled for degrading juniors with punishments and sex acts.

  • 25 January 2018

    Doomsday clock changed to "2 minutes to midnight" due to US/North Korea nuclear situation, the undermining of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), upgrading of nuclear weapons, lack of arms control negotiations and increasing arsenals in South Asia, Pakistan and India."

  • 23 April 2018

    The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross issued an appeal to states and global leaders to act on the increasing risk of the use of nuclear weapons - he said that their use would cause a catastrophic and irreperable humanitarian disaster and that there is no international plan nor capacity to respond adequately to even a limited use of nuclear weapons.

  • July 2018

    Scottish CND Education's 'Peace Campaigning Academy' had around 70 participants aged between 18-30 years old who took part in a 3 day long training programme to build skills needed to campaign on peace and other issues, public speaking, driving legislative change, moral arguments, working with press, video making, lobbying, fact checking and fundraising. Speakers included trade unionists, parliamentarians, a Nobel Prize Winner and a Hiroshima survivor.

  • 22 September 2018

    'Nae Nukes Anywhere!' International Rally at Faslane - a major event including key international campaigners from at least six countries marching in an expression of global solidarity for the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. A representative from ICAN brought the Nobel Peace Prize medal.