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Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear arms. General and Complete Disarmament was defined by the United Nations General Assembly as the elimination of all WMD, coupled with the “balanced reduction of armed forces and conventional armaments, based on the principle of undiminished security of the parties with a view to promoting or enhancing stability at a lower military level, taking into account the need of all States to protect their security.”UN General Assembly
Final Document of the First Special Session on Disarmament
, para. 22.


History

At the Hague Peace Conferences in 1899 and 1907 government delegations debated about disarmament and the creation of an international court with binding powers. The court was considered necessary because it was understood that nation-states could not disarm into a vacuum. After World War I revulsion at the futility and tremendous cost of the war was widespread. A commonly held belief was that the cause of the war had been the escalating buildup of armaments in the previous half century among the great powers (see
Anglo-German naval arms race The arms race between Great Britain and Germany that occurred from the last decade of the nineteenth century until the advent of World War I in 1914 was one of the intertwined causes of that conflict. While based in a bilateral relationship that ...
). Although the Treaty of Versailles effectively disarmed Germany, a clause was inserted that called on all the great powers to likewise progressively disarm over a period of time. The newly formed League of Nations made this an explicit goal in the covenant of the league, which committed its signatories to reduce armaments 'to the lowest point consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action of international obligations'. One of the earliest successful achievements in disarmament was obtained with the Washington Naval Treaty. Signed by the governments of Great Britain, the United States, Japan, France, and Italy, it prevented the continued construction of capital ships and limited ships of other classification to under 10,000 tons displacement. The size of the three country's navies (the Royal Navy, United States Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy) was set at the ratio 5-5-3. In 1921 the Temporary Mixed Commission on Armaments was set up by the League of Nations to explore possibilities for disarmament. It was made up not of government representatives but of famous individuals who rarely agreed. Proposals ranged from abolishing
chemical warfare Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym ...
and strategic bombing to the limitation of more conventional weapons, such as tanks. A draft treaty was assembled in 1923 that made aggressive war illegal and bound the member states to defend victims of aggression by force. Since the onus of responsibility would, in practice, be on the great powers of the League, it was vetoed by Great Britain, who feared that this pledge would strain its own commitment to police its British Empire. Another commission in 1926, set up to explore the possibilities for the reduction of army size, met similar difficulties. However acting outside the League. French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand and US Secretary of State Frank Kellogg drafted a treaty known as the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which denounced war of aggression. There were 65 signatories to the pact, but it set out no guidelines for action in the event of a war. It was in 1946 used to convict and execute Nazi leaders of war crimes. A final attempt was made at the Geneva Disarmament Conference from 1932 to 1937, chaired by former British Foreign Secretary Arthur Henderson. Germany demanded the revision of the Versailles Treaty and the granting of military parity with the other powers, while France was determined to keep Germany demilitarised for its own security. Meanwhile, the British and Americans were not willing to offer France security commitments in exchange for conciliation with Germany. The talks broke down in 1933, when Adolf Hitler withdrew Germany from the conference.


Nuclear disarmament

Nuclear disarmament refers to both the act of reducing or eliminating
nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
and to the end state of a nuclear-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated. In the United Kingdom, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) held an inaugural public meeting at Central Hall, Westminster, on 17 February 1958, attended by five thousand people. After the meeting a few hundred left to demonstrate at Downing Street.John Minnion and Philip Bolsover (eds), ''The CND Story'', Allison and Busby, 1983, . CND's declared policies were the unconditional renunciation of the use, production of or dependence upon nuclear weapons by Britain and the bringing about of a general disarmament convention. The first
Aldermaston March The Aldermaston marches were anti-nuclear weapons demonstrations in the 1950s and 1960s, taking place on Easter weekend between the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire, England, and London, over a distance of fifty- ...
was organised by the CND and took place at Easter 1958, when several thousand people marched for four days from Trafalgar Square, London, to the
Atomic Weapons Research Establishment The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence research facility responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the UK's nuclear weapons. It is the successor to the Atomic Weapons Research ...
close to
Aldermaston Aldermaston is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. In the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1015. The village is in the Kennet Valley and bounds Hampshire to the south. It is approximately from Newbury, Basingstoke ...
in
Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
, England, to demonstrate their opposition to nuclear weapons.A brief history of CND
/ref> The Aldermaston marches continued into the late 1960s when tens of thousands of people took part in the four-day marches. In 1961, US President John F. Kennedy gave a speech before the UN General Assembly where he announced the US "intention to challenge the Soviet Union, not to an arms race, but to a peace race – to advance together step by step, stage by stage, until general and complete disarmament has been achieved." He went on to call for a global general and complete disarmament, offering a rough outline for how this could be accomplished: Major nuclear disarmament groups include Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament,
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. There have been many large anti-nuclear
demonstrations Demonstration may refer to: * Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting * Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought * Demonstration (political), a political rally or prote ...
and protests. On June 12, 1982, one million people demonstrated in New York City's Central Park against
nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
and for an end to the
cold war The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
arms race An arms race occurs when two or more groups compete in military superiority. It consists of a competition between two or more states to have superior armed forces; a competition concerning production of weapons, the growth of a military, and t ...
. It was the largest anti-nuclear protest and the largest political demonstration in American history.


Police disarmament

The Police disarmament movement is a
political movement A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...
that advocates replacing
policing The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
with other systems of public safety, as well as disarming and defunding of the Police. The movement can be traced back to the 1900s often championed by anarchists, and left libertarians. The Police abolition movement has seen an increase of support following the George Floyd Protests as well as reports of
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
and police
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
. Proponents defend the police disarmament movement with other forms of maintaining public safety. Critics of Police disarmament include some sociologists, criminologists, journalists, and politicians with criticism mainly centering around it being utopian as well as the perceived need for the police to maintain a functioning, lawful community.


Disarmament conferences and treaties

*1675:
Strasbourg Agreement (1675) The Strasbourg Agreement of 27 August 1675 is the first international agreement banning the use of chemical weapons. The treaty was signed between France and the Holy Roman Empire, and was created in response to the use of poisoned bullets. The us ...
*1899:
Hague Peace Conference The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amon ...
*1919: Treaty of Versailles *1925:
Locarno Treaties The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland, during 5 to 16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on 1 December, in which the First World War Western European Allied powers and the new states of Central an ...
*1927: Kellogg-Briand Pact *1932–34: World Disarmament Conference *1960:
Ten Nation Disarmament Committee The Ten Nation Committee on Disarmament (TNCD) was designed to address the issue of nuclear disarmament during the Cold War. Created through the combination of a United Nations resolution and an agreement between the Big Four powers, the TNCD began ...
*1962–1968: Eighteen Nation Disarmament Committee *1969–1978: Conference of the Committee on Disarmament *1979–present: Conference on Disarmament (CD)The UN office at Geneva – Disarmament in Geneva
/ref>


Naval

* 1908–1909: London Naval Conference * 1921–1922: Washington Naval Conference * 1927:
Geneva Naval Conference The Geneva Naval Conference was a conference held to discuss naval arms limitation, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1927. The aim of the conference was to extend the existing limits on naval construction which had been agreed in the Washington Na ...
* 1930: London Naval Conference leading to the
London Naval Treaty The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, and the United States that was signed on 22 April 1930. Seeking to address is ...
* 1935: London Naval Conference leading to the Second London Naval Treaty


Weapons of Mass Destruction

* 1970: Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) * 1975: Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) * 1997:
Chemical Weapons Convention The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), officially the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, is an arms control treaty administered by the Organisation for ...
(CWC)


Space

* 1967: Outer Space Treaty


Definitions of disarmament

In his definition of "disarmament",
David Carlton David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
writes in the Oxford University Press Political dictionary, "But confidence in such measures of arms control, especially when unaccompanied by extensive means of verification, has not been strengthened by the revelation that the Soviet Union in its last years successfully concealed consistent and systematic cheating on its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention." He also notes, "Now a freeze or a mutually agreed increase is not strictly speaking disarmament at all. And such measures may not even be intended to be a first step towards any kind of reduction or abolition. For the aim may simply be to promote stability in force structures. Hence a new term to cover such cases has become fashionable since the 1960s, namely, arms control."disarmament: Definition and Much More from Answers.com
/ref>


References


Further reading

* Cuthbertson, Ian, and Peter ME Volten. ''The Guns Fall Silent: The End of the Cold War and the Future of Conventional Disarmament'' (Routledge, 2019). * Dupuy, Trevor N., and Gay M. Hammerman, eds. ''A Documentary History of Arms Control and Disarmament'' (1973), 629 pp. * Eloranta, Jari. "Why did the League of Nations fail?." ''Cliometrica'' 5.1 (2011): 27-52
online
on League of Nations * Feldman, Jonathan M. "From the From Warfare State to 'Shadow State': Militarism, Economic Depletion and Reconstruction," ''Social Text'', 91, Volume 25, Number 22 Summer, 2007. * Kitching, Carolyn J. ''Britain and the Problem of International Disarmament: 1919–1934'' (Routledge, 2003.) * Marks, Sally. ''The Illusion of Peace: International Relations in Europe 1918–1933'' (Macmillan, 2003). * Melman, Seymour, ed. ''Inspection for Disarmament'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 1958). * Myrdal, Alva. ''The Game of Disarmament: How the United States and Russia run the arms race'' (New York: Pantheon, 1978). * Marcus G. Raskin. "Draft Treaty for a Comprehensive Program for Common Security and General Disarmament," in ''Essays of a Citizen: From National Security State to Democracy'' (Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 1991): 227–291. * Wittner, Lawrence S. ''Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Disarmament Movement'' (Stanford University Press, 2009). 254p
online review


See also

*
Arms control Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through the u ...
*
Arms embargo An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies either solely to weaponry or also to "dual-use technology." An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes: * to signal disapproval of the behavior of a certain actor * to maintain ...
* Chemical weapons * Guns versus butter model *
List of chemical arms control agreements Chemical arms control is the attempt to limit the use or possession of chemical weapons through arms control agreements. These agreements are often motivated by the common belief "that these weapons ...are abominable", and by a general agre ...
*
Military Keynesianism Military Keynesianism is an economic policy based on the position that government should raise military spending to boost economic growth. It is a fiscal stimulus policy as advocated by John Maynard Keynes. But where Keynes advocated increasing pub ...
* Nuclear disarmament ** Decommissioning of Russian nuclear-powered vessels * Peace dividend * United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs


External links


United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs

EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament eLearning Course

Disarmament Insight Blogsite

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Archive of Related Writings
Seymour Melman Website
Archive of Related Writings
Economic Reconstruction Website
Armament and Disarmament
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute



''Columbia Encyclopedia'' {{DEFAULTSORT: Arms control Foreign policy doctrines