The ‘Ban the Bomb’ movement was a direct challenge to the existence of nuclear weapons and adapted to the changing technologies and doctrines of the ensuing Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union that followed the end of the Second World War. Among the major actors of the Cold War was Britain, whose nuclear research predated and had added substantial scientific knowledge to the U.S. Manhattan Project. Britain pursued nuclear weapons independently from the U.S., gaining atomic weapons in 1952 and the far more destructive hydrogen bomb in 1957. Although Britain established itself as a member of an exclusive international nuclear club, there were significant, albeit, small movements in favour of nuclear disarmament at home.
