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The Lost Years: The American Peace Movement, From Vietnam to Nuclear Freeze
Author(s) -
Maar Henry Richard
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
peace and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1468-0130
pISSN - 0149-0508
DOI - 10.1111/pech.12350
Subject(s) - militarism , grassroots , peace movement , vietnam war , nuclear weapon , politics , political science , missile , presidential system , political economy , economic history , law , sociology , history , archaeology
This article resurrects the lost years of the American peace movement in the wake of the Vietnam War. It follows the efforts of activists to launch a peace conversion campaign as the answer to American militarism, for which the Vietnam War was only a symptom. Through analysis of various archival holdings, this study demonstrates the historical significance of grassroots peace activism over the course of the 1970s—a period largely viewed through the lens of conservative ascendancy. These campaigns successfully pushed back against major weapons systems such as the B‐1 bomber and the MX missile, while further making the question of war and peace central to American politics by the 1980 presidential election.