1961 - Committee of 100
The Committee of 100 was founded in the UK, October 1960, in response to a call from Bertrand Russell and Michael Scott for a movement of non-violent resistance to nuclear war and to the manufacture and use of all weapons of mass extermination.
The Committee of 100 organized marches against nuclear testing and demonstrations at the US and Soviet embassies in London and at the Polaris submarine base and US Air Force bases in Great Britain; in 1962 regional committees and area working groups were formed throughout Britain, their activities being coordinated by the National Office in London; autonomous sub-committees carried out specialised work for the Committee, such as the Legal Action Group, the Welfare Group, the 100 Book Club and the Schools for Non-violence. Among its supporters were Edith Russell, John Osborne, Vanessa Redgrave, Peter Cadogan and Ken Weller; from the mid 1960s the committee organized also actions against the war in Vietnam.
Their first act of disobedience was scheduled as a march against Whitehall's defence policy. The members were to block roads at Holy Loch and Trafalgar Square on September 17, 1961, but were summoned to court on September 12 because they "incited members of the public to commit breaches of the peace" and were likely to continue to do so. In the courtroom, they were asked to bind themselves to a promise of good behaviour for 12 months. Of the thirty-six summoned, thirty-two chose the one-month prison sentence.
