ABSTRACT
The longing for peace has always occupied the hearts and minds of people and there is therefore a long history of peace movements. The origin of the new peace movement goes back to the foundation of the Inter-church Peace Council (IKV) in 1966. Eighteen years have passed since the IKV was founded on the principles and the IKV are the main force in the ‘peace movement’ in The Netherlands which is advocating unilateral steps for reduction of nuclear armaments and eventual nuclear disarmament. The peace movement’s ideology rests on its resolute rejection of nuclear deterrence as a viable manner to preserve peace. The main argument given to substantiate this opinion is the existence of an official peace movement in the Soviet Union and the Eastern European countries and that the public in the countries are taught that socialism and communism are striving for peace. The IKV has also for many years had contacts with independent peace movements in Eastern Europe.
