Catalogue Number
NMLH.2022.222
Object Name
Leaflet
Title
Together we can stop 'the city' leaflet
Date
1983
Description
A5 green leaflet with black text. Front of the leaflet reads "together we can stop 'the city' Sept 29tth, Thursday 6am-6pm. " The leaflet shows a map image of London - it says "the arms race starts here." On the map image there is a target circle shape. The bottom of the front of the leaflet says "PROTEST AGAINST WAR. Washington. Paris. Berlin. Moscow. Peking. London. In the capitals of the world, war is being planned and financed..resist now." On the reverse of the leafletthete is a larger body of text which states the reasons why everyone should oppose the plans for war, discussing the "destruction of life", and how the people must stop the "plans of the state." The second paragraph states that "nuclear missiles are beng secretly installed all over Europe, East and West. While the bases are the last of the steps to military confrontation, the first seem to be the whole system of finance for war - where profits and power are calculated and decisions made. In London there's one area where such decisions are concentrated - 'The City.' People once lived there but now it's full of banks, companies, headquarters, government buildings and places like the stock exchange. " The rest of the leaflet says how people must unite to stop this, and to call on everyone to "close down the city (especially the stock exchange) on thursday september 29th. On that day, profits for the summer are reckoned up by accountants - a day of reckoning." The leaflet also calls on people working in the area to stop, and "to consider how the financial empires which exploit their labour contribute to the war machine. And together in the streets we can have a carnival as we reclaim the old area for the people once again." The rest of the leaflet offers information, what to bring, the address, and contact information. Stop the City demonstrations of 1983 and 1984 were described as a 'Carnival Against War, Oppression and Destruction', in other words protests against the military-financial complex. These demonstrations can be seen as the forerunner of the anti-globalisation protests of the 1990s, especially those in London, England, on May Day and the Carnival against Capitalism on 18 June 1999. They were partially inspired by the actions of the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp. Activities that formed part of the biggest of these events were separate day-long street blockades of the financial district (the City of London) which supporters of the protest argued are a major centre for profiteering, and consequently a root cause of many of the world's problems. The largest blockade involved 3,000 people, which succeeded in causing a £100 million shortfall on the day according to The Times. Around 1,000 arrests were subsequently made by the police over 18 months.
