100,000 in Bonn Decry A-Arms in Biggest Such Rally Since 1983
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BONN — About 100,000 people gathered in a muddy Bonn park Saturday to demand nuclear disarmament, in the biggest anti-nuclear protest in West Germany since 1983, when the Atlantic Alliance began bolstering its nuclear forces in Europe.
The protest was organized by a loose coalition of left-wing parties, pacifists and ecological groups, including the anti-NATO Greens party. No disturbances were reported.
The groups were among the 128 organizations that sponsored the 20,000-strong protest march in West Berlin on Thursday evening, the eve of President Reagan’s visit on the 750th anniversary of the divided city’s founding.
Waving flags and banners with anti-missile slogans, demonstrators converged on Bonn in 13 special trains, 1,200 chartered buses and thousands of private automobiles.
Gas-Filled Balloons
Many young demonstrators clutched gas-filled balloons bearing the rally’s guiding slogan: “Make Peace With Less Weapons.”
The protest began with a peace march in central Bonn and ended with a rally in Hofgarten park.
It was the West German peace movement’s biggest rally since 1983, when repeated demonstrations were organized to protest the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s deployment of new U.S. Pershing 2 and cruise missiles in Europe.
West German anti-missile activism lost momentum after protesters failed to stop the deployment.
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