Peace walk

A peace walk is a form of non-violent protest in which protesters march a distance such as the "Walk to Moscow", often to raise money for a charity and/or for the peace movement.

One famous example was that of Vinoba Bhave, who undertook a peace walk with many of his followers throughout India for land reform.

A peace walk was undertaken in 1962 by Satish Kumar and his companion who walked without money from India via the Soviet Union, France and the UK to the USA (using ships to cross the channel and Atlantic). Vinoba gave 2 gifts to Satish and his companion: pennilessness, i.e. voluntary poverty, and vegetarianism.

Early in 1984, peace campers walked 26 miles from Daws hill to Naphill through country roads and countryside to raise money for "The Angry Pacifist" magazine.

The "King-Carter Freedom Peace Walk" is a 1.5 mile walkway in Atlanta, Georgia's (USA) Freedom Park. It commemorates the only two Georgia winners of the Nobel Prize for Peace: Martin Luther King Jr. and Jimmy Carter.

A Walk to Moscow

"A Walk to Moscow" was a peace walk, one of many walks for peace in the 20th century. These were specially organized by groups of pacifists who wanted to make some protest against the politics of war and the use of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. In the early 1960s, there was a walk across the US, Europe and the USSR (its history is told in a book "You Come with Naked Hands" by Bradford Lyttle.

In the 1980s, a group organized to walk across America and through Europe to Moscow to show solidarity with all people and to demonstrate in a grass roots way that all people are linked by their right to live on the earth in peace and safety. The walk started in Washington State in 1981 and had reached the East Coast in time to winter it out in Boston, before flying to Europe in March 1982. The summer of 1982 was spent walking across the UK (with a side-tip to Ireland), France, Belgium, and Federal Republic of Germany (with a trip to West Berlin by bus which returned to its starting point in order for the walking route to continue uninterrupted.)

The German Democratic Republic had refused entry to the group, so they walked south to Bavaria and stayed there for the winter, while negotiating visas for Czecholsovakia Poland and the USSR. A Walk to Moscow (the indefinite article rather than the definite "The Walk" was important to many of the original walkers, as it implied that it was only one initiative, and others would hopefully follow. The distinction was, however, lost on people in the Eastern countries of the route,as Slavonic languages do not have words for either a or the!) spent nearly a year in Europe working from an Old Mill in Regnitlosau in Bavaria, Germany. It was difficult to get the governments then in the Communist Bloc to allow the group to walk through their territory. While the group negotiated with the government of Czechoslovakia, Poland and Russia the walkers visited many places on foot in Germany and gave talks to local Peace groups. Some members of the group got involved in passive resistance chaining themselves to railings over conscription in Germany or others fasted for peace in the world. Members went to Denmark to join in with peace groups and talk about the walk.

In 1983, visas were obtained for Czechoslovakia and Poland, and a continuous walking route was planned and successfully carried out as far as the border between Poland and the USSR.

Relations with official "peace" groups in those countries were tricky, and the Czech government tried to incorporate the initiative into their showpiece pro-Warsaw Pact 1983 conference in Prague - however the group did not partake, although a few members lobbied delegates outside, and were invited in for one discussion). Walking across the USSR was not permitted however. The group entered and transited to Minsk, then Smolensk, hoping for some compromise in negotiations, but this did not happen. At this point many of the members chose to return, and not go to Moscow; the others tried to walk to Moscow anyway, but were immediately apprehended and sent to rejoin the others in Minsk. Some members went to Denmark to join in with peace groups and talk about the walk. When the walk finished some people from the group talked at a CND rally about their work and the passive resistance movement. The group membership was international, people came from all over the world to join in and make a difference.

Some Walk to Moscow participants later met with other walks that crossed the U.S. and Europe, including Walk of the People - A Pilgrimage for Life, which occurred from 1984 to 1985.