This Day in History: 1955-07-15

Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons Eighteen Nobel laureates sign a declaration against nuclear war at a conference in Germany on this day in 1955. “If war broke out among the great powers, who could guarantee that it would not develop into a deadly conflict? A nation that engages in a total war thus signals its own destruction and imperils the whole world. We do not deny that perhaps peace is being preserved precisely by the fear of these weapons. Nevertheless, we think it is a delusion if governments believe that they can avoid war for a long time through the fear of these weapons. Fear and tension have often engendered wars.”