This discussion by the British government took place against a rising background
of violent demonstrations across the Western world.
The year 1968 saw extremely violent demonstrations in France and Germany.
The most serious of all were in the USA.
The main reason for protest was the US involvement in the Vietnam War. Many
young people felt that the war was wrong and the tactics being used were immoral.
Under these circumstances it is not surprising that they did not want to fight.
Many of those involved in anti-Vietnam demonstrations began to question
the values of their own society more widely. This often brought them into
other movements like the hippy movement or CND.
Britain saw several violent demonstrations in 1968.
