April 30...Withdraw all troops now Accession Number: ARTV03183

Description

The Vietnam Moratorium Campaigns were a result of a conference held in Canberra in November 1969 to plan a series of protests based on the American Moratorium model. There were three Moratorium campaigns in Australia in 1970 and 1971. The Moratorium was the first truly mass movement of the protest against the Vietnam War. Until 1969 the protest had been uncoordinated in a national sense and rallies had been reasonably small in size, whereas the Moratorium mobilised the support of hundreds of thousands. It also succeeded in gaining more publicity in its first six months than had been achieved by the protest movement between 1965 and 1969. The aims of the first campaign were the immediate withdrawal of Australian troops from Vietnam and repeal of the National Service Act. The Moratorium stated that all actions taken by its members and supporters should be of a non-violent nature and this philosophy was extended throughout Australia through various state committees and others.

This poster follows a common format for Moratorium posters, using bold red, white and blue colours. It is simple, announcing the date of the protest at the top in large, bolt letters, beneath which is the Moratorium wheel symbol. The lower half of the poster contains dark blue sections offset with white writing outlining the events to take pace on Wedneday 28th April, Friday 30th April, and Sunday 2nd May. At the very bottom of the poster is the text "withdraw all troops now" - the key message of the Moratorium.

Details

Conflicts

• Vietnam, 1962-1975

Places

• New South Wales
• Vietnam

Tags

• Protest movements