Those were the days of intensive Cold War between the USA and USSR and America’s war with Vietnam. The entire world was constantly under the fear of another World War. It was feared that if a war broke out and nuclear weapons were used, entire mankind would be wiped out of the earth. Thousands of scientists and intellectuals from across the world campaigned for abolishing all nuclear weapons and insisted that USA and USSR come to an agreement and end the futile Arms Race.

In the Vietnam conflict, it is estimated that as many as 8,00,000 to 30,00,000 Vietnamese military and civilians were killed, apart from equally large number of Cambodians and Laotians. USA did not see any civilian deaths but a large number of military personnel died and more were physically handicapped. Vietnam was a largely a forested and poor nation in comparison with their opponents, USA and France. The Vietnamese used guerrilla warfare techniques to fight the war. The USA invented and used newer arsenal like chemical weapons including napalm bombs destroying complete villages. During the early 1970s, more and more American soldiers returned from Vietnam with serious doubts about the wisdom of bombing innocent people who in no way posed a threat to the Americans. More and more Americans were also unhappy about sending their children to war in distant Vietnam. Thus, mass protests