ABSTRACT
Initiated in late October 1969 and culminating in May the following year, the Moratorium campaign's rapid growth suggested it was not only timely, but an essential development of the political realignments. The Moratorium was constructed upon the base of the longstanding institutions of the peace movement is clear. The Moratorium was conceived as a continuing process to disrupt 'business as usual', for some activists in order to force reflection on the war, and for others to bring the social system to a halt. The conservatives had begun their retreat in the face of the inevitable just as the Moratorium mobilisation began. In that mobilisation, the established peace groups provided a crucial organisational core. The Moratorium campaign was the most successful form of a leftist political alliance since the Second World War. The Communist Party of Australia leadership was prominent in arguing for the Moratorium campaign as an open, non-exclusive coalition.
