Chapter 5 describes the decline and apathy of student and youth politics in the mid-1960s in political and religious institutions. I argue that the protest movements of the late 1960s emerged in response to the attenuation of student politics and the decline of traditional organisations. The protest movements sought to make politics possible via a model of provocation and protest rather than debate, critique and compromise. In western Europe, fears of authoritarianism, disappointed hopes for democratisation and disillusion with electoral compromise provided the background for protest. In each location, a mix of socialism, anarchism and anti-authoritarianism marked the nascent protest movement, in particular the German Student Socialist League (SDS) in West Germany, the Movement of 22 March in France, and the Anti-Authoritarian Student Movement at Trento in Italy.