This paper is the second in a series exploring the impact of changing proportions of youth in our society. It attempts to verify the theory of demographic discontinuity (see SO 013 568) through historical analysis. The main part of the paper presents a careful analysis of five historical situations that are generally recognized as being important points of turmoil in western Europe. These are as follows: (1) the post-Napoleonic period culminating in the revolutions of 1830, (2) the revolutions of 1848, (3) the pre-World War I period, (4) the depression and pre-World War II age, and (5) the revolutions of the 1960s. The author concludes that the theory of demographic discontinuity seems to apply better to the 20th century than to the 19th. There is more generational awareness in the 20th century, but this might be a product of the social, economic, and educational trends which have lengthened entrance into adult society and widened the number of youth involved. The more sudden the increase in the youth generation and the more rigid the existing social structures, the greater the possibility of youthful activism. The theory would appear to be most useful as a predictor in the underdeveloped or developing world, since all the factors that caused the European disorders are present in them to a degree unprecedented in Europe. (Author/AV)