So why did the Watchtower, August 15, 1968, ask the question in an article headed: "Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?"
Watchtower 1966 October 15 pp.628-9 Rejoicing over "God's Sons of Liberty" Spiritual Feast:
>>>It did not take the brothers very long to find the chart beginning on page 31, showing that 6,000 years of man's existence end in 1975. Discussion of 1975 overshadowed about everything else. "The new book compels us to realize that Armageddon is, in fact, very close indeed," said a conventioner. Surely it was one of the outstanding blessings to be carried home!<<<<
>>>"The fact that fifty-four years of the period called the "last days" have already gone by is highly significant. It means that only a few years, at most, remain before the corrupt system of things dominating the earth is destroyed by God." <<<Awake! 1968 Oct 8 p.13
The sense of urgency re 1975 continued to be built, through 1974 and on into 1975. Note how the following excerpt from the December 15, 1974 Watchtower (pp. 764-66) does so:
>>>... now, as the critical year of 1975 enters, it may well be asked: Has the Most High God of prophecy made a name for himself? The answer is self-evident, Yes! By whom? Not by Christendom or by Jewry, but by Jehovah's Christian witnesses!'...<<<
(Note how the above-quoted article emphasized "the critical year of 1975." If, as some apologists today claim, the Society only suggested 1975 as a possible date for "the end," then why did the article call the year "critical"? What was "critical" about it, except that it was probably going to be the year of "the end"?)
The society interspersed the end of 6000 years with comments about the nearness of armageddon over and over again. Such as:
The March 1968 KM contained an insert titled "An Opportunity to Increase Your Happiness" (pp. 3-6) that encouraged "vacation pioneering" in April. It contained some statements that were electrifying to many JW's:
>>Since we have dedicated ourselves to Jehovah, we want to do his will to the fullest extent possible. Making some special effort to do more than the usual helps us live up to our dedication. In view of the short period of time left, we want to do this as often as circumstances permit. Just think, brothers, there are only about ninety months left before 6,000 years of man's existence on earth is completed. Do you remember what we learned at the assemblies last summer? The majority of people living today will probably be alive when Armageddon breaks out, and there are no resurrection hopes for those who are destroyed then. So, now more than ever, it is vital not to ignore that spirit of wanting to do more.<<