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May 68
May 68 (French: Mai 68) was a period of widespread protests, strikes, and civil unrest in France that began in May 1968 and became one of the most significant social uprisings in modern European history. Sparked by student demonstrations against university conditions and government repression, the movement quickly escalated into a nationwide general strike involving millions of workers, bringing the country to the brink of revolution. The events have profoundly shaped French politics, labor relations, and cultural life, leaving a lasting legacy of radical thought and activism.
After World War II, France underwent rapid modernization, economic growth, and urbanization, leading to increased social tensions. (The period from 1945 to 1975 is known as the Trente Glorieuses, the "Thirty Glorious Years", but it was also a time of exacerbated inequalities and alienation, particularly among students and young workers.) By the late 1960s, France's university system was struggling to accommodate a growing student population, and the rigid structure of academia frustrated students amid a broader discontent with conservative social norms. Inspired by countercultural, anti-imperialist, Marxist, and anarchist ideologies, students increasingly viewed themselves as part of a revolutionary struggle against capitalism and authoritarianism. At the same time, the French working class was dissatisfied with stagnant wages and poor working conditions, despite growth. The political order, dominated by President Charles de Gaulle's Fifth Republic, was seen by many as outdated and repressive.
The movement began with student demonstrations in late March at Paris Nanterre University. After the police intervened to suppress ongoing activism, Nanterre was shut down on 2 May, and protests moved to the Sorbonne in central Paris. On 6 May, police violently dispersed a student gathering at the Sorbonne, leading to clashes with protesters and mass arrests. As the confrontations escalated, students erected barricades, and the night of 10 May saw intense street battles between protesters and police. Public outrage fueled further mobilization, and by 13 May, the protests had evolved into a general strike. About 10 million workers, or two-thirds of the labor force, walked off the job in the largest general strike in French history, shutting down factories, transportation, and public services. Radical leftist groups gained influence, and calls for revolution grew louder. De Gaulle's government struggled to regain control, and on 29 May he briefly left to a French military base in West Germany. He returned on the next day, dissolved the National Assembly, and called for new elections. By this point, the movement had started to lose momentum. The government, business leaders, and union representatives had negotiated the Grenelle agreements on 27 May, securing wage increases and concessions. As de Gaulle reasserted authority, the revolutionary moment faded. In the elections on 23 June, his party won a resounding victory, signaling the collapse of the immediate movement.
Though it failed to bring about a revolution, May 68 had profound long-term consequences. The events weakened de Gaulle's authority, and he resigned the following year. The movement led to increased state investment in education and social policies, though radical leftist politics declined in electoral influence. The strikes forced major concessions in labor rights, including wage increases, better working conditions, and expanded social protections. The May 68 movement also contributed to the growth of feminist, environmentalist, and LGBTQ activism, and inspired radical thought in philosophy, media, and academia, influencing figures like Michel Foucault and Jean Baudrillard. In France, the movement's slogans and imagery remain touchstones of political and social discourse.
In February 1968, the French Communist Party and the French Section of the Workers' International formed an electoral alliance. Communists had long supported Socialist candidates in elections, but in the "February Declaration" the two parties agreed to attempt to form a joint government to replace President Charles de Gaulle and his Gaullist Party.
On 22 March, far-left groups, a small number of prominent poets and musicians, and 150 students occupied an administration building at Paris University at Nanterre and held a meeting in the university council room about class discrimination in French society and the political bureaucracy that controlled the university's funding. The university's administration called the police, who surrounded the university. After the publication of their wishes, the students left the building without any trouble. After this, some leaders of what was named the "Movement of 22 March" were called together by the disciplinary committee of the university.
After months of conflicts between students and authorities at the Nanterre campus of the University of Paris (now Paris Nanterre University), the administration shut the university down on 2 May 1968. Students at the University of Paris's Sorbonne campus (today Sorbonne University) met on 3 May to protest the closure and the threatened expulsion of several Nanterre students. On 6 May, the national student union, the Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (UNEF, the National Union of Students of France)—still France's largest student union today—and the union of university teachers called a march to protest the police invasion of the Sorbonne. More than 20,000 students, teachers and supporters marched toward the Sorbonne, still sealed off by the police, who charged, wielding their batons, as soon as the marchers approached. While the crowd dispersed, some began to create barricades out of whatever was at hand, while others threw paving stones, forcing the police to retreat for a time. The police then responded with tear gas and charged the crowd again. Hundreds more students were arrested.
High school student unions spoke in support of the riots on 6 May. The next day, they joined the students, teachers and increasing numbers of young workers who gathered at the Arc de Triomphe to demand that (1) all criminal charges against arrested students be dropped, (2) the police leave the university, and (3) the authorities reopen Nanterre and Sorbonne.
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May 68
May 68 (French: Mai 68) was a period of widespread protests, strikes, and civil unrest in France that began in May 1968 and became one of the most significant social uprisings in modern European history. Sparked by student demonstrations against university conditions and government repression, the movement quickly escalated into a nationwide general strike involving millions of workers, bringing the country to the brink of revolution. The events have profoundly shaped French politics, labor relations, and cultural life, leaving a lasting legacy of radical thought and activism.
After World War II, France underwent rapid modernization, economic growth, and urbanization, leading to increased social tensions. (The period from 1945 to 1975 is known as the Trente Glorieuses, the "Thirty Glorious Years", but it was also a time of exacerbated inequalities and alienation, particularly among students and young workers.) By the late 1960s, France's university system was struggling to accommodate a growing student population, and the rigid structure of academia frustrated students amid a broader discontent with conservative social norms. Inspired by countercultural, anti-imperialist, Marxist, and anarchist ideologies, students increasingly viewed themselves as part of a revolutionary struggle against capitalism and authoritarianism. At the same time, the French working class was dissatisfied with stagnant wages and poor working conditions, despite growth. The political order, dominated by President Charles de Gaulle's Fifth Republic, was seen by many as outdated and repressive.
The movement began with student demonstrations in late March at Paris Nanterre University. After the police intervened to suppress ongoing activism, Nanterre was shut down on 2 May, and protests moved to the Sorbonne in central Paris. On 6 May, police violently dispersed a student gathering at the Sorbonne, leading to clashes with protesters and mass arrests. As the confrontations escalated, students erected barricades, and the night of 10 May saw intense street battles between protesters and police. Public outrage fueled further mobilization, and by 13 May, the protests had evolved into a general strike. About 10 million workers, or two-thirds of the labor force, walked off the job in the largest general strike in French history, shutting down factories, transportation, and public services. Radical leftist groups gained influence, and calls for revolution grew louder. De Gaulle's government struggled to regain control, and on 29 May he briefly left to a French military base in West Germany. He returned on the next day, dissolved the National Assembly, and called for new elections. By this point, the movement had started to lose momentum. The government, business leaders, and union representatives had negotiated the Grenelle agreements on 27 May, securing wage increases and concessions. As de Gaulle reasserted authority, the revolutionary moment faded. In the elections on 23 June, his party won a resounding victory, signaling the collapse of the immediate movement.
Though it failed to bring about a revolution, May 68 had profound long-term consequences. The events weakened de Gaulle's authority, and he resigned the following year. The movement led to increased state investment in education and social policies, though radical leftist politics declined in electoral influence. The strikes forced major concessions in labor rights, including wage increases, better working conditions, and expanded social protections. The May 68 movement also contributed to the growth of feminist, environmentalist, and LGBTQ activism, and inspired radical thought in philosophy, media, and academia, influencing figures like Michel Foucault and Jean Baudrillard. In France, the movement's slogans and imagery remain touchstones of political and social discourse.
In February 1968, the French Communist Party and the French Section of the Workers' International formed an electoral alliance. Communists had long supported Socialist candidates in elections, but in the "February Declaration" the two parties agreed to attempt to form a joint government to replace President Charles de Gaulle and his Gaullist Party.
On 22 March, far-left groups, a small number of prominent poets and musicians, and 150 students occupied an administration building at Paris University at Nanterre and held a meeting in the university council room about class discrimination in French society and the political bureaucracy that controlled the university's funding. The university's administration called the police, who surrounded the university. After the publication of their wishes, the students left the building without any trouble. After this, some leaders of what was named the "Movement of 22 March" were called together by the disciplinary committee of the university.
After months of conflicts between students and authorities at the Nanterre campus of the University of Paris (now Paris Nanterre University), the administration shut the university down on 2 May 1968. Students at the University of Paris's Sorbonne campus (today Sorbonne University) met on 3 May to protest the closure and the threatened expulsion of several Nanterre students. On 6 May, the national student union, the Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (UNEF, the National Union of Students of France)—still France's largest student union today—and the union of university teachers called a march to protest the police invasion of the Sorbonne. More than 20,000 students, teachers and supporters marched toward the Sorbonne, still sealed off by the police, who charged, wielding their batons, as soon as the marchers approached. While the crowd dispersed, some began to create barricades out of whatever was at hand, while others threw paving stones, forcing the police to retreat for a time. The police then responded with tear gas and charged the crowd again. Hundreds more students were arrested.
High school student unions spoke in support of the riots on 6 May. The next day, they joined the students, teachers and increasing numbers of young workers who gathered at the Arc de Triomphe to demand that (1) all criminal charges against arrested students be dropped, (2) the police leave the university, and (3) the authorities reopen Nanterre and Sorbonne.