ran the spring of 68 and the city of Paris It was the scene of one of the events that marked the contemporary history of France. he called himself french may and was characterized by a succession of strikes and spontaneous protests. Protests that started from the student movements and spread to the labor unions, generating a protest never seen before. We are going to find out what the causes were, how the events occurred and what consequences they ended up having in the world and in today’s society, French May 68.
Background of the French May 68
After World War II, France begins to live the reconstruction of the country, with an imperialist system still in force, the 60’s, had become a time of economic prosperity. That was what it seemed, but the reality was different, a serious crisis was looming and the first symptoms were beginning to be perceived.
Economic situation
Little by little, the number of unemployed people was increasing more dangerously and once again, young people would be the most affected social stratum. For the first time, create a National Employment Agency, in order to fill the few vacancies that arose.
The industrial sector began to suffer in all its broad terms, especially with regard to the mining, a sector on strike and with a very uncertain future. The number of people in a situation of poverty continued to increase, people who only received unemployment benefits and who did not feel included in a society that had left them aside.
With the fall in employment, there was lower wages and precarious working conditions. As a consequence of all this, exclusion zones began to proliferate, made up of shanty towns called bidonvilles.
Political situation
The the 1960s, represented a great change in European politics, they begin to question the need for European domination. The colonies of Africa, Asia and America and their system of government begin to be rebuked by society. The Cuban Revolution, the Vietnam War, the leftist movements that are beginning to emerge in the South American continent provoke a clear reaction of revulsion.
But in France the problem was at home, in its own African and Asian colonies. The wars in Indochina and Algeria they created a great divide in the now openly divided French society. Constant demonstrations in the streets of Paris and their police repressions provoked the appearance of student organizations opposition to the police and of a radical character.
- The Anti-Colonialist Committee
- The University Anti-Fascist Front
Little by little, the riot police gained a feeling of rejection among the population, since each demonstration called resulted in a large number of dead or missing demonstrators.
in full algerian war, the anti-colonial movements were fructifying and maturing at the same time as far-right movements, claiming the opposite, the defense of Algeria as a French colony. On the other hand, new ideological currents such as the Chinese Cultural Revolution, with that peculiar way of interpreting Marxism, where the leftist groups saw the solutions in Maoismfar from Soviet communism.
During the 1960s, student and labor movements confronted these far-right groups, practically forcing society to polarize into one of the two extremes.
The French government was also not up to the task, De Gaulle in power since 1958, he does not get the best results at the polls.
In view of a somewhat unstable governmentand the figure of De Gaulle increasingly reviled, for his constant authoritarian practices, a radicalization of the French labor movement, moving away more and more from union doctrines, causing constant strikes and even occupying factories rejecting any type of agreement.
strikes in all sectors, automobiles like Renault, shipyards like those in Nante, chemical industries, agriculture, students, workers, intellectuals. It was the intellectuals who, together with the students, began to outline the activist strategies, laying the foundations for the May 68 revolt.
Social and Cultural Situation
Cultural changes in the 1960s were at an exorbitant rate. In a few years where The exodus from villages to large cities had saturated these, resulting in the birth of a society widely consumeristwhere the media invade the desires of consumption.
It is the first time that young people are recognized as a part of society, now they had a social and cultural category, someone to take into account in their opinions. All this was possible thanks to the countercultural movements that began to appear, the famous underground culture and the youth movements that followed as it was the hippy movement
It is the time of the rolling stone and its protest songs, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, etc. Movements that questioned the consumer market and advocated freedom and peace. Authors like Reich, with his “Sex Revolution”was the basis of the Hippie movement or Guy Debord with “The Society of the Spectacle”. Works very critical of the educational systems that only allowed the elites to access the best education, making true generations of lucky people.
French May 68
This event began Friday, May 3when a group of students gathered in the Sorbonne squarewithin the historical Latin Quarter to protest against the university system. People began to gather there, causing the inevitable presence of the police, which ended by arresting a series of students.
These events generated an even greater call, with thousands of students and workers protesting and striking. This provoked a major confrontation with the police who, under the orders of Charles de Gaulle multiplied more and more. The result was terrible, given that a pitched battle against the police was generated and later a general strike of students and ten million French workers, paralyzing the country completely and being driven by the workers mainly forcing the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) has supported the strike, despite its first opposition.
The Saturday May 11, the outrage in Paris and throughout France was immense. Spontaneous marches formed almost everywhere, gathering Not only to the studentsbut hundreds of thousands of protesters of all backgrounds, mainly many young workers or parents of students. Numerous universities were occupied in the province; Everywhere in the streets, the behavior of the forces of repression was discussed and condemned in the squares.
The Government It was a symbol of the enemy of the people, due to the number of arrests made (it is estimated that they exceeded 450 people) and the presence of the police, which was blamed for generating violent attacks against the protesters (approximately 500 injured according to official figures). and another 500 police officers injured).
Faced with this situation, the Prime Minister, Georges Pompidouannounced in the evening that as of Monday, May 13, the police would withdraw from the Latin Quarter, the Sorbonne reopened, and the arrested students were released.
It was like that may 13th the police leave the streets, the students are released, but the fire is already lit, so the strikers unite to occupy the Sorbonne, decorating it with red and black flags bearing portraits of Marx, Lenin, Mao, Fidel Castro and the Che Guevara under the most representative slogan: Interdit d’interdire (Forbidden to forbid).
Simultaneously, he took care of the School of Fine Artswhich was dedicated to making posters against the bourgeoisie that ironically were later acquired by wealthy collectors.
On the same day, all the central unions, including the CGT (which until then had denounced the students as “extremists”) and the police union, called a strike and a demonstration to protest against the repression against the government.
May 68 in the rest of France
That same May 13, every city in the country saw the biggest events since the end of World War II. The working class was massively present alongside the students. One of the most shouted slogans was «Ten years, now is enough! «In reference to the date of May 13, 1958 that had seen the return of de Gaulle to power. At the end of the demonstrations, practically all the universities were occupied by students, but also by many young workers. Everywhere they spoke freely. The discussions were not limited to university issues, to repression. we started to discuss all social problems: working conditions, exploitation, the future of society.
The next day the discussions continued in many factories. After the immense demonstrations of support, with the enthusiasm and the sense of strength gained, it was difficult to resume work as if nothing had happened. In Nantes, the Sud-Aviation workers, dragged along by the younger ones, staged a spontaneous strike and decided to occupy the factory. The working class was beginning to move.
After a month of protests and a sequence of strikes that literally brought the country to a halt, calm is achieved through the expected dissolution of demonstrations at the time it was obtained a promise accompanied by better wages and conditions for the workers. In this way it was possible to completely remove the strikes that represented the feeling of rebellion and in part anarchism of the protesters.
Consequences of the French May 68
The french may 1968 It was an event that was difficult to classify. As it is considered a fairly spontaneous event, without a fixed objective and made up of many social groups with different interests, it is very difficult to discern whether it was ultimately successful or not. If we use his opposition to the government of Charles de Gaulle, mentioned above, as a common thread, the victory of the movement was not complete.
The president refused to resign despite pressure, but he did agree to convene elections. In these, de Gaulle’s allies won again, but he continued to be widely criticized and considered as a figure anchored in the past who should give way to new generations.
Finally, De Gaulle would resign from the presidency almost a year later from the events of May 1968, in April 1969, after losing a referendum and his reform plan being rejected by the Senate, dying a year later. Therefore, in the political field, although Charles de Gaulle ended up leaving the presidency, it cannot be said that the movement was very successful.
Some reforms took place, especially after 1969, but the labor conflict continued to be very intense in France and, in other countries where they also took place…