Events taking place in France in 1968. The last uprising of the intellectuals

May events in France in 1968.

M ai events 1968, or simply May 1968 fr. le Mai 1968 - a social crisis in France, resulting in demonstrations, riots and a general strike. It ultimately led to a change of government and the resignation of President Charles de Gaulle.

The events of May 1968 began at the Parisian universities, first on the campus in Nanterre, and then on the Sorbonne itself; one of the most famous leaders of the riots is Daniel Cohn-Bendit. The driving force behind the students, in addition to the general youth protest (the most famous slogan is “It is forbidden to forbid”), were various extreme leftist ideas: Marxist-Leninist, Trotskyist, Maoist, etc., often also reinterpreted in a romantic protest spirit. The common name for these views, or rather sentiments, "gauchism" (French gauchisme), originally meant "leftism" in the translation of Lenin's work "The Childhood Disease of Leftism in Communism." It is practically impossible to determine all the political beliefs of the students who actively participated in the uprising. Especially strong was the anarchist movement, the center of which was Nanterre. Among the leaders of May there were many people who were ironic about leftist and anarchist slogans, just like they were about any other. The students were also sympathized by many left-wing lecturers at the Sorbonne, including, for example, Michel Foucault.

After a few days of unrest, the trade unions came out, went on strike, then became indefinite; the protesters (both students and workers and employees) put forward specific political demands.

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01. May 3, 1968. Paris, France.
Showcase on Boulevard San Michel, broken during the performances of students.

02. May 1968, Paris. France.
Boulevard San Michele. Cobblestones in the air.

03. May 6, 1968 Paris, France.
Boulevard Saint-Germain. Collisions between students and the police.

04. Events of May-June 1968, Paris. Mouna Aguigui (1911-1999), French anarchistic, haranguing the crowd, in the presence of two C.R.S.

05. Demonstration of young masked people. Paris, May 1968.

06. Demonstrators in the Latin Quarter 6th May 1968.

07. A demonstrator seen during a march in Paris yesterday which looks like saying death to De Gaulle 25th May 1968.

08. Leader of the so called "Enraged" students, Daniel Cohn-Bendit addressing fellow students at the Gare de l "Est meeting in Paris. 14th May 1968.

09. Retreating students tumble and fall before the baton-swinging security police on the Boulevard St Michel. 18th June 1968.

10. Battles between police and students in Paris riot 7th May 1968.

11. Overturned cars used as barricades by rioting students block Gay Lussac Street. Several hundred students and police received hospital treatment after several battles between police and students in Paris on 11th May 1968.

12. Wrecked cars and cobblestones baracade a street in Paris. Several hundred students and police received hospital treatment after numerous battles between police and students in the city centre. May 13th, 1968.

13. An injured student demonstrator is escorted by a friend on Boulevard Saint-Michel. Several hundred students and police received hospital treatment after numerous battles between police and students in Paris on 7th May 1968.

14. 1968: Paris Riots. A police man fires a tear gas bomb into the midst of the students, while his comrades armed with shields and sticks prepare to charge.

15. 25th May 1968: Paris Riots. Police are ordered to get even tougher by French Prime Minister, Georges Pompidou in a desperate attempt to restore order in Paris. The students are rioting.

16. 15th June 1968: Paris victory for the CRS. Over the weekend the CRS police in Paris succeeded in clearing the remaining students from the corridors and cellars of the Sorbonne. Here a stduent is making molotov cocktails in the cellars of the Sorbonne.

17. 25th May 1968: Paris riots. Cars that were overturned and set fire to during the riots. Police had been ordered to get tough by Prime Minister, George Pompidou.

18. Paris Riots, 25th May 1968: Parisians scramble over piles of cobble stones torn up to build barricades with.

19. Paris: In custody of helmeted gendarmes, a young man and women are led to an awaiting police van on the St. Germain Des Pres Square, during the huge demonstration by students in the Latin Quarter here on Monday 8 May 1968.

20. Paris: A barricaded street in front of the Bourse (seen background) following vicious street fighting between riot police and students in Paris, may 24th many rioters attacked the building and set it on fires 27th May 1968.

21. Paris: Violence again erupted in the Latin Quarter of Paris last night when some 6,000 left-wing students clashed with squads of special riot police. Here an injured demonstrator lies in the gutter after being involved in a clash with the police. May 24, 1968.

22. Paris: A C.R.S. Riot Policeman, his face protected against tear gas, subdues a young demonstrator during the riots which swept through Paris late May 24th,. After President De Gaulle has appealed to the nation to back his plans for social and economic reforms. The riot, which spread from the Bastille to the Latin Quarter, involved between 15,000 and 30,000 demonstartors. May 27, 1968.

23. Paris: Rioting students hurl all kind of missiles towards a police during a mass demonstration by students in the all-latin Quarter here today. Answering a call of the National Union of French Students they gathered by their thousands in the are to support the eight students threatened by being sacked from the University after last Friday's troubles. 6 May 1968.

24. Paris, events of May-June 1968. Demonstration of May 30, 1968 by "The Republic defense committees", on the Champs-Elysees. Among them: M. Poniatowski, P. Poujade, R. Boulin, M. Schumann, M. Debre, A. Malraux, P. Lefranc.

25. Events of May-June, 1968. Disentangled of May 13, 1968, bridge Saint Michel, Paris. JAC-20884-07.

26. May-June, 1968. Barricade street of the Saints-Peres, in front of the Faculty of Medicine. Paris, June 12, 1968.

27. Events of May-June, 1968. Students" demonstration, sit-in in the Champs-Elysees. Paris, May 7, 1968.

28. Events of May-June, 1968. Newsstand on Champs-Elysees. Paris, May 20, 1968.

29. Events of May, 1968 in Paris. Burden transport. Military trucks to the disabled persons. May 26, 1968

30. Events of May-June, 1968, Paris. Fire of the stock exchange, in May 24, 1968.

31. Events of May - June 1968, Paris. Evacuation of the occupied theater of the Odeon.

32 Gaullist demonstration. Paris. June 1968

33. Poster in front of the Art college. Cartoon of Roger Frey, Minister of the Interior. Paris, june 1968.

34. Poster "Be young and shut up." Paris, 1968.

35. Events of May-June 1968, Paris. Courtyard of the Sorbonne occupied by the students. With the wall: portrait of Mao Zedong.

36. The events of May 1968. Demonstration Saint-Germain boulevard. Paris, the May 6, 1968.

37. Demonstrators throwing stones Boulevard Saint Michel May - June 1968.

38. Paris, evenements de mai-juin 1968. Manifestation du 6 mai 1968 au Quartier Latin. Bagarre, boulevard Saint-Germain. Demonstration of the 6th May 1968 in the Latin Quarter, Boulevard St German.

39. Evenements de Mai 1968 a Paris. Manifestants lancant des paves, boulevard Saint-Michel. Demonstrators throwing stones - Paris riots May 1968.

40. Paris, evenements de mai-juin 1968. Manifestation du 6 mai 1968 au Quartier Latin. Bagarre, boulevard Saint-Germain. Paris riots of May - June 1968. Demonstration 6th May 1968 in the Latin Quarter.

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Famous shots of Turkish photojournalist Goksin Sipahioglu.

41. De Gaulle makes his statement on television.

42.

43. A pacifist student puts a flower in the cap of a police officer who defends the Sorbonne during the student uprisings. 06/16/68.

44. Two schoolchildren get over the barricades. Paris. 06/11/68.

45. Student riots May 6, 1968.

46.

47.

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Additional more detailed information about these events can be found here:

Already in September 1968, the chronicler and bibliographer of "Red May", later a prominent historian, Michel de Certo, wrote about the vast literature devoted to the spring riot, and about the unprecedented autumn "publishing harvest". And in the following decades, mountains of books appeared at all - both novels and non-fiction, a lot of documentaries and feature films were shot, numerous paintings, songs and operas were written, gigantic memorial exhibitions were held ... The unrelenting attention to the May events for decades and at the same time the diversity, ambiguity of approaches to them are striking: it seems that they are in the focus of interests, but the view is, as it were, defocused. How to understand what it was?

Chronicle of rebellion

Everything essential fit into the six weeks of May - June 1968, although unrest among Parisian students (they began with a rally in memory of the deceased Che Guevara and speeches against the Vietnam War) had been going on since November 1967. In the spring of 1968, at the University of Paris West Nanterre-la-Defense, one and a half hundred students, protesting against the arrest of several of their comrades during an anti-war demonstration, occupied the administrative premises. A movement of young people is immediately established, which boycotts exams and achieves self-government in universities, stands for freedom from a repressive society, its outdated rules, from bourgeois morality and sexual restrictions (The March 22 Movement, named after the date of its creation, will later be described by the then teacher of the Nanterre philological faculty Robert Merle on the pages of the novel "Behind the Glass"). The rebels, inspired by the left-anarchist ideas of Guy Debord and the surrealist dream of a total revolt against any "fathers" and all the "order" they created, are led by 22-year-old social science student Daniel Cohn-Bendit. He is passionate about the task of creating a society free from all dictates - both economic (market) and political (party system) - and learns from the future theorist of "horizontal" network communications Manuel Castells. Prominent philosophers Henri Lefebvre and Paul Ricoeur, sociologist Alain Touraine come out with the support of a bright student leader. The authorities are closing the university.

Then, under the slogans of the movement, 400 students of the Sorbonne came out to the rally on May 3, 1968, filling the university courtyard. The protesters were dispersed by the police who burst inside, the activists were arrested. The police action is perceived as a blatant violation of university autonomy, and since May 4, the Sorbonne, which (for the first time after the Nazi invasion of Paris) is also closed by the authorities, is supported, in turn, by Nanterre students. On May 6, 20,000 students are already demonstrating in the capital. Since May 7, most of the country's educational institutions have been on strike, teachers and media workers have joined the strikers. On May 10-11, barricades are built in the Latin Quarter, there are clashes with the police, there are several victims (the night of May 10-11 is called “the night of the barricades”). Students are actively supported by socialist forces, left-wing communist organizations, and later by the PCF. On May 13, trade unions declare an indefinite strike all over France. The demonstrators demand de Gaulle's resignation, changes in labor legislation, and pension reforms. Self-government committees are emerging at enterprises and cities, elements of economic policy in the spirit of socialism are being introduced - prices are being reduced, mutual aid structures are emerging. The bureaucracy and entrepreneurs are engaged in exhausting but fruitless negotiations with the strikers, and soon the authorities are moving to tougher actions. In June, de Gaulle's decree disbanded 11 youth organizations recognized as extremist. Cohn-Bendit was deported to his homeland in Germany. By mid-June, most of the strike centers have been crushed by the police.

However, a significant part of the population was frightened by the magnitude of what had happened. On the wave of a rollback from the previous moods of rebellion, the Gaullists triumphantly win the parliamentary elections at the end of June, over 70% of those who came to the polls vote for them. And yet, de Gaulle's political fate is decided: after a failed attempt to reorganize the upper house of parliament for a broader representation of the interests of various social groups and movements there, from entrepreneurs to trade unions, he voluntarily resigns in April 1969, and a year and a half later he dies from aortic rupture.

Context and core

The reasons for what happened, of course, are numerous and difficult to correlate. Let us take into account that everything is taking place in the context of the Cold War between West and East, which is much wider than the university court, on the one hand, and within the framework of anti-government movements that are spreading throughout Europe, becoming mass anti-government movements, as a rule, of the left wing - anti-war, environmental, anti-colonial (May 1968 is also an echo of the Algerian war that ended in 1962), on the other. The sixties for France were a period of severe economic problems at the entrance to the circle of modern developed "consumer societies", as well as demographic problems associated with them. A large generation of the post-war baby boom is coming into life, and its quantitative excess further exacerbates the difficulties of entering a higher school, professional career, social advancement, housing arrangements for new families, etc. Finally, the authoritarianism of de Gaulle’s sole power, in particular the complete monopoly of the state on the “new” means of communication, radio and television, is strongly rejected by the more educated and qualified French.

It is important that the instigators of the “Red May” are students, who are joined by teachers and mass media workers (both print publications, which enjoyed relative freedom, and state-controlled radio and television), and the university becomes the place of the clash with the authorities. Strange as it may sound to the ears of today's passively adapting Russians, including the youngest ones, the leader of all protest movements in Europe after the Second World War was and remains student youth. This is, I emphasize, a key point in the structure of modern ("modern") societies. Here the past, present and future converge, the interests of the main institutions responsible for the socialization of new generations (family, secondary and higher education, mass media) intersect, and thereby for the reproduction of the structure of society, the position of its main groups, the set of patterns of thought, feeling, behavior accepted in it, that is, the forms of culture.

The formation of young people in the conditions of dissatisfaction with the dominant culture of the majority, the official agenda and habitual, and therefore invisible, general stereotypes hidden from rationalization and understanding, takes on the form of a counterculture. It is clear that this protest culture unites the demands of all things oppressed by the usual course of things, all the "others" excluded from the dominant student youth. This is, I emphasize, a key point in the structure of modern ("modern") societies. Here the past, present and future converge, the interests of the main institutions responsible for the socialization of new generations (family, secondary and higher education, mass media) intersect, and thereby for the reproduction of the structure of society, the position of its main groups, the set of patterns of thought, feeling, behavior accepted in it, that is, the forms of culture. The formation of young people in the conditions of dissatisfaction with the dominant culture of the majority, the official agenda and habitual, and therefore invisible, general stereotypes hidden from rationalization and understanding, takes on the form of a counterculture. It is clear that this protest culture unites the demands of all things oppressed by the usual course, all the “others” excluded from the dominant majority - from women (hence the explosion of feminism), representatives of non-traditional orientations (the struggle for sexual freedoms) to oppressed peoples (student support for anti-colonialism, negritude, the Cuban revolution, etc.). It is important that on these points the youth will find points of contact with representatives of the older generations of intellectuals (among the May demonstrators are Sartre, Althusser, Foucault, they are supported by Francois Mauriac and others). Finally, it is significant that solidarity with the students in their dissatisfaction with modern France was expressed by all sections of the working population. In other words, there was a merger of several social movements, different in composition, origins, horizons of expectations and demands (the historical precedents for such solidarity, which is generally characteristic of French society, were, with all the differences between them, the Paris Commune, the Dreyfus Affair, the anti-fascist Popular Front).

Consequences and significance

Only the direct consequences of the May 1968 events in France (not to mention their echo in other countries of Europe, including the East, in the USA and even in Asia) turned out to be very significant. The student revolt led to the fall of the authoritarian government in the country. Serious changes were adopted in labor legislation - the minimum wage, unemployment benefits, and the duration of vacation were increased. A series of major reforms of the higher education system has been carried out - the autonomy of universities has been strengthened, the beginnings of their self-government have been strengthened, education has been noticeably reoriented towards modern problems of society and the demands of young people, the requirements of the labor market, the necessary professionalization and real preparation of students for a future career.

Moreover, since the late 1960s, we can talk about the new position and role of young people as an independent social and cultural force, including the high importance of the youth spirit and lifestyle, youth fashion in society. The role of minorities in the West has also become new, their problems and demands are at the center of state policy, social movements, attract the attention of the media, and are actively discussed in the public sphere. The tolerance of the social order in today's developed countries of the West is largely the brainchild of the Paris May, and if one can speak of modern Western civilization as a non-repressive civilization, then this is undoubtedly the great merit of the rebels of the Latin Quarter. As part of this “turn”, the majority of Western intellectuals said goodbye to communist utopianism, including long-standing sympathies for the USSR (this was strongly influenced by August 1968, the end of the Prague Spring, but it itself was in resonance with the spring in Paris).

The significance of the May 1968 events, which were not, strictly speaking, a revolution, but rather a riot or rebellion, goes far beyond the significant socio-cultural changes briefly listed above. Participants and witnesses of the events of that time spoke about them more than once as a holiday, equated them with a vacation (the poet Andre du Boucher called them “new vacations”). In this sense, they can be understood as a kind of "anti-structure", using the term of the anthropologist Victor Turner, who studied such phenomena of a gap in the work of stable structures of society and forms of habitual communication in it. The appeal to the concept of the impossible in the Parisian graffiti of that time is not accidental: the rebellious youth clearly claimed more than de Gaulle's resignation or amendments to the labor code - they tried to shift the boundaries between the possible and the impossible.

Hence the clear feeling that the emotional outburst, meaningful experience, the whole experience of those days is clearly wider and richer than their applied social significance. Michel de Certeau said that May 1968 "meant more than it accomplished." Is this not one of the reasons for the long echo of that short May? Certo called the events of that time the "revolution of the word." “In May,” he wrote, “they took the word the way they took the Bastille in 1789.” The historian cites a remark of one of the strike workers, addressed to a friend who refuses to speak to the microphone, because she is supposedly uncultured: "Today, culture is just about talking." The word in May was taken by those who never had the right to speak, did not master the art of communication, were isolated, cut off from communication with others. In this sense, the rebellion of 1968 is a symbolic revolt, a reversal of the very symbolic structures of culture.

At the same time, one can speak of May 1968 as the last uprising of European intellectuals, their final collective action of such a historical swing and such a social scale. Moreover, the entire century and a half of modernity, in which intellectuals and young people, starting with the European romantics, played a special, initiative role, probably ended here. In later conditions, an intellectual is either a paid expert of the authorities and corporations, or a virtual star of mass media and mass culture. The meaning of revolutions is by no means always revealed to the participants and contemporaries, often it is not the instigators who win in them. It seems to be the case this time as well. The transition to postmodernity brought new actors onto the scene - the middle class, whose representatives, as far as one can judge, voted for de Gaulle's party in the June 1968 elections (maybe the mysterious speed of the transition from a seemingly general rebellion to a general loyalty to the authorities is another reason for the undying interest in the May 1968 events).

The middle class is the new majority of those who earn well and pay high taxes, vote most actively and consume most actively. Including those who consume tourism services, and since the 1970s, we can talk about a real tourism boom in Western countries, and this boom, of course, is inseparable from the digital camera and video camera, new technical means of reproduction. The era of globalization has begun, bringing with it, respectively, other information technologies, primarily the Internet and mobile microdevices for operational communication.

Of course, all these global phenomena are not the direct consequences of the student revolt in May 1968. However, "Red May" was undoubtedly one of the brightest and most significant events in the complex interweaving of those explicit and implicit shifts that led from the 1960s to the present day. The world has become different. Speaking at the University of Montreal 40 years after the events of 1968, Daniel Cohn-Bendit admitted that that spring did not fulfill its revolutionary promises, but influenced the expectations and behavior of many people, as it opened up for them unprecedented individual freedom.

Any revolution is preceded by ideological argumentation and preparation. The "May Revolution" of 1968 is, of course, no exception. Why is there a special interest in the events of 1968 today? Today, social and world disagreements are aggravated every year. A large number of people are unemployed or low-paid and insecure. In Eastern Europe and Asia, huge armies of workers are exploited for little wages. The result of growing contradictions will inevitably become new conflicts. This is the main reason for the current interest in the 1968 protests.

What happened in 1968? France was then riddled with deep contradictions. Under the impenetrable political regime of the 68-year-old president, General de Gaulle, there was a rapid economic modification that radically changed the social structure of French society.

After the war in Algeria ended in 1962, the French economy rapidly gained momentum, which led to low unemployment and even a shortage of skilled workers. However, such growth required investments in production and development of technologies, so new industries were created that successfully compensated for the decline in the production of coal mines and other old industrial sectors. New enterprises were created in the automotive, aviation, space, defense and nuclear industries. At the same time, financing of the social sphere, primarily healthcare and social security, lagged behind. 3 million Parisians lived in houses without amenities, half of the living quarters were not equipped with sewage, 6 million citizens of the country lived below the poverty line. The factories had to work overtime, often while maintaining low wages. By the mid-1960s, the work week had increased to 45 hours. The living conditions of immigrants were little better than in the "third world", the hostels for workers were overcrowded, where complete unsanitary conditions reigned.

The conditions of life and study of students have worsened relatively. State spending on education increased as the development of new industrial sectors required replenishment of new labor resources, but due to the demographic rise of the post-war years, it became more difficult for people from low-income families to get higher education. As a result, institutions of higher learning were overcrowded, poorly funded, and under government oversight. Opposition to such unsatisfactory learning conditions and the anti-democratic regime at universities (it was also forbidden to communicate between boys and girls outside of school hours, namely, visiting hostels of the opposite sex) became the main factor in the radicalization of students. In addition, political issues quickly added to this.

In the same year, 1967, the worldwide recession also affected workers. For a number of years, the standard of living of the working people and their working conditions lagged behind the pace of the country's development. The wages were low, the working week was long, all this was accompanied by the lack of rights of workers in enterprises. Now added unemployment and irregular working hours. The mining, steel, textile and construction industries have stagnated. Farmers also began to protest against the decline in income - it even came to street fights with the police.

By the beginning of 1968, the country, at first glance, seems to be a relatively balanced state, while social tension is growing and heating up. France resembles a powder magazine - all you need is a spark, which is what student protests are.

It all started at the University of Nanterre, one of the new educational institutions that was built in the 1960s. On January 8, 1968, students publicly expressed their outrage at the visit of the Minister of Youth, François Misoff, to the city to open a swimming pool. In itself, this incident did not have much significance, but the sanctions imposed on students, as well as the systematic interference in the course of events by the police, caused an increase in student rebellion and turned Nanterre into a hotbed of a revolutionary movement that quickly spread to other universities and high schools throughout France. The protesters demanded better study conditions, free access to universities, personal and political freedom, and the release of arrested students. So, from February to April 1968, about 50 major student performances were carried out in the country. And on March 22, the administration building of the University of Nanterre was seized by students. In response, the administration completely closed the university for a month, but the conflict spilled over to the oldest university in France, the Sorbonne.

The March 22 Movement was based on the ideology of the so-called Situationist International led by Guy Debord. The situationists believed that the West had already achieved an abundance of commodities sufficient for a communist order, and it was time to arrange a "revolution of everyday life." This meant renunciation of work and submission to the state, renunciation of taxes, observance of laws and social moral standards. On May 3, representatives of various student organizations gathered to discuss the issue of holding this protest campaign. The dean demands the police "clean up" the campus. As a result, a large demonstration spontaneously gathers. The police act extremely harshly, and the students responded by erecting barricades. As a result, by the morning about a hundred people were injured, several hundred were arrested. The court handed down severe punishments to 13 demonstrators. In turn, the students responded by setting up a "committee of defense against repression" and junior teachers called for a general strike in higher education institutions.

Information about the events that have taken place is instantly transmitted by radio stations, the inhabitants of the country are agitated by the brutality of the police. In Paris, the demonstrations are getting bigger every day and are already spreading to other cities calling for the condemnation of police repression and the release of arrested students. So, on May 6, 20,000 protesting students, teachers, lyceum students, and schoolchildren went on a demonstration demanding the release of convicts, an end to police violence, the opening of the Sorbonne and the resignation of the rector and even the minister of education. To the applause of the population, the column freely passed through Paris with a poster “We are a small bunch of extremists,” as the authorities called the students the day before. But on their return to the Latin Quarter, the demonstration was suddenly stormed by six thousand policemen. From all over Paris, young people came to the rescue of students, and by nightfall the number of street fighters reached 30 thousand, of which 600 people were injured, 421 were arrested.

The movement was rapidly gaining momentum. Strikes and demonstrations of students, various workers and employees swept the whole country. By May 7, all the universities and the bulk of the Parisian lyceums were already on strike. When 50,000 students came out to another demonstration in Paris demanding the release of their convicted comrades, the withdrawal of the police from the territory of the Sorbonne and the democratization of higher education, the authorities expelled all participants in the unrest from the Sorbonne. It was the evening of May 7 that became a turning point in public opinion. The protesting students were supported by almost all trade unions, teachers, teachers, scientists, as well as the bourgeois French League of Human Rights. As a result, on May 8, in a number of French cities, under the singing of the Internationale, the first general strike took place under the slogan "Students, workers and teachers - unite!" . In Paris, so many people took to the streets that the police were forced to stand aside and not intervene. However, the attempt of the column to go to the buildings of the Television Administration and the Ministry of Justice was brutally suppressed by the police, using tear gas grenades. Retreating under the pressure of special forces to combat the riots, the students set fire to the cars from which the barricades were built. The whole city knew that student riots had been taking place at the Sorbonne since the beginning of May, but no one thought that the matter would take such serious consequences. Correspondents transmitted reports from the scene directly to the air, and on the morning of May 11, the newspapers came out with huge headlines: "Night of the Barricades." As a result of a long night resistance of students to the police, 367 people were injured, including 32 seriously, 460 were arrested. . This was the beginning of a general political crisis in the country, despite the speech on radio and television by Prime Minister Georges Pompidou promising to lift the Sorbonne lockout and review the cases of convicted students. Alas, it was already too late - the political crisis was rapidly gaining momentum.

On May 13, the unions called on workers to support the students, as a result of which the country was paralyzed by a general 24-hour strike. Almost the entire working-age population participated in it - 10 million people out of a total of 15 million. The call for a strike finds numerous responses - thousands of solidarity demonstrations were held in large provincial cities such as Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon and others. In Paris alone, 800 thousand citizens took to the streets already with political demands, up to a call for the overthrow of the government. Immediately after the demonstration, students seized the University of Strasbourg and the Sorbonne, declaring the university "an autonomous people's university, constantly and around the clock open to all working people."

The plan of the unions to limit the strike to one day failed. On May 14, workers occupied the aircraft factory of the Sud-Aviation company in the city of Nantes, which led to a chain reaction: workers began to seize hundreds of enterprises, plants, factories throughout the country, covering almost all branches of heavy industry. The automobile plant "Renault" in Biyancourt was also among the enterprises "employed by personnel".

At the same time, students took over the university one by one. By May 17, the number of large enterprises seized by the working people reached fifty. On May 20, France, engulfed in a general strike, stops, although neither the trade unions, nor the parties, nor other organizations called for it. Journalists, football players, artists all join the protest movement. The whole country was paralyzed, from government institutions to schools. In 1968, 150 million workdays were lost due to prolonged strikes, according to the Department of Labor. By comparison, the 1974 UK miners' strike, which forced the resignation of the Conservative government of Edward Heath, resulted in the loss of 14 million days of work.

The wave of strikes does not subside until July, but reaches its peak between 22 and 30 May. On May 20, the government effectively lost control of the country. The population calls for the resignation of de Gaulle and his government. At the National Assembly, the issue of no confidence in the government was taken up for discussion, but only one vote was not enough for a vote of no confidence. Then, on May 25, tripartite negotiations began between the government, trade unions and the National Council of French Entrepreneurs. Conditions for a substantial increase in wages were agreed, but the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), represented by Georges Seguy, was not satisfied with these conditions and continued the strike movement. The socialists, led by François Mitterrand, organize a grand rally to condemn the trade unions and de Gaulle and demand the creation of a Provisional Government. In response, the authorities in many cities use force. The night of May 25 is known as Bloody Friday.

On May 29, during an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, it became known that General de Gaulle had disappeared without a trace. France is shocked. The leaders of the "Red May" are immediately calling for the seizure of power, since it is allegedly "lying around in the street." However, on May 30, de Gaulle reappeared and made an extremely tough speech, announcing the dissolution of the National Assembly and the holding of early parliamentary elections. The Gaullists organized a campaign to threaten a communist conspiracy, and as a result, they won the majority of the seats - the frightened middle class unanimously voted for the general. On the same day, the Gaullists hold a 500,000-strong demonstration on the Champs Elysees in support of de Gaulle. There is a radical turning point in events. At the beginning of June, the unions hold new negotiations and achieve new economic concessions, after which the wave of strikes subsides. Enterprises taken over by workers begin to be "cleaned up" by the police. Cohn-Bendit was exiled to Germany. On June 16, the police seized the Sorbonne, on June 17, the work of the Renault conveyors was resumed.

Thus, the "May Revolution" was defeated. Then why did she become legendary?

Firstly, because in May 1968, during the economic upsurge (and not a crisis!) From an insignificant incident in Nanterre, for the first time in Western history, a nationwide crisis developed instantly and with lightning speed, which grew into a revolutionary situation. This made it clear to many that the social structure of European society had changed.

Secondly, because the unrest of 1968 changed the moral and intellectual climate both in France and in Europe as a whole. Alexander Tarasov substantiated this in his article “In memoriam anno 1968”, in which he wrote that “until the time of neo-liberalism and the “neo-conservative wave” of the early 80s, it was considered indecent to be right, to love capitalism. The first half of the 70s, overshadowed by the reflection of "Red May", turned out to be the swan song of the European intellectual and cultural elite. Everything worthwhile in this area, as the West today sadly admits, was created before 1975-1977. Everything later is either degradation or rehashing ... ".

In turn, the students achieved the democratization of higher and secondary educational institutions, the permission of political activity on the territory of universities and campuses and the improvement of the social status of students, as well as the undermining of the reputation and image, and subsequently the resignation of de Gaulle. Moreover, an "Orientation Law" was adopted to coordinate the activities of universities with the immediate requirements of the economic situation in the country, thus reducing the risk of unemployment for graduates. The psychological "wall" between students and the working class was also destroyed, albeit temporarily.

What prompted such a grandiose collective struggle for such a huge number of people of various ages, professions, social status, etc.? “But it was here, in a modern country, with millions of people participating, learning that it is possible to live like a human being. That was the essence of the demands that adorned the walls of the Latin Quarter. They questioned the way we lived, condemned the lunatic asylum in which we live,” recalled Roger Smith, a participant in the events of 1968.

"Red May" was undoubtedly one of the brightest and most significant events, which was the result of the phenomena and changes at the present time. The world has become different. Speaking at the University of Montreal 40 years after the events of 1968, Daniel Cohn-Bendit admitted: “That spring did not fulfill its revolutionary promises, but influenced the expectations and behavior of many people, because it opened up for them unprecedented individual freedom.”

Bibliographic list

1. Kara-Murza, S. G. Export of the Revolution. Yushchenko, Saakashvili… [Text] / S. G. Kara-Murza. - Algorithm, 2005. - 528 p.
2. Kara-Murza, S. G. Alexandrov, A. A., Murashkin, M. A., Telegin S. A. On the threshold of the “orange” revolution [Electronic resource]: prepared. to ed. – Electron. Dan. Access mode: http://bookap.info/psywar/orangrev.htm, free. - Zagl. from the screen. - Yaz. Russian
3. Shwarz, P. 1968: General strike and revolt of students in France / / Peter Shwarz // MCBC, 12 th of May, 2008
4. Kara-Murza, S. G. Revolutions for export [Text] / S. G. Kara-Murza. - Eskmo, Algorithm, 2006. - 528 p.
5. Skhiviya, A. Red May - 68 [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://www.revolucia.ru/may68.htm (date of access: 04/09/2015)
6. Tarasov A. In memoriam anno 1968 [Text] / A. Tarasov // Zabriski Rider, 1999. - No. 8.
7. Smith, R. May-June 68 [Electronic resource]. – Access mode: http://www.revkom.com/index.htm?/naukaikultura/68.htm (date of access: 04/09/2015)
8. Dubin, B. V. Symbols - institutions - research: New essays on the sociology of culture [Text] / B. V. Dubin. - Saarbrucken: Lambert, 2013. - 259 p.

Exactly half a century ago, France experienced large-scale upheavals that went down in history as "May 1968" or "Red May". Student unrest in Paris escalated into the first spontaneous general strike in French history, and then into a political crisis, the dissolution of parliament and early elections. The chronology of events and the soundtrack of revolutionary events are in the RFI material.

The calm before the storm: "When France is bored"

The events of the spring and early summer of 1968 in France are compared with the revolution, which, although it did not lead to the collapse of the state, had a decisive influence on the transformation of power and society, gave impetus to serious political, social and cultural changes.

At the beginning of 1968, however, no one expected the approach of the explosion. A symbol of the calm before the storm for historians was a column published in the newspaper Le Monde on 15 March. An article by Pierre Viansson-Ponte titled "When France is bored" (Quand la France s "ennuie ...) began with the words: "If anything characterizes our social life now, it's boredom, the French are bored." France, "neither truly unhappy nor truly prosperous," lives away from the world's upheavals, as if under "anesthesia," the journalist wrote about the French, who nonchalantly enjoyed Claude Francois' new melancholic hit that spring " Comme d "habitude" ("As usual").

May starts in March

The French rebellious May of 68 began in March on the university campus at Nanterre, near Paris. The March 22 Movement was born there, which united students dissatisfied with the conditions of education, the conservatism of education and morals, the authoritarian model of power and society. On March 22, students seized the administrative building of the Faculty of Nanterre and settled in the hall of the university council.

Daniel Cohn-Bendit and members of the March 22 Movement at the Faculty of Nanterre on May 10, 1968. AFP

The reason for decisive action was the arrest of six students, activists of the Vietnam Defense Committee: during the Paris anti-war action, they were detained for looting the American Express office. Sociology student Daniel Cohn-Bendit, who became one of the leaders of the March 22 Movement, announced the "capture" of the faculty to classmates.

"Red Dani"

Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the future Franco-German politician and MEP, was born in French Montauban to refugees from Nazi Germany. He returned to France to graduate from the sociology department in Nanterre, where he found himself at the epicenter of a student revolt. The March 22 Movement insisted on direct democracy and rejected the notion of leadership.

“I'm Dani Cohn-Bendit, Nanterre sociology student. My parents were refugees from Germany, but nationality means nothing to me. I don't give a damn whether I'm French or German, Chinese or Russian. I don't care. I am a revolutionary activist - and that's it. The press seems to have tried to make me the leader, head, number one of the Nanterre March 22nd Movement. I am an activist of this movement, in which each participant is responsible for the March 22 Movement. In this sense, I am also responsible for him. It seems to me that it is worth dispelling the very concept of "leader". The March 22 Movement denies any leadership, although it recognizes that it sometimes needs representatives who are more visible than everyone else. But all this is changing. And it is obvious that now someone else will be in sight - in turn.

The unrest of Nanterre students continued at the end of March-April, involving more and more students in direct actions. Supporters of various ideological currents - situationists, Marxist-Leninists, Trotskyists, Maoists, anarchists - waged endless disputes, demanding the right to open expression of political views.

Fathers and Sons

Student protests were gaining momentum for a whole host of reasons, not just political ones. Radical left ideas were superimposed on a general dissatisfaction with the conservatism of the university system, the authoritarian model of relations between professors and students. The conflict between fathers and children also escalated due to the overcrowding of universities: the system simply could not cope with the influx of students of the post-war baby boom generation.

“The student environment is on the verge of an explosion, there are so many students that society is unable to direct this flow in any direction, and the self-awareness of students is growing very quickly. The universities are in crisis, - noted in the spring of the 68th Daniel Cohn-Bendit.

Chronology of the events of the "week of the barricades" in Paris May 6-13, 1968

At the dawn of the sexual revolution, the generation of "children" rejected the conservative morality of the "fathers", their "traditional values" and views on gender relations. The rebellious youth demanded change in a country where abortion was banned and criminalized, where most schools were separate (for boys and girls), and for the minister, divorce meant resignation. On campuses, dormitories remained separate; young men were forbidden to visit the rooms of classmates. The demand to repeal these rules went down in history as an exemplary curiosity of the student revolt of '68.

History has also preserved an exemplary dialogue with the students of Nanterre by the Minister of Sports and Youth Francois Missofl. In January, the minister came to the opening of the university swimming pool. Dani Cohn-Bendit, 22, asked the minister why the 600-page Youth Policy Guidelines didn't mention "young sexual problems." Missofle laughed it off, advising the would-be protest leader to "take a dip in the pool" to cool off. An answer in the style of President de Gaulle, who allegedly called on the rebellious students to "drink bromine" in order to think less about gender relations.

Fathers-leaders preferred not to notice the new fashion, music and the gradual emancipation of youth, recalled one of the leaders of student May. “Freedom was born in life, and a frozen system continued to exist nearby”, - noted Jacques Sauvageot, former deputy head of the National Union of French Students UNEF.

"Class struggle"

The authorities responded to the dissatisfaction of the students of Nanterre with a call for calm. The then Minister of Education of France called the rebellious students the word enragés (mad, enraged). “What am I going to do? Say yes to constructive dialogue and no to violence. It is necessary, first of all, to stop the escalation of violence, calm passions, restore calm and composure”, said the minister Alain Perfit. On May 2, the dean decided to close the faculty in Nanterre after a day of student protest against imperialism.

On May 3, unrest swept Paris, and scattered actions escalated into a national crisis. The leader of the rebellious students called the protest political, talking about the "class struggle".

“We declare that the state is a participant in the class confrontation, that the state represents one class - the bourgeoisie, which seeks to retain part of the student body, the future guiding backbone of our society. In the hands of the state - radio, television and parliament. Therefore, we will express our opinion right on the street and move on to direct democracy.”

The historic building of the Sorbonne was occupied by four hundred demonstrators. The rector of the university - without warning and negotiations - called the police, who without ceremony expelled the protesters from the building. The protest spilled out onto the street, where clashes with police broke out. Journalists Gilles Schneider and Fernand Choiseul witnessed the first street battles of Paris May live on air.

First street fights

By the evening of May 3, the police managed with great difficulty to push the rebellious students away from the Luxembourg Gardens and the Senate building. Stones were thrown at the security forces, the demonstrators wore down the police in short but intense skirmishes. Law enforcement responded with tear gas and water cannons.

The sad result of the Parisian street battles is almost 500 wounded and more than 550 detainees. Among those taken into custody are protest leaders Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Jacques Sauvageot.

Daniel Cohn-Bendit announces the takeover of the Sorbonne by protesting students

On May 6, eight students from the Nanterre faculty, including protest leaders Cohn-Bendit and René Riesel, were summoned to a meeting of the university's disciplinary commission. The famous professors and philosophers Henri Lefebvre and Paul Ricoeur came to the meeting to support the rebels. And clashes with the police resumed in the Latin Quarter.

Intensity of emotions

On May 6, more than 300 policemen were injured during the dispersal of a new demonstration. More than 400 students were in custody. Actions in support of the Paris demonstrations were held in Strasbourg and Brest. The student protest was supported by the trade union of teachers of higher education SNEsup and its leader Alain Guizmar. The Communist Party of France and the largest trade union, the left-wing General Confederation of Labor (CGT/CGT), remained silent: for them, the revolution was supposed to be the work of the working class, not "bourgeois students".

The students were supported by prominent intellectuals Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Nathalie Sarrot, Francoise Sagan, Francois Mauriac, as well as French Nobel laureates.

Jean-Paul Sartre in front of students at the Sorbonne on May 22, 1968. GettyImages/Keystone-France/Contributeur

Meanwhile, the street confrontation in Paris between the police and the youth continued. One of the clearest evidence of the intensity of passions was the direct inclusion of reporter Jean-Claude Bourret from Boulevard Saint-Michel. The journalist spoke about the clashes with the rapture of a sports commentator, constantly repeating the word "extraordinary".

French May slogans

The hot days of May 1968 became the heyday of street protest creativity. Agitation posters and slogans were born every day: "It is forbidden to prohibit!" (Il est interdit d'interdire!), "Be realistic, demand the impossible!" (Soyez réalistes, demandez l'impossible!), "No god, no master!" (Ni dieu ni maître!).

The participants in the speeches responded to the harsh actions of the police with a radical rhyming slogan, comparing the French OMON (Republican security companies Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité, abbreviated as CRS) with the Nazis from the SS.

Barricade Night in the Latin Quarter

The culmination of the youth rebellion was the "night of the barricades" from 10 to 11 May. The day before, a mass procession took place in the Latin Quarter, and clashes resumed during the night. Like all previous days, radio stations broadcast live from the scene.

Barricades on May 10, 1968 in the Latin Quarter

The streets in the center of Paris turned into a place of real fighting: more than a hundred cars were smashed, dozens burned, the boulevard Saint-Michel lost its paving stones. More than 6,000 police officers stormed the student barricades until 2 am, detaining 470 people. 250 law enforcement officers were injured.

On May 11, after returning from a trip to Afghanistan, French Prime Minister Georges Pompidou made concessions to the students. In a televised address, he announced the reopening of universities from Monday, May 13, as well as the start of consideration in the Court of Appeal of petitions for the release of arrested protesters.

Car barricades on rue Gay-Lussac in the Latin Quarter of Paris on May 11, 1968 Bettmann/Getty Images

The prime minister's concessions did not lead to a decline in protest moods. On May 13, the largest demonstration of the post-war period took place in Paris. According to various sources, from 230 to 800 thousand people took to the streets. By evening, from the Place du Denfert-Rochereau, the demonstrators moved along the Boulevard Raspail, shouting "To the Champs Elysees."

In the procession on May 13, the unions were in the same columns with the students, for the first time since the beginning of the May unrest. Walking side by side at the head of the demonstrators were Daniel Cohn-Bendit and the head of the CGT, Georges Seguy, who just a few days ago called the students' attempt to involve workers in the general protest movement a "gamble". Now in Paris the youth were chanting: "The students stand in solidarity with the workers!"

General strike without unions

The symbolic strike, announced by the trade unions for only one day on May 13, continued. The next day, the aircraft factory in Nantes stood up, then the strike gradually spread to the Renault factories. In less than a week, the strike in France took on the character of a general strike. On May 20, the news release on French radio began with the announcement of the cessation of work in the country of gas stations, banks, a taxi strike and even the Bank of France.

For the first time in French history, a general strike began spontaneously, without any call from the unions. On May 22, there were 10 million strikers in the country (before that, the largest strike of 1936 united only two million people - only private sector workers).

Renault plant in Billancourt, near Paris, May 17, 1968 - voting to continue the strike Archives personnelles d "Aimé Halbeher

On May 15, the protesters occupied the building of the Odeon Theater, next to the Sorbonne, where the rebellious students still remained. The establishment of the Committee of Revolutionary Action was announced in the theater, and red and black flags were hung on the facade. The striking Renault workers thanked the students for their solidarity, but called for an organized struggle to avoid anarchy.

De Gaulle and Pompidou against the "madmen"

The authorities unsuccessfully tried to seize the initiative, trying to present the protest movement as the work of a small number of radicals. On May 16, the Prime Minister issued a new call for calm.

"Groups of the rabid seek to make disorder generalized, with the express purpose of destroying the nation and the very foundations of our free society", - said Georges Pompidou, urging students not to follow the "provocateurs" and promising to listen to "all their legitimate demands."

President Charles de Gaulle responds to Le Figaro journalist Michel Droit in a television interview 7 June 1968. UPI/AFP

On May 24, President Charles de Gaulle made a televised address proposing to the French a referendum on "university, social and economic renewal." The general promised to resign if the French say "no" in a popular vote. De Gaulle's answer was a new "night of the barricades" in Paris.

"Grenelle Accords"

On 25 and 26 May intensive negotiations took place between the government, the employers' association and the trade unions in the building of the Ministry of Labor on rue Grenelle. On May 27, they ended with the signing of agreements called the Grenelle Agreements. They proposed a 35% increase in the minimum wage, a general 10% increase in wages, 50% pay for strike days, and expanded trade union rights in factories.

Social concessions to power and business have been unheard of since 1936, when the Matignon Accords established a 40-hour work week and two weeks of paid holidays in France. But a significant part of the strikers rejected the compromise made by the trade union leaders.

Lost President

In a situation of complete impasse, against the backdrop of unabated protests and a general strike, the French Communist Party demanded the creation of a "people's government." On May 29, President de Gaulle unexpectedly left the Elysee Palace and drove off in an unknown direction. Later, historians will find out that he visited Baden-Baden, Germany, at a meeting with his comrade-in-arms, General Massu. A week later, de Gaulle admits that on that day he seriously considered resigning.

“You know, it's probably been thirty years since I've dealt with history. Several times I wondered if I shouldn't leave her and step aside. On May 29, I also thought about it, but the will and aspirations of the French strengthened my resolve.

Dissolution of Parliament

On May 30, Charles de Gaulle addressed the French in the same way. He announced the dissolution of parliament and early elections, but refused to step down as president.

“French women and Frenchmen, possessing the fullness of national and republican legitimate power, in the last 24 hours I have considered all - without exception - possible means for its protection. I made my decision. Under the circumstances, I will not retire. I have a people's mandate and I will fulfill it. I will not change the Prime Minister, whose qualities, firmness and abilities deserve universal praise. He will present me with changes in the composition of the government, which he considers necessary.

On May 30, hundreds of thousands of de Gaulle's supporters marched along the Champs Elysees. The rally in support of the president was led by his former prime minister, Michel Debré, and writer and culture minister André Malraux.

Mitterrand on "dictatorship"

One of the leaders of the French left, François Mitterrand, was one of those who considered de Gaulle's act - refusing to resign and dissolving parliament - a transition to dictatorship. The words spoken on May 30 by the future president of France went down in history.

“The voice we have just heard has come to us from the depths of our history. This is the voice of the 18th Brumaire, December 2nd and May 13th. This voice announces the campaign of the arrogant power of the minority against the people. This is the voice of the dictatorship. The people will silence this voice and achieve freedom. Republicans unite. Long live the Republic!

The end of the revolution?

In June, both the protest movement and the strikes gradually faded away. After the third "night of the barricades" in Paris on June 11-12, the authorities announced the dissolution of a dozen ultra-left organizations. In the middle of the month, the police liberated the buildings of the Sorbonne and the Odeon theater from the protesters, and also methodically eliminated the centers of protest at the factories of the country. In the parliamentary elections of June 23 and 30, the French right, supporters of de Gaulle, won a historic victory, obtaining an absolute majority in the National Assembly.

The return of France to the status quo, however, was only external. Charles de Gaulle has ceased to be perceived as the uncontested leader of the country: if not him, then who? A year later, the president again announced a referendum: formally - on the decentralization of power and the reform of the Senate, in fact - on trust in himself. The majority voted against de Gaulle's proposals, who - as promised - resigned. France has entered a post-industrial era and a period of modernization. Society was changing, and left-wing ideas became the intellectual mainstream for a long time. The French left came to power in 1981 after Francois Mitterrand won the presidential election. The head of the Socialist Party came to power under quite a "May" slogan in 1968: "Let's change life here and now."

France is a country of revolutions, and Paris is a city of revolutions. Over the past two and a half centuries, Parisians have taken to the barricades in 1789, 1830, 1848, 1871, 1944 and 1968. This is not counting all sorts of local clashes and riots, periodic general strikes and millions of demonstrations. The French constantly have to fight for their rights with their state, which carries the ineradicable, alas, genetic code of Ludovik's absolutism.
The brightest outbreak of this struggle occurred in May 1968. The fact is that during the 60s the most spiritually free generation of young people in the history of Western society grew up in this country, and for 10 years General de Gaulle, who was fed up with many, was in power, re-elected for a second 7-year term. The country has changed a lot in 10 years, but de Gaulle, with his mentality of an officer of the First World War, remained the same. In the end, this led to a socio-political explosion.

Here they are, free people in a police country (one of the May 1968 demonstrations):

It all started in the universities of Paris, where at that time left-radical moods ("gauchism") reigned. Students and professors were fascinated by the ideas of anarchism, Trotskyism, Maoism and Marxism-Leninism.
The most authoritative leader was 23-year-old Daniel Cohn-Bendit. The slogans of the student movement were "It is forbidden to prohibit!", "Be realistic, demand the impossible!", "Limit yourself to the maximum!"

Chinese and Vietnamese flags at the Sorbonne:

All the walls are plastered with revolutionary "dazibao":

By the way, imagine that in "democratic" France in 1968 there was a state monopoly on television and radio, only print media could be independent!

Student performances quickly turned into skirmishes with the police, whose reinforced detachments the government hastily sent to seize the universities.
The main thing in the outfit of the Parisian revolutionaries is gas masks and goggles:


Face to face with the police:


To the demands of the rebels is added the release of those arrested and the withdrawal of the police from the quarters.

On May 2, the clashes escalated into the construction of barricades, mainly in the Latin Quarter:

Sous les paves, la plage! Under the cobblestones of the pavement - the beach!

Car arson has become a common method of street fighting:

Parisian apocalypse:

After a few days of riots, the trade unions came out and went on strike, which then became indefinite.
On May 13, the unions come out in a grand demonstration that took place all over Paris. Ten years have passed since the day when, in the wake of the Algerian revolt, de Gaulle announced his readiness to take power. Now slogans are flying over the columns of demonstrators: “De Gaulle - to the archive!”, “Farewell, de Gaulle!”, “05/13/58-05/13/68 - it's time to leave, Charles!”

I must say that the regime also had millions of supporters and demonstrations in support of de Gaulle and Prime Minister Pompidou gathered hundreds of thousands:


Newspaper headline "De Gaulle: I stay. I save Pompidou."
Pay attention to the composition of the demonstrators - a completely different age, different faces.

The indefinite strike that has begun in the country, in which more than 10 million people are already participating, is leading the economy to complete paralysis.
On May 24, the president speaks on television. He says that "the country is on the brink of civil war" and that the president should be given, through a referendum, broad powers for "renewal", the latter notion being unspecified.
At the end of May, de Gaulle again announced his refusal to resign, dissolved the National Assembly and called early elections. But the fate of the general was already a foregone conclusion - in April 1969, the French refused to support him at the plebiscite he had started, after which the president immediately announced the early termination of his powers.