Protests of 1968

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Protests of 1968
Part of the Counterculture of the 1960s and the Cold War
Demonstrations against the Vietnam War in Amsterdam, 1968
Date5 January 1968 – 29 March 1969
(1 year, 2 months, 3 weeks and 3 days)
Location
Worldwide
Caused by
Goals
Resulted inSocial revolutions

The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing[1] politics, anti-war sentiment, civil rights urgency, youth counterculture within the silent and baby boomer generations, and popular rebellions against state militaries and bureaucracies.

In the United States, the protests marked a turning point for the

opposition to the Vietnam War all over the United States as well as in London, Paris, Berlin and Rome. Mass movements grew in the United States but also elsewhere. In most Western European
countries, the protest movement was dominated by students.

The most prominent manifestation was the

wildcat strikes of up to ten million workers, and for a few days, the movement seemed capable of overthrowing the government. In many other countries, struggles against dictatorships, political tensions and authoritarian rule were also marked by protests in 1968, such as the beginning of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City, and the escalation of guerrilla warfare against the military dictatorship in Brazil
.

In the countries of Eastern Europe under communist parties, there were protests against lack of freedom of speech and violation of other civil rights by the communist bureaucratic and military elites. In Central and Eastern Europe, there were widespread protests that escalated, particularly in the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia, in Warsaw, Poland, and in Yugoslavia.

Background

Multiple factors created the protests in 1968. Many were in response to perceived injustice by governments—in the USA, against the Johnson administration—and were in opposition to the draft, and the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War.

Post-war world

Prague Spring of 1968 poster by the Young Union

After

Chain stores and franchised restaurants were bringing shared shopping and dining experiences to people in different parts of the world.[4]

The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War was another shared experience of this generation. The knowledge that a nuclear attack could end their life at any moment was reinforced with classroom "duck and cover" bomb drills[5] creating an omnipresent atmosphere of fear. As they became older, the anti-war, civil rights, peace, and feminist movement for women's equality were becoming forces in much of the world.

Social movements

Helsinki demonstration against the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968

The

Poznań in 1956
.

Waves of

Polish Theatre in Warsaw, on the grounds that it contained "anti-Soviet references". It became known as the March 1968 events
.

The women's liberation movement caused generations of females to question the global status quo of unequal empowerment of women, and the post-war baby boomer generation came to reassess and redefine their priorities about marriage and motherhood. The peace movement made them question authority more than ever before.[6] By the time they started college, the majority of young people identified with an anti-establishment culture, which became the impetus for the wave of rebellion and re-imagination that swept through campuses and throughout the world. College students of 1968 embraced progressive, liberal politics. Their progressive leanings and skepticism of authority were a significant impetus to the global protests of 1968.

Dramatic events of the year in the Soviet Bloc revealed that the

1968 student demonstrations in Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia, were the first mass protest in the country after the Second World War. The authorities suppressed the protest, while President Josip Broz Tito had the protests gradually cease by giving in to some of the students’ demands. Protests also broke out in other capitals of Yugoslav republics—Sarajevo, Zagreb, and Ljubljana—but they were smaller and shorter than in Belgrade.[7][8]

In 1968, Czechoslovakia underwent a process known as the Prague Spring. In the August 1968

Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
, Czechoslovakian citizens responded to the attack on their sovereignty with passive resistance. Soviet troops were frustrated as street signs were painted over, their water supplies mysteriously shut off, and buildings decorated with flowers, flags, and slogans like, "An elephant cannot swallow a hedgehog." Passers-by painted swastikas on the sides of Soviet tanks. Road signs in the country-side were over-painted to read, in Russian script, "Москва" (Moscow), as hints for the Soviet troops to leave the country.

On 25 August 1968 eight Russian citizens staged a demonstration on Moscow's Red Square to protest the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. After about five minutes, the demonstrators were beaten up and transferred to a police station. Seven of them received harsh sentences up to several years in prison.

Protests

Strikers in Southern France with a sign reading "Factory Occupied by the Workers." Behind them is a list of demands.

The protests that raged throughout 1968 included a large number of workers, students, and poor people facing increasingly violent state repression all around the world. Liberation from state repression itself was the most common current in all protests listed below. These refracted into a variety of social causes that reverberated with each other: in the United States alone, for example, protests for

women's liberation all came together during this year.[9] Television, so influential in forming the political identity of this generation, became the tool of choice for the revolutionaries. They fought their battles not just on streets and college campuses, but also on the television screen with media coverage.[10]

As the waves of protests of the 1960s intensified to a new high in 1968,

Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and China. In West Berlin, Rome, London, Paris, Italy, many American cities, and Argentina, labor unions
and students played major roles and also suffered political repression.

Mass movements

Main articles:
Hippie movement, Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, and Women's liberation movement
Protest against the Vietnam War in West Berlin in 1968

The environmental movement can trace its beginnings back to the protests of 1968. The environmental movement evolved from the anti-nuclear movement. France was particularly involved in environmental concerns. In 1968, the French Federation of Nature Protection Societies and the French branch of

hydroelectric plans. In Denmark and the Netherlands, environmental action groups protested about pollution and other environmental issues.[9] The Northern Ireland civil rights movement began to start, but resulted in the conflict now known as The Troubles
.

In January, police used clubs on 400 anti-war/anti-Vietnam protesters outside of a dinner for U.S. Secretary of State Rusk.

National Guard and the army to suppress the protests.[10] On September 7, the women's liberation movement gained international recognition when it demonstrated at the annual Miss America beauty pageant. The protest and its disruption of the pageant gave the issue of equal rights for women significant attention and signaled the beginning of the end of "beauty pageants" as any sort of aspiration for young females.,[17]
and 'square' themed content in general.

Brazil

Main articles: 1960s Brazilian student movement and March of the One Hundred Thousand

On March 28, the Military Police of Brazil killed high school student Edson Luís de Lima Souto at a protest for cheaper meals at a restaurant for low-income students. The aftermath of his death generated one of the first major protests against the military dictatorship in Brazil and incited a national wave of anti-dictatorship student demonstrations throughout the year.

Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union

Czechoslovakians carrying a national flag past a burning Soviet tank in Prague
Main articles: Prague Spring and Human rights movement in the Soviet Union

In what became known as

USSR invaded the country in August.[18] On August 25, anti-war protesters gathered in Red Square only to be dispersed. It was titled the 1968 Red Square demonstration
.

France

Main articles: May 68 and Movement of 22 March
Wall slogan in a classroom
'Vive De Gaulle' is one of the graffiti on this Law School building.
University of Lyon during student occupation, May–June 1968

The French May protests started with student protests over university reform and escalated into a month-long protest. The trade unions joined the protest resulting in a general strike.[citation needed]

Italy

Main article: 1968 movement in Italy
See also: Years of Lead (1968–1982)

On March 1, a clash known as the

University of Rome for 12 days during an anti-war protest.[19]

Japan

Main articles:
1968–69 Japanese university protests, Shinjuku riot, and Zenkyōtō
Japanese student protests in June 1968

Protests in Japan, organized by socialist student group Zengakuren, were held against the Vietnam War starting January 17, coinciding with the visit of the USS Enterprise to Sasebo.[20] In May, violent student protests erupted at multiple Japanese universities, having started earlier in the year from disputes between faculty and students for more student rights and lower tuition fees. Students occupied buildings and clashed with staff, holding "trials" in public.[21]

Mexico

Main articles: Mexican Movement of 1968, Silence March (Mexico), and Tlatelolco massacre
Armored vehicles in the main square of Mexico City, circa 1968

Mexican university students mobilized to protest Mexican government

black power salute
, and the U.S. Olympic Committee sent them home immediately, albeit only after the International Olympic Community threatened to send the entire track team home if the USOC did not.

Pakistan

Main article:
1968 movement in Pakistan

In November 1968, mass student movement erupted in Pakistan against the military dictatorship of

Ayub Khan. The movement was later joined by workers, lawyers, white-collar employees, prostitutes, and other social layers.[24] Unprecedented class solidarity was displayed and the prejudices of religion, sex, ethnicity, race, nationality, clan or tribe evaporated in the red heat of revolutionary struggle.[25] In 1968 at the height of the movement against him, young protesters in Karachi and Lahore began describing him as a dog (Ayub Khan Kutta!). Troops opened fire, killing dozens and injuring hundreds of students and workers.[26] In March 1969, Ayub Khan resigned and handed power to Army chief Yahya Khan.[27]

Poland

Main article: 1968 Polish political crisis

On January 30, 300 student protesters from the

Polish Jews left the country to avoid persecution by the government.[29]

South Africa

Further information: Mafeje affair
UCT's students surrounding Jameson hall on 15 August 1968

In South Africa, the (white-only) University of Cape Town (UCT) Council's decision to rescind Archie Mafeje's (black) offer for a senior lecturer position due to pressure from the Apartheid government has angered students and led to protests on 15 August 1968 followed by a nine days sit-in at UCT administration building. Protesters faced intimidation from the government, anti-protestors and fellow Afrikaans students from other universities. The police swiftly squashed support for the sit-in. In the aftermath, Mafeje left the country and did not return until 2000.[30]

Spain

Compared to other countries, the repercussions of 1968 were much smaller in Spain, mostly being protests and strikes repressed by Franco's regime. Workers were joined by students at the

Franco regime in sanctioning a mass for Adolf Hitler. At the beginning of spring the University of Madrid was closed for thirty-eight days due to student demonstrations.[19]

Sweden

At the occupation of the Student Union Building in Stockholm, Olof Palme encourages students to embrace democratic values.[32]
Further information: Båstad riots and Occupation of the Student Union Building

On May 3 activists protested the participation of two apartheid nations, Rhodesia and South Africa's, in the international tennis competition held in Båstad, Sweden. The protest was among the most violent between Swedish police and demonstrators during the 1960s, resulting in a dialogue between the Swedish Government and organizers to curb the escalation of violence. The match was later played in secrecy, with Sweden winning 4-1.[33]

At Stockholm University leftist students occupied their Student Union Building at Holländargatan from May 24–27 to send a political message to the government. Inspired by the protests in France earlier that month, the Stockholm protests were calmer than those in Paris.[34] In reaction to the protests, right-wing students organized Borgerliga Studenter, or "Bourgeois Students", whose leaders included future prime ministers Carl Bildt and Fredrik Reinfeldt. The Student Union building would later be absorbed by the Stockholm School of Economics.

Tunisia

In Tunisia, a wave of student-led demonstrations and street protests in front of campuses began in March in inspiration of protests in Poland and the 1968 protests in Egypt. Student protests, however, were quelled by police and the movement was crushed; in the short-lived period there were peaceful protests and demonstrations for one week.

United Kingdom

A series of art school occupations quickly spread throughout the UK during May and July 1968. The occupation at Hornsey College of Art (now Middlesex University) remains an emblematic event in the modern history of British universities. Cambridge students were involved in the Garden House riot on 13 February 1970.

Northern Ireland

Main articles: Northern Ireland civil rights movement and 1969 Northern Ireland riots

On 24 August 1968, the Northern Ireland civil rights movement held its first civil rights march, from Coalisland to Dungannon. Many more marches were held over the following year. Loyalists (especially members of the UPV) attacked some of the marches and held counter-demonstrations in a bid to get the marches banned.[35] Because of the lack of police reaction to the attacks, nationalists saw the RUC, almost wholly Protestant, as backing the loyalists and allowing the attacks to occur.[36] On 5 October 1968, a civil rights march in Derry was banned by the Northern Ireland government.[37] When marchers defied the ban, RUC officers surrounded the marchers and beat them indiscriminately and without provocation. More than 100 people were injured, including a number of nationalist politicians.[37] The incident was filmed by television news crews and shown around the world.[38] It caused outrage among Catholics and nationalists, sparking two days of rioting in Derry between nationalists and the RUC.[37] A few days later, a student civil rights group – People's Democracy – was formed in Belfast.[35] In late November, O'Neill promised the civil rights movement some concessions, but these were seen as too little by nationalists and too much by loyalists.

These protests started turning violent, and a year later, the

1969 Northern Ireland Riots marked the beginning of The Troubles
, a sectarian conflict that would divide Northern Ireland for roughly 30 years.

United States

Main articles:
Black Power movement, Chicano Movement, and Red Power movement
1968 Mexico City Olympics

In the United States, the

1968 Mexico City Olympics during a televised medal ceremony, track stars John Carlos and Tommie Smith
each raised gloved fists in solidarity with black power, which results with them getting suspended from the Olympics.

West Germany

Main article:
German student movement
Student protest in West Berlin

The

German student movements were largely a reaction against the perceived authoritarianism and hypocrisy of the West German government and other Western governments, particularly in relation to the poor living conditions of students. Students in 108 German universities protested to get recognition of East Germany, the removal of government officials with Nazi pasts and for the rights of students.[19] In February, protests by professors at the German University of Bonn demanded the resignation of the university's president because of his involvement in the building of concentration camps during the war.[44]

Yugoslavia

Main articles: 1968 student demonstrations in Yugoslavia and Red Peristyle

Other protests

Further information: 1968 uprising in Senegal, Rodney riots, and Takeover of Vanha

In October, the

socialist
who worked with the poor of Jamaica in an attempt to raise their political and cultural consciousness.

See also

Citations

  1. ^ "A look back at the 1968 Democratic National Convention". MSNBC.com. 2014-08-28. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  2. ^ Twenge, Ph. D., Jean. Generation Me. New York: Free Press, 2006. p. 6
  3. ^ Croker 2007 p. 19
  4. ^ Croker 2007 p. 12
  5. ^ Croker 2007 p. 32
  6. ^ Croker 2007 p. 124
  7. ^ "Belgrade's 1968 student unrest spurs nostalgia". Thaindian.com. 2008-06-05. Archived from the original on 2016-12-30. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
  8. ^ 1968 in Europe - Online teaching and research guide, archived from the original
  9. ^ a b Rootes, Christopher. "1968 and the Environmental Movement in Europe" (PDF). [permanent dead link]. Retrieved 02-2008.
  10. ^ a b c Sean O'Hagan (January 19, 2008). "Everyone to the Barricades". The Observer. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  11. ^ Kurlansky 2004 p. 42
  12. ^ a b Kurlansky 2004 p. 54
  13. ^ Kurlansky 2004 p. 55
  14. ^ a b Surak, Amy. 1968 Timeline. New York University Archives. Retrieved 02-2008.
  15. ^ "1968 battles outside US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London | 1968 and All That". Archived from the original on 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2008-02-18. 1968 Battles outside US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London. 1968 and All That. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 02-2008.
  16. ^ a b Kurlansky 2004 p. 84
  17. ^ Freeman, Jo. "No More Miss America! (1968–1969)" Retrieved 02-2008.
  18. ^ "Czechoslovakia, 1968 Prague Spring". The Library of Congress Country Study. Retrieved: 02-2008 [permanent dead link]
  19. ^ a b c Kurlansky 2004 p. 82
  20. ^ Marotti, William. "Japan 1968: The Performance of Violence and the Theater of Protest." The American Historical Review 114, no. 1 (2009): 97-135. Accessed September 1, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30223645.
  21. JSTOR 40649684
    .
  22. ^ Jesús Vargas Valdez, "Student Movement of 1968" in Encyclopedia of Mexico, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, pp. 1379-1382.
  23. ^ Erickson, Ric. "May '68 Dates." Metropole Paris. 4 May 1998. Retrieved 02-2008.
  24. ^ Ali, Tariq (2008-03-22). "Tariq Ali considers the legacy of the 1968 uprising, 40 years after the Vietnam war". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  25. ^ Authors, Dawn Books And (2012-08-18). "REVIEW: Pakistan's Other Story: The Revolution of 1968-1969 by Lal Khan". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  26. ^ Zabala, Santiago. "What the May 1968 revolts did and did not do". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  27. ^ InpaperMagazine, From (2014-08-31). "Exit stage left: the movement against Ayub Khan". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
  28. ^ 1968: The Year of the Barricades. The History Guide. Retrieved 02-2008 ARCHIVE
  29. ^ Kurlansky 2004 p. 127
  30. S2CID 145251370
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  31. ^ Kurlansky 2004 p. 16
  32. Olof Palme - En levande vilja: Tal och intervjuer
  33. ^ Wijk, Johnny (2009-03-07). "Idrotten tjänar på de politiska aktionerna". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  34. ^ Claes Fredelius: Kårhusockupationen. From the book Det är rätt att göra uppror – Om klasskampen i Sverige. Stockholm 1970, Bonniers.
  35. ^ a b Chronology of the Conflict: 1968, cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  36. ^ "Submission to the Independent Commission into Policing". Serve.com. Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
  37. ^ a b c Martin Melaugh. "The Derry March: Main events of the day". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 16 February 2008.
  38. ISBN 0856403237
    .
  39. ^ Black Power. African American World. Retrieved 02-2008.
  40. ^ "The Orangeburg Massacre". Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2007-03-10. The Orangeburg Massacre. Ask.com About African-American History. Retrieved 02-2008.
  41. ^ Kurlansky 2004 p. 85
  42. ^ Inda, Juan Javier La Comunidad en Lucha, The Development of the East Los Angeles Student Walkouts Working Paper, Stanford University (1990)
  43. ^ Walsh, Michael. "Streets of Fire: Governor Spiro Agnew and the Baltimore City Riots, April 1968." "Governor Spiro Agnew and the Baltimore Race Riots of April 1968". Archived from the original on 2008-07-26. Retrieved 2008-02-18.. Retrieved 02-2008.
  44. ^ "1968 in Europe - Online Teaching and Research Guide". Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-04-28. Klimke, Dr. Martin. 1968 in Europe. Online Teaching and Resource Guide. Retrieved 02-2008.

General references

  • Croker, Richard (2007), The Boomer Century, New York: Springboard Press
  • Kurlansky, Mark (2004), 1968: The Year That Rocked the World, New York: Random House Publishing Group

External links

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