What is the 1968 Student Movement

East movement originated in France and although everyone remembers and gives more importance to the demonstrations in Paris, It should be emphasized that the first demonstrations arose in the city of Nanterre and spread throughout France.

The demonstrations were led by left-wing university students protesting against an unequal capitalist and bourgeois society that restricted freedoms. Quickly the heavily politicized French workers gathered in their factories, the most important were those of Renault and Peugeot, and they decided to show solidarity with the students and protest his side. Unsurprisingly, the French Communist Party also gave its support to the cause.

Historic context

The broth of culture This movement was a tangle of revolutionary ideas that questioned the status quo of the time. In those years the left was torn between two different views of the communism: Trotskyism (supporters of Trotsky) and Maoism (supporters of Mao Tse Tung). On the other hand, between these two currents the anarchism and libertarian ideas.

At the end of the 1960s, Soviet communism was no longer so attractive to the new generations, as it had shown its dimension totalitarianism in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968.

In the French context, the former nationalist general Charles de Gaulle held the reins of the country, a circumstance that contrasted with the wave of ideas coming from the European left. The revolutionary ideals were quickly adopted by the students.

The French university context of that time was also particular, since the student groups of a political nature were very frowned upon, since they questioned the government of the nation and its measurements. The university had a structure and a ideology dated and in need of updating.

Aftermath of May '68

The 1968 protests had a great impact, mainly in France. The demonstrations were characterized by some very violent episodes and alerted the government to the great power of subversion that the left had.

Among the ideals of these protests were sexual liberation, which notably influenced the evolution of this taboo in French society.

We must not forget that this movement resonated throughout the world and replicas of it were made in Argentina, in some cities in Europe and inspired some demonstrations in the United States led by hippies.

The memory of this event It is narrated by the well-known student banners, who with great ingenuity managed to capture their ideals and desires. After 50 years, the slogans of yesteryear continue to be used in all kinds of social demands.