Student riots may 1968

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1. Introduction
I have chosen to write about the May student riot that occurred in the capital of France, Paris 1968. For me, this historical event does not seem too far away, and this makes me more inquisitive about it and I am very interested in what has caused changes both in society and in the behaviour of people today. As a student I would also like to know what has influenced the education system we have today in the whole of Europe. This revolt was one of the biggest uprisings during the after-war period and has played a very important role in the changing of the French regime. I have chosen to focus on the students uprising and to leave the workers out in the margin but of course I will have to mention certain things concerning their revolt and the influence it had on the students or rather what influence the students had on them. I will try to give a good view of how France was and what kind of regime it had under president Charles de Gaulle. I will take up different groups that students had and I will explain how it comes that 1968 was the time for the uprising, why student suddenly felt things had to be changed. I have tried to give an as neutral view as possible of the event.

2. Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) had seen both the First and the Second World War and he had seen what France had gone trough during these years. In august 1944 he was given the title of president of the provisional government in France. But, as certain of his viewpoints for a strong presidency and a weak parliament were ignored, he simply gave up his post. However, he came back in 1958, voted as the president of the ”fifth republic”. He now wanted to improve France both economically and military with his nationalistic ideas and he successfully brought up French GNP during his years as the president. The Prime Minister under De Gaulle was George Pompidou who became an important figure during the May crisis.

3. Context
During the ten years that Charles de Gaulle was president, the population had risen and so had the number of students. It was a dramatic increase from more than 200.000 students trippling to 651.000 students during the ten preceding years after 1960 . The influx of students, in a certain age group, broke the usual thought of it being an exceptional privilege, made only to a few, to enter university. In 1950, 4 % had this privilege but in 1970 it had risen to 15,5 % . Unfortunately the government did not seem to follow the rising numbers and so enough universities were no provided. This fast expansion led to many problems within the university buildings. The most important problems were those such as overcrowding in the lecture halls, too many students per teacher and the old conservative administration. The cause of it all resulting in poor study conditions. Troubled students were worried about their future as they all knew that the number of students was greater than the number of jobs waiting for them after the university later on and the unhappiness with the system kept growing. There was also disapproval of authority, at first the students were concerned about it in the universities but it then spread to other form of authority, which pushed the students to the left. Antagonistic thoughts about events in the world such as the Vietnam war and the military service in the United States, were only a few of all the reasons that made people feel that things could be changed to better, even though they did not know how. There were clear signs to show that opposition was in the mind of the students and the thought of revolt was in the air.

4. The “trigger” to the uprising
With the tensions building up, a lot of student organisations began to take form such as “Jeunesse Communiste Révolutionnaire” (JCR), “Parti Communiste Internationaliste” (PCI) and “Federation des Etudiants Révolutionnaires” (FER). These groups came to play an important role in the revolts even though they were often only organising a minority of all the students. Another group, this one bigger than the newer groups and which already existed and had played an important role in the fight against war in Algeria, was the “Union Nationale des Etudiants Francais” (UNEF).

The trigger to the revolt was the incident at Nanterre, one of many universities built as a solution to the overcrowding, in the Paris slum ”Quartier Latin”. The university was facing this problem, as all other universities (Nanterre was not an exception), and the students were fed up with working conditions caused by this overcrowding, so at the end of 1967 a big protest took place where 10.000 to 12.000 students were boycotting their lectures and exams. On the 22 march eight students, one being Daniel Cohn Bendit, broke into the Dean’s office at the university as a way to protest the arrest of 6 members of the National Vietnam Committee who had been militating against the Vietnam War. Daniel Cohn Bendit was a active revolutionary student leader at Nanterre responsible for organising manifestations in the past, such as the one mentioned above, and known as the creator of the “22nd march movement”, a revolutionary student group mainly consisting of left wing students which was created a few days later. Only a few days after, the 29 of March, the students of Nanterre decided to have a day of political discussion in the university halls. The rector then decided to close the building from the 29th of March to the 2nd of April, an attempt, to prevent further days of debates, which failed.

5. The rising wave of protests
On May 2 the university was closed again. The next day, the 3rd of May, a meeting of 500 students was held at Sorbonne, a university in the centre of Paris, in demonstration of the closure of Nanterre. Most of the students were from Nanterre itself but activists from Sorbonne joined as well, many of the students being part of different organisations. This meeting was not appreciated by the university administration and so the “Compagnies Républicains de Sécurité” (CRS) was called to clear the place, which they did. Nearly all the participants were arrested and the original discontent due to the overcrowding and then to the closure of the Nanterre, resulted in a fight between the riot police and the students. This was only the beginning of a little “war” between the state and the general people and it only put things to worse. The event caused the closure of Sorbonne. On the 6th of May an even bigger protest was organized. It was held by the UNEF and the “Syndicat National de l´Education supérieure” (SNEsup), a teacher organisation, and this time students were protesting against the closure of the Sorbonne and against the action taken by the riot police three days before. This protest resulted in a huge mess and violence with students throwing stones at the police who tried to cope with the situation. It all ended with a number of 600 injured and 422 arrested . On the same day Cohn Bendit and seven other students from Nanterre were taken by the police and brought to the university disciplinary committee at Sorbonne . The next day another manifestation took place engaging 20.000 people protesting against the closure of Sorbonne and against the arrests the previous day. This time it was a peaceful march through Paris . On the 8th the minister of education, Alain Peyrefitte (see picture), announced at the national assembly the possibility of reopening the universities if the riots stopped.

“It is clear that what should be retaken again are the [students] courses, and not violent demonstrations in lecture halls. Such a measure cannot be taken in a climate of disorder and violence.”

On the next day the rector of the Sorbonne, Roche, announced the reopening of the university but he believed that the classes would have to be retaken progressively. The Sorbonne remained closed, the police remained where they were at the university, despite the demand of the students to withdraw the forces, and none of the arrested activists were released. These were the three fundamental points that the students requested and none of them were fulfilled.
The vice president of the UNEF tooke up these points at a meeting in precense of Cohn Bendit (to the right on the picture) and the general secretary of the SNEsup:

“We say in a extremely clear way that we clearly defined which were the three points from which, once these points admitted, a negotiation could be engaged.”
(1) “amnesty to all demonstrators arrested, end of all legal administrative and academic measures directed against them.
(2) Reopen the faculties.
(3) Withdrawl of the police forces from the universities and the university area.”

6. The night of the barricades
The Nanterre university reopened and regained its calm but the tention at the Sobonne keept increasing with the presence of the police. In the afternoon, 10th of may, a group of arround 30.000 students, young workers and highschool students were assembled at Place Denfert-Rochereau demanding the release of their comrades, shouting “Liberez nos camarades!”, and requesting the two other points. The police who were surrounding the area kept reinforcing their troops. At night the tensions were strong and as the students marched through the streets of central Paris towards the Sorbonne, the police kept the track and began to block the streets leading out of the Quarter. As a protection against the police, students started to build barricades from anything they could find such as cars, piling them up one on the other. The group of protestors got bigger as people joined in from all sides and by 2 am, the police decided to take firm actions. Gas-grenades filled with tear gas were thrown at the people and the air got thick with the smoke from the burning barricades and cars. The Latin Quarter became a battlefield and by early morning the students gave up. 460 people were arrested that night and there were hundred of casualties on both sides .

7. Opposition spreading to the general people
The next day, 11th of may, the streets were in a mess and injured students were still transported to hospitals. The government saw that a change in the tactics was needed because of the results of the previous day with all the casualties caused by the brutality of the police. George Pompidou, the prime minister, who had just returned to France from a trip to Iran and Afghanistan, then decided that the Sorbonne would reopen and that the arrested students would be let free. In a letter to Raymond Aron, Pompidou writes:
“When I returned from Afghanistan, I found a situation that appeared desperate to me - the Parisian opinion was entirely behind the students.”
Pompidou’s announcement was made in the evening and shown on TV.

“I have decided that the Sorbonne will be freely reopened as from Monday. Courses will begin again according to the demand of the of the vice-chancellor and the seniors. Also, from Monday, the suprime court will be able, in accordance with the law, to decide on the release of the condemned students.”
This announcement was a huge climb-down for the minister and a living proof for the students that their actions worked and that their fighting finally had paid off. Pompidou thought that this would calm the situation but he was wrong. The trade unions decided to have a general strike the following Monday 13th of May and this was to be the biggest strike of the May riots. Pompidou writes in the same letter as above:
“The manifestation of the 13th of May was announced. I thought then (and today I am sure) that this demonstration might not lead to the return of the Sorbonne to the students, but it would perhaps involve the fall of the government (and of the regime), and the Sorbonne would surely be occupied.”
This time the strike took a much larger proportion. Now workers began to question the society and follow the students footsteps. First there were mostly young workers who joined the waves of protests as they were the most affected by the low wages but by the 13th of may there were 10 million workers on strike in the whole country. 1 million people were on strike in paris, mostly workers but also students feeling sympathy. This brought the country to a standstill as nothing worked. The demonstration was against De gaulle and his regime and against the brutality of the police. Things you would hear the students and the workers shout were "De Gaulle assassin”, "CRS-SS”, (SS referring to the nazis), “Le pouvoir aux ouvriers” (All power to the workers) and “Le pouvoir est dans la rue” (The power is in the streets). The protestors were also waving big slogans saying “Dix ans, c’est assez” (Ten years is enough), “A bas l’État policier” (Down with the police state), “Bon anniversaire, mon Général” (Happy anniversary, General) and off course the one showing the unity of workers, students and teachers “Étudiants, enseignants, travailleurs, solidarité”. (see picture) (SDS pamphlet. 1968. NYU Archives Collection.)
On 14th of May the Sud-Aviation workers occupied the factory; this is the beginning of the workers taking actions. The next day it seemed as if the thought had spread to other factories, Renault-Cléon was occupied. The occupation of the Renault-Cléon factory spread to the other Renault factories all over France and this was in a way an encouragement for other workers in other factories to go on strike as well . Things were getting way out of hand so on the 24th of May the president addressed himself to the nation in an attempt to regain public opinion and to restore order in the country with his plans on reform.


“It results from it [the student uprising] that our country is at the edge of the paralysis. In front of ourselves and the world, what matters for us, French, is to solve an essential problem caused in our time…”
"French, in June, you will decide by a vote. If your answer would be "no", it goes without saying I would not take up my duty any longer; if, by a massive "yes", you express me your confidence, I will undertake, with the authorities and, I hope for it, the contest of all those which want to serve the common interest, to make change, everywhere where it is needed, of the narrow and out-of-date structures, and more largely to open the road of the new blood of France.”
Six days later he announced that “I will not resign... I will not change the Prime Minister... I am today dissolving the National Assembly....” . Not long after he manages to calm the population with an election for the end of June. This election turned out to be successful and De Gaulle took home the majority of the votes. His reform consisted partly to build 67 new universities . Unfortunately he only stayed in power for a short time and announced his resignation just one year later in 27 April 1969 after proposing a less popular reform. "I am ceasing to carry out my functions as President of the Republic. This decision will take effect today at midday."
8. Conclusion
The student riots of may 1968 was “just” the beginning and the “trigger” to the much bigger manifestations of the workers. The proportions of workers and students were clearly not the same at the time as they are today. We have today a society that nearly requests that students seek a higher education which was absolutely not the case 35 years ago. Students are given more importance and play a bigger role in participating in the education system and therefore the education responds more to what they want. I believe it is all due to may 68 and im surely not the only one. The first generation of people after the WWII clearly showed the opposition of conservatism compared to their parents who lived through the war. Through my readings, the event has caught me and I would surely have liked to live at the time of the revolts and I believe that this was the only way things could be changed.

9. Sources:
Internet:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/13/newsid_2512000/2512413.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/24/newsid_2988000/2988263.stm (both including a film: primary source) http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gaulle_charles_de.shtml (Charle de Gaulle) http://www.charles-de-gaulle.org ...