On this day in 1968, the May 68 Rebellion, the largest general strike in French history, began when school officials shut down the University of Paris after months of student protests, leading to nationwide unrest.
In mid-March, leftist students had occupied an administration building there, although they left peacefully after their demands were published. On May 6th, more than 20,000 students, teachers, and supporters engaged in a protest march. The march was attacked by police and devolved into a riot.
The state repression of protesters caused two major left union federations, the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) and the Force Ouvrière (CGT-FO), to call a one-day general strike on May 13th. More than one million people demonstrated that day.
By the middle of May, demonstrations had extended to factories, though their demands were different from the students'. Across France, students occupied university structures and up to one-third of the country's workforce was on strike.
The protests were so widespread and energetic that many political leaders feared civil war or revolution. President Charles de Gaulle secretly fled France to Germany at one point, and the national government at times ceased to function.
Revolution was averted when de Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly and scheduled an election that the left dissidents agreed to participate in. Revolutionary fervor subsided and the government banned a number of leftist organizations in the following months.
In the election, de Gaulle's party won the greatest victory in French parliamentary history, taking 353 of 486 seats versus the Communists' 34 and the Socialists' 57.
1968: a chronology of events in France and internationally :france-cool:
Paris May-June 1968 marxist archive :marx-hi:
Megathreads and spaces to hang out:
- ❤️ Come listen to music and Watch movies with your fellow Hexbears nerd, in Cy.tube
- 💖 Come talk in the New Monthly queer thread
- 💛 Read about a current topic in the news
- ⭐️ October Movie Nominations ⭐️
reminders:
- 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
- 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes struggle sessions over upbears
- 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
- 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can go here nerd
- 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog
Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
- 💙Comprehensive list of resources for those in need of an abortion -- reddit link
- 💙Resources for Palestine
Theory:
Wishing we had second hand eletronics stores here in my state like Japan has. They call them "junk shops" but the products are really good. Would be so cool to go to a store and just buy with cash a nice used pc.