Background and Causes

France in the 1960s was a nation of profound contradictions. On one hand, the post–World War II economic boom (the trente glorieuses) had generated unprecedented prosperity, rising wages, and a consumer society. On the other, rapid modernization created social dislocation, regional inequalities, and a growing sense of alienation among young people and workers. The political system under the Fifth Republic, established by Charles de Gaulle in 1958, concentrated power in the presidency and was widely perceived as authoritarian, distant, and resistant to reform. The government’s handling of the Algerian War (1954–1962) had also left deep scars, including a legacy of censorship, police surveillance, and a militarized state apparatus.

Educational institutions reflected these tensions sharply. The university system was overcrowded, underfunded, and dominated by rigid hierarchies. Professors wielded near-absolute authority, curricula were outdated, and there was little room for student participation in governance. At the same time, the rapid expansion of higher education had swelled the student population from 170,000 in 1958 to over 500,000 by 1967, creating a generation of young people with high expectations but limited opportunities. Housing shortages, rising unemployment among graduates, and the Vietnam War further fueled discontent. Intellectual currents—situationism, Marxism, anarchism, and the writings of Herbert Marcuse—provided a radical vocabulary for criticizing consumer society and the “spectacle” of capitalist life. The Internationale Situationniste, led by Guy Debord, published The Society of the Spectacle in 1967, which became a foundational text for the movement.

Student Discontent at Nanterre

The immediate spark of the May Events came from the newly built Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences at Nanterre, a Parisian suburb. Nanterre was a stark symbol of the system’s failures: a concrete campus surrounded by shantytowns and lacking basic amenities. Students there had already clashed with administrators over dormitory rules, gender segregation, and political expression. The “Nanterre group” included figures such as Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a charismatic sociology student of German-Jewish origin who became the movement’s most visible leader, and others like Alain Krivine and Jacques Sauvageot. Under the banner of the “Movement of 22 March,” students occupied university buildings, organized teach-ins, and called for sweeping changes to the university and society.

Their demands went beyond academic reform. They sought the abolition of the “consumer society,” an end to imperialism (especially U.S. involvement in Vietnam), sexual liberation, and a radical democratization of all institutions. The administration’s response—calling in police and closing the university—only intensified resistance. By early May, the conflict had moved from Nanterre to the Sorbonne in central Paris, setting the stage for a nationwide explosion. The occupation of the Sorbonne on May 3 was a turning point: police cleared the building, arresting hundreds, and the Latin Quarter became a battleground.

Workers Join the Movement

While students provided the initial spark, the spread of the protest to the working class gave the movement its revolutionary potential. On 13 May 1968, France’s major trade unions—led by the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) and the Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail (CFDT)—called a one-day general strike in solidarity with the students. The turnout was massive: an estimated 800,000 people marched through Paris. What began as a symbolic strike quickly turned into a wave of factory occupations. Workers in the automotive (Renault, Citroën, Peugeot), steel, chemical, and transport industries took over their workplaces, flying red and black flags from factory gates. Within days, the strike had become the largest in French history, involving roughly 10 million workers—almost the entire industrial workforce.

The alliance between students and workers was neither automatic nor seamless. Students often spoke in abstract, revolutionary language that clashed with the unions’ more pragmatic demands for wage increases, reduced working hours, and improved conditions. However, the core grievances—authoritarianism, inequality, and lack of control over one’s life—overlapped. The CGT initially kept its distance, but as factory occupations spread, the union leadership was forced to negotiate. On 25 May, the government, employers, and unions agreed to the Grenelle Accords, which granted a 35% increase in the minimum wage, a 10% rise in wages overall, and other benefits. Yet the workers voted overwhelmingly to continue the strike, sensing that more was possible—a dramatic sign of rank-and-file autonomy from union leadership.

The Events of May 1968

The month of May unfolded in a series of dramatic, fast-moving confrontations. The following key phases define the trajectory of the protests:

  • 1–10 May: The “Night of the Barricades” – After the Sorbonne was closed, students occupied the Latin Quarter. On the night of 10–11 May, police charged the barricades erected in the streets, using tear gas and batons. Hundreds were injured, and vehicles were set ablaze. The violence turned public opinion sharply against the government. The iconic image of cobblestones thrown at helmeted police was broadcast worldwide.
  • 11–20 May: General Strike and Occupation – The Sorbonne was reopened and quickly became the epicenter of debate and occupation. Factories across France were seized. A student-led “Popular University” operated day and night. On 13 May, the general strike began. The Odéon Theatre was also occupied, becoming a forum for endless political discussion.
  • 21–30 May: Government Crisis – De Gaulle returned from a state visit to Romania to find the country paralyzed. He attempted a televised address on 24 May, but it was poorly received. On 29 May, he secretly flew to Baden-Baden in West Germany to consult with the French army commander, General Jacques Massu. His absence—publicly known the next day—stunned the nation and created a power vacuum that briefly raised fears of military intervention. Rumors of a Communist takeover spread, though the PCF remained cautious.
  • 30 May–June: De Gaulle’s Counteroffensive – Returning on 30 May, de Gaulle delivered a resolute speech, rejecting the demands for his resignation, dissolving the National Assembly, and calling for new elections. He warned of “totalitarian communism” and urged citizens to rally behind him. A massive pro–de Gaulle demonstration on the Champs-Élysées on 30 May signaled a turning point. The anti-communist right mobilized strongly.
  • June: Winding Down – The government cracked down: the Sorbonne was cleared by police on 16 June, unions began to lose control as workers slowly returned to their jobs, and the police arrested hundreds of activists. The parliamentary elections in June gave de Gaulle’s party a landslide victory, with the right-wing majority expanded. By mid-June, the strikes had largely ended, though some occupations continued into July.

Violence and Repression

The May Events were marked by significant violence, though it was largely one-sided. Police riot squads (the CRS) and the Garde Mobile were deployed in large numbers. Students and workers built barricades from cobblestones, overturned cars, and cut down trees. The fighting left hundreds injured on both sides, and several deaths occurred—most notably the fatal beatings of a student, Gilles Tautin, by police on June 10, and a worker, Pierre Beylot, during a demonstration. The state’s heavy-handed response radicalized many participants and gave the movement powerful martyr figures. The image of students throwing cobblestones at helmeted guards became an iconic symbol of 1968 worldwide. The CRS became a hated symbol of state repression, and slogans like “CRS = SS” were common.

Legacy and Impact

The immediate political results of May 1968 were paradoxical. De Gaulle’s party won a sweeping electoral victory the following month, and the protests seemed to have been contained. Yet the long-term effects were transformative. The May Events did not topple the French government, but they did undermine the old order irreversibly.

Political and Institutional Reforms

In the years following 1968, the French government implemented a series of reforms that addressed some of the grievances. The Faure Law of 1968 restructured universities, giving them greater autonomy and creating elected councils in which students and staff had representation. The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1974. Labor laws were modified to strengthen workers’ rights and union representation. The events also exposed the fragility of de Gaulle’s personal authority; he resigned in 1969 after losing a referendum on regional reform and senate reform, in part a consequence of the erosion of his legitimacy during May. The Gaullist party itself later fractured, paving the way for the center-right under Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.

Cultural and Social Change

The greatest legacy of May 1968 was cultural. The movement’s slogans—“It is forbidden to forbid,” “Beneath the cobblestones, the beach,” “Be realistic, demand the impossible”—became shorthand for a broader critique of consumerism, bureaucracy, and patriarchal authority. The events catalyzed the growth of second-wave feminism (the Mouvement de Libération des Femmes formed soon after), gay liberation (the Front Homosexuel d'Action Révolutionnaire), environmentalism, and anti-authoritarian education practices. Artistic expression in cinema, literature, and theater broke free from traditional constraints—the New Wave film movement, for example, drew energy from the spirit of rebellion. The idea that everyday life is inherently political gained widespread acceptance. Michel Foucault, who was present at the barricades, later wrote extensively about power and discipline, influenced by the events.

International Influence

The May Events resonated far beyond France. They inspired similar protests in West Germany (the student movement led by Rudi Dutschke), Italy (the Hot Autumn of 1969), the United States (the anti-Vietnam War movement and the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests), Mexico (the Tlatelolco massacre on October 2, 1968), Japan (the Zengakuren student protests), Poland (the March 1968 events), and many other countries. The notion of a “global 1968” emerged, with Paris as one of its symbolic centers. Activists across the world studied the tactics of the French students and applied them to their own struggles. The events also influenced intellectual currents, including post-structuralism and the thought of philosophers such as Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and Jean Baudrillard, many of whom were directly involved in the protests. The Situationist International’s ideas spread globally.

Criticisms and Contradictions

For all its idealistic fervor, the May Movement was not without flaws and failures. Critics point to the movement’s lack of clear political strategy, its romanticization of violence, and its ultimate inability to unite students and workers in a sustained revolutionary project. The Communist Party and the CGT were often accused of trying to channel and contain the radical energy rather than lead a revolution. Some leftist intellectuals later argued that the movement’s emphasis on individual liberation inadvertently paved the way for the neoliberal individualism of the following decades—a thesis advanced by Luc Ferry and others. Moreover, the rapid return to normalcy after de Gaulle’s speech showed that while the regime was shaken, it was willing and able to use state power to restore order. The economic cost of the strikes was enormous, and the French economy later faced challenges in global competition.

The ambiguous legacy of May 1968 remains a subject of debate. For some, it was a failed revolution that ultimately strengthened the state. For others, it was a necessary rupture that freed French society from archaic constraints and opened the door to modern democracy. Whatever the interpretation, the events of May 1968 continue to serve as a reference point for social movements seeking to challenge entrenched power structures. In 2018, commemorations of the 50th anniversary sparked renewed discussion about the movement’s meaning.

Conclusion

The 1968 May Events in France were far more than a summer of protests. They were a dramatic confrontation between the forces of tradition and the desires for a new kind of freedom. Students and workers, each with their own grievances, momentarily united to question the very foundations of authority in modern society. Although the immediate revolt was contained, it permanently altered the political landscape, inspired generations of activists worldwide, and left an indelible mark on French culture. To understand the possibilities and limits of revolutionary change, the story of May 1968 remains as relevant today as it was half a century ago.

For further reading, consult Encyclopedia Britannica’s overview of the May Events, the Marxists Internet Archive collection of primary documents, The New York Times retrospective on the 50th anniversary, or this academic review of 1968 historiography. These resources offer deeper analysis of the causes, unfolding, and legacy of this extraordinary moment.