View source for Protests of 1968

{{Short description|Worldwide escalation of social conflicts}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox civil conflict
| title = Protests of 1968
| partof = the [[counterculture of the 1960s]] and the [[Cold War]]
| image = Demonstratie tegen oorlog in Vietnam, NATO enz. in Amsterdam, Bestanddeelnr 921-2506.jpg
| caption = Demonstrations against the Vietnam War in Amsterdam, 1968
| date = 5 January 1968 – 29 March 1969<br>({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|year1=1968|month1=01|day1=05|year2=1969|month2=3|day2=29}})
| place = Worldwide
| coordinates = 
| causes = * [[Vietnam War]]
* [[Racism]]
* [[Revisionism (Marxism)|Revisionism]]
* [[Authoritarianism]]
* [[Sexism]]
* [[Che Guevara#Execution|Death]] of [[Che Guevara]]
* [[Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]]
| goals = * [[Anti-authoritarianism]]
* [[Anti-capitalism]]
* [[Anti-racism]]
* [[Anti-revisionism (Marxism–Leninism)|Anti-revisionism]]
* [[Civil and political rights]]
* [[Environmentalism]]
* [[Feminism]]
* [[Free love|Social liberalization]]
* [[Socialism]]
| methods = 
| status = 
| result = [[Social revolution]]s
| side1 = 
| side2 = 
| side3 = 
| leadfigures1 = 
| leadfigures2 = 
| leadfigures3 = 
| howmany1 = 
| howmany2 = 
| howmany3 = 
| casualties1 = 
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| fatalities = 
| injuries = 
| arrests = 
| detentions = 
| charged = 
| fined = 
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| notes = 
}}
{{Campaignbox Protests of 1968}}
The '''protests of 1968''' comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of [[left-wing politics]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 August 2014 |title=A look back at the 1968 Democratic National Convention |url=https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/look-back-the-1968-democratic-national-convention-msna378371 |access-date=2023-10-06 |website=MSNBC.com |language=en}}</ref> [[Anti-war movement|anti-war sentiment]], [[Civil and political rights|civil rights]] urgency, youth [[Counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture]] within the [[Silent Generation|silent]] and [[Baby boomers|baby boomer]] generations, and popular rebellions against [[military state]]s and bureaucracies.

In the United States, the protests marked a turning point for the [[civil rights movement]], which produced revolutionary movements like the [[Black Panther Party]]. In reaction to the [[Tet Offensive]], protests also sparked a broad movement in [[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 [[May 1968 protests]] in France, in which students linked up with [[wildcat strike]]s 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 party|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, [[1968 Polish political crisis|in Warsaw, Poland]], and [[1968 student demonstrations in Yugoslavia|in Yugoslavia]]. Outside the Western world there were protests in [[1968–1969 Japanese university protests|Japan]] and [[1968 protests in Egypt|Egypt]].
==Background==
Multiple factors created the protests in 1968. Many were in response to perceived injustice by governments—in the US, against the Johnson administration—and were in opposition to the draft, and the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War.

===Post-war world===
[[File:KAS-Prager Frühling 1968-Bild-12906-1.jpg|thumb|left|Prague Spring of 1968 poster by the [[Young Union]]]]

After [[World War II]], much of the world experienced an unusual [[Mid-20th century baby boom|surge in births]], creating a large age [[demographics|demographic]]. These [[Baby boomers|babies]] were born during a time of peace and improving economics for many major countries. This was the first generation to see televisions arrive in homes.<ref>Twenge, PhD, Jean. ''Generation Me.'' New York: Free Press, 2006. p. 6</ref> Television had a profound effect on this generation in two ways. First, it gave them a common [[Perspective (cognitive)|perspective]] from which to view the world.<ref>{{Harvnb|Croker|2007}} p. 19</ref> The children growing up in this era shared not only the news and programs that they watched on television, they also got glimpses of each other's worlds. Secondly, television allowed them to experience major public events. [[Public education]] was becoming more widely attended, creating another shared experience. [[Chain stores]] and [[franchising|franchised]] restaurants were bringing shared shopping and dining experiences to people in different parts of the world.<ref>{{Harvnb|Croker|2007}} p. 12</ref>

The [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] and the [[Cold War]] was another shared experience of this generation. The knowledge that a [[nuclear warfare]] could end their life at any moment was reinforced with classroom "duck and cover" bomb drills<ref>{{Harvnb|Croker|2007}} p. 32</ref> 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===
[[File:Helsinki demonstration against the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.jpg|thumb|Helsinki demonstration against the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968]]

The [[Eastern Bloc]] had already seen several mass protests in the decades following World War II, including the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian Revolution]], [[East German uprising of 1953|the uprising in East Germany]] and several labor strikes in Poland, especially important ones in [[1956 Poznań protests|Poznań in 1956]].

Waves of [[social movement]]s throughout the 1960s began to shape the [[Value (ethics and social sciences)|values]] of the generation who were students during 1968. In America, the [[civil rights movement]] was at its peak, but was also at its most violent, such as the [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]] on 4 April by a white supremacist. In [[Northern Ireland]], religious division paved the way for a [[The Troubles|decades-long violent conflict]] between [[Irish republicanism|Irish republicans]] and [[Unionism in Ireland|Irish unionists]]. Italy and France were in the midst of a [[socialist]] movement. The [[New Left]] political movement was causing political upheavals in many European and South American countries. In China, the [[Cultural Revolution]] had reached its peak. The [[Arab–Israeli conflict]] had started in the early 20th century, the [[Peace movement|British anti-war movement]] had remained strong and [[African independence movements]] had continued to grow in number. In Poland in March 1968, student demonstrations at Warsaw University broke out when the government banned the performance of a play by [[Adam Mickiewicz]] (''[[Dziady (poem)|Dziady]]'', written in 1824) at the [[Polish Theatre in Warsaw]], on the grounds that it contained "anti-Soviet references". It became known as the [[1968 Polish political crisis|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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Croker|2007}} p. 124</ref> By the time they started college, the majority of young people identified with an [[Counterculture of the 1960s|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 [[Far-left politics|radical leftist]] movement was ambivalent about its relationship to [[communism]]. The 2–3 June [[1968 student demonstrations in 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/belgrades-1968-student-unrest-spurs-nostalgia_10056711.html |title=Belgrade's 1968 student unrest spurs nostalgia |publisher=Thaindian.com |date=5 June 2008 |access-date=2010-08-26 |archive-date=2016-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230085545/http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/belgrades-1968-student-unrest-spurs-nostalgia_10056711.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080609033450/http://1968ineurope.sneakpeek.de/index.php/chronologies/index/15 1968 in Europe – Online teaching and research guide], archived from [http://1968ineurope.sneakpeek.de/index.php/chronologies/index/15/ the original]</ref>

In 1968, Czechoslovakia underwent a process known as the Prague Spring. In August 1968 during the [[Warsaw Pact 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 [[1968 Red Square demonstration|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==
{{Expand section|date=August 2016}}
[[File:French workers with placard during occupation of their factory 1968.jpg|thumb|right|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 civil rights, against nuclear weapons and in opposition to the [[Vietnam War]], and for [[Women's liberation movement|women's liberation]] all came together during this year. 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.

As the waves of protests of the 1960s intensified to a new high in 1968, repressive governments through widespread police crackdowns, shootings, executions, and even massacres marked social conflicts in Mexico, [[Military dictatorship in Brazil|Brazil]], [[Francoist Spain|Spain]], [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]], [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|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|Anti-nuclear movement|Environmental movement|Hippie movement|Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|Women's liberation movement}}
[[File:Ludwig Binder Haus der Geschichte Studentenrevolte 1968 2001 03 0275.0011 (16910985309).jpg|thumb|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 [[Friends of the Earth]] were formed and the French scientific community organized Survivre et Vivre (Survive and Live). The [[Club of Rome]] was formed in 1968. The [[Nordic countries]] were at the forefront of environmentalism. In Sweden, students protested against [[hydroelectric]] plans. In Denmark and the Netherlands, environmental action groups protested about pollution and other [[environmental issues]].<ref name="kent.ac.uk">{{cite web |last=Rootes |first=Christopher |title=1968 and the Environmental Movement in Europe |url=http://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/research/papers/rootes-1968-env-movements.pdf}} {{dead link|date=January 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}. Retrieved 02-2008.</ref> 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kurlansky|2004}} p. 42</ref> In February, students from [[Harvard]], [[Radcliffe College|Radcliffe]], and [[Boston University]] held a four-day hunger strike to protest the Vietnam war.<ref name="Kurlansky pg 54">{{Harvnb|Kurlansky|2004}} p. 54</ref> Ten thousand [[West Berlin]] students held a sit-in against American involvement in [[Vietnam]].<ref name="Kurlansky pg 54"/> People in Canada protested the Vietnam War by mailing 5,000 copies of the paperback, ''Manual for Draft Age Immigrants to Canada'' to the United States.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kurlansky|2004}} p. 55</ref> On 6 March, five hundred [[New York University]] (NYU) students demonstrated against [[Dow Chemical]] because the company was the principal manufacturer of [[napalm]], used by the U.S. military in Vietnam.<ref name="nyu.edu">[http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/collections/exhibits/arch/1968/1968-6.html Surak, Amy. 1968 Timeline. New York University Archives. Retrieved 02-2008.]</ref> On 17 March, an anti-war demonstration in [[Grosvenor Square]], London, ended with 86 people injured and 200 demonstrators arrested.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.1968andallthat.net/node/109 |title=1968 battles outside US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London &#124; 1968 and All That |access-date=2008-02-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129200542/http://www.1968andallthat.net/node/109 |archive-date=2008-01-29 }} 1968 Battles outside US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London. 1968 and All That. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 02-2008.</ref> Japanese students protested the presence of the American military in Japan because of the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="Kurlansky pg 84">{{Harvnb|Kurlansky|2004}} p. 84</ref> In March, British students (opposing the Vietnam War), physically attacked the British Defense Secretary, the Secretary of State for Education and the Home Secretary.<ref name="Kurlansky pg 84"/> In August, the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]] in Chicago was disrupted by [[1968 Democratic National Convention protests|five days of street demonstrations]] by thousands of protesters. Chicago's mayor, [[Richard J. Daley]], escalated the riots with excessive police presence and by ordering up the [[National Guard (United States)|National Guard]] and the army to suppress the [[1968 Democratic National Convention protests|protests]].<ref name="OHagan">{{Cite web |author=Sean O'Hagan |date=19 January 2008 |title=Everyone to the Barricades |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jan/20/1968theyearofrevolt.features |access-date=2008-02-18 |work=The Observer}}</ref> On 7 September, the [[Second-wave feminism|women's liberation movement]] gained international recognition when it [[Miss America protest|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,<ref>Freeman, Jo. [http://www.jofreeman.com/photos/MissAm1969.html "No More Miss America! (1968–1969)"] Retrieved 02-2008.</ref> and 'square' themed content in general.

=== Brazil ===
{{Main|1960s Brazilian student movement|March of the One Hundred Thousand}}

On 28 March, the [[Military Police (Brazil)|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===
[[File:10 Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg|thumb|Czechoslovakians carrying a national flag past a burning Soviet tank in Prague]]
{{Main|Prague Spring|Human rights movement in the Soviet Union}}

In what became known as [[Prague Spring]], Czechoslovakia's first secretary [[Alexander Dubček]] began a period of reform, which gave way to outright civil protest, only ending when the [[USSR]] invaded the country in August.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://leweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+cs0050) |title=Czechoslovakia, 1968 Prague Spring|work=The Library of Congress Country Study}} Retrieved: 02-2008 {{dead link|date=April 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> On 25 August, anti-war protesters gathered in Red Square only to be dispersed. It was titled the [[1968 Red Square demonstration]].

===France===
{{Main|May 68|Movement of 22 March}}
{{multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 175
| footer            = [[University of Lyon]] during student occupation, May–June 1968
| image1            = Graffito_in_University_of_Lyon_classroom_during_student_revolt_of_1968.jpg
| alt1              =
| caption1          = [[Graffiti|Wall slogan]] in a classroom in Lyon, France
| image2            = University_of_Lyon_Law_School_with_graffiti_June_1968.jpg
| alt2              =
| caption2          = 'Vive De Gaulle' is one of the graffiti on this Law School building.
| image3            =
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| caption3          =
}}

The French May 68 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|date=January 2018}}

===Italy===
{{Main|1968 movement in Italy}}
{{See also|Years of Lead (Italy)|label 1=Years of Lead (1968–1982)}}

On 1 March, a clash known as the [[Battle of Valle Giulia]] took place between students and police in the faculty of architecture in the [[Sapienza University of Rome]]. In March, Italian students closed the university for 12 days during an anti-war protest.<ref name="Kurlansky pg 82"/>

===Japan===
{{Main|1968–69 Japanese university protests|Shinjuku riot|Zenkyōtō}}
[[File:Kanda Quartier latin19680621.jpg|thumb|Japanese student protests in June 1968]]

Protests in Japan, organized by socialist student group [[Zengakuren]], were held against the Vietnam War starting 17 January, coinciding with the visit of the [[USS Enterprise (CVN-65)|USS ''Enterprise'']] to [[Sasebo]].<ref>Marotti, William. "Japan 1968: The Performance of Violence and the Theater of Protest." ''The American Historical Review'' 114, no. 1 (2009): 97–135. Accessed 1 September 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30223645.</ref> 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.<ref>KERSTEN, Rikki. "The Intellectual Culture of Postwar Japan and the 1968–1969 University of Tokyo Struggles: Repositioning the Self in Postwar Thought." ''Social Science Japan Journal'' 12, no. 2 (2009): 227–45. Accessed 1 September 2020. {{JSTOR|40649684}}.</ref>

===Mexico===
{{Main|Mexican Movement of 1968|Silence March (Mexico)|Tlatelolco massacre}}
[[File:Exèrcit al Zócalo-28 d'agost.jpg|thumb|Armored vehicles in the main square of Mexico City, circa 1968]]

Mexican university students mobilized to protest Mexican government authoritarianism and sought broad political and cultural changes in Mexico. The entire summer leading up to the opening of the [[1968 Summer Olympics]] had a series of escalating conflicts between Mexican students with a broad base of non-student supporters and the police.<ref name="OHagan"/> Mexican president [[Gustavo Díaz Ordaz]] saw the massive and largely peaceful demonstrations as a threat to Mexico's image on the world stage and to his government's ability to maintain order. On 2 October, after a summer of protests against the Mexican government and the occupation of the central campus of the [[National Autonomous University of Mexico|National Autonomous University (UNAM)]] by the army, a student demonstration in [[Tlatelolco massacre|Tlatelolco Plaza]] in Mexico City ended with police, paratroopers and paramilitary units firing on students, killing and wounding an undetermined number of people.<ref>Jesús Vargas Valdez, "Student Movement of 1968" in ''Encyclopedia of Mexico'', Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, pp. 1379–1382.</ref><ref>[http://www.metropoleparis.com/1998/318/chron318.html Erickson, Ric. "May '68 Dates." ''Metropole Paris''. 4 May 1998.  Retrieved 02-2008.]</ref>  The suppression of the Mexican mobilization ended with the 2 October massacre and the Olympic games opened without further demonstrations, but the Olympics themselves were a focus of other political issues. The admittance of the South African team brought the issue of [[Apartheid]] to the 1968 Summer Olympics. After more than 40 teams threatened to boycott, the committee reconsidered and again banned the South African team. The Olympics were targeted as a high-profile venue to bring the Black Movement into public view. At a televised medal ceremony, black U.S. track stars [[John Carlos]] and [[Tommie Smith]] each raised one black-gloved hand in the [[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|1968 movement in Pakistan}}
In November 1968, the 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/mar/22/vietnamwar|title=Tariq Ali considers the legacy of the 1968 uprising, 40 years after the Vietnam war|last=Ali|first=Tariq|date=22 March 2008|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-08-31}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/743156|title=REVIEW: Pakistan's Other Story: The Revolution of 1968–1969 by Lal Khan|last=Authors|first=Dawn Books And|date=18 August 2012|work=DAWN.COM|access-date=2018-08-31|language=en-US}}</ref> In 1968 at the height of the movement against him, young protesters in Karachi and Lahore began describing Ayub Khan as a dog ("Ayub Khan Kutta!"). Troops opened fire, killing dozens and injuring hundreds of students and workers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/may1968-revolts-france-180430081219318.html|title=What the May 1968 revolts did and did not do|last=Zabala|first=Santiago|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2018-08-31}}</ref> In March 1969, Ayub Khan resigned and handed power to Army chief [[Yahya Khan]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1128832|title=Exit stage left: the movement against Ayub Khan|last=InpaperMagazine|first=From|date=31 August 2014|work=DAWN.COM|access-date=2018-08-31|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Poland===
{{Main|1968 Polish political crisis}}
On 30 January 300 student protesters from the [[University of Warsaw]] and the National Theater School were beaten with clubs by state arranged anti-protestors.<ref>[http://www.historyguide.org/europe/lecture15.html 1968: The Year of the Barricades. The History Guide. Retrieved 02-2008] [https://web.archive.org/web/20121011000333/http://www.historyguide.org/europe/lecture15.html ARCHIVE]</ref> On 8 March, the [[1968 Polish political crisis]] began with students from the [[University of Warsaw]] who marched for student rights were beaten with clubs. The next day over two thousand students marched in protest of the police involvement on campus and were clubbed and arrested again. By 11 March, the general public had joined the protest in violent confrontations with students and police in the streets. The government fought a propaganda campaign against the protestors, labeling them [[Zionists]]. The 20 days of protest ended when the state closed all of the universities and arrested more than a thousand students. Most [[Polish Jews]] left the country to avoid persecution by the government.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kurlansky|2004}} p. 127</ref>

=== South Africa ===
{{Further|Mafeje affair}}
[[File:Protests UCT 1968 Jameson hall.webp|thumb|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 angered students and led to protests on 15 August 1968 followed by a nine-day [[sit-in]] at the 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hendricks |first=Fred |date=1 December 2008 |title=The Mafeje Affair: The University of Cape Town and Apartheid |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00020180802505061 |journal=African Studies |volume=67 |issue=3 |pages=423–451 |doi=10.1080/00020180802505061 |s2cid=145251370 |issn=0002-0184|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===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 [[Complutense University of Madrid|University of Madrid]] to protest the involvement of police in demonstrations against dictator [[Francisco Franco]]'s regime, demanding democracy, trade unions and worker rights, and education reform.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kurlansky|2004}} p. 16</ref> In April, Spanish students protested against the actions of the [[Franco regime]] in sanctioning a [[Mass (liturgy)|mass]] for [[Adolf Hitler]]. At the beginning of spring the University of Madrid was closed for thirty-eight days due to student demonstrations.<ref name="Kurlansky pg 82"/>

===Sweden===
[[File:Olof Palme 1968.jpg|thumb|At the occupation of the Student Union Building in Stockholm, [[Olof Palme]] encourages students to embrace democratic values.<ref>[[Olof Palme - En levande vilja: Tal och intervjuer]]</ref>]]{{Further|Båstad riots|Occupation of the Student Union Building}}
On 3 May activists protested the participation of two [[apartheid]] nations, [[Rhodesia]] and South Africa, in the international tennis competition held in [[Båstad]], Sweden. The protest was among the most violent between [[Swedish Police Authority|Swedish police]] and demonstrators during the 1960s, resulting in a dialogue between the [[Government of Sweden|Swedish Government]] and organizers to curb the escalation of violence. The match was later played in secrecy, with Sweden winning 4–1.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wijk |first=Johnny |date=7 March 2009 |title=Idrotten tjänar på de politiska aktionerna |language=sv |newspaper=[[Dagens Nyheter]] |url=https://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/idrotten-tjanar-pa-de-politiska-aktionerna/ |access-date=2012-06-26}}</ref>

At [[Stockholm University]] leftist students occupied their Student Union Building at [[Holländargatan]] from 24–27 May 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.<ref>Claes Fredelius: [http://www.marxistarkiv.se/sverige/karhusockupationen.pdf Kårhusockupationen]. From the book ''Det är rätt att göra uppror – Om klasskampen i Sverige.'' Stockholm 1970, Bonniers.</ref> In reaction to the protests, right-wing students organized ''[[Borgerliga Studenter – Opposition '68|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, inspired by 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|Northern Ireland civil rights movement|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. [[Ulster loyalism|Loyalists]] (especially members of the [[Ulster Protestant Volunteers|UPV]]) attacked some of the marches and held counter-demonstrations in a bid to get the marches banned.<ref name="cain1968">[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch68.htm Chronology of the Conflict: 1968], cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 June 2013.</ref> Because of the lack of police reaction to the attacks, [[Irish nationalism|nationalists]] saw the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary|RUC]], almost wholly Protestant, as backing the loyalists and allowing the attacks to occur.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.serve.com/pfc/policing/submiss1.html|title=Submission to the Independent Commission into Policing|publisher=Serve.com|access-date=2 November 2008|archive-date=22 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122100048/http://www.serve.com/pfc/policing/submiss1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 5 October 1968, a civil rights march in Derry was banned by the Northern Ireland government.<ref name="derrymarch">{{cite web|title=The Derry March: Main events of the day|author=Martin Melaugh|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/derry/events.htm|publisher=[[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] (CAIN)|access-date=16 February 2008}}</ref> When marchers defied the ban, RUC officers surrounded the marchers and beat them indiscriminately without provocation. More than 100 people were injured, including a number of nationalist politicians.<ref name="derrymarch"/> 

The incident was filmed by television news crews and shown around the world.<ref name="cathcart">{{cite book|author=Rex Cathcart|title=The Most Contrary Region|date=1984|publisher=The Blackstaff Press|isbn=0856403237|page=208}}</ref> It caused outrage among Catholics and nationalists, sparking two days of rioting in Derry between nationalists and the RUC.<ref name="derrymarch"/> A few days later, a student civil rights group – [[People's Democracy (Ireland)|People's Democracy]] – was formed in Belfast.<ref name="cain1968"/> 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|Civil Rights Movement|Black Power movement|Chicano Movement|Red Power movement}}
[[File:John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Peter Norman 1968cr.jpg|thumb|150px|Award ceremony at the [[1968 Mexico City Olympics]]]]

In the United States, the [[Civil Rights Movement]] had turned away from the south and toward the cities in the north and west with the issues of [[open housing]] and the [[Black Consciousness Movement]]. The civil rights movement unified and gained international recognition with the emergence of the [[Black Power]] and [[Black Panthers]] organizations.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/reference/articles/plack_power Black Power. African American World. Retrieved 02-2008.]{{dead link|date=June 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The [[Orangeburg massacre]] on 8 February 1968, a civil rights protest in [[Orangeburg, South Carolina]], turned deadly with the death of three college students.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/civilrights/a/orangeburg.htm |title=The Orangeburg Massacre |access-date=2007-03-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310024954/http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/civilrights/a/orangeburg.htm |archive-date=2007-03-10 }} The Orangeburg Massacre. Ask.com About African-American History. Retrieved 02-2008.</ref> In March, students in North Carolina organized a sit-in at a local lunch counter that spread to 15 cities.<ref>{{Harvnb|Kurlansky|2004}} p. 85</ref> In March, students from all five public high schools in East L.A. walked out of their classes protesting against unequal conditions in Los Angeles Unified School District high schools. Over the next several days, they inspired similar walkouts at fifteen other schools.<ref>Inda, Juan Javier ''La Comunidad en Lucha, The Development of the East Los Angeles Student Walkouts'' Working Paper, Stanford University (1990)</ref> On 4 April, the [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]] sparked [[King assassination riots|violent protests]] in more than 100 American cities, notably [[1968 Louisville riots|Louisville]], [[Baltimore riot of 1968|Baltimore]] and [[1968 Washington, D.C., riots|Washington, D.C.]]<ref>Walsh, Michael. "Streets of Fire: Governor Spiro Agnew and the Baltimore City Riots, April 1968." {{cite web |url=http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000061/html/t61.html |title=Governor Spiro Agnew and the Baltimore Race Riots of April 1968 |access-date=2008-02-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726054606/http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000061/html/t61.html |archive-date=2008-07-26 }}. Retrieved 02-2008.</ref> On 23 April, students at [[Columbia University]] protested and alleged the university had racist policies; three school officials were taken hostage for 24 hours.<ref name="nyu.edu"/> This was just one of a number of [[Columbia University protests of 1968]]. The August [[1968 Democratic National Convention]] became the venue for [[1968 Democratic National Convention protests|huge demonstrations]] against the Vietnam War and the Johnson Administration. It culminated in a riot, seen as part of television coverage of the convention, when Chicago police waded into crowds in front of the convention center and beat protesters as well as assaulted media figures in the building. At the [[1968 Summer 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.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

===West Germany===
{{Main|West German student movement}}
[[File:Ludwig Binder Haus der Geschichte Studentenrevolte 1968 2001 03 0275.0148 (17076461192).jpg|thumb|Student protest in [[West Berlin]]]]

The [[West German student movement]] 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 West German universities protested to get recognition of [[East Germany]], the removal of government officials with Nazi pasts and for the rights of students.<ref name="Kurlansky pg 82">{{Harvnb|Kurlansky|2004}} p. 82</ref> In February, protests by professors at the [[University of Bonn]] demanded the resignation of the university's president because of his involvement in the building of concentration camps during the war.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://1968ineurope.sneakpeek.de/index.php/chronologies/index/4 |title=1968 in Europe – Online Teaching and Research Guide |access-date=2008-04-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511152341/http://1968ineurope.sneakpeek.de/index.php/chronologies/index/4 |archive-date=2008-05-11 }} Klimke, Dr. Martin. 1968 in Europe. Online Teaching and Resource Guide. Retrieved 02-2008.</ref>

===Yugoslavia===
{{Main|1968 student demonstrations in Yugoslavia|Red Peristyle}}
Protests in [[Yugoslavia]], primarily centered at the [[University of Belgrade]], had a significant impact on the political landscape under the leadership of [[Josip Broz Tito]].

In 1968, Yugoslavia was under a unique communist self-management system, with Tito as its leader since the end of World War II. Despite enjoying relative independence from Soviet control, there were tensions within the country related to economic challenges, growing inequality, and authoritarianism. Students, in particular, felt frustrated by the gap between the promises of socialism and the reality of social and economic hardships.

Particular grievances focused on the following points:

# '''Social and economic inequality''': Despite the self-management system, a gap between the political elites and the general population, especially workers and youth, was growing.
# '''Education access''': The expanding educational system wasn't providing sufficient employment opportunities for the growing number of young graduates, creating discontent among students.
# '''Influence of international movements''': Protests in countries like France and Czechoslovakia influenced Yugoslav students, who also began to call for democratic reforms.
# '''Criticism of Tito's leadership''': While Tito was admired for keeping Yugoslavia independent from Soviet control, students started criticizing aspects of his regime, particularly corruption and political repression.

The protests began on 2 June 1968, in Belgrade, following a small clash between students and the police over a canceled theater performance. As police violence escalated, more students joined in, and the protests spread to other Yugoslav cities, such as Ljubljana and Zagreb. Protesters demanded better living conditions, economic equality, greater access to education, and freedom of expression. They carried slogans like "Down with the Red Bourgeoisie" and "We refuse to live in a world where man exploits man."

Initially, Tito's government responded with force, deploying police and military to suppress the protests. However, as the protests grew, Tito shifted to a more conciliatory approach. On 9 June 1968, in a televised address, Tito surprised the nation by acknowledging some of the students' grievances and expressing support for certain reforms. Despite Tito's conciliatory rhetoric, once the protests subsided, his government did not implement substantial reforms. In the months that followed, the government tightened its control over universities and suppressed dissenting voices.

Ultimate, the protests resulted in the following:

* '''Domestic politics''': Although Tito made some concessions, significant reforms were not enacted, and the government increased surveillance over students and dissident groups. Nonetheless, the protests raised awareness of economic inequality and the lack of genuine democracy in the country.
* '''Student movement''': The student movement lost momentum after Tito's speech, but underlying discontent with the regime persisted. In the 1970s, Yugoslavia faced more economic problems and ethnic tensions, which ultimately contributed to its disintegration in the 1990s.
* '''International influence''': The 1968 protests in Yugoslavia demonstrated that even in a communist state seen as more progressive and liberal than other Eastern Bloc countries, significant social and political tensions existed, and there was a growing demand for reform.

The 1968 protests are seen as a critical moment in Yugoslavia's history, highlighting the regime's failure to adapt to the demands of a new generation. Despite living under socialism, young people felt marginalized and disillusioned. The protests also foreshadowed the political and social challenges that Tito's successors would face after his death in 1980.

These protests revealed the cracks within the Yugoslav socialist system and signaled the difficulties the country would experience in the following decades, leading to its eventual breakup.

===Jamaica===
{{Further|1968 uprising in Senegal|Rodney riots|Takeover of Vanha}}
In October, the [[Rodney riots]] in [[Kingston, Jamaica]], were inspired when the Jamaican government of [[Hugh Shearer]] banned Guyanese university lecturer Dr. [[Walter Rodney]] from returning to his teaching position at the [[University of the West Indies]]. Rodney, a historian of Africa, had been active in the [[Black power]] movement, and had been sharply critical of the middle class in many Caribbean countries. Rodney was an avowed [[socialist]] who worked with the poor of Jamaica in an attempt to raise their political and cultural consciousness.

==See also==
{{div col}}
* [[Long Hot Summer of 1967|1967 Long Hot Summer]]
* ''[[Long march through the institutions]]''
* [[1968 Democratic National Convention protest activity]]
* [[1968 Miami riot]]
* [[1968 uprising in Senegal]] (occurred in same year)
* [[Cordobazo|1969 Cordobazo]] (which occurred the next year in Argentina)
* [[Hot Autumn|1969 Hot Autumn]] (which occurred the next year in Italy)
* [[2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses]]
* [[A Grin Without a Cat]]
* ''[[American Power and the New Mandarins]]'', book by Noam Chomsky
* [[Arab Spring]]
* [[Fred Hampton#Assassination|Assassination of Fred Hampton]]
* [[Axel Springer AG]]
* [[Carlos Marighella]]
* [[Catonsville Nine]]
* [[Chicago Seven]]
* [[Civil Rights Act of 1968]]
* [[Counterculture of the 1960s]]
* [[Days of Rage]]
* [[Feminism in France]]
* [[Fluxus]]
* [[George Floyd Protests]]
* [[Give Peace a Chance]]
* [[Glenville Shootout]]
* [[Happening]]
* [[Hippies]]
* [[Kent State Shootings]]
* [[List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States]]
* [[Opposition to the Iraq War]]
* [[Revolutions of 1848]]
* [[Revolutions of 1917–1923]]
* [[Revolutions of 1989]]
* [[Rudi Dutschke]]
* [[Situationist International]]
* [[Stonewall riots]] (which occurred the next year)
* [[Summer of love]]
* [[Yippies]]
{{div col end}}

== Citations ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== General references ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Citation |last=Croker |first=Richard |year=2007 |title=The Boomer Century |location=New York |publisher=Springboard Press}}
* {{Citation |last=Kurlansky |first=Mark |year=2004 |title=1968: The Year That Rocked the World |location=New York |publisher=Random House Publishing Group}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090402080022/http://1968ineurope.sneakpeek.de/index.php/home 1968 in Europe]
* [http://www.telospress.com/main/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=236 1968 in Italy]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130922005453/http://www.npr.org/templates/archives/archive.php?thingId=89372462&startNum=16 NPR Echoes of 1968]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/1968 BBC Radio 4 – 1968: Myth or Reality?]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/1968-the-year-of-revolt 1968 Special Report], ''The Guardian''
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jan/20/1968theyearofrevolt.features Everyone to the Barricades – Europe 1968]—Sean O'Hagen, ''The Guardian''
* [https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/isj2/2008/isj2-118/timeline.html Timeline of 1968], ''International Socialism'', Spring 2008
* [http://www.telospress.com/main/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=236 1968 In Italy: Revolution or Cold Civil War]
* [http://www.europopmusic.eu/Newsletters/Features/1968_in_Europe.html European protestmusic in 1968 – the birth of European identities in music]
* [http://www.cartografareilpresente.org/article816.html De 1968 au mouvement Occupy,Mappingthepresent.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715151800/http://cartografareilpresente.org/article816.html |date=15 July 2018 }}
* [http://www.sixtiespix.com/iconic-protests-t.html An archive containing photographs of 1968/1969 protests in the San Francisco area]

{{1968 protests|state=expanded}}
{{Revwave}}
{{Sexual revolution}}{{Anti-war}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Protests Of 1968}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1968]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1960s]]
[[Category:1968 protests|*1968]]
[[Category:1968 in international relations]]
[[Category:1968 in politics]]
[[Category:Sexual revolution]]
[[Category:Revolutionary waves]]