CDL: 1968: Year of Protest

1968 the year University students around the world made their mark. The students of this time wanted change in the treatment of people around the world. The Vietnam War had claimed 20,000 young Americans, and left half a million still in Vietnam during 1968. But Vietnam’s casualties far out numbered America’s, soldiers and civilians by 5 to 10 times. One would think these were carefully orchestrated protests spanning the globe, but sporadic protests occurred in Europe and America. Some feel that the sparks for protesting started in 1967. Some counties that experience these protests were America, West Germany, France, Czechoslovakia, Mexico, Japan, Britain, Poland, Italy, Spain, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, Brazil, North Ireland, China, Chile, Nicaragua, and the Netherlands.
Demonstrators expressed transnational solidarity by carrying the flag of the National Liberation Front or placards barring Ernesto “Che” Guevara on it. In Europe students rallied “we shall fight, we shall win- Paris London Rome Berlin. A brief timeline shows the international events of the year, for some it would be their last protest.  

1968
February- One of the first large protests happened in West Berlin’s Free University. 
The students sponsored the Vietnam Congress, calling for “an international manifestation of           Solidarity.” with the people of Vietnam.

  

Feb. and March- Demonstrators in Madrid, Warsaw, Rome, Sao Paulo, and London were met with clubs. Charges of police brutality made waves on the television and Newspapers fed the cycle of protests.

April and May- Violence and riots break out when Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated on April 4^th. 

 - Columbia University in New York seizes a building as part of their protest, leading to a           violent showdown between the police and protesters. 

  May  - France is paralyzed by a rebellion. At the University of Paris, students complained              about services for students. The disturbance spread to Sorbonne the capital city, and police were called in and teargassed the small rally. Which then grew to 10 thousand over the next few days. The students protested “exceptional domestic and International conditions.” Independent radio stations broadcasted live interviews from protesters, and soon a million people were in the streets supporting the protesters, causing factories to shut down.
 -By late May Banks, Railroads and shipyards had shut down; even the promise of wage                       hikes did not end the strike nationwide. French President DeGaulle attempted to gain                           control by criminalizing demonstrations, and evicting striking workers from factories.
                         
- Prague the capital of communist Czechoslovakia, President DubČek pushed for reform against heavy Soviet control, giving rise to hopes for greater freedom. But in August 1968 DubČek was arrested by Soviets. As a result 5,000 students staged a sit-down strike in Prague to protest.
                       
 - U.S. televised riots between youth protesters and Chicago Police outside the                                        Democratic National Convention into American living rooms. 

July  - Mexico, marchers carried posters of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara were attacked by police with clubs. When thousands rallied police fired into the crowds killing several students. They protested the cost to host the Olympic games, but protesters wanted that money to alleviate the nations poverty.
Aug. and Sept. - “We don’t want Olympic games; we want Revolution,” students protested.

October - 2^nd 1968 10,000 students assembled for a rally in the Plaza De Las Tres Cultures, after dark Jeeps with machine guns arrived, and slaughtered 100 to 200 protesters, leaving hundreds more wounded. In wake of this tragedy protesters staged demonstrations and attacks on Mexican embassies in Chile, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Italy, France, and Britain.

December  - More violence against protesters in Spain, Pakistan, and North Ireland.
                         
- In the U.S. violence remained in the ghetto’s where the Black Panther Party gained strength.
                       
 - Excitement of World Wide revolutionary solidarity was short lived, by the reality of                              fatalities as a repercussion of the protests.

1968 was absolutely the year of protest, many paid for protest with their lives. 

What would you have done during this time of oppression? Why would you protest or why wouldn’t you protest?
How did the 1968 protests better the lives of people around the world?
Why was it so important for students to start a worldwide revolution?