May 68

May 68 was a period of student protests, labor strikes, and civil unrest in France in May 1968. It challenged the government and reshaped French society.

Nanterre 1968: A student protest movement at the University of Paris at Nanterre that helped trigger the events of May 1968. The conflict began with campus disputes and occupations at Nanterre before spreading to Paris.
University of Paris at Nanterre: A public university in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, established in 1964. Its crowded, expanding campus became an early center of student activism.
Daniel Cohn-Bendit: A French-German student activist who became a prominent figure in the Nanterre protests of 1968. His prominence made him a recognizable voice of the student movement.
1968 French legislative election: The June 1968 election in which Gaullist parties won a large parliamentary majority. De Gaulle used the election to restore political authority after dissolving the National Assembly.
French Communist Party: A French political party founded in 1920 and historically aligned with Marxism-Leninism. The party and its union allies often treated student radicalism cautiously rather than embracing it.
Occupation of the Sorbonne: The May 1968 takeover of the Sorbonne by students protesting university rules and police repression. The occupied university became a focal point for protests after police cleared it on 3 May.
Gaullism: A French political tradition centered on national independence, a strong state, and executive authority, inspired by Charles de Gaulle. The protests challenged the political order associated with de Gaulle's presidency.
Alain Geismar: A French academic and student activist who helped lead the May 1968 movement. He connected student mobilization with wider political demands.
Faure law: A 1968 French higher-education reform law that reorganized universities and increased institutional autonomy. The law addressed demands for changes to university governance after the student revolt.
Paris Commune: A revolutionary municipal government that ruled Paris from March to May 1871. The Commune offered an earlier French model of popular revolt, but May 68 did not create a comparable government.

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