Myth: The protests and strikes in 1968 forced radical change – and involved virtually the entire population of France.
Did you know that there is a special word – a sixty-eight – for someone who took part in the May 1968 strikes and demos in France?
And people of a certain age would have you believe that anyone who was alive at the time was a sixty eightbut did everybody really get involved?
It’s impossible to argue that the 1968 protests weren’t big and weren’t influential – the government effectively collapsed and president Charles de Gaulle fled the country before being forced to call an election.
They were, however, relatively short lived – demonstrations, strikes and occupations lasted seven weeks in total, taking in May and June of 1968.
Compare that to the – admittedly much less disruptive – 2019/20 transport strikes which went on for over two months and the weekly ‘yellow vest’ protests which went on for almost 18 months.
The May 1968 protests were a lot more intense though – demonstrations from students calling for social change were met with a heavy-handed police response (the more it changes) which inspired sympathy strikes and demonstrations from trade unions which spread to widespread industrial action, wildcat strikes, demos and occupations of key buildings.
The government eventually effectively ceased to function and president Charles de Gaulle even fled to Germany at one point. He returned, and announced an early election, which had the effect of calming some of the anger and ending most of the protests.
De Gaulle won the election and remained in power until 1969, when he resigned after losing a referendum (on a different issue).
At the movement’s height 11 million people were actively involved – 22 percent of France’s population at the time.
So clearly a lot of people were on the barricades, but if you meet someone who was alive in 1968, there’s a four-in-five chance that they weren’t directly involved (although in fairness that figure includes people who were children at the time).
The protests were certainly influential though, even though they didn’t succeed in toppling the government they marked a sea change in France’s social and cultural history.
There’s also the undeniable fact that photos from the protests – many featuring attractive young female students – look extremely cool, which may have contributed to the seven-week action’s place in France’s history and iconography.
Whatever the reason, it’s still the case that being a sixty eight gives ones a certain cachet in France, which may be why so many people claim it.
This article is part of our August series looking at popular myths and misconceptions about French history.