May 68: France's month of revolution

On Friday 3rd May a meeting was called in Paris'sSorbonne University to protest against the closure of NanterreUniversity the day before. This followed a week of clashes therebetween extreme right wing groups and students campaigning againstthe Vietnam War. The Sorbonne meeting had been attended by only aboutthree hundred student activists. But by evening a pitched battleraged up and down the Boulevard St Michel, and by the end of it 72policemen and untold number of young people had been injured, 600 hadbeen arrested and what has now gone down in history as France's Mayevents had begun.

by Iain Gunn

Using the excuse of a rumour that the right wing were going toattack the students meeting, the university authorities called in thepolice. At first the police encircled the Sorbonne, then afternegotiation agreed to let the students leave, peacefully, in groupsof 25, men and women separately. The women were allowed out, but whenthe first batch of men came out they were immediately arrested andforced into waiting police vans. A crowd developed and started toangrily push forward. When the first of the vans tried to leave ontothe Boulevard St Michel, their path was blocked by a crowd ofstudents getting bigger by the minute.

In the end the police cried for tear gas, and May's first streetbattle began. Choking, coughing, eyes stinging, people scattered upand down the Boulevard. But they soon regrouped and came down againto stop the vans. More and more young people were now joining theprotest, streaming out of the cafes and bookshops, schools andcolleges to join the fray. The police and the CRS (French riotpolice) had to charge repeatedly and use round after round of teargas, but every time the students fought back.

The next day the press and media were full of comments about theunexpected reaction of the students. There was total surprise andincomprehension at the events. While, as usual, the government blameda small group of agitators, one thing would become increasingly clearover the days and weeks ahead - a seeping sense of anger andfrustration throughout French society, not just in the colleges anduniversities, but also in the factories and workplaces, was about toexplode.

Over the weekend that followed 'defence committees' and 'actioncommittees' sprung up in halls of residence, colleges and schools, todemand the release of all the students arrested and the reopening ofthe Sorbonne. A government minister spoke derisively of the troublebeing organised by a 'groupuscule.'

On the Monday morning, 6th May, a crowd of over 20,000 gathered onthe Place Denfert-Rocherau. Chanting 'We are a groupuscule,' and 'Noto repression' and 'Free our comrades,' the march made its waypeacefully towards the Sorbonne, still sealed off by the CRS. As themarchers turned into Rue St Jacques they were met with a huge policecordon. Almost immediately the police drew their truncheons andcharged. Of course the main body of the march was still in the mainstreet and still advancing, so there was nowhere for the front of themarch to go, and the police waded in with their truncheons.

Regrouping on the main boulevard, people started to pull up metalgrilles and paving stones, then hurl them at the police lines,forcing them to retreat. They in turn would retaliate with tear gasand more charges.

Young workers

The next day there were twice as many demonstrators, and not juststudents. Thousands of young workers, school pupils, teachers andlecturers were there too. To prevent further clashes the organiserstook the march across the Seine, up the Champs-Elyses, to sing theInternationale under the Arc de Triomphe. Violence was avoided, butthe right wing were enraged all the more.

The next day rumour was rife that the authorities were about to'compromise' and reopen Nanterre and the Sorbonne. On Thursdaymorning the announcement was made, but when students began to turn upfor lectures they found the police and CRS still in residence. TheMinister of Education had vetoed the reopening, claiming that'irresponsible elements' were about to occupy. Debate now raged onthe streets: what should be done now?

On the Friday evening another huge crowd congregated on the LeftBank. Once again they tried to march across the river, this timeevery bridge was blocked by CRS, and the crowd found itself hemmedinto the Latin Quarter. Spontaneously barricades were thrown up anddown the Boulevard St Michel and the other streets around theSorbonne. Just after midnight a delegation was sent into the Sorbonnewith their demands: withdrawal of the police from the Quarter, reopenthe Sorbonne and release the prisoners.

As the crowds waited, residents in the mainly middle class andprosperous flats along the Boulevard brought down food and drink forthe crowd, showing just how far public opinion had travelled over thelast few days.

Soon the announcement was made, no guarantees on the release ofthe prisoners could be made. It was only a matter of time before thepolice would now move in to clear the streets.

At 2.15am the police moved. The violence was the most intense seenin France since the war with hundreds of casualties on both sides andmiraculously no deaths. Millions listened live on radio and the nextday on television they saw the devastation left behind: the burnt outcars, the remnants of barricades, paving stones, broken glass andtear gas canisters scattered across the ground.

The government had clearly gone too far. The trade unions werecalling a one day general strike and massive demonstration for theMonday.

Strikes and demonstrations were being prepared across the countryand the government was now being forced into retreat. The PrimeMinister himself announced the release of the prisoners and thereopening of the Sorbonne. But it was not enough to hold back themovement.

On Monday over a million people marched through Paris and thepolice stayed well away. The trade union leaders were pleased: theyhad made their voice heard, the government had backed down and'normal' life could be resumed. But it was not to be.

The Sorbonne once reopened, had been occupied and students formeda 'constitutional assembly.' And across the country reports came inthat many workers were not just content with one day of action, morestrikes were being planned, factories were being occupied, By the16th about fifty factories were occupied, by the 17th 200,000 were onstrike. On the 18th seeing the magnitude of the movement, the tradeunion leadership moved to try and control it by linking the actioninto a campaign for pay increases and better conditions. That eveningthere were two million on strike and within five days that figure hadrisen to ten million. France had been brought to a standstill, therule of the government and the class it represented now lay in ruins.

The mainly young workers at the Sud Aviation factory had beendowning tools for 15 minutes every Tuesday morning in their longrunning dispute with management.

On Tuesday 14th May, the day after the 24 hour general strike,things would be very different. The workers decided to spread theiraction to every section of the plant. They locked up 20 of themanagement in their offices, formed an action committee and decidedto spread the action.

By the next day the strikes and occupations had spread withlightning speed to Renault, the shipyards, the hospitals. By the 16thall 60,000 Renault workers were out and the six main plants had beenoccupied. Citroen was out and the main ports of Le Harvre andMarseille were closed. Everywhere workers moved into action. The damhad well and truly burst.

By the 18th over two million were on strike and the trade unionbureaucracy, seeing a movement well beyond their control, were forcedto try and 'harness' it under there control. They now called for anall-out general strike to demand better pay and conditions. Theresponse confirmed the breadth and depth of discontent - by nextWednesday, ten million were out.

However, for the mass of workers and students the strike was notjust about pay and conditions - it was about power. Starting withdemands for the resignation of the government and President de Gaullethe strike was not just about economics, it was very much political.By trying to limit it to some economic demands the trade unionleaders were in reality trying to derail the movement by denying itthe scope and breadth it quite obviously had. 1968 was a socialmovement, a revolution.

Work had stopped, factories were occupied, the TV was off, debateraged. People changed more in a few hours or a few days than they hadin a lifetime. People who would have seen themselves as conservativesyesterday, now talked of revolution.

On May 24th, de Gaulle addressed the nation on TV. Even by his ownadmission it was a flop. He was the old man in charge of the oldworld. The same day, student leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit was deniedre-entry into the country after a trip abroad. Paris lived throughanother night of barricades as students and young workers protested.During the night a twenty six year old man was killed by shrapnelfrom a grenade - the first death of the events. At the height of theprotest , the crowd ransacked and set fire to the Bourse, the Parisstock Exchange building.

Revolution

After that revolution was truly in the air. Big demonstrationswere now daily and strike committees were more and more taking overthe functions of civil administration, joining together to form theembryo of an alternative system of government. Dual power existed.

By the 29th and another huge demonstration through Paris thesituation was becoming over-ripe. Government officials later admittedthat they believed they could last no more than a few hours. Thedemonstration itself, with proper leadership, could have taken theElysee Palace and seized power. Unfortunately there was no suchleadership.

The trade union leaders entered negotiations with the government.For two days and nights they discussed at the Ministry for SocialAffairs.

According to the Sunday Times, 'any amateur could have negotiatedhuge concessions in such a situation.' The ruling class was facingdestruction, yet the workers leaders emerged smiling with its list ofconcessions that it had 'skilfully' negotiated: 7% wage increase thisyear, the minimum wage up by a third, strikers would receive halfnormal pay for the time on strike.

CGT leader Georges Seguy went proudly to the giant Renault plantat Billancourt. But he was immediately booed and heckled. At everyRenault plant in fact the deal was rejected as a sellout and workersdug in for a longer struggle.

It had taken the trade union leaders two years to get round thetable with the government. They had achieved a deal that would havebeen unthinkable only one month ago. But the workers rejected it.They had come this far and they would not retreat for so 'little.'

One of the chants at Renault was for a 'people's government.' Theywanted more than just better wages or talks on union rights. Whatmore sign did the leadership, especially the PCF, need. What had theyspent their lives fighting for? If they had moved just one fingerthey could have swept de Gaulle and the capitalist class backing himaside. But at that decisive moment they failed, the leadership dideverything but lead and the movement was left to inevitably falter.

De Gaulle had by now left the country for secret discussions withGeneral Massu, commander of the French troops stationed in WestGermany to discuss military intervention.

He returned to once again address the nation on TV. 'The countryis threatened with communist dictatorship,' he stated. He thenannounced that the Assembly was dissolved and that a general electionwould take place in June. Work should start as normal otherwise a'state of emergency' would be called and 'appropriately tough' actiontaken.

That same afternoon, nearly a million of France's reactionarieshad now found the strength to take to the streets. Troops were nowbeing sighted near Paris, tanks were on the ring-road. Given theinaction of the trade union leaders and, in particular, theleadership of the French Communist Party, the revolutionary 'moment'began to ebb.

At the head of such a mighty movement of the working class theCommunists could have easily taken power, they should have takenpower. Yet when de Gaulle attempted to seize the initiative theyoffered no response. 'When he (de Gaulle) declared that the state wasstill there, the Communists appeared almost relieved.' (TheEconomist, June 1st, 1968).

'Opportunity'

The PCF entered the election campaign, welcoming it as an'opportunity for people to have their say.' What they thought theworkers of France were doing up till that point we can only guess.They called on workers to negotiate the best possible deals andreturn to work.

In the days that followed, after some economic concessions to theworkers, work slowly began again in the public sector and police setout to systematically expel the occupiers from all officialbuildings. The rank and file resisted, while the trade union leaderswelcomed the return to order. The PCF welcomed de Gaulle's electoralchallenge and did not want to be associated with any 'extremist'attitudes.

After June 7th those still resisting were, as they put it,isolated and therefore subject to the most violent repression yet.One school student was drowned in the Seine in the battle to end theRenault occupation at Flins, and two workers were shot dead at thePeugeot factory in Sochaux.

On the 12th the government banned several student organisationsand some 'left' groups. The national union of students called off allstreet activity to avoid further clashes. The movement was losing itsimpetus almost as fast as it had grown. Then on the 16th, theSorbonne was finally retaken by a vast police assault. There were afew clashes in the Latin Quarter, but no barricades. The movement wasfinally over.

At the end of June, the Gaullists, having laid down a challenge tothe reluctant Communist Party, scored a sizeable victory in theelections. Capitalist order had been restored.

For some the strike came out of the blue. Wages were rising by anaverage 5% a year. Expectations were rising. Car ownership haddoubled over the previous ten years, fridge ownership had trebled andTV ownership was up five times.

However it is not grinding poverty and economic slump thatnecessarily generate revolution. France was 'modernising' fast, andworkers and students were getting some benefits, but also a lot ofthe heartache.

The Economist described the production line at Renault as a 'sightfrom Hell.' Workers talked of 'les cadences' - the intense rhythm ofthe line, the pressure, the strain, the sweat. Like Britain today,France in 1968 was a powderkeg ready to explode. A society whichoffered so much but, in the end, gave so little.

When the workers struck, it was more than just about the bread andbutter issues. It was about all the social ills that had built up. Itwas about the management culture that existed. It was about gettingrevenge for all the speed-ups and bullying. That's why the movementcould so rapidly develop into a revolution.

All that was needed was leadership. But the workers leaders werejust as buried in the past as the Gaullists. 1968 was the biggestgeneral strike in history. The fact that the workers went back towork undefeated, with huge concessions is testament to that.

But it could have been so different. Workers should be inspired bythis movement. Just like today the academics, cynics and bureaucratshad written off the working class, not just as a fighting force butas a class in itself. But these ideas were swept away by themovement. One thing was made clear, and remains clear to this day;when the working class of one of the major capitalist powers movesinto action it can be unbeatable.

May 1998

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