| 02.01.1968 |
A new Marxist Leninist party is established in Paris. |
 |
| 15.01.1968 |
Clashes between police and students at universities in Caen and Nanterre. Daniel Cohn-Bendit in confrontation with the Minister of Education at a meeting at the University of Nanterre. |
|
| 26.01.1968 |
Violent strike demonstration at the Saviem construction in Caen. Clashes at Fougrés and at the University of Nanterre. |
|
| 07.02.1968 |
The Vietnam Committee arranges a demonstration against a meeting in support of the American War in Vietnam. Violent clashes with the police. Demonstration in Paris in support of FNL. The police use batons and tear gas. |
|
| 11.02.1968 |
Students at the University of Bordeaux and workers at the Dassault factory are united in a common demonstration. |
|
| 13.02.1968 |
Demonstrations in Paris in protest against the American War in Vietnam. |
|
| 14.02.1968 |
Clashes between police and students at several universities all over France. |
|
| 23.02.1968 |
Agitation for free admission to student dormitories for both sexes. Both males and females demand free admission to all buildings. |
|
| 24.02.1968 |
The Socialist federation (FGDS) and the Communist Party decide on a common political action program. A united political front against the Gaullists. |
|
| 26.02.1968 |
School teachers on strike and the first meeting of the College Action Committee (Comités d’Action lycéens – CAL) is held. |
|
| 13.03.1968 |
A public opinion poll shows that 50 per cent of French people are in favor of President Charles de Gaulle. Only 10 per cent are in favor of another president. |
|
The preliminary phase - March 22 - May 2, 1968 |
| 22.03.1968 |
Clashes between police and students at the University of Nanterre. Protest against the authorities caused by arrests of students participating in the demonstration in Paris against the American War in Vietnam. The students occupy the administration building. The March 22 movement is established under leadership of Daniel Cohn-Bendit. |
|
| 22.03.1968 |
President de Gaulle gives pardon to former leading OAS members. |
|
| 28.03.1968 |
The Faculty of Humanities at the University of Nanterre is closed. |
|
| April, 1968 |
President de Gaulle becomes more popular in France. At the same time protest among students in Paris increases. |
|
| 02.04.1968 |
Riots at the University of Nanterre continue during April. |
|
| 19.04.1968 |
Demonstration in Paris in support of “Red Rudi” (West German student leader Rudi Dutschke) and the assassination attempt against him in West Berlin. |
|
| 21.04.1968 |
Clashes between left-wing and right-wing students during general assembly of the French student union (UNEF). |
|
| 22.04.1968 |
The French Parliament debates a vote of no confidence on the government’s misconduct towards mass media. |
|
| 24.04.1968 |
A non-violent demonstration at the student residences develops into a storming of the American student residence by 300 French students. Windows and doors are smashed. |
|
| 27.04.1968 |
Daniel Cohn-Bendit is arrested in Paris. |
|
| 01.05.1968 |
The French Communist Party and the supportive labor union (CGT) organize a peaceful demonstration. |
|
| 02.05.1968 |
Students at the University of Nanterre organize a day of anti-imperialism. The Dean suspends classes. Prime Minister Georges Pompidou leaves the country for a state visit to Iran and Afghanistan. |
|
The first phase May 3 – 14, 1968 |
| 03.05.1968 |
At the request of a rector at the Sorbonne University the police cleared the demonstrating students from the university area with tear gas. Violent clashes between police and students in the Latin quarter. The university is closed. 100 persons are injured and 596 are arrested. |
|
| 04.05.1968 |
Classes are suspended at the Sorbonne. The student organizations demand a strike of indefinite duration to have their colleagues released from custody. |
|
| 05.05.1968 |
13 arrested during the demonstrations in Paris are brought to court and four are sentenced to time in prison. Demonstrations in the Latin quarter. French students and professors on strike. |
|
| 06.05.1968 |
Closing of university campus bring 49,000 students on to the streets of Paris. The police use a force of 20,000 police officers. Barricades are put up in the streets in the Latin quarter. Violent clashes between demonstrators and the police. Buses and cars are turned over and set on fire. 945 persons are injured (among them 345 police officers). 422 persons are arrested. |
|
| 07.05.1968 |
30,000 students join a long demonstration march through Paris. On the grave of the unknown soldier in Paris, students are singing the International. Most of the French students are supporting the march. Students in Paris in new fights with the police. |
|
| 08.05.1968 |
The French Parliament discusses the situation in the French universities. 25,000 students in a peaceful demonstration in Paris demand release of imprisoned colleagues. President de Gaulle warns the students that further violence will not be tolerated. The Minister of Education promises to reopen Sorbonne if the students play by the rules. The decision is interpreted as if de Gaulle has given in to the students. |
|
| 09.05.1968 |
Riots in Strasbourg, Nantes, Rennes and Toulouse. In Lyon the workers join the students in the demonstrations. In Paris, the Minister of Education denies the rector at the Sorbonne to reopen faculties at the university. |
|
| 10.05.1968 |
60 barricades are erected in the streets of Paris. Some of them are more than 3 metres high. At 2am, the French riot police (CRS) attack the barricades at Rue Gay-Lussac with tear gas grenades. During the night 720 persons are slightly injured; 367 are seriously injured (among them 251 police officers); 468 persons are arrested. More than 80 vehicles are damaged by fire during ”the night of the barricades”. |
|
| 11.05.1968 |
The French labor unions announce a general strike from May 14 in support of the students. |
|
| 12.05.1968 |
Prime Minister Georges Pompidou returns from Afghanistan and orders the reopening of the Sorbonne. The Prime Minister promises that all convicted students will have their cases tried again in the Court of Appeals. In Strasbourg, the red flag flies from the top of the pole at the Faculty of Humanities. |
|
| 13.05.1968 |
800,000 demonstrators march in Paris from Place de la République to Place Denfert-Rochereau. (The exact numbers of demonstrators are uncertain. The cited numbers are given by the labor unions. The police estimate the numbers of demonstrators to about 171 000, kfr. Hobsbawm et al., 1998: s. 262.) The socialist politicians join the demonstration march outside Paris. Among the most central left-wing politicians are Pierre Mendés France, Francois Mitterand, Guy Mollet and Waldeck-Rochet. The general strike attracts widespread and massive support. The red flag flies from the top of the pole at the Sorbonne. The airport in Paris, the EDF (the state electricity provider) is on strike and after some time the whole of France is on strike. Students’ and workers’demonstrations. 10 year anniversary of the French army generals’ mutiny in Alger – there are no celebrations. |
|
| 13.05.1968 |
Demonstrations in Paris without any serious episodes. The political opposition proposes a vote of no confidence in the Parliament. France is paralyzed by a 24-hour strike. Students and workers march together in the afternoon. |
|
| 13.05.1968 |
Sorbonne occupied by students. Demonstrations in Paris until 3AM. |
|
| 14.05.1968 |
Students at the universities of the Sorbonne and Nanterre declare themselves autonomous. 200 workers at Sud-Aviation near Nantes lock the company director in his office. General de Gaulle leaves the country on a state visit to Romania. |
|
The Second phase - May 15 – 30, 1968 |
| 15.05.1968 |
2,500 students occupy the Odéon theatre in Paris. The theatre director supports the occupants. |
|
| 16.05.1968 |
Workers at the Renault factory on strike, and they hoist the red flag. The unrest spreads to the transportation system in Paris and to the French railways. |
|
| 17.05.1968 |
The leader of the French labor movement, CGT, demands a rise in salaries and reduced working hours. He refuses the students’ offer to combine the movements. Prime Minister George Pompidou gives a speech on national television. |
|
| 17.05.1968 |
Workers occupy the Renault factory. |
|
| 18.05.1968 |
2 million French workers are on strike. General de Gaulle breaks off the state visit to Romania and returns one day earlier than scheduled. The students march through the Latin quarter during the night. Mass meeting at the Renault factory. The Minister of information, Gorse, gives a statement on national television. |
|
| 19.05.1968 |
General de Gaulle declares from his residence in the Elysée Palace his ‘yes’ to reforms and ‘no’ to chaos. The film festival in Cannes is cancelled because of the unrest. French filmmakers make common cause with the workers. Jean-Luc Godard takes the lead among protesting film directors. |
|
| 20.05.1968 |
The transport workers’ union in Paris demands impartial news coverage of the events on national television. Unrest in textile- and chemical industry, and among dock laborers. 4-6 million workers on strike. 53 per cent of the inhabitants in Paris consider the students’ actions as just. |
|
| 21.05.1968 |
The value of the French franc collapses. Flight of capital to Switzerland. Households start to stockpile food and drivers are queuing to secure petrol. 8-10 million French workers are on strike. The headquarters of the Employers’ Association is occupied for 2 hours by a group of young administrators. Depositors rush to banks wanting to withdraw their money. |
|
| 22.05.1968 |
The French Government offers an amnesty to all students for illegal acts committed during the demonstrations. Debate in the French Parliament on a no-confidence motion put forward by the political left opposition. The Parliament majority rejects the motion. The labor unions are willing to negotiate with the employees and the Government. Daniel Cohn-Bendit is expelled as unwanted in France. The students in Paris demonstrate against the decision and shout: ”We are all German Jews”. Clashes outside the Communist newspaper in Paris. |
|
| 23.05.1968 |
French authors occupy the Sociéte des Gens de Lettres in Paris. Student demonstrations in the Latin quarter. The police use tear gas and water canons against angry students. The police express conflicts of conscience. |
|
| 24.05.1968 |
Riots in Lyon and one police officer killed. The labor union CGT arranges a peaceful demonstration in Paris. President de Gaulle gives a speech on national television in the evening and announces a popular election on the issue of the workers’ participation in June. Violent clashes outside the railway station Gare de Lyon in Paris after the speech. Demands from the Latin quarter: ”Expulsez de Gaulle”. Power struggle between the students and the labor unions. Attempts to set the Stock Exchange in Paris on fire. 3 police stations are attacked. 456 are injured during the demonstrations and 795 persons are arrested. A Committee for defence of the Nation is established to bring the chaos under control. The police in Paris warn the Government. The chief of police in Paris appeals for peace and order. |
|
| 24.05.1968 |
French farmers in the South West engage in massive protest actions. Demonstrations and roadblocks in protests against the agriculture policy of de Gaulle. The unrest spreads to several French cities. The police storm the barricades in the Latin quarter. |
|
| 25.05.1968 |
Prime Minister Georges Pompidou brings the Employers’ Association and the labor unions together for negotiation at rue de Grenelle. The negotiation continues until May 27. Those employed in the Government-owned broadcasting company ORTF join the strike. 20,000 demonstrators in confrontation with the police in the streets of Paris. Heavy street fighting in Nantes. |
|
| 26.05.1968 |
2,000 former French Algerians storm the local Government office in Toulouse under the slogan ”de Gaulle to the galley”. |
|
| 27.05.1968 |
Agreements between groups in negotiation at rue de Grenelle about minimum wages, reduction in working hours and a lower pension age. The workers’ participation in the company boards as a principle is turned down after a vote among the members of the labor unions. Statement by Prime Minister Pompidou. In the afternoon, 30,000 students and young workers march together from the Gobelin factories to a mass meeting at the Charléy sports stadium. Pierre Mendés France, the Socialist Party (PSU) and members of the labor union CFDT participate in the meeting. 10 million workers are on strike. In Paris bicycles have replaced cars in the traffic due to petrol shortage. The French communists against further student demonstrations. The police are ordered to crack down on all riots with all possible force. |
|
| 28.05.1968 |
The socialist leader Francois Mitterand declares him self candidate if General de Gaulle steps down as president. He proposes a temporary government led by Pierre Mendés France. The Minister of Education resigns. Daniel Cohn-Bendit returns illegally to France and arranges a press conference at the Sorbonne. Student riots in Paris. Violent clashes between students and police in Nantes. |
|
| 29.05.1968 |
Several thousand participate in demonstrations arranged by the labor union CGT in Paris. Pierre Mendés France declares he is ready to form a government if he gets support from all left parties in French politics. Mitterand declares himself a presidential candidate. He believes President de Gaulle will lose the referendum. |
|
| 29.05.1968 |
The strikes have drained the French dollar reserves. France sells dollars to stabilize the Franc at current exchange rate. |
|
| 30.05.1968 |
President de Gaulle disperses the Parliament and announces a general election in June. The referendum scheduled for June 16 is postponed until later. One million Paris inhabitants march in support this time of general de Gaulle. The march goes from Concorde to Etoile. French decree: temporary currency control. The measures are temporary and limited in scope. |
|
The Third phase - May 31 - June 30, 1968 |
| 31.05.1968 |
Georges Pompidou establishes a transition government and election days are set between June 23 and 30. Petrol is obtainable again. Gaullist demonstrations all over France. Tanks and military paratroopers surround Paris. Troops position themselves during the night. Sale of the French Franc is suspended, and there are speculations about a possible French devaluation. |
|
| 01.06.1968 |
Unidentified persons fire shots at the headquarters of an anti-Gaullist student organization in Toulouse. The shooting is followed by an evening with turbulent demonstrations in support of and against de Gaulle. |
|
| 02.06.1968 |
Daniel Cohn-Bendit leads a protest march through Paris. |
|
| 04.06.1968 |
Violent clashes between police and demonstrators at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Lyon. |
|
| 04.06.1968 |
France turns to their reserves and withdraws 750 million dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Violent clashes in Paris between Muslims and Jews. |
|
| 05.06.1968 |
General de Gaulle replaces the director of French radio and television ORTF. The strike in the transportation system and postal service seems to come to an end. |
|
| 06.06.1968 |
Employees in the public sector and in many private companies start work again. The wheels are slowly starting to move again. Workers in the car- and aero industries are still on strike. France loses 100 million working days. |
|
| 07.06.1968 |
De Gaulle arranges press conference and appeals for a third ”revolution”. He attacks both communism and capitalism. He proposes company reforms. Several thousand workers at the Renault factory are on strike and in fights with police. The French crisis worsens. Many are injured in fights in Flint and Elisabethville. |
|
| 10.06.1968 |
Clashes between workers and police at the Renault factory outside Paris. One high school student drowns during the tumult alongside the river Seine. University employees join the strike. Still one million French workers are on strike. Fights between workers on strike and scabs at the Citroen car factory. The car industry gradually returns to normality. The metallurgy industries are still on strike. Bidault back in Paris as a free man. There is speculation about whether he will try to take part in the election. He is working to get other OAS leaders released from prison. |
|
| 11.06.1968 |
New riots in Paris. Demonstrations at the railway station Gare de l’Est and in the Latin quarter in the aftermath of the fights in Flint. The street fights are more serious than those in May. Several thousand students are surrounded by the police at the Sorbonne.72 barricades are erected in the streets. 400 persons are injured in the clash between demonstrators and police. Panic among police officers when students throw Molotov cocktails from the roofs. 1,500 persons are arrested. 1 demonstrator is killed by bullets outside the Peugeot factory in Montbéliard. The general secretary of the Communist Party declares that the Gaullists were to blame. Colleges start to give lectures again. |
|
| 12.06.1968 |
Student riots in Paris. Molotov cocktails, barricades and burning of cars in the Latin quarter. The Paris boulevards become battlefields. The police use extreme brutality. The election in France is at risk. Furious farmers stop trains carrying cheap Spanish vegetables. The French Government bans demonstration nationwide. 11 revolutionary groups are dissolved. |
|
| 13.06.1968 |
Demonstrations in several French cities The demonstrations are peaceful protests against the Government’s ban on demonstrations. De Gaulle makes peace with OAS leader sentenced to death. New demonstrations in Nantes. |
|
| 14.06.1968 |
Police evacuates the Odéon Theatre in Paris. Former Algerian soldiers train students at the Sorbonne. Threats to blow parts of the Sorbonne up. Molotov-Cocktails are used at the Sorbonne. In the end the students fight the ”Katangese” soldiers and evict them from campus. Several fires at the Sorbonne during the night. Riots also in Nantes. President de Gaulle pardons former general and OAS leader Raoul Salan. France is drawing an additional 140 million dollars from IMF to maintain the Franc at its current exchange rate. |
|
| 15.06.1968 |
General Raoul Salan and ten other OAS leaders are released from the Tulle prison in the middle of France. Salan, the former French commander in chief in Alger, was sentenced to life in prison for treason in 1962. |
|
| 16.06.1968 |
The French police surround the Sorbonne and the remaining 2000 students are removed. |
|
| 17.06.1968 |
Taxies start to circulate again in Paris. Conditions in France have more or less returned to normal. Extensive losses in the tourist industry. Possibility of a de Gaulle electoral victory increases. |
|
| 18.06.1968 |
More than 100 000 metal workers return to work. Among these are workers at the Renault factory. France sees the end of the crisis. Prime Minister Pompidou delivers speeches on the radio and on television. |
|
| 20.06.1968 |
French Gallup poll shows small Gaullist gains and slightly diminished support for the communists, but the changes are small. Renault workers are back on strike. Renault management refuses to take on ”activists” again and the negotiations fail. |
|
| 22.06.1968 |
The stakes are big in the French election. Prime Minister Pompidou promises reforms if the Gaullists get a solid majority in Parliament. |
|
| 23.06.1968 |
First round in the general election to Parliament. The results show a noticeably diminishing support for the communists and the left wing coalition, and increased support for the political centre. 142 of 154 seats that are secured in this round are won by the ruling coalition. It is the greatest victory in the history of the Gaullists. De Gaulle’s strategy of threatening the country with the communists is a success. The vote for de Gaulle is a vote for law and order. |
|
| 25.06.1968 |
New outbreaks of fighting and shooting in Paris. The Gaullists are seeking a broad anti-communist front. |
|
| 27.06.1968 |
Police occupy the Ecole de Beaux Arts. The theater Les Folies-Bergères reopens again and the dancers are back in business. |
|
| 28.06.1968 |
Sharp warnings from the Government against further demonstrations before the second ballot of the French election. |
|
| 29.06.1968 |
ORTF gives President de Gaulle extra time on television for his election speech. General de Gaulle’s election speech is the last in a tough election campaign. Excitement and uncertainty about whether the Gaullist party will get majority in Parliament or not. |
|
| 30.06.1968 |
The political left suffers a major loss in the second round of the Parliament election. The political left Federation loses 61 seats, the Communist Party loses 39 seats, the political centre loses 8 seats, the Left Socialist Party PSU loses all their three seats, among them the seat of Pierre Mendés France, who loses in Grenoble. The governing coalition wins 358 of 485 seats in Parliament and an absolute majority. The Gaullists gain 97 seats and the Independent Republican Party gain 21. The election is a catastrophe for the French political left. |
|
Back to normal |
| 01.07.1968 |
A Gaullist demonstration on the Champs Ellysées in Paris. The French political opposition is paralyzed. de Gaulle is stronger than ever. The Gaullists get 49 per cent in the second ballot and a clear majority of 51 seats in the French Parliament. |
|
| 05.07.1968 |
The police clear the Faculty of Medicine at the Sorbonne. The students give up faculty control. |
|
| 10.07.1968 |
Former Secretary of State, Maurice Couve de Murville replaces Georges Pompidou as Prime Minister. The new government is formed on July 13. |
|
| 12.07.1968 |
Former General Salan, sentenced to life in prison for his participation in the coup in Alger in 1962, former Colonel Argoud and 10 others convicted are pardoned in connection with the ”Bastille Day” celebrations. A concession to the radicals on the right wing? of French political life. |
|
| 14.07.1968 |
France’s National Day. A parade in honour of President de Gaulle and the new government. Episodes during student demonstrations in the Latin quarter. New fights in the streets in Paris between students and police. The Bastille is ”stormed”. Rocks and tear gas are used in Paris during the night. Both demonstrators and police officers are injured. |
|
| 15.07.1968 |
France blasts a nuclear bomb. It is the second detonation in a test series in the Pacific. |
|
| 17.07.1968 |
Prime Minister Maurice Couve de Murville presents his cabinet and programme in the French Parliament. He promises widespread reforms put into action before Christmas and a stable economy during a period of 18 months. |
|
| 19.07.1968 |
Secretary General in the French Communist party on visits to Czechoslovakia and The Soviet Union. |
|
| 31.07.1968 |
Reorganization of the national broadcasting company ORTF. De Gaulle further intensifies the censorship in radio and television. The measures are seen as revenge. Many journalists lose their jobs. Sharp protests against the discharge of journalists in French broadcasting. |
|
| 07.08.1968 |
Mass discharges in French radio. The police start to take action against the hippies in Paris again. – During the May revolts, the flower children were left undisturbed by the police. |
|
| 21.08.1968 |
The French Communist Party expresses their surprise at the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. The next day the Party rejects it. Demonstrations in Paris against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. |
|
| 24.08.1968 |
France blasts her first Hydrogen bomb in the Pacific. A symbol of foreign policy after the internal revolts. France is back in business as a world power. |
|
| 25.08.1968 |
French troops intervene in support of the government against the rebels in the National Liberation Front (FROLINAT) in Chad. |
|
| 02.09.1968 |
Jean-Louis Barrault is removed as director of the Odéon theatre in Paris. |
|
| 08.09.1968 |
The French student union SNESUP appeals to its members to boycott exams. |
|
| 16.09.1968 |
Student unrest in Paris. Sporadic fights in the Latin quarter. |
|
| 22.09.1968 |
Election of 103 seats in the French Senate. UDR and the French Communist Party acquire gains from a new division of the election districts in Paris. The political center and the moderate parties’ make progress. |
|
| 03.10.1968 |
Alain Poher is elected leader of the French Senate. |
|
| 03.10.1968 - 04.10.1968 |
Clashes between police and students in support of the students in Mexico City. 400 persons are arrested. Demonstration in Paris in support of the students in Mexico. |
|
| 08.10.1968 |
The Minister of Education presents proposals to reforms of the French education system. 441 representatives vote for and no one against. 33 communists and 6 UDR representatives cast votes in favor of the proposals. |
|
| 26.10.1968 |
The police conduct house to house searches in the homes of militant members of the right-wing Occident movement. The movement is banned on October 31. |
|
| 28.10.1968 |
Bomb attack at Citroen factory. |
|
| 02.11.1968 |
At the annual meeting of the French non-communist socialist movement (SFIO) they decided to replace ”Féderation de la Gauche” (The Left Federation) with a new socialist party. |
|
| 07.11.1968 |
Francois Mitterand resigns as party leader of the FGDS. |
|
| 08.11.1968 |
A new wave of widespread student demonstrations in France. High-school students arrange sit-ins and other demonstrations. |
|
| 13.11.1968 |
The Action Committee in the gymnasium held meeting at the Sorbonne. |
|
| 02.12.1968 |
Renault workers on protest strike. |
|
| 05.12.1968 |
The French Parliament passes union laws that regulate their rights. Workers at the Renault factories are on strike and it is spreading. The students and workers are trying to cooperate. |
|
| 06.12.1968 |
Couve de Murville manages to escape a new wave of strikes. The labor unions agree to lower the tensions in the Renault strike. |
|
| 12.12.1968 |
French students are protesting against the presence of police on university campuses. |
|
| 14.12.1968 |
New clashes between police and students during demonstrations in Paris. French authorities threaten to expel those students taking part in illegal actions from university. |
|
| 16.12.1968 |
Clashes between students and police at the University of Nanterre. New control regulations at French universities. Students have to show identity cards. |
|
| 18.12.1968 |
The police withdraw from the University of Nanterre. |
|
| 19.12.1968 |
Faculty of Humanities at the University of Nanterre back to normal. Lectures start again. |
|
France
