May 1968: When Students and Workers United

The events of May 1968 began with student protests at Nanterre University but exploded into the largest general strike in French history. By late May, 10 million workers—two-thirds of the French workforce—had joined the strike. Unlike 1936, this wasn't primarily about material demands but about transforming society itself.

The alliance between students and workers, however temporary, created revolutionary possibilities. Students occupied the Sorbonne, declaring it an autonomous commune. Workers occupied factories across France, from Renault's massive Billancourt plant to small workshops. The slogan "Be realistic, demand the impossible" captured the movement's utopian spirit.

Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the student leader known as "Danny the Red," recalled: "We weren't just demanding better wages or conditions. We were questioning everything—hierarchy, authority, the very nature of work itself. The workers taught us about exploitation; we shared dreams of liberation."

The government of Charles de Gaulle, seemingly impregnable, tottered. De Gaulle himself briefly fled to Germany, convinced the Republic was falling. The Grenelle Agreements, desperately negotiated to end the crisis, granted massive wage increases and union rights. But many strikers rejected them, wanting revolution, not reform.

The movement's failure—De Gaulle's supporters won massive electoral victory in June—couldn't erase its cultural impact. May 68 permanently changed French society, making it more informal, less hierarchical, more open to women's and minorities' rights. In workplaces, the patron's absolute authority was forever diminished.