ABSTRACT

The student movement of May–June 1968 is recognised as the most important French student rebellion of the twentieth century, among other reasons because it did not remain confined to the academic world. It led to a nationwide general strike of workers lasting for almost three weeks, followed by a greater number of strikers than those in the period of the Front Populaire. The general strike of university students and professors on 6 May paralysed universities in the Paris area and in the provinces, and then spread to high school students, which was something new. Public support of the student movement increased greatly as newspapers published accurate reports of the violent police repression. The rebellion came to be viewed as a defensive action having the merry spontaneity of youth. In addition to occupying university buildings, students occupied the Paris opera house and the nearby Odeon theatre in the Latin Quarter, whose director, Jean-Louis Barrault, supported the student movement.