A-Infos (en) Paris, May 1968 remembered

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FREEDOM PRESS
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30 years ago this month Europe saw, perhaps, the most serious threat 
to government in an industrially advanced society.

Paris was the focal point and we have started a collection of 
some of our documents (an example follows) relating to the events of 
that year at:

<http://www.tao.ca/~freedom/1968>

Further details will also be given on our mailing list:
<majordomo@tao.ca>
subscribe fpi

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VIVE LES ETUDIANTS

TEN-MILLION WORKERS were called out on strike in France in support of
the student demands. This follows ten days of militant action by the
students. Considering that the Communist hierarchy has previously
denounced the students as Anarchists, Trotskyists and Maoists, this
action is as much bowing to public sentiment as the sudden
capitulation of the French Government. The Sorbonne is to be reopened
and cleared of the hated combat police and the release of all students
was promised for today (May 13). 

The antecedents of this struggle go back to January 26 of this year.
On that day 40 members of the Nanterre University anarchist group
marched into the faculty hall with comical posters ridiculing the
police. The porters attacked the anarchists but were defeated. The
authorities called in the police; one thousand students fought back
and attended a protest meeting. The movement thus launched has grown
ever since. The students are determined to get rid of the uniformed
and plainclothed police that haunt the faculties. 

On May 3 a great meeting was called at the Sorbonne by the extreme
left. The rector appealed to the police to dislodge the students. As
the student protest grew, the Government stepped in and closed down
the Sorbonne and Nanterre University, which were occupied by the
combat police. The students organised quickly and brilliantly to
reoccupy the universities from the hated police. As many as 15,000
students and sympathisers fought in street battles until the
capitulation of the Government. 

One of the demands of the students was that Danny Cohn-Bendit of the
Nanterre anarchist group should not be deported to Germany. There has
been many conflicting accounts in the British Press about our comrade.
Although Nesta Roberts of the Guardian has accurately described him as
an anarchist Joseph Carroll, in the same paper on the same day,
imputed he was a Trotskyist. Margot Lyons in the New Statesman said he
was a 'Maoist' ringleader, the Ohserver said he was the leader of the
'anarcho- Maoists'. More to the point was Mandrake in the Sunday
Telegraph who said amongst the students were many tendencies -
Marxists, two kinds of Trotskyists, Maoists, Anarchists, Castroists,
situationists. 'On March 22, they invaded the administrative offices
of Nanterre University and demanded the right to hold political
meetings'. The subsequent 'Movement of March 22' was led by Danny
Cohn-Bendit and no doubt attracted others than anarchists. 

Tuesday, May 7. Ten thousand students had taken possession of a vast
circle round the Arc de Triomphe, their red and black flags massed on
either side of the unknown soldier's tomb, singing the
'International'. The police kept out of the way. General de Gaulle
declared that he would not tolerate any further student violence. 

The students declared that they were ready for a dialogue on three
conditions: withdrawal of the police forces from the Latin Quarter;
release and immediate amnesty for the imprisoned students; reopening
the Sorbonne and Nanterre. Four hundred and thirty-four demonstrators
were that day under arrest. The police that day restored CohnBendit's
residence permit (but only for a short period). 

Wednesday, May 8. Strong police forces still occupied the Sorbonne and
the student union delivered an ultimatum to the Government. If the
demands were not met they would 'liberate' the Sorbonne. Mon general
changed his tune and said: 'The Government is ready to take the steps
necessary for the adaptation of education to the modern world'. M.
Pierre Sudreau, of the Party of Modern Democracy, said in the French
Assembly that extremists had been trained in street fighting at two
anarchist camps. 

Thursday, May 9. The Ministry announced that until calm was restored
the Sorbonne will remain closed. The students declared that as soon as
they reoccupied the Sorbonne they 'would take over the premises and
hold discussions day and night on the problems of the university'. 

Friday May 10. The industrial unions (Communist and Christian) have
thrown in their lot with the students and called for a general strike
on Monday. Beyond Paris the movement is now supported all over France.
Several thousand young pupils marched through Paris with placards:
'Tomorrow we shall have the same problem'-. 

Saturday, May 11, saw the decisive battle and the defeat of the 
Government. There was ferocious fighting, barricades were set up by
the students and cars were upturned to form a barrier. It was a night
of the barricades which the capital had not witnessed since the
Commune days of 1870. After a hurried conference with General de
Gaulle, M. Pompidou, the Prime Minister, announced the concessions.
The student unions were not overawed. The union described the
concessions as 'extremely interesting' but they would wait till Monday
to see if their comrades were to be released. 

>From all reports the population of the Latin Quarter was solidly
backing the students. They showered debris over the police and water
over the students to minimise the effect of the chlorine gas grenades.
The demonstrators were themselves issued with a leaflet on how to
protect themselves against tear gas. They took an anti-'flu pill
before demonstrating and when the grenades started flying; carried
lemon-soaked handkerchiefs and smeared bicarbonate of soda around
their eyes. 

The brutality of the police horrified all reporters. Photographs seen
in London, but unavaiIable to this paper, showed policemen clubbing
students on the ground, blood streaming from their faces. But the
students also fought back, kicked gas grenades back to the police, and
the police had to protect their faces from thrown stones with what
looked like fencing masks. 

The French Government is desperately trying to cope with the 
revolutionary situation forced by the students and now supported by
the working class. The general strike is called on the tenth
anniversary of de Gaulle's assumption of power, on the day that the
Vietnam 'peace talks' were to provide him with added glory. The
adulation in Sunday's British Press was an indication of the treatment
he was to-be given and still got without a reference to the upheavals!


The students will also have to fight off the dubious embrace of the
Communist Party and all those who are now climbing on the bandwagon.
But their cool determination hitherto to force their just demands is
an inspiration to us all! 

JOHN RETY. 



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