1968: A 40th Anniversary Review
The Year That Baby Boomer Students' Protests Rocked The World
Jul 28, 2008
In 1968 the Beatles sang "we all know you want to change the world" when their song Revolution debuted. It was a theme that year for Baby Boomers, those born after World War II and in universities in the sixties. Both a leap year and an Olympic year, 1968 proved to be portentous. Students protested on several fronts; they confronted world leaders, shouted generation-gap slogans like "never trust anyone over 30", and experienced frustration with "the system". For many people, the year was a turning point.
Global Protests
Mark Kurlansky in his summative book 1968, The Year That Rocked The World, argued that 1968 was the first "global" year because television instantly brought events into homes and forced confrontation worldwide. For instance, people around the world witnessed from their living rooms:
- the Vietnam Tet Offensive that brought the war and "body counts" to viewers
- Chicago police clubbing students at the Democratic Convention
- the aftermath of assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King
- the black-fisted salute of athletes in Mexico City's Olympics
- Soviet tanks in King Wenceslas Square, ending the Prague Spring
- workers and students marching in general strikes in Paris, France
It was a turbulent time and a coming of age for Baby Boomers around the world. 1968 almost demanded that people participate in issues or at least take a stand.
International Results
Student Baby Boomers may have rocked the world with their marches, sit-ins and demands for freedom but did they change it? The establishment did fight back violently and law and order seemed to triumph. Students may have influenced President Lyndon Johnson not to re-run, but Richard Nixon became president and the Vietnam War continued until 1975. Globally:
- Polish police and communist workers clubbed student protesters in Warsaw and Krakow
- Soviet tanks rolled into Prague to crush reform, killing almost 100
- Students and workers in France weakened President DeGaulle but his party won the elections
- Black athletes in Mexico City bowed their heads and raised gloved fists to decry race relations but the PRI government had killed over 25 students in quashing protests
However like so many movements, it takes time to recognize turning points. By most accounts,1968 was definitely a catalyst for change.
1968, 40 Years After
It's difficult to generalize about a generation and a year. Boomers came from all parts of the political spectrum. The United States has had two Boomer presidents now, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. France has a Boomer leader, Nikolas Sarkozy but the Czech Republic hasn't, Vaclav Pavel being born in 1936. The PRI doesn't rule in Mexico any more and the Soviet Union is gone, some arguing because of what happened in 1968; but if so, it was a long cause and effect. Even the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) fizzled by 1969. Ideals of peace and hope ran head-on into violence and realities.
But many "sixty-eighters" stayed active in politics, journalism or teaching, the "more apparent ways to change the world", according to Kurlansky. He wrote, "The thrilling thing about the year 1968 was that it was a time when significant segments of population all over the globe refused to be silent about the many things that were wrong with the world."[1]
There is a legacy from 1968 to this day of principled participation that manifests itself in many guises, from street protests at G-8 Summits to using Fair Trade coffee and living green.
[1] Mark Kurlansky, 1968, The Year That Rocked The World, (New York: Ballantine), 2004, p. 380
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