1968 riots

1968 riots
Title	1968 riots
Date	1968
Location	Various cities worldwide
Cause	Civil unrest following political events
Result	Widespread property damage, casualties, legislative responses, cultural shifts

1968 riots

The 1968 riots comprised a series of urban disturbances and protests across multiple countries marked by clashes involving demonstrators, law enforcement, and political actors in cities such as Paris, Mexico City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Prague, Los Angeles, Detroit, London, Berkley, California and Rome. Rooted in contemporaneous events including the Tet Offensive, the Prague Spring, the Tet Offensive's aftermath, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, the disturbances intersected with movements represented by organizations like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Black Panther Party, the National Liberation Front (Vietnam), the Students for a Democratic Society, and the Italian Communist Party. These events accelerated debates in legislatures such as the United States Congress, the French National Assembly, the British Parliament, and influenced policy discussions in institutions including the United Nations and the European Economic Community.

Background and causes

Urban unrest in 1968 drew on antecedents like the Algerian War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, the May 1968 events in France, the Prague Spring reforms, and the Mexican Student Movement of 1968. Student activism at universities such as University of Paris (Sorbonne), University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, University of Mexico (UNAM), and University of Chicago connected to political factions including the New Left, the Socialist Workers Party (UK), the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and the Democratic Party (United States). Racial tensions in cities like Detroit, Los Angeles (Watts Riots), and Birmingham, Alabama combined with economic dislocation in urban centers tied to corporations such as General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and unions like the United Auto Workers to create flashpoints. International incidents—Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Tlatelolco massacre, and escalations in Southeast Asia—intensified protests that involved figures such as Charles de Gaulle, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Alexander Dubček, and activists like Abbie Hoffman, Stokely Carmichael, Tom Hayden, Huey P. Newton, and Angela Davis.

Major incidents and chronology

Spring and summer 1968 featured notable episodes: the May 1968 events in France saw occupations and parades around the Sorbonne and confrontations near Rue de Rennes; the Prague Spring culminated in the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and street clashes in Prague. In Mexico City, demonstrations at Tlatelolco before the 1968 Summer Olympics ended in the Tlatelolco massacre. In the United States, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. triggered disturbances in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Baltimore, and Kansas City, Missouri; subsequent unrest followed the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy after events in Los Angeles and New York City. The Democratic National Convention, 1968 in Chicago produced street battles involving protesters affiliated with the Yippies, the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, police forces including the Chicago Police Department, and federal entities like the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Concurrent incidents in London and Belfast saw clashes involving groups such as the Unionist Party and the Provisional Irish Republican Army, while riots near Rome and Milan intersected with demonstrations by the Italian Social Movement and student collectives.

Government response and law enforcement

Authorities responded with measures by municipal police, paramilitary units, and national militaries including the French Gendarmerie, the United States National Guard, the Soviet Armed Forces, and the Mexican Army. Executive actions by leaders like Charles de Gaulle, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gustáv Husák involved emergency decrees, curfews, and deployment orders debated in bodies such as the United States Congress and the French National Assembly. Law enforcement tactics incorporated baton charges, mass arrests by the Chicago Police Department and the New York Police Department, surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and crowd-control doctrines influenced by manuals used in the British Army and NATO planning. Legal outcomes implicated courts such as the Supreme Court of the United States in rulings affecting civil liberties, while commissions established by institutions like the Kennedy administration and municipal councils investigated causes and responses.

Social and political impact

The disturbances accelerated policy debates within parties including the Democratic Party (United States), the Labour Party (UK), the Gaullist Party, and the Italian Communist Party. Legislative measures on policing, housing, and welfare were considered in assemblies such as the United States Congress and the French National Assembly. Cultural movements—reflected in works by artists like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Marianne Faithfull, and writers associated with the Beat Generation—responded to the turmoil, while intellectuals from universities such as Harvard University, University of Oxford, Princeton University, and University of California, Berkeley debated reform. The crises reshaped careers of politicians like Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, George Wallace, and Enrico Berlinguer, influenced international diplomacy at the United Nations General Assembly, and affected alignments within organizations such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Non-Aligned Movement.

Media coverage and public perception

Coverage by outlets such as The New York Times, Le Monde, The Guardian, Pravda, Der Spiegel, Time (magazine), and broadcasters like the British Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, CBS, ABC (American Broadcasting Company), and Televisa shaped public impressions. Photographs by photojournalists working for agencies like Agence France-Presse and Associated Press and films documenting protests—screened at venues including Cannes Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival—influenced reception. Editorials and reporting by journalists such as those at The Washington Post and columnists referencing figures like Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow affected opinion; public debates unfolded in hearings before bodies like the United States Senate and in parliamentary inquiries in Westminster and Paris.

Aftermath and legacy

The disturbances of 1968 left legacies in legislation, policing doctrine, urban planning, and cultural memory associated with archives in institutions such as the Library of Congress, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the British Library. Scholarly analyses in journals published by universities including Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Harvard University Press, and research at centers like the Institute for Advanced Study examined links to later movements such as May 1968 events in France-inspired activism, New Left offshoots, and the trajectory of the Civil Rights Movement. Monuments and commemorations in places like Tlatelolco Plaza and Chicago's municipal sites, as well as retrospectives at museums including the Smithsonian Institution and the Museum of Modern Art, preserve contested memories. The events influenced subsequent policy debates in legislatures, electoral politics in parties such as the Republican Party (United States) and the Social Democratic Party (Germany), and long-term scholarly inquiry into protest, policing, and urban change.

Category:1968 events