Media 68

01 - 10 may
11 - 20 may
21 - 31 may

21 may

Second arrest in a few days for the Rolling Stone Brian Jones. In both cases he is accused of detention of Indian cannabis.
[Great Britain]
Guerrilla divisions land in Haiti, they occupy some positions in the north of the island and make a radio appeal to the population that they rebel against the dictatorship of Papa Doc (Francois Duvalier) and his secret police, the Ton Ton Macoutes.
[Haiti]
The authorities of Columbia suspend a course held by the leader of the SDS Mark Rudd. Immediate response of the students who occupy Hamilton Hall and barricade the entrances.
[United States]
The strikers are 7 million. Waldeck-Rochet proposes to the leaders of the other left-wing parties Mitterand and Mollet to create a united block of the left. Sartre speaks in the occupied Sorbonne. All the main theatres of Paris are also occupied.
[France]
Three thousand men, between members of the Flying Squad and carabinieri, evacuate the houses occupied in Rome. For the first time the occupiers resist and face the police for three hours. 160 family heads and 13 women are denounced. One arrest.
[Italy]

22 may

The strike spreads further. A motion of censorship for the Gaullist government doesn't pass by only 11 votes. The residence permit is taken from the leader of the 22 March Movement Cohn-Bendit, of German nationality, on a trip to Amsterdam for a demonstration. Creation of a committee for the defence of the republic. Vote of amnesty for the sentenced students.
[France]
At dawn the police of New York evacuate Columbia with the same violence demonstrated in the April attack.
[United States]
With their second album, "Disraeli Gears", the Cream, historical group of English hard rock, win their first golden disk.
[Great Britain]
Duvalier states that he has crushed the rebellion in the north of Haiti. However he asks for the immediate convocation of the UN Security Council.
[Haiti]

23 may

In Paris the head of the American delegation Harriman does not exclude the possibility of an interruption in negotiations if the North Vietnamese should "take advantage" of the limitations to USA bombardments.
[Vietnam]
The trial of 14 exponents of the Workers' Commissions ends in Madrid. They are accused of anti-Francoist demonstrations; they are all sentenced to a maximum of a year of detention.
[Spain]
Maximum extension of the strike that involves almost 10 million people. Clashes and barricades in the Latin Quarter but the CGT refuses to join the demonstrations for the return of Cohn Bendit. The trade union leader Barjonnet resigns in protest.
[France]

24 may

After seven weeks the soundtrack of the film "The graduate" loses its first place in the USA charts in favour of the album "Bookends" by the same duo. The two records will alternate at the head of the charts for another 8 weeks.
[United States]
The long-awaited television speech of De Gaulle lasts 7 minutes. The general calls a referendum within a month. The students clash with the police in the main cities. In Paris they try to attack the Stock Exchange and involve the police in a front 10 Km long.
[France]
Assembly of actors in sympathy with the march of the poor on Washington. Among others Marlon Brando, James Garner, Nathalie Wood, etc.
[United States]

25 may

The toll of the clashes in the night is very high: hundreds of injured, a demonstrator dead in Paris, an officer killed in Lyons In the evening new battles in Bordeaux. Even the peasants raise barricades.
[France]
There is no lessening in the pressure on Saigon of the Vietcong. The USA respond with a 24 hour curfew in the northern part of the city and with 123 bombardments on the north in 24 hours.
[Vietnam]
The toll of the clashes in the night is very high: hundreds of injured, a demonstrator dead in Paris, an officer killed in Lyons In the evening new battles in Bordeaux. Even the peasants raise barricades.
[France]
Clashes between police and workers in Trent during a strike in the Michelin factory. The entire internal Commission and some students are detained. A demonstration obtains the immediate release of the detained. The CGIL and the CISL announce a general strike on 29th.
[Italy]
The unrest in the German universities resumes against the special laws. The students ask the trade unions to call a general strike.
[West Germany]

26 may

Fifth consecutive day of anti-Israeli demonstrations and clashes in the Gaza strip. An Israeli civilian opens fire at a road block and injures five female students. Al Fatah claims responsibility for the killing and injury of 120 Israeli soldiers.
[Middle East]
The '68 edition of the Monterey International Pop Festival is cancelled under pressure from the local authorities and the citizens.
[United States]
The speech of De Gaulle was a failure and the government is disorientated. Petrol, already rationed, will now only be distributed in cases of emergency In rue de la Grenelle, seat of the ministry for Social Affairs, the trade unions seek an agreement with the representatives of industrialists and of the government.
[France]
Three hours of battle between students and police in Stockholm. After having tried to march to the royal palace the students improvise a sit-in at the centre of the city attacked by huge forces of police.
[Sweden]

27 may

The agreement between government and trade unions is signed at 7.15am. An hour later it is rejected by the workers' base of the Renault workshops of Boulogne Ballancourt. Pierre Mendes France participates without coming to a meeting of the modernist left (PSU, CFDT) at the stadium of Charlety.
[France]
After an attempted Fascist irruption, the Catholic University of Milan is evacuated. It will be reoccupied in the afternoon.
[Italy]
In Aquisgrana trial of 9 defendants accused of having marketed drugs with a base of Thalidomide, without sufficient experiments and in spite of the doubts of many physicians. Thalidomide caused the birth of 7,000 phocomelic children.
[West Germany]
Frelimo will hold in July in Mozambican territory its second congress. In the last months many areas of the country have been freed by the guerrillas.
[Africa]
Jean Marie Straub dedicates to the French May protest and to Mao Tze Tung "The fiancé, the actress and the pimp" and, after having left France (against the war of Algeria) and the RFT (legal questions regarding authors' rights), he transfers to Rome.
[France]

28 may

The minister for education Peyrefitte resigns. Mitterrand proposes an alternative government presided over by Mendès-France but the French Communist Party disassociates itself. The CGT calls a demonstration in Paris for the following day.
[France]
Another black revolt in Louisville in Kentucky, caused by the reassumption of an agent suspended for mistreatment of black detained and arrested. The police responds with firearms to the violence and lootings of the demonstrators.
[United States]

29 may

Last debate of the Bundestag on the special laws. Nine universities closed and tens of faculties occupied. Clashes in Munich, Hamburg, Berlin
[West Germany]
Two blacks killed by the police in the clashes of Louisville.
[United States]
Half a million people at the CGT demonstration in Paris. In the morning De Gaulle disappears unknown to everyone. Panic in the government. In the afternoon it is discovered that he went secretly to Baden Baden, to gen. Massu, commander of the French troops in Germany, to assure himself about the eventual protection of his family and the support of the army in the case of a trial by force. Pierre Mendès France states that he is ready to form a provisional housekeeping government.
[France]
The State university of Milan is occupied. All 4 city universities are thus controlled by the students. Occupation also in the Faculty of Education of Rome. Denounced for defence of crime three professors of Architecture in Rome (Zevi, Quaroni, Marini). They had undersigned a statement in favour of the student movement affixed in the faculty.
[Italy]

30 may

Novotny expelled from the Central Committee of the Czechoslovakian Communist party and suspended with six other leaders of the Stalinist era. Suspension until their role in the political trials of the '50s is clarified.
[Czechoslovakia]
Artists and students of architecture occupy the Triennial of Milan after having forced the cordons of the police who charge the protesters.
[Italy]
Interrupted after less than 10 days the negotiations between Nigeria and Biafra. Thus Nigeria returns to its siege forcing the Biafrans to famine..
[Africa]
De Gaulle speaks on the radio. A very hard speech in which he refuses to resign, dissolves the National Assembly, postpones the referendum, announces elections for the 2 June, threatens recourse to armed forces. Huge demonstration in support of De Gaulle on the Champs Elyées. At the head is André Malraux.
[France]

31 may

State of emergency in Senegal where a student revolt is in progress.
[Africa]
Gaullist demonstration in all the French cities, who clash with left-wing groups. Pompidou forms a new government. The control over exchange rates is re-established. Basic provisions are available. It is the long weekend of Pentecost.
[France]
Signed between trade unions and Fiat the agreement on working hours (45 hours per week) and incentives.
[Italy]
McCarthy wins the primaries in Oregon for the Democratic party and thus opens the contest with Kennedy.
[United States]
Signed between trade unions and Fiat the agreement on working hours (45 hours per week) and incentives.
[Italy]


		01 - 10 may 11 - 20 may 21 - 31 may
21 may		Second arrest in a few days for the Rolling Stone Brian Jones. In both cases he is accused of detention of Indian cannabis. [Great Britain] Guerrilla divisions land in Haiti, they occupy some positions in the north of the island and make a radio appeal to the population that they rebel against the dictatorship of Papa Doc (Francois Duvalier) and his secret police, the Ton Ton Macoutes. [Haiti] The authorities of Columbia suspend a course held by the leader of the SDS Mark Rudd. Immediate response of the students who occupy Hamilton Hall and barricade the entrances. [United States] The strikers are 7 million. Waldeck-Rochet proposes to the leaders of the other left-wing parties Mitterand and Mollet to create a united block of the left. Sartre speaks in the occupied Sorbonne. All the main theatres of Paris are also occupied. [France] Three thousand men, between members of the Flying Squad and carabinieri, evacuate the houses occupied in Rome. For the first time the occupiers resist and face the police for three hours. 160 family heads and 13 women are denounced. One arrest. [Italy]
22 may		The strike spreads further. A motion of censorship for the Gaullist government doesn't pass by only 11 votes. The residence permit is taken from the leader of the 22 March Movement Cohn-Bendit, of German nationality, on a trip to Amsterdam for a demonstration. Creation of a committee for the defence of the republic. Vote of amnesty for the sentenced students. [France] At dawn the police of New York evacuate Columbia with the same violence demonstrated in the April attack. [United States] With their second album, "Disraeli Gears", the Cream, historical group of English hard rock, win their first golden disk. [Great Britain] Duvalier states that he has crushed the rebellion in the north of Haiti. However he asks for the immediate convocation of the UN Security Council. [Haiti]
23 may		In Paris the head of the American delegation Harriman does not exclude the possibility of an interruption in negotiations if the North Vietnamese should "take advantage" of the limitations to USA bombardments. [Vietnam] The trial of 14 exponents of the Workers' Commissions ends in Madrid. They are accused of anti-Francoist demonstrations; they are all sentenced to a maximum of a year of detention. [Spain] Maximum extension of the strike that involves almost 10 million people. Clashes and barricades in the Latin Quarter but the CGT refuses to join the demonstrations for the return of Cohn Bendit. The trade union leader Barjonnet resigns in protest. [France]
24 may		After seven weeks the soundtrack of the film "The graduate" loses its first place in the USA charts in favour of the album "Bookends" by the same duo. The two records will alternate at the head of the charts for another 8 weeks. [United States] The long-awaited television speech of De Gaulle lasts 7 minutes. The general calls a referendum within a month. The students clash with the police in the main cities. In Paris they try to attack the Stock Exchange and involve the police in a front 10 Km long. [France] Assembly of actors in sympathy with the march of the poor on Washington. Among others Marlon Brando, James Garner, Nathalie Wood, etc. [United States]
25 may		The toll of the clashes in the night is very high: hundreds of injured, a demonstrator dead in Paris, an officer killed in Lyons In the evening new battles in Bordeaux. Even the peasants raise barricades. [France] There is no lessening in the pressure on Saigon of the Vietcong. The USA respond with a 24 hour curfew in the northern part of the city and with 123 bombardments on the north in 24 hours. [Vietnam] The toll of the clashes in the night is very high: hundreds of injured, a demonstrator dead in Paris, an officer killed in Lyons In the evening new battles in Bordeaux. Even the peasants raise barricades. [France] Clashes between police and workers in Trent during a strike in the Michelin factory. The entire internal Commission and some students are detained. A demonstration obtains the immediate release of the detained. The CGIL and the CISL announce a general strike on 29th. [Italy] The unrest in the German universities resumes against the special laws. The students ask the trade unions to call a general strike. [West Germany]
26 may		Fifth consecutive day of anti-Israeli demonstrations and clashes in the Gaza strip. An Israeli civilian opens fire at a road block and injures five female students. Al Fatah claims responsibility for the killing and injury of 120 Israeli soldiers. [Middle East] The '68 edition of the Monterey International Pop Festival is cancelled under pressure from the local authorities and the citizens. [United States] The speech of De Gaulle was a failure and the government is disorientated. Petrol, already rationed, will now only be distributed in cases of emergency In rue de la Grenelle, seat of the ministry for Social Affairs, the trade unions seek an agreement with the representatives of industrialists and of the government. [France] Three hours of battle between students and police in Stockholm. After having tried to march to the royal palace the students improvise a sit-in at the centre of the city attacked by huge forces of police. [Sweden]
27 may		The agreement between government and trade unions is signed at 7.15am. An hour later it is rejected by the workers' base of the Renault workshops of Boulogne Ballancourt. Pierre Mendes France participates without coming to a meeting of the modernist left (PSU, CFDT) at the stadium of Charlety. [France] After an attempted Fascist irruption, the Catholic University of Milan is evacuated. It will be reoccupied in the afternoon. [Italy] In Aquisgrana trial of 9 defendants accused of having marketed drugs with a base of Thalidomide, without sufficient experiments and in spite of the doubts of many physicians. Thalidomide caused the birth of 7,000 phocomelic children. [West Germany] Frelimo will hold in July in Mozambican territory its second congress. In the last months many areas of the country have been freed by the guerrillas. [Africa] Jean Marie Straub dedicates to the French May protest and to Mao Tze Tung "The fiancé, the actress and the pimp" and, after having left France (against the war of Algeria) and the RFT (legal questions regarding authors' rights), he transfers to Rome. [France]
28 may		The minister for education Peyrefitte resigns. Mitterrand proposes an alternative government presided over by Mendès-France but the French Communist Party disassociates itself. The CGT calls a demonstration in Paris for the following day. [France] Another black revolt in Louisville in Kentucky, caused by the reassumption of an agent suspended for mistreatment of black detained and arrested. The police responds with firearms to the violence and lootings of the demonstrators. [United States]
29 may		Last debate of the Bundestag on the special laws. Nine universities closed and tens of faculties occupied. Clashes in Munich, Hamburg, Berlin [West Germany] Two blacks killed by the police in the clashes of Louisville. [United States] Half a million people at the CGT demonstration in Paris. In the morning De Gaulle disappears unknown to everyone. Panic in the government. In the afternoon it is discovered that he went secretly to Baden Baden, to gen. Massu, commander of the French troops in Germany, to assure himself about the eventual protection of his family and the support of the army in the case of a trial by force. Pierre Mendès France states that he is ready to form a provisional housekeeping government. [France] The State university of Milan is occupied. All 4 city universities are thus controlled by the students. Occupation also in the Faculty of Education of Rome. Denounced for defence of crime three professors of Architecture in Rome (Zevi, Quaroni, Marini). They had undersigned a statement in favour of the student movement affixed in the faculty. [Italy]
30 may		Novotny expelled from the Central Committee of the Czechoslovakian Communist party and suspended with six other leaders of the Stalinist era. Suspension until their role in the political trials of the '50s is clarified. [Czechoslovakia] Artists and students of architecture occupy the Triennial of Milan after having forced the cordons of the police who charge the protesters. [Italy] Interrupted after less than 10 days the negotiations between Nigeria and Biafra. Thus Nigeria returns to its siege forcing the Biafrans to famine.. [Africa] De Gaulle speaks on the radio. A very hard speech in which he refuses to resign, dissolves the National Assembly, postpones the referendum, announces elections for the 2 June, threatens recourse to armed forces. Huge demonstration in support of De Gaulle on the Champs Elyées. At the head is André Malraux. [France]
31 may		State of emergency in Senegal where a student revolt is in progress. [Africa] Gaullist demonstration in all the French cities, who clash with left-wing groups. Pompidou forms a new government. The control over exchange rates is re-established. Basic provisions are available. It is the long weekend of Pentecost. [France] Signed between trade unions and Fiat the agreement on working hours (45 hours per week) and incentives. [Italy] McCarthy wins the primaries in Oregon for the Democratic party and thus opens the contest with Kennedy. [United States] Signed between trade unions and Fiat the agreement on working hours (45 hours per week) and incentives. [Italy]