The Sixty-eight it was a vast protest movement developed at late 60swhich reached its peak in the year 1968 (hence the name). The movement involved all Western countries and some states of the Soviet bloc. In Italy the movement began in December 1968 with two large youth protests at La Scala in Milan and at the Bussola in Viareggio. The main protagonists were the students and the 1968 movement was above all a student revolt, but in many cases the protesters also took part in the protests workers and other categoriesThe protests, due to the social and cultural changes that developed after the end of the Second World War, were heterogeneous and had different objectives, but in general the sixty-eighters fought against authoritarianism, for peace, for freedom, for the reform of customsThe outcome of the protests varied from case to case, but almost everywhere the movement contributed to making the education system more democratic and society less authoritarian.
What was 1968?
The 1968 was the youth protest movement arose in the second half of the 1960s. The protest took place mainly, but not exclusively, in the schools and universities. The Sixty-eight movement did not end in 1968, but began before and ended after, with variations depending on the country. The Sixty-eighters did not propose a platform of demands that was the same throughout the world, but in general they asked for aless authoritarian setting of the education system, the right of assembly, freedom, the evolution of customs, world peace.
The 1968 movement took place in many Western countries and, in different forms, also in some states of the Soviet bloc. The youth rebellion movement was sometimes associated with the workers protestsgiving rise to a more complex protest.
Why did 1968 break out and what did the 1968ers want?
To understand the reasons for the 1968 movement, one must consider that after the Second World War, the West faced a significant economic growth and, in many cases, to profound socio-cultural changes. The consumer society began to make its way even in those countries, such as Italy, that until then had been distant from it. In this context, the youth component of the population began to “distance oneself” from adultsfollowing different fashions and making “specific” claims that were different from those of the rest of the population. In the new generations various “countercultures” developed, such as that beat and that of the hippie (or hippies), who expressed egalitarian and pacifist ideas and were also represented in the musical field by bands such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
Movements of this type involved only one minority of the youth populationbut they were very active. From the “cultural contestation”, the young people moved on to political proteststhus giving birth to the 1968 movement.
The protest in schools and universities
The student protest began in United StatesThe first protests broke out in 1964 in California, at the Berkeley campusand soon spread to other universities in the country. In addition to fighting for the reform of the university system, the students also advanced demands on more general issues, asking for an end to the war in Vietnam and the extension of civil rights to the African-American population.
The 1968 movement affected many European countries. The most heated tensions developed in France In the May 1968also known as French May. University students occupied campuses and streets, repeatedly clashing with the police. Student protests and clashes also took place in West Germany, the United Kingdom and other countries.
The dispute it ran out of steam starting in 1969but helped make more open and democratic education system. Furthermore, the Sixty-eight “crossed paths” with the numerical growth of students, due to the increase in well-being, which gave birth to the mass university and radically changed the education system. The Sixty-eighters, with their anti-authoritarian battles, gave an important contribution to the change.
Other political and cultural phenomena of the 60s
The 1968 movement did not end in the universities. In some countries of the Eastern bloc, protests against dictatorial political regimes took place. The most important rebellion was that of the Czechoslovakiaknown as Prague Springwhich was repressed by the military intervention of the Soviet Union.
In the United States, alongside the student protests, the movement for the emancipation of African Americanswhich he found in Martin Luther Kingkilled in 1968, one of its main exponents.
TO City of the Mexico On October 2, 1968, ten days before the start of the Olympics, the army attacked a youth demonstration and killed hundreds of people. The event is known as Tlatelolco Massacre. At the Olympics, one of the most famous protests took place, that of two African American athletes who, on the podium of the 200-meter race, raised their closed fists in protest against the conditions of black citizens.
More generally, the 1968 movement, in addition to politics, affected art, music, literature and mentality, creating a cultural current of protest against “bourgeois” society.
The Sixty-Eight in Italy and the Hot Autumn
In Italy The 1968 movement involved schools, universities and other sectors of society. In schools superiorstudents fought for the end of authoritarianism and the evolution of customs. Thanks to their protests, in the 70s the class and institute assemblies. One of the inspirers of the movement was a priest, Lorenzo Milaniwhich proposed an education model that was attentive to the needs of the weakest sections of society.
The 1968 movement, however, had its fulcrum in the university. Begun in 1967, the movement spread almost to all Italian universitiesalbeit with varying intensity depending on the case. Numerous universities were occupied and the students they clashed with the police several times. University students also obtained the right to participate, through their own representatives, in the University management.
The student protests were joined by the workers protestswhich had their culmination in theAutumn 1969known as warm autumn. In Italy too, the Sixty-eight movement quickly petered out, but the politicization of young people did not disappear. In the 70s, numerous extra-parliamentary political groupsthat is, not represented in parliament and different from the traditional left, who were active throughout the decade.
