Saturday Medusa

What happened 50 years ago

1968 is in many ways a turning point for the history of the entire 20th century; it contained so many important events in various parts of the world that, perhaps, you will not find the second such eventful year right off the bat. This year can be considered the birth of modernity - the way modern people feel in society, in many ways, came out of the social upheavals of 1968. On the anniversary of the student revolution in France - one of the most important pages of 1968 in Europe - we, together with 1968.digital (this is a series for smartphones about how the 68th changed the world; the project was invented by journalists Mikhail Zygar and Karen Shainyan) decided to talk about the main events that took place in the world 50 years ago.

Of course, it is impossible to tell about everything. 1968 included the assassination of Robert (not to be confused with John!) Kennedy, the death of Yuri Gagarin, Nixon's victory in the elections, the turning point in the Vietnam War, the release of the Beatles' White Album, and the release of the first Chronicle current events" in the USSR, and the creation of APRAnet (the progenitor of the Internet), and much more. But here are three events that, perhaps more than others, determined the image of 1968.

Student unrest in France

Why is it important

The performances of students at the University of Paris, which escalated into riots and the largest strike in the history of France, became a milestone for the whole of Europe. The rallies provoked by the unpopular education reform revealed the fatigue of French society from the presidency of Charles de Gaulle. Harsh police actions against students led to the fact that teachers, cultural figures and workers of French factories took the side of the students. In the end, the demonstrators did not achieve the resignation of the government, but France after the uprising was no longer the same. Read "shameful questions" about May 1968 , which we published on the anniversary of the Paris barricades.

What to see about it

The student revolution has become one of the most popular plots in cinema. The classic film about these events is Jean-Luc Godard's All Right, and the modern classic is Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers. And the student revolution is very well documented by French photographers - do not spare money for one of the many albums sold on the Internet, but rather go to second-hand booksellers when you are in France - there are sometimes quite cheap editions.

Assassination of Martin Luther King

Why is it important

American preacher and public figure Martin Luther King Jr. became the main symbol of the struggle for the rights of the black population in the United States. King called for the struggle for rights by peaceful means through civil disobedience, for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. On April 4, 1968, King was killed in Memphis, where he came to participate in another demonstration against racial oppression. King's assassination sparked demonstrations and riots across America.

What to see about it

First of all, the famous speech that Martin Luther King delivered during the 250,000th March on Washington in August 1963. A good documentary about the Civil Rights Movement is the 1994 Free Thought , but you probably know about the relatively recent film Selma without us (the film was nominated for an Oscar and received four nominations at the Golden Globe "). Also check out the 1968.digital episode about how Martin Luther King was assassinated and what happened next.

Prague Spring

Why is it important

An attempt to liberalize the communist regime in Czechoslovakia lasted a little longer than six months - from January to August 1968 - and ended with the occupation of the country by the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries. The entry of Soviet tanks into Prague became a symbol of the collapse of the socialist system as a moral alternative to Western democracies. In the USSR itself, the response to the events in Prague was the activation of the dissident movement - the famous Demonstration of the Seven was provoked precisely by the events in Czechoslovakia.

What to see about it (more precisely - to read)

One of the most famous novels dedicated to the Prague events of 1968 is The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (and there is also a 1988 film based on this book). A lesser-known book is The Best Years Down the Line by Michal Viveg, who is often compared to Kundera, but it seems easier to compare him to Dovlatov - Viveg has the same combination of wit and desperation. The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia is the focus of Viktor Suvorov's The Liberator, a partially autobiographical book about his service in the Soviet army in the late 1960s. For Russian culture, the demonstration of dissidents on August 25, 1968 on Red Square was crucial in the context of the "Prague Spring" - you can read about it the memoirs of a participant in the events, the poet Natalya Gorbanevskaya.

Long live free and independent Czechoslovakia! «Медуза» и 1968.digital