Series

1968: A Revolutionary Year

Socialist Worker contributors remember the great struggles of the revolutionary year of 1968 — and the lessons they hold for today.

Clockwise from left: Students in the streets of Paris; a Black Panthers protest; Czech demonstrators confront soldiers
Alan Maass

1968: The year that changed everything

The struggles that came to a head or reached a turning point around the world 50 years ago were a profound challenge to a society of rulers and ruled.

January 3, 2018
A medic treats a wounded U.S. soldier during the Battle of Huế
Eric Ruder

1968: Tet and the watershed in Vietnam

Fifty years ago, an offensive by the armed forces of Vietnamese people fighting for national liberation turned the tide decisively against the U.S. war.

January 30, 2018
In the streets of Newark, New Jersey in 1968
Khury Petersen-Smith

1968: When King’s murder set off the uprisings

If the year 1968 marked a turning point for struggles worldwide, April 4 and the murder of Martin Luther King was a turning point within the year.

April 4, 2018
Tens of thousands pour into the streets of Paris in May 1968
Comment

1968: Revolution reaches the heart of Europe

The uprising of workers in France during May 1968 produced the largest general strike in history, with 9 million workers occupying their workplaces.

May 10, 2018
Tanks roll through the streets of Prague in 1968
Phil Gasper

1968: A revolt blooms behind the “Iron Curtain”

The Prague Spring uprising in so-called “socialist” Czechoslovakia showed that the 1968 spirit of revolt had crossed the divide between East and West.

May 23, 2018
Members of SDS lead a demonstration against the Vietnam War
Geoff Bailey

1968: SDS and the revolt of the campuses

The story of Students for a Democratic Society includes some of the high points of the era — and many of the challenges that faced the new left.

July 3, 2018
Brian Ward

1968: The rise of the Red Power movement

This is the 50th anniversary of the formation of the American Indian Movement and the rebirth of Native resistance that continues today.

August 8, 2018
Chicago police assault antiwar protesters during the 1968 Democratic convention
Lance Selfa

1968: A war on dissent in the streets of Chicago

Fifty years ago, the Democrats were nominating a pro-war presidential candidate—while Chicago police declared war on antiwar protesters.

August 27, 2018
Demonstrators toss symbols of sexism into the “Freedom Trash Can”
Elizabeth Schulte

1968: Women’s liberation takes the stage

Protests at the 1968 Miss America pageant 50 years ago were, for many people, a bold debut of a new women’s liberation movement.

September 14, 2018
Todd Chretien

1968: The massacre in Tlatelolco

Fifty years ago, Mexican government troops attacked striking students, committing a massacre that haunts the country to this day.

October 2, 2018
Richard Nixon campaigns in Pennsylvania in July 1968
Lance Selfa

1968: The Nixon backlash and the “silent majority”

What explains the victory of right-wing Republican Richard Nixon in the 1968 presidential election — at the end of a revolutionary year?

November 8, 2018
Interview: Jason Ferreira

1968: The strike at San Francisco State

Fifty years ago, students at San Francisco State were fighting racism and repression during the longest student strike in U.S. history.

December 13, 2018