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Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects
1970
The Student-Worker Crisis in France May-June, 1968
John Bingham Munroe College of William & Mary - School of Education
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Recommended Citation Munroe, John Bingham, "The Student-Worker Crisis in France May-June, 1968" (1970). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539272204. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25774/w4-x550-hz85
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By
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The writer wishes to express his appreciation to Professor
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Royce W* Chesser and Professor Gordon B, Ringgold to r their care** fui reading and criticism of the manuscript* Page m m m m m s m m s ,**♦**.***.****.*«**#*-* » * * ill
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The purpose ot th is study was to compare ttm reaction. by the French and the French**Canadtan press to the. student rio ts and the labor strik e in France to Hay and dune* 1968 * The hypothesis, -was .tested in this study was that the editorial comment to the French laid Prench-Canadiart newspaper# would be similar because Quebec Province and France, share a. common heritage and language* Three areas to 'this period of disorders m m axa&to&d* They ware, first, the student revolt and its causes? second, the worker strike? and th ird , President de Gaulle .and the. pariistsen- tary elections to June, 1968 * Reaction to the outbreaks by the students was similar to France as to Quebec,, although the reason was not due to their common language and heritage* Bom papers were sympathetic with the students and some with the police and French government* There were fiv e main.cause#' fo r the revolt accordtog to the press? (!) the activity of the ultra-toft 1s t student, groups Cthe ^groupuscutos” >, a feeling of alienation from the, university on the p art of the student, < 3) the students* desire to participate to the. operation of the university, < 4) the boredom the. students felt because of their situation aa students', and < 5> the imnediate cause, the invasion of the Sorbonne by the police- on May 3, 1968 * Reaction by the French and £re»c&<*Csxiad£ast press « s also similar concemtog the labor strike. Both presses were generally f>ro-~labor and discussed the roles of the French government and the French Ocsoesmlst Party to the strike* to the third area,, reaction to- de Gaulle was satoed in the. French press but was strongly negative to the Canadian press, which had its own reasons for disliking de Gaulle* This reaction stemmed from a speech .made by de Gaulle in which he called for the liberation of Quebec from Canada* Both presses mre satisfied with the results of the parliamentary elections to which the. Gnu I lis t s won an overwhelming: v icto ry a t the expense of ilia l e f t i s t p arties because this- meant a return to normal fo r France*
The result# suggested that the hypothesiswas not v alid , because in areas where reaction of the two presses was similar, it was for reasons other than lingual or cultural that thm two shared* Concerning General de Gaulle, the reaction was different because of negative feel tog created a# a result, of de Gautltib Quebec liberation speech of July, 1967 * n rn reaction m mm $mmm mb mm m mm m m xm msss w tm
crisis is f&akcs, % m a c m m m t zw m om m tm
Xn May June, 196® , France suffered a social and economic
.collapse the 1 ikes of which had not been experienced in over one hundred end fifty years. Hot since the invasion of the liable in
194® did Fteaelsaen talk of the **d&ath of a civil lent ion** as they did in Hay and June, 1968* However thin was a foreign and a military tragedy* One must go back in history to the days of the
French Revolution to find a comparable breakdown of a social and economic order*.
During the early days of Bay* prance was shaken by the student riots which took place- first to Paris and than spread -Quickly to ether French cities* After days and nights of anarchy and destruction, the revolt spread to the working class*. Bythe third week of Bay the. number of workers on strike approached fen. million and France was totally paralysed*
It is therefore the object of this study to examine a crisis of the magnitude of this, one which shook french higher education from which it took its genesis* Because France and Quebec* share:, a cossaon language and heritage * this study attempted to eMpare and contrast the reaction of the french press to that of the French- -Canadian press m -shown particularly by their editorial comment as wall us the. extent end treatment of mmm Items* Four French and three French Canadian daily newspapers fmre
used:* They m & mm follows;
French French Canadian
tm Monde, t a r is he S o le ll, ijuafecc
He Figaro,. Farts he Devoir.,. -Montreal
Fran h*tteianite» Far is The French Canadian newspapers used in this study ware selected on. the hasts of circulation, - these enjoying the largest circulation of dailies in French Canada* The French papers were chosen because they are by far the< best known and most widely read dailies in France* The hypothesis that this study tested was that the reaction of these French and French Canadian dailies to the *event*s of May** were sim ilar because Quebec C pro vines) and France share c common heritage, and language* that their common Mood is thicker than, the water that separates them* In pursuit of determining the validity of this hypothesis, the author considered the reactioneof the press •in the -two countries to the following question# regarding the crisis ■of 1068: Cl) How was the student movement in France (and elsewhere i n t b s 'world) viewed? What were the cause# of the revolt? it) what w s.‘ the -eeactiba to the ■worker strike fliat followed? (3) flow large a part did the. personality of osnsral de Gsutls play in the crisis? Was it a crisis of civilisation and government * s Inability to maintain'order? <4> what 'was the, meaning of and reaction to the parliamentary elections in June, 1 9 8 8 , which were brought on by the crisis? ea&ftis&ive m i m f lingual mw n m tim m l How do the Canadians view their situation as being affeot# 4 by the situation i n rr&uoe (Canada &% that time was in the Midst of its own parliamentary elections aad the candidate for the -labor party was a French Canadian, Pierre lllott Trudeau)? fa there, something in the nature of the French that would rake them more p v m m to this t o m of social upheaval than the Canadians? To assist the reader in following the succession of event# during thin period the researcher has provided this chronology* Chronology of Events The scholastic year t$67^*68 at the faculty of letters at N anterrc, a suburb n o rth of P a ris , was marked by demonstrations and stu d en t u n rest * Led by th e German born studen t lea d er flaniet Gc*t»i.~Bendit* a group of le ftist students (the Movement of March 22) harassed the school administration and disrupted the u n iv e rs ity in t h e i r demand fo r reform of the fa c u lty at ftafcrre which* like the University of Paris and others* is but one caiapus of the national University of France which is administered by the Ministry of Education in Faria* Friday*., May 3 Because of the continuing student unrest the dean closes the Faculty of letters at Stentertfe* that afternoon sympathetic stadenta meet in the. courtyard o i the Sorbeim© la 3?wr4»s« The- p o lic e ■enter the courtyard and 4$x$eX them .and violeace mu -rioting a re touehed -off in th e ietie Quarter (student section of fat is)* 'Monday* Wmf 6 S tam m are guetpattded a t th e S d rta m s f a r th e -first tim in its long history* Friday* M«y 10 The first night of the barricades is passed in tk® Latin, Quarter* Monday, Way 13 A general 24 hour 0 fcrlke la held by the .workers to skow th e ir m p p & tt i m the &tw im t% * omm.* TM stadents "tafce" the Sorbonne* Thured&y* May 16 The f i r s t #tate~s«#sed EemaMlf ear fac to ry i s occupied by its workers, Saturday* Way IB Gena m l de O aulte cuts sh o rt a v i s i t to twia&ma to re tu rn to farls and deal with a steadily worsening domestic situation.* ¥a4iaesday,. May 22 the llatlotial Assembly rejects a motion of censure put forward by two leftist parties, the Fraactt Communist Party in mi -attenipfe to b rin g timm the Cauliist goyerntscnt, Friday, May. 24 In a TV aiUlress de Gaulle announces a referendum for reform* to be interpreted as a mandate for his remaining in power, Later that night the worst riots yet sweep across France a& the students -and workers register their generally negative reaction to tim speech* Saturday* May 23 Hound the clock negotiations arc started betroM&s gotmmmeat* industry* union spokesmen to bring m end to the s tr ik e which- a t th is point has- about 10 million adherents* out of a general population of 43 million* and the country £0 totally paralysed. 6 Wednesday, Hay 29 Amid rumors of m imminent resignation de Gaulle quietly leave© Faria for bis borne at Colotabay~ lea I m n *. Thursday, May 5 0 la a dramatic coup de Thl&tfre de Gaulle shears on television and call# for new elections,. kicking, off his anti-Commun 1st campaign* Army units are placed on the outskirts of Faria in the event that, the situation gets out of hand*. This speech is taken as the high water mark ■' of the crisis after which the situation slowly begins to improve.. Saturday* dure t There is a massive pro-dc Gaulle rally on the €hftmp8 ~£!y9 &e& with an estimated one million demonstrators* Friday, June 7 In a televised interview de Gaulle explains hi & Pi an f or worker "participation** which is supposed to be different from both capitalism and communis® as a solution to the country*© economic problems* Wednesday, Tune 12 The government puts a ban on all demonstrations until the end of the electoral campaign, Sunday, June Id The Sorbonne "falls** to the police* Sunday, June 23 'In the first 'round of the parliamentary elections the gaaiiist 'party Sunday, June SO In the second- round of the pari iameutary elections th e ODR had won Itself -a majority of the. seats in the Matloml Assembly, For the first tine In the history- of fraace mm a Republic, one party has- sore than 50% of the seats In the- Assembly* aBAFrest i i c & m m m the B t w w ® m v o m The year I9 G8 was a year of world-wide- student ferment and unrest*. From Bfeseow to Madrid,, Harvard to Nanterre» East and Host, few were spared the sight of angry young men -and women attaching the traditions and institution* of the established Order — the bourgeois State — which had become insensitive, to the needs and problems of the student poput at ion.. Some felt. mild contempt, concerning, the disorders on American campus** in •L96&* French students have store Important demands to mafce than- 1 the right to visit girl© in their dormitory rooms.n Of coarse the issues involved were more serious and subtle than this mmarfe would indicate* However the problems In French u n iv e rs itie s ware much more se rio u s and profound than those across the Atlantic or anywhere else in the well* They touched off a -chain of events th a t led a year later to the msigimtion of the French president* In discussing the .events at Hay the’ French and the French Canadian press discussed five main causes and one immediate cause of the student revolution. First., French universities have opposed to the goals' of the university whose function to them was to train the cadre© for a bourgeois society which exploits the working class* Their objective was not only the destruction of the university as it existed hut also of society itself * An interestlag point about these groups is that they embody th e revolutionary d o c trin e s of Marx* le n i n* Mao, Castro* and ethers? yet they were feared and hated by the French CtoiSBmniafc Party (i<^> for reasons that will fee discussed later* The largest nest of these groupuaeules could be found at the Faculty of letters at .Mauterre where the revolt took Its roots* According to a writer in Im ftkmde these agitators believed that The students are nothing less than the intern exploiters of a bourgeois society and its parasites* The symbol of this participation of the University / In the exploitation^/ is the diploma and the exam* which lead to it* <2> In je Qevoir (Montreal) it was written* Mit seems to /""the students^? that changes made in the past have no other Justification than to % adapt the University to. the need© of big business*”' ha Fresse (Montreal > took an unsympathetic view of these student groups* ‘‘The Minister of National Education* Mr* Alain Feyref ittc., has in our bumble opinion expressed the most lucid explanation of this disquieting phenoaenoe* *AJaong the students there arc OROAiflBlh AGITATORS steeped in. the technique of urban g u e r r illa warfare* *. And 1 /humanifce ( P a r is ) , th e o f f i c i a l to Monde (Paris)-*. tfey 7, i9fMt p* xo, ^iditorint, M. Jteyotr (Montreal, 1 f May 10* 19§B% f*f* A Iditoirial, ha .ihregse (Montreal>* Beger Ohagspeose, May It* 1961* p* f paper of the KS? saw the 8 a group© ad present lag a el ear danger to to student© in their tgtiest for legitimate reform fa the french A second reason for the revolt* according. to the french and Canadian pve#&* waa a feeling of boredom ©n the p a rt of. the students* fhay bad everything, given to them artel did not h a w any higher 'Meal to torn their energies and interests to* Thus when events started to m they ©aw this as ssmetbirtg to do, something, to relieve the boredom. In as article in fa. jyfonda* I*-* i. Beynand wrote* "ft is because the great mass of students live, in lethargy feeing the tension .of- contemporary life that a revol ufcioaary movement led to sorgo and capture the attention /**of the. students/ « hater he Bonde wrote* "Apathy of the great mass of students is real hut the awateming. can he rude.** students want significance for their lives, a cause to believe in that, is 7 b ig g erthan themselves. "WelMberng is not happiness*" The ’ Canadian press expressed the . same sent Meat*- It is very probable that the so~e.&lled capital 1st. world is*.* a victim of its prosperity*.**, abundance result# M boredom* Our student©*...- are torn batmen, their scorn of.. * immediate satiaf actions* which are not. sufficient to give life sseaaing. and there desire to ho assured by the world of a longer range security* CS) % 4itoriat * Le Monde {Paris) * F* 1** Ecynaud* May &,m I§68+ p* 12* u E d ito r ia l, he. Monde { F a ris> , #a»sse» and ll« rn llc h t. May 1 968* p* 6 . 7m 8 Editorial.,; ha. Fr-assm. {Montreal)* Jest* Bellileg, June if-* IfdS, P# 20* %0 The insecurity that they felt at this particular time was heightened b y the fact that in a tew weeks* time they m m to ait for their final examinations which carry a great deal of importance for the french students since their whole academic career depends -on how well they do on' these examinations* Thus the tensions and anxieties produced by the fateful upcoming examinations contributed to am already tense situation* On these first two points the french and Canadian press were in agreement;* There was little in the french press on the third cause although later in the crisis the French began to write more about it in terns of university reform rather than causes of the revolt, M stated in the introductory chapter all French universities are part of the one University of France which is administered by the Minister of Rational Education in F»*riaf with the result that power and authority are highly centralized* Also* the French University system Is old. The Sorlxwma for instance dates back to the thirteenth century when it was used m a residence for divinity students studying in Paris* Because the University was so centralised and so little interested in changing traditions established over hundreds of years* the students felt alienated from the University.* The press felt that this feeling of alienation* the third cause, Imcl increased in the preceding ten years when the University greatly increased its size,, enlarging existing campuses and creating new ones such as the Faculty of 'tetters at Han ter re, In te Devoir & French Canadian student studying at Rmterre gave the fol lowing 11 Impressions of his life in th is cam pus-., ***,, Z never cease feeing troubled by the life t live each clay here at Hanterm.**^ He describes the t o m of Nanterre* a slum for Biepfee. iBotrfh African: Arate)* which completely surround# the educational institution with poverty and discontent. There wsra no movie houses* no recreation centers-* ami no cafes where .the students* oouM gat ter and talk* So oppressive wore the surroundings that i t is no wonder that many of them spent their time plenatag revolution. Concerning the Faculty of betters* % * • yon come to take your course.® a little as you would take a pill and then you return home.” 10 Twenty ■ years ago it was easy for a professor and Ms students to maintain a dialogue of equality since the universities and hence the classes were smaller m d there was more opportunity for contact and closer relations between students and teachers. Today mm® society requires mass education with the result that the student* instead of taking m active part in his education, has teen reduced to a passive consumer.of knowledge. The dialogue between the teacher and the taught has teen, sacrificed in the attempt to educate greater mao sea of people* and no new mean#, -of <*» Basanlcablon 11 tea risen to take its place* As in other countries the students m at a voice in the management of the university* which is the fourth cause* They want each local jrflfjhiWi , f*W ■» >■" 9 Editorial, he fievoir (Montreal)* O&org&e Gmt&vi* Id* £$£$» fc 4 1 0 w » 11 .Editorial, to Monde (far is), Robert Htearpit,* May IS, IfdS* p. 1* campus' to be move autonomous from the itoietry la Baris m & they vjmt no re -ot a say in m atters th a t, d ir e c tly eoaee&a them* *** la not one of the causes of the m o l l of the students in Franc© t&e vary undemocratic character -of the- University? »*, farfrom wanting; to be considered as an elite they are fighting for the democratieation of the. University* One would want the students to recognize and accept the&k&elws as. am elite while tnay are fighting precisely to »o longer be coaedered as suetw (ia .) i!$*e students 'were considered as an intellectual elite and m c h ild re n a t th e same time* tliat is even more intolerable than the m aterial conditions is- the paternalism and the disinterest with regards to the university world* The young no longer accept being treated as i t they did not have either ideas or opinions that had say .worth; in brief * they will no longer accept the beat rules in the world so long as tliey are dictated from up shove. (13) the Canadians do- not consider this problem o f cm over* eentraX ination of power as a problem in tlieir universities* let Devoir saw the French problem in this respect mm being strictly French* **ln Franco* the malaise stems largely from the excessive centralisation sad- the administrative authoritarianism 1t /i which regulates the functioning of the universities.*”*' k Disagreeing with Basyrafiifcfce* the M u cation Minister*. ha be voir did not see how m w m t l group of organised agit ^Auditorial# £#,, devoir (Montreal)* Michel Korin and JesR^ttoherfc Primeau, May 53, iSSJTpT^-* 15 fS&itevtal* tei ggvoty (Montreal >*, Charles faytor* June % 1968* p. ^%:ditorial* to Devoir (Montreal>, Claude Eyrn* Hay 22* If68* p. 4* A fifth factor why there was a revolt in the university was that saaay students* especially those in the social sciences:, languages, eta*, fait insecure about their future* They fearer not being able to find employment on leaving the university because their field was too saturated and they could not he absorbed into .a technological society. France needed scientists m*& businessmen more than it needed teachers, philosophersand the tike* Furthermore* the revolt and subsequent boycott of examinations received the support of the studenta because they felt that if they did not take the- exams they would not be able to leave school and go out info the world to look for the Jobs that did not exist* Thus by boycotting their exams they would be a b le to prolong their status as students indefinitely* Let .Soieli (Quebec) saw this fear of unomptoymenb for the students -of the social sciences# If the goals are not too clear and see© at the moment to reveal an anarchism colored- by romanticism#, the motives are more precise* Under a clumsy* excessive* and contradictory expression one can feel the all too real agony of m generation that is mere and more worried about its future. The students of science* on the other hand* do sot have this worry* They will be able to f ind Jobs « Cl 3) An answer to this problem for the students tsould fee to enroll instead In science courses and not in humanities courses.* Bowevmr# this was repugnant to them because then they would be store easily used by a c a p i t a l i s t so c ie ty f o r which th ey tcifc so such eoStemgfc* This was the crux of the problem for many*. ^ e d i t o r i a l * fee so jte il # CQuebec.)* Hay 1 4 f 1.968* p* - 2T-* They feel crushed by this society, bike the population of ISa&oi by the American bombardments* Or the underdeveloped countries of 'bat in''America by American capita'll am* Their fight against this world* they think,, is the same as'that of the people of Viet Mam or Latin American guerrillas* Their heroes a re llo Chi Mint*. and Che 'Cuevata* (l€> Xheso then were some of the deeo rooted causes of the student bomb that exploded on the afternoon, and evening of May 3 in th e Latin Quarter of Paris'* it was on this afternoon that a group of about 500 students met In the court yard of the Sorbanne to discuss the events of that week which saw the arrest of three students from Hanterre on the grounds of disturbing the peace and trespassing (which meant hurling obscenities .and insults at the dean and invading a classroom where a class was already in session and thereby disrupting it). These three were to be -brought to court the following Monday* and the purpose of the meeting in the Sorhorme was to reach agreement on some kind of: action to show their support for their comrades, Reports conflict as to whether or not this ms a peaceful meeting. The students contended that it was and the police that if was not, but none of the newspapers took a position on this point* However, they all agreed on what happened next* -which was the immediate cause of the revolt. Toward the end of the -meeting the polio# entered and forcibly removed those taking part. Once outside the walls of the Sorboime the word of what had Itappened quickly spread and that night the 'Latin Quarter suffered its first night of riots, 3‘5sditorial * he Do vole (Montreal)» Jacques Buquesne, June IT* 1968| p. 1* 15 Reaction in the pres s in Canada acid in. France was' similar* 18 It is without a doubt the occupation of the ©id £ acuity the Sotboaoe^ «•* and the arrest a that. followed *— that provoked the rallying #f targe- humbers -of student# until that fitae 'Indifferent IT to the revolt and the pretest movement,+* Franca**^oir ags$&& with he Figaro in its reaction* **«»«TiiIe interveiit£e& by the security forces be® brought tea thousand students eat Into tit© street® who / 18 perhaps would not have responded*-* * to the appeals of the *enragegt»*> tM Monde- also sided with the students, trIf the extremists are only e handful* the recourse to the police to pat the© down- has provoked %a a large movement of solidarity among- the students*** be Hondo called, attention to the fact that the Sorbonoa down through the ages has been a sanctuary for those seeking its protection for political reasons, With the invasion of the Sorbonne by the police, ***** The old privilege of impunity in the walls of the University is falling into disuse.* , r,2° be Devoir also laid the blame lor the disturbances on the action of the police* The Invasion of the Sorbonne by th e police *V.* was the mistake which released the whole mechanism* This entry by the police into the sanctuary of the iteivcrsity* * * ■W» «* 21 provoked the solidarity / of th e students^/* ,f IT Editorial.* le Figaro (Paris)* I* 0.-R*, Hay 13, 1968, p* 4* 1 0 . "'Editorial# ffrance~Soir* (Paris), dean Feri&t*- Hay 8 * 1 9 6 8 , p.* 4 * i f Editorial * te Hondo (f'aris), M»y S.* 1 9 6 8 * p. f* 20 -.Editorial, MM Monde ( f a r i s ) , T h ierry Pf later*. May t , 1068* p , 12* 0gw |r (Montreal), Jacques euquean#.* Ohaia IT, 1968# p*- I* Although tim French and ttm ckiiiadian- press found sim ila r causes f o r th e re v o lt in i t s open log days* the Cana41.g» pm s* .discussed, the mere under ly_..ng causes of the revel t, the conditions existing in Franca which le d to it* 'The French* perhaps because , they were living this experience, were wore preoccupied with the single act of the police Invasion of the Sorbonae* Both presses ■were generally sympathetic to the students and their cause for reform of the University* But, however sympathetic the Canadians were to the piighf -of the French student., their fear of the same thing faking place in Quebec wee ndL great* They felt that the conditions that existed in the French University before the rlotdr did not exist in Quebec, Therefore there was no great concern on their part for the posslbf1 ify of similar events oceuring In their universities* As the crisis developed and the disorder became more widespread, the unanimity -of the French and Canadian press no longer 'held* l i t im ST110EHT m vo m Briskly. .. about twenty pol icemen penetrate the caf m with nothing having provoked this Inter ven11 on. W&ty soon one can he.,.r groans and cries.. Than I see young people coming out all doubled up. CD A iSogre is hustled into a waiting police wagon. He does not look harmed, bet when fee i s brought hack net fee is lying on a stretcher covered with blood. **% suppose tfe&t the color -of his skin merited his feeing *taken care of* in the interior of the van!*'* ' This Is an eye-witness account of what happened in the early days of the student disorders at a particular cafe that students In the Latin Quarter frequented. *% saw several people, coming up out of 3 the subway*** who were not demonstrators* struck in the face.” - These last two passages were taken from La Monde which generally sided with the students and against the police in their centrontation.®• The researcher was present at. one of these confrontations toward the latter part of June,. 1968, ana lie -can attest to the severity of tfee police reaction to the disorders. Although he received m r i f l e b u tt in th e back and a scrape on th e arm £n one p a rtic u la r -melee* the researcher makes no attempt to say that these asasciIts were or were not justified.# I iM itorial. I#. ISoncio Claris)* be Guam* May f, IfdS* p. d. I f the French press however f ®m4 little justification in the my the police conducted themselves* ¥h& brutality of the pel im amassed public opinion on the side- of the students. **Brutality, added to force, law flouted by those who would have if respected; e those are the disorders: that lead to more disorders*. *r *’Ih e r e were nets- of exeeesive brutality on the part of the police-. 3 Passers-by as- m i l as women doing their shopping ware beaten tip*’** the official newspaper of the POP.,, was even more vehement in its condemnation of 'the -police action* In as* official declaration of the French O am m 'ist Forty wrote,*, **ftie fren ch Qetoimmfst $u«&y condone- this fierce end excessive repression, and expresses the indignant protest of the workers, e the intellectuals, the young people.*1, If was apparent to the press that these riots had taken the police by surprise. As a result the police over-reacted Mien the students first took to the afreets. Whstt they felt the tremendous public reaction against th e m y they had handled the students they pulled back- Just, as- the students w.re getting their second. wind, the result was even more violence- and destruction. In rapid succession there was the "first night of the barricades*1,. Friday* Ifey 10. followed by the twenty-four hour worker-strike* the ^861tor£al, la. Monde. {Psffial, **fhe © ifficulf Fath1** Alfred Grosser. SSay 15, lies',''^C i. ^he Hvodc CFaris)* M a y 9 *. 1 5 6 8 .,. p. f . \«B u& anlf# CFaris* &*y 1#* 1 9 6 8 .* p* 11* 19 sc udent> wor k©r march across Paris, and the. occupation of the Sorbomift by the students on the following Monday * May t $ 0 First the polite reacted too strongly to the. student disorder®, then seemed to hesitate before the youthful onslaught, m a r e s u lt they suffered in the public*# reaction* he Monde, gam its definition of the hind of authority it thought necessary in this situation* %tTtm best hind of 'authority is that hind that does not have to resort to sanctions to mfc* itself respected* But the possibility of m, 7 sanction must asetst*” And in order that this sanction may never he used it oust be a legitimate one, Diametrically opposed to the police and low and order in general were the groupusculce» the left-wing anarchists who would destroy the whole bourgeois society to build their ^people*© democracy” , The forem ost of th e gronpuacule© was th e Movement of March 22 f created on that date at Nanterre by :’aniel Coftn-Bendit* who took the leadership of mil the students in revolt* Cohn*Bandit was the artilleryman who set oft the powder keg at the Sorbonne g which set off the explosion of Paris* and then of all Franc©*” '' 8® %ms bom of German parents- who had fled to f-ranee to escape the madness of Hitler* After the m r the parents returned to Germany* but Daniel remained in France, later to enroll in the Faculty of matters at Hanterre, where his career as a student revolutionary began* On© of his first confrontations with the 7 he Monde pool at the Faculty (sch o o l) of fetters a t Kart te r re . As f e gjresse reeou&ted It, *V**. he blamed the ■ew»/~sehoel i«*#7 authorities**« fo r net doing anything about the mxual problems of the students* ■ ■ The m in iste r counseled th e boy to jump into the pool to regelate*** 9 h is -sexual problems* A not too affable exchange f o l lowed* " Qcrtii*~Be»dit had strong political beliefs that he sought to impose on. others*. "To ©trike dam those, who da not agree*-,*’ wrote he Figaro* 10 "’that is the principal argument of this defender1 of democracy.*” Paraphrasing one of hi a remarks .fe S oldi ©onetMded* ’’There exists only one democracy (for CohtwHendit); that of -the street*”11 he Monde did not take such a negative view of Cohn^Bsndit and his ilk* It. ms able to sec a new and better university ris in g from the re v o lt that spread from these small groups to the student body at largo* At though their mans of expression were o fte n excessive* M,», the dreamers of ftg&terre arc speaking a language — %2 that the others / the students / seem to understand*” Raymond Aron* formerly a sociology professor at the Sorhorme, %mu f e a r fu l of what these groups represented and what they- mere doing* The public did not realise the seriousness of the crisis* A small m in o rity *mm m the process of succeeding in an operation &£ |MJL. tft v m fteco- (Paris)* J*P.* May 1 0 * 1 9 6 S* f. 4 * 13~te 8 o t e U touetec). May 1 7 , \ 9W, p. 2 7 . ^ f e lioncte ( P a r is >, May 7 , 1 968 * p* 1,0 * 21 of subversion that cabinet ministers* parents* teachers:f and students refused to understand* These so-called student reform groups were not representative of anyone but themselves* and the teachers and the Ministry of Education should challenge- their authority to speak for all students* nMny every student*, every teacher who experiences^ my fear and shares my hopes* try to convince his friends* May everyone * A be mobilised in a final crudade of reason.” This terrorist subversion had to be stopped* h*Human!to was placed in a difficult position by the activities of the groupuscules* Conventionally h*Humanite occupied the far / left of the political spectrum. Qua would expect 1*Human!te to take th e lead in the fight against a bourgeois capitalistic .society; however this Communist newspaper was completely taken by surprlsjs and t«$ passed on its left by the groupuscules that were in fact store revolutionary than it was * h^Humanite condemned the activities of these Marxist~l&ninl&t groups as endangering the interests of the students and workers* in an article entitled "False He volution&ries to Hnmask*r Georges Marshals wrote» "As always when the union of democratic and worker forces progresses* the left-wing greupn scutes a g ita te everywhere* These false revolutionaries must be energetically unmasked because.*, they are only serving the interests of the Gaul list 15 - ^ power and the great capitalistic monopolies*And later b*lhmtanrfa 13 'Editorial* Im Figaro- (Paris)* "The University Crisis*** Raymond Aron* dune it* 196B, p i t* lA1 Editorial* .be Figaro (Paris)* Raymond Aron* June 13, i960* p . 13. (Paris)-* Georges tSarefcais* May 3* 1968*. p. 1. a t wrote, ***,« must fight and completely isolate nil the groupuscule# which are trying to fmrfc the <3&s»oerafcie movement by covering thfttasalva® in rsvo 1 yfciortary phraseology*.**4 It Icit that the dnsanrite made fey the student# taare .legitimate feat, ttai# actions m l f favored the groupusculfes whose intereats had nothing in cofDEMM with those of the .students a t large* liaf I, the IF01* (French Institute of Public Opinion! conducted a poll for Ffanec^3oir to determine whether Parisians approved or disapproved of the. student demand# end wfen they thought w&re responsible for the disorders* Below are the results of that poll* 001 Approve of th e students-t demand# 12& Disapprove 8 % Ho opinion 23% Student# are responsible for- the riots 20S Boliee are. responsible The Ministry of Sducation is responsible 1 4 % The university is responsible X5 % Other 1 3 % Mo opinion In the tarn article la which these, figures appeared lean Fetiofc wrote# f*The student* ** appears like a romantic character# unjustly *7 crushed by an Inhuman social mid economic pec.hinw«n" If the public did not like what the students are doled* they at least understand the motivation for the students* behavior* le Head# was general ly sympathetic to the firing. o®e of th e e a r l ie r d&i&Qa&t&%tioa&* *V** ih® 4ma©astrat©rs* -who ‘•rT ~"T. '-'~i-^tn -fr i-i‘r .j'~ •• i i ii-"i^iw,i~,ii T’-rrrrrf’r-tTnitr-;-ri rfri:^ ^.lifrirnrrrtiiritiii'iTiirriir^i - - - r.-ji.m r -_~'rir..in - n- if ^f-T.-^-ji iwtijffirTfj ’*t inrifrr i~m ~T f -r' nnii~~i v?'-r^na < ~n - ~r r r ;.r n~'i— '-' inr'^,~T,--^r.-c"^lnit'rrr riiirt*l"‘“T I# l h l d * ^France~Soit: {Farts) * 3mm Feriofc * May 10* 1981* p*. 4* advance calmly* without m m chant mg, slogans, are surprised by a vary strong police ciharge*0^® Sometimes it is enthusiastic;* ' Kay thanks be given t o th e *fce»r ihlm jolt** the student revolt*. ainoe it had, spaced the eyes of a lot of people * particularty th o se &t General do Gaulle*."*^ All those who concern themselves with the future of humanism mm only rejoice in seeing a group ©i young people rise up and get enthusiastic over Colm-Berxdit ^ rather than Johnny Hallyday / i popular French singer_7» over barricades rather than Olympia / a music hall in Paris where Johnny Hall yd ay sings^/.** <20) Esmond Barrillofi of he Monde approved of the. revolt but only s© long as the students did not go too far* *^fh»y arc not wrong, to denounce the misdeeds of a consumption -society* tout they should not lose sight of the fact that this same society opens the door to a better world .and a -material, world, less -deplorable for m good. 21 number of their •worker friends**** to* Human! te also supported the student#* cause- but with reservations, the student malaise had legitimate reasons which the Communist Party had, always supported, hut* Monde (Paris)* &. Qiiristitch and J. P. Quanlin, May -8* 19G8 P* Q* i a **ha Hondo (Pafcis), Jacques fauvet* June i0*.lfdS# p. 1* %Mitorial* ic.lfendfe (Paris)* MA cultural Revolution, m s * JBut Which Qn$?M» jiSn™ lc\eugl#,. May 23, i960, p. 9* 21 - E d ito ria l* la Monde (B a ris) * **A iMCid F o lly 11 ,* Raymond Barriion* May 17, l968T7r 4. 2 4 ***belng revolutionary dees -not 'tmmn pl«*y ing w ith riots, It means 'working to bring about great change© which will permit the deaoeratic to he built. *. it means ^ re ^string the victory of their eease by linking their battle to that of all workers * all democrat©* a m In the Canadian press only ie Devoir was sympathetic m th the student©* "It i© not possible ©a# it would fee without a doubt dangerous to reduce this- phenomenon to an -explosion of folly or to 2% ace in it the work of only m handful of agitator©*" writing in ttie May 11 edition of jo Devoir Alain Youraiiie wrote, the student movement is important because, if goes beyond m banal request for participation in the management of social action or study groups* It concerns a movement** which is putting a decision and system in question and not Just the forms of organ isat ion * (24) There was much in the press o£ both countries that -ms negative: concerning the students* "In -this business about the examination© Cwhich the students ware boycotting) the students who are revolting 23 have touched off a bomb that could go off In their hands*** The talcing of the Sorboime and the blocking of the examinations m s beginning to turn., a once sympathetic public against them* "*«*wltheut the support of public opinion, •«* abandoned by most of their teachers* the student© risk losing the benefit of a positive action (agreeing M to s it for the essaaiin&tIons> by an: ill^comsldmrecl gesture*" 22 > • ' h*l-iemantte (Paris), Oeorge# Bouvard* May $t 1943* p* 4* 23 Editorial, be. Devoir (Montreal > * May lb, 1943* p* 9* ^ le iMvolr (Montreal>, Alain Touraine* May 17* i#€8p p* 7 * ^Editorial.# Fr©n©©~Eqir That th is number of students could stop the university showed that the administration did not mmpoet such- a reaetloo and had taude »o preparation- to face its* ’’Whir do n ’t seme .responsible student# ~~ th o se » s want -to build ***** attempt to reopen th e dialogue* today 28 even# r a th e r than having the, hilly clubs do all the talking?" Uay&ond Arort in le Figaro thought that certain student and teacher unions hud exploited the situation* The revolt ms not spontaneous in view of a university reform; it was launched by th e Movement of March 22 and other groupuseules who were not 29 interested i n reform, but only in causing trouble* * ,.how i s it that this ardent and anguished youth .* 4 et themselves be carried away**, by individuals whose goals, alas! are only too welt know and who***, am doing th e ir -best to murder France and sc o ff at a ll that Is honorable In a democracy? Another writer* also w it lag in m . Figaro, waved the bloody sh irt* The old do not understand the young*# lack of patriotism* Men died in two World Wars so that- the young revolutionaries could t^e bora In a free country .and this country should toe preserved and ^7l e . F igaro ■ .p* 10* ^Editorial * z& Figaro (Paris), f*lteiversity Breakdown* V Jean PaPillon, Hay 6, 1968 # p* 1 * 23 '" Editorial* be Figaro C laris), “Conclusions and ^-©positions1** Raymond Aron t June 19, 1968, p. 1*. Figaro (Paris)* Jean Pupil ion, May 9* tfdt, p* I* defended* ’’Today when wa see this i:other1and systematically Ravaged and rained.** we nan not -help thiafctog about all those . 31 who in the past gave t heir lives to safeguard if.,*** The Canadian press also reacted negatively to what was going on with the students in France, nXt is difficult to see • how these "5-3* braRjfls m il 'help the student cause in the iassBediate future.*!*' ; was how to So lo l l saw th e s itu a tio n , ha Freese had some eoisjaents to make * sometimes with tongue in cheek.. nX£ you want to he sure of. seein g a show* you ought to go to the tafia Quarter where the students ere. master® only after Cod*” " 33 In the Odeon theater to the tot to Quarter*, which students.held, plays /^are_7 improvised on the .thesis * *Kow to Remake the World** shown to a .34 decor of red flags. Admission* free* twenty-four hoars s day*” In a more serious vein to. gre.sae thought that the students -Still had th e su p p o rt of pu b lic o p in io n to. t h e i r demands, h u t th e p u b lic was beginning to tire of their slowness to coming up with a constructive program, **%£ this situation is' prolonged,if could produce .a sudden change to public opinion in favor of the gavarrfrtenh*. which moreover has shown Itself disposed to satisfy*** ^SdlfcortAl* to I tgaro C-Pari#),. T*lll-str®ssed. ■ Fatherl.And**# Obxi* BeanfrS* dune m* 1968* p. la* editorial* to .Soleji, ^% ditorialt. to :gresae, €Monfreal>r ^Setter liot Oo to Fatto*1* Kay. 21* 1968* p. 1 , " the students*- demands concerning their participation in a profound 3# reforstt of the tmlversity***' to aa editorial. a few days later to Pressc wrote, **0a the ruins of the bourgeois State which ha# opened the doors to free uni versify education for- mmt of the©*, i t would -foe interest tog. to know what they plan on building* tola preoccupies them little enough* for they do not even know themselves* Chafe seems to interest them first of all to destroy tog* ^ The serious students*** have better things to do than to go down into the streets* The majority* * * thinks it scandalous* this furor* subtly ignited then maintained by the leaders who have their own reasons to create*.* disorder and chaos**£ An investigation conducted in Paris reveals that /"many ofi^/ the leaders **.*are foreigners* including Aso&rlcans*.**. These students ■are unhappy*.* but why? Because they are ant elite? Because they have remarkable masters? Because they will have to face difficult problems? . There will, be some for them just as there were ior us; life does not change*.* Fortunately, there are real students! They work in silence* for.* knowing that they have a rendezvous with destiny* they are preparing to say * Present I * (3?) The idea of a fading nationalism of the part of the French student, was commented on to ha. Pro sac and w&.m lin k ed to th e Communist. movement. ftX£ / the otttdent&J 7 sang the ^International**, it to because they condemn nationalism*.. .It seems to me that for the majority of the French, students .national, boundaries have le.se- Mid JMS significance* ♦ * Commissi again lias its big chance. **' £$!> ha. .Prcase (Montreal!* May 17 * lidd* p.* I,*. 3d ' Editorial* to.. Frnssn. Cfejitre&I>.* "Franca Paralysed* , Gy ri l l e f e l team* May 21* 17 GB * p* 6* 3? Editorial * to. Pres so (Montreal), f* Running a High Temperature** * Eoger Ctetpsipmtic*, fe y it* lf$S* p.* 4* Bditorial * to . Freeze (Montreal) *. "The French student and Mat tonal tom%. deMiTESTtog^ June 13* 1948, p. 31* m u Tag P resse eama -out strongly against the students it wait- equally critical o f the way- the government «as iisndling the jtttn&tien* It was, alter all, the islslstar of national Education that had asked the police to intervene at the acetlag in tlie court yard of the ■ sorbonne c« Hay 5* The students and the %m largest: student union#* the U^SS* (National 'Union o£ Students of France.) and the SPESup CPati-onal Union of Higher Education) made three demands to the government that would have to be met before they would sit down end negotiate* These were;: t* The police leave the Sorbonne and I t s environs, 2m A ll those students arrested during the riots be released* 3* Classes start again in the Sorbotme* The government' took a hard line on these demands and was criticised for taking such an uncompromis ing posit ion* ha Pressc i n a headline story concluded, %*. most observers today think that the government has com# out on the losing side in its confrontation with tie students*,** The authorities are largely responsible for the riot® on. the night of Friday to Saturday /l>iay 10-11* the first night of the barricade#^/***. which could have been avoided If they had 3-D taken some measures of appeases^t, in time*.*”' A month later* however, 'la Pres.se made an about-face, putting the blame, for th e continuance of the unrest on the 'students,. Our lug the first scuffles public, opinion was- on the side of the students and tho Press# ’(M ontreal), May is* i9$S* p . 1* m s itu a tio n m m not taken too serious tyw Sttfc I i t ti e fey lit t i e fsb&t was going on appeared to fee «&re titan youthful camfcerance* n¥fhim State* denounced fey its enemies at fee tog & tooltoe State* directed fey a cl icue of assassins, has shotn a rexasrfcafeie aptitude a ■ to r tolerance tortog the last five weeks,..** '■' as spokesman for one of the o-feposing political parties* naturally editor!a 1.toed, .against the government and the way if was handling the students. It editorialised almost daily '' against the de Gaulle government in typical Communist parlance*. M itoriais were often headlines in two or three inch characters so that their readers would make no mistake afeout how it viewed the happenings* For example* on May 7 It headlined, "The Eesponsifelc 4t Party is the Government! ** ■ $ May 9, "The Pretests Spread Against 42 Repression** ; May IX, "Halt to Repression! The Government Responds to the anger of the University with feloody violence"' ■ i43 May 13, 44 ‘•General Strike Students and Workers Unite Against Repression" 1 and on May 1,5* "By M illions, Strikers and iJemonsfcrators Bring 45 Charges Against the Gaul lis t Government,." " Commenting on -the twenty^four hour strike, -on May IB fey the workers- to a show of 40 Editorial, ha grease (Montreal >, "The Situation to France", Guy Cormier* June. T5~J“'Y96S^' p . 4, 41 * L*!iumanite (Paris)* May 7, 1948,: p, 1* 42 / h* Humanlie (Paris), May 9, 1968, p. 1, 43 / fe* Human it e ( P a r is ) , May 11, 1968, p* 1. 44 iJBumanfte -CfarisI, May IB, 1948, p, i , A *3 / L^BoManite •< Faria,) , May 15, 1940, p* 1* m support tor the students h*lluman£te observed» ^The great common uprising o f the working, of ass and the students has forced the government to pel-1 back, to concede amnesty*. T his ia a victory*"* Attacking both the government and the left-wing anarchists at the same time as being the enemies of the students at large f it found t h a t , "the deterioration of _ the situation,. so skillfully maintained by the government* lms censed the- left-wing agitation to increase*** .But as for a tree program,, solutions* a way out' for the students* 4? i t offers nothing*** A month and a half later# after the police / removed the students who had been occupying the Sorbonne# b* Human! te once again criticized the hard core- leftists for playing into the hands of *3e Gaulle* "VJhea*** will certain individuals realize that the fight against Gauiiisxa is serious business? «*• whan will they sto p furnishing Gaul 1£s i r the pretexts that they wait for*** and that they sometimes forge for themselves? *** the troubles and disorders work- for the government which is using thorn to give 48 itself the visage of keeper of order and public tranquillity*** U&re the paper was looking ahead to the elections* It did not want the students t o give the voters- reason to vote for <$£ Gaulle -as the- one who could beat, ensure the maintenance of lav -and order* The Gaul lists ware developing this- theme m the major issue of the electoral campaign* ^h*_Humanltfe Although more mcdarate in its condemnation of th e government, las. Figaro ©.Iso thought that the government shared & large' part of the res-ponsih.il ity for the conditions on the universitlas. lit response to a remark made by General do Gaulle in which he -cfiflclssed tfee University for the disorders, ie ~pigaro thought that.,. ****•• to Mame the University -for'hot having reformed .itself is a wrong -without foundation; an organism of the' State* the 'University earn 49 be ref onset! only, by the governiaent*** for the last ten years the government had made many reforms* hat few good ones, ** *** m t arms* God knows! have not been lacking: it Is -even they that caused the 59 • first disorder*** too many reforms were -pushed on the ifeiversity by reformers who did not know what they' ware talking about* As for the street disorders, ***** the typical mechanism, provocation •-<*• repression, repression «*»*» riot., riot repression, set in motion fey governmental blundering*.** has mobilised opinion*.** in favor-of m the students***** he Monde concurred. the government**, shares a targe part of the responsibility for the rioting, in the Latin Quarter* Poorly Inform ed m& inspired,, if gave the impression o£ hesitating to the will of the movements of the growl of students, precipitating. 4%diiori«X» fee Figaro <&arie>« "Defease of the University**, P ie rre Gasset t®, June .22, 1968.* p* 1* 50Ib id , ^E ditorial, he .gjgaro (Paris)* T,5fbe Pate of the flhiveyrsitjr -Depends on th e Students"*! Raymond Aron, J u n e '1 5 , 1968,, p. 1. l i l y not arriving at a ttee %Amn they eauld hmm s t i l l moi&tA the worst**4®2 1# f§ottd» fe lt tftst the enrage# rendered a M ftlci toy exposing the problems and ttm shorteasit^s of the universities in fleeting the ohatlange of f&ov&ttng suitable « seditions for learning# and also by auggaating the n i t o that **o&ld hel& the m ivarslfies muningKul. eclttoation la a rsoiem world* **It is pleasant to observe that a govettismt Whleht. t « yours ago# tools ^^vaatogo of the Mgler© insurrection to install itself an a pofssantnt fixture, charges thoot with illegality who*** trnva daelstaa thsmsalms toady to assume the It m spm Q ihit i t ban hefora the t tm Oaulli&to note more U%mrmtm& in th e grandeur of their loader and his -regiae th;m the troubles of the tfciiversityv These Qaullist«» w * * * 'clepiore the essntnstoi of violence at a tMB&attfe when 'the eyas of the entire ’world see In aaris the eapiinl from where ■goact will tom# vjftho Paris talls%7*MS^ ieyotnt the street fighting .and the politic* vtileh inevitably follow a ftaoial and wnonssaCe iiphenmi atsgh tm this one# the press lo o te d to tfat fefcistra to mm what woa&f oocso from a l l t h is ohaos for the university* If was evident to both the Francth and Oanadian foresee* that some sort of reform was in store for French higher education* One of the chief demands made by the students was that sa Editorial# be jMfeaffft Cfnrisl., l4Bespmssihil itle s /* Jacques feuyet* iny i$# % Cns, i>,' i* SS ha trsnilo ( i^ ii) ! #*Th& Ste!te§8# Alfred Kntiler*. June 22# m m * p* ' £ * ' " " " ' "Tjft each university he mots. Independent from th e M inistry in Paxt%m "The reform to come.,* will hay® to give' a I at get- if not a as eoiaptete autouoBiy to each u n iv e r s ity ,” _ sa id he .Sol e l l , Each local campus had its. own particular needs and problems which should he dealt with on the, local level* The local school admin 1 s t rat ion ■knew hotter than the Ministry in. Paris what it could do with what i t had* _ 4 more autonomous university would also reiimre the imiverstty from, the politics and politicians in Paris* hopefully leaving it in the hands of local. educators who could then he just that* Xe Devoir and M. Momle caw a political reform as an answer to &mm of the University*s trochlea* political in the sense of a different distribution of power at the local level, a change in thm power structure of the -universities * and not necessarily having anything to do with the politics in Paris* Una could no longer think that society was based on a consensus which, would negate any radical takeover. The events of May showed how much .people were alienated fro® the political process and the doolsioh-f^klhg su process* There was at first only a assail group of politically- minded activists,* but they were able to activate a larger lanes of -students to act ion.* Therefore* they were a .political force that had to be contended with* If they were allowed into the decision** tanking process mA were given a place in. the .power structure of 'ttm 55 Editorial * . Soiell. university, they m nM no longer have need to revolt. Their lives were feeing decided and they wanted a part in how the decisions were made* rtJiot participating directly iu production, perfecting refiejeitm and criticism , fearing no real material responsibilities, they are**, in a position of observing and waiting.** Students- ns» ■ longer constitute a., caste of future mandarins* but a .taaos promised to an often mediocre future##***^ *motiter w riter for Im Monde saw the danger of & university too much attuned to th e m aterial needs of the society that supported it,, a university obliged to produce the scientists for its laboratories* the politicians for its government, the salesmen for its business* A university should not have to adapt itself to society. It should first fee a privileged agent of Intellectual and social criticism, the one institution that could stand back from society and or it Idee it# It should fee first mid foremost a producer of the free and c a creative thinkers which France needed#' . the idea of a student as. m human b lo tte r th a t soaks up th e wisdom and knowledge of h is professor© was outdated# Horn seminar and discussion, type classes.*. movo independent research to stimulate -creative and Imaginative th in k in g should replace the more conventioaal lecture classes# 57 s j f fee lloncle (F a ria ), F red eric Genssen, 3mm 6, 1968* p. I* Editorial* Monde, (Faris)* •for the Movement^*- A l a m ‘fouraine, 11* liii^'pT 9# 59 Editorial, fea Monde (Furls)* “Ihe Wakening of the Geliective •lS^m«oience,, # Bervfe Hnmon, liay 6* 196$* p* 1.2* *♦*. This upsets traditions a century old*** which have tr^sfcw ed professors into distributers at awaited truths and the students m in to pencil-pushers*w la, Figaro thought that the university had the right* even the. du ty to maintain courses that did not appear to- have any visible application* However it should also try- to steer students towards KO courses of study in which th ey would he a b le to fin d work* because "to register in the faculty of letters if one does not have the vocation to teach ip a waste of one*s f ime* **h^ Reaction in the Canadian press to the student riots .and what the French University ought to do as a result did not differ greatly from the reaction in the French press. Soma of the newspapers were pro-studenf * such as Le. t4cmde. ^Humanlte, and let Devoir while others were anti~studgnt* ,le Figaro, ffraftce~Coirf. and ha grease* In Solell did not see® to fit in either category* Their reaction was not according to national boundaries but rather according to the political philosophy of the particular paper* i.e. conservative# / moderate* or liberal*^ 0a© paper* MSSSElSB*' 1*as radical in speech but more conservative JUt thought than one would esrpect for' the organ of the French- Communist Party. 59 Editorial* Im Monde iPari#>* Htim Wakening of the Collective Conscience"# Hervc Ha&on* Hay 0# X9d$* p.* 12* ^E ditorial* he. Figaro There was no evidenee that their common. heritage and language played any part in the formation of thee® philosophic®* The treatment of the student situation in fra Honda o r Im fteypir# for exaiaple* would, probably be sim ilar to that of the lvfew York Times b ecau se .they a l l have similar philosophies* in this ease* liberal# t n be Devoir, and Le h’oleil. th e re war® articles that might support a different conclusion* L® Sol ell, wrote* "B&re in Quebec {province) these troubles are n o t breaking out and have not broken out*.*” but* "Laval University*** in boiling inside* The students# supported t a c i t l y by their professors, are amcious -to participate in the 62 imnagemenfc of th e u n iv e rsity # " • fre. Solexl was concerned th a t something might erupt in the stilt docile Quebec universities* rTb is important to gat on with reform in Quebec higher education m soon as possible before the agitation in Europe and the 'Unite 4 States comes here to Quebec*M65 The significance of these remarks is- that* in a year when student unrest around the world wee common* Quebec students ware reacting as & result of action taken by other students, regardless of their nationality* The fact that they were both x?rench*-*si>eaking xm& mot the point* A position paper of the UOSQ CQenearal Onion of: Students of Quebec) appeared in iji Devoir, saying in part that the 5%ditorial-» fra, Sole 11 {Quebec), "The Students vJaat a Or cater Participation" » Benoit** fra ¥oie* June 7, i960, p* f . ^ m i t o r i a l * I#. .8ole.il {Qtu&efeK " flo le n c e in t a r is " , May 8, I960, p* 4* m H8EQ made a common causa w ith tlm French students because of **Th© sim ilarity of oaor situation*. our aspirations* and our demands fjA IrisfcaMfel* .society -sand th e ed u catio n system . ** The Sssy word Imre Is our* fee can not be certain i t out refers to students in general -imnifoi.iiWiaV'- ^ ox* to French*sneaking students in general* tbs researcher believed th a t I t re fe rre d to- the former# th e i .allowing quotations supported -this canctunion* 1# Devoir and le . Figaro f e l t that what -was happening. tn France in i960 was nothing new in the French experience because -of their natural propensity for revolutionary activity. H. * ..the French have a long revolutionary tradition and whet Is happening this year in Paris has taken place -under all regimes*** The black1 03 flag and the red- flag have waved over quite, a few barricades*” end '"the latent anarchism -of the French people has shown a stupefies! world how an anarchistic revolution can* la Just a few weeks, 66 precipitate the collapse of a modern society*" As for the age of. the French university.* bo- Devoir wrote, **. «• it is natural for the crisis to he marc hitter and the confrontation store brutal la Europe than In America because the university ever there is vary much older end thus slower to *budge* and because tlm stu d e n ts 07 there are traditionally politicteed* 64 .be Devoir Cffeatreal)* June 5* .1968* p.* 4* 65 ha Devoir- (Montreal) * May 16* .196.8* p. 9. 60 Editorial* be Figaro m m heritage.* tut because i t %m& happening all ever the world* c n m s fc 1 7 Tm ixmm. mmm ffe student disorders %mm already 'entering their third m il before the %?orfers decided to tty fmprawfog their situation via~a~vis fete government and industry*- tsi Prunec the g o m w n t controls? a Iargc part of tlm aeonciay. it rm s tlm railroad* the radio and television, tiet^orks^ the telegraph and telephone eoap&nij&a, M r Wranee * the mine®,. and the gae and electric cer^anl&d* and the Renault autonobllo factories.* from whiot* the worker revolt sprang ufa&n the Renault factory a t l#oa wit,ntruek and occupied on Friday* tlay 17* Tfcua *fhe« the tlm came for the snorter© to negotiate a return to wocfe they had to bargain with goveyimnt apofceaaea m m il as- r&preseatativee from private industry* Soiae of Vm most difficult negotiating took place hetwee® the s^rfero end the government * Mid tfta strifes tended to &e longer in-th e public ooctcm* the at&ika at. ttae OTBP for e«sple {Office of breach ladio and Television Networks) lasted %-mil into duly* duo in part to k lm sensitivity to ttia issue of gattttft$feat control of it»n m m **«■• a problem that has newer been -settled to tho eatiefaction of the radio and journal lots*. Especially daring this cistrc** #rdljisr4i:y difficult period,; tte Wv&mU public depended almost entirely o« nc^tpap^re for its. on ©vunis* flic fcllcwiiig $ m m m m iiq tm «pi»su?ci In ^ .figure as ftiii strife i*»s- still approaching its m n i , t k t » \ Q&wmmiiqmi from the union of tlm Parisian Press? fa fcbe dramatic ciraimstantes that are ton sweeping the ecuntry, the Parisian press wil I continue, accord lag to its tradition* to inform its readers of ail pelitleal persuasions with objectivity* and to record the happeBlngS' of the diverse political and labor groups which have any on. events* y every newspaper reserves to itse lf' the rig h t to comment on these events f to say in conscience to its readers*: and baaed on its mm- convictions* what i t thinks and what i t suggests#.* It- should be well understood that the editorial staff of %m Figaro wil 1 acce.pt no hind of censorship* regardless of its source, <1> ... s Fx^ance^loi.r printed m sim ilar coimminique* A communique by the union, of journalists of France-Spit*. *Frang&^Sei.r * «». will appear mm usual 3o 'that" the public 'may cantimie to be informed. However the journal 1st® of France-Sotr. aff ins their solidarity with the gonera l~mm^mnt^mnd its demands for the profeasoru and workers. €2) M Press# felt that the reporting of events by the French press left something to be desired., Such newspaper accused the others of inadequate or false, -coverago in exchanges which were often reduced to name-catIing* -*1£ French public opinion has Men overwhelmed by events* contused by crnf lie ting reports of what was going on, and humiliated by having been taken (by the. students,,* -and the workers! what doe# the French press have to **3 * * say? Them is anarchy there also! ' This was- ft journal xstic 4 fo lk lo re ^og the w orst kind*** 41 By tlm end of Bay-* ju&t before General de $&t§lle went on national television to announce the a® elections i» June* public confidence In tlm com try * s ability to pull itself from the depths to which she had fallen had itself reacted its lowest point, According to a poll conducted on May 21, by the IF OF which appeared in grance~Soir, cme»third of those polled feared a revolution would be the' result of the current situation, Tif ty«£iva per cent expressed concern about the country*s future* Fifty per cent were *♦ rather hostile" toward the: 5 student demonstr at ions *' At this point the French economy was teeing $1 billion a week** .and 5& of its GSF for the three week period ending IT June 6#' a© a result of the strike idling-aware than tea million workers* The causes of the strike were not a© difficult to t a t bora as th e case with the students*. Ccsupared to workers in the five other Common Market countries, the French worker worked more hours per week* and with the exception -of the Italians, received the lowest hourly wage* m m m m {in hours) I10U21LY WAGE ill! Francs) 5 fran c s « I d o lla r wmmin 4? 4* OS Luxembourg 46 6,00 the Sfetharla&d® 46 4*73 Germany 44 5 m7$ B elgian 44 3*05 I ta ly 16 5*43 ^France^Soir 6 ■ le Soiejj ^France-So le , May 2®* 196®, p., 10 m tlm student my®It was indirectly responsible for fete strife©* Previous to May, l£<5&* fete wofters had rarely acted as a unified group*. imposing their collective demands on the government and private industry* Tte stutenfe~w©rker march across: Paris on May XS* made ttemaj^tea of their nufficcical strength* their unity, and their force* Just a few «iel?s before, unionleadera ted. considered a national strife© as being neither wanted nor possible# Then ©am© fete student revolt*- ***** uplifted, by fete errors eocaaifetad by fete government and fete eteesses of fete repression* a climate was , treated* Tte .fact was proven that fete government was sensitive to forceful demonstrations***Ttey /*tfee woteereJ7 warn fad. up with their unfruitful encounters with fete government. They war© fed up with' living on meager salaries. They were fed up with fete ■aaddening casualness with which their demands wet© rejected*' Ten years is enough! /^referring fee do Gaulle fs tenure at fete H# ■*“£ J lG Slyse© ^ / it is even too much!” ' The students could not have teem happier as tee strife© guicfely gained in fores- and toon spread over' fete entire country* They r tutted to fete sites of fte tr comrades in fete fight' nga-uist. tte Gaul list regime and were surprised- wtea they were greeted at « * length at fete factory gates* For... them the overthrow of a bourgeois society necessitated fete alliance of tee student and labor forces* * * f ■* ^Editorial, 1^. 10 / g VHygaaitit© itm iu}* ten© ^adrieu* May id# x # € % p* x* 4S tiorover the marker 0 did not see it that way. the sees o f ©tttdcnta#^ wrote Franco~Soir» "is IncontrollaM© and imcontrol 1<&4« It could fee suddenly curried away... fey foolhardy aetg which w i l d then provoke a pel lee intervention supported by a public ©pinion finally tired of these ©•kcesaes...*’** w?he students want to overthrow the University and society of the sanse time; the .w&rtsesra on ©trike ere fighting for material advantages, without putting 12 / tlm whole social, syttesi in cause ' l^ltoanlto was for once in complete agreement with ffrmtcc^Soir and. Xe Monde,. ■ **1^e he'll raising* the act® of 'Violence* the riot® haw the one goal of creating confusion, end thus scaring into the O&ultlsfc cm p the ■men and %8am& whose alliance the working class in counting the Canadian press arrived at similar conclusions* The. workers, lad fey the COT (General Confederation of labor)* a Communist Inspired labor union which, took control of the strike .after it. had gotten started* had bean suspicious of the .students: sine© the crisis began. *r£fie young students were welcomed by the. 14 atrifecra who wore happy enough to keep them at a distance**1 ”Xhe C9T and tftg Cowunlafe Party were' -very c r it ic a l o f th e intentions of the. student organisations and insisted on the fact that the ^^Franee*So|r f-Faris)# *ffhe Factory fakes a Stride With t km UQthmxm** Jean Feriot* .May 20, %$6$# ju -3* * %© Korato. Ct&rls), Mthe Fruits of Spring*1* Maurice fluvctgct* May 31, igU&V p* 1. CFarlsO* laurcnt S a lia l* May 27, li6 8 t p* 1* l4|s sol all (Quebec)* 'May It* it«8* p* 43* working class had no medd for supporters* ^ and according to la Pres so.. "Attar the exaltation of the barricades and the satisf action of having shaken the government* tisa. students will no doubt understand w hy the labor unions have not totally linked their fate with that o f education* Student unionism will always be a '‘privileged4 unionism.: It does not have to fake file • ig pressured of economic life into- account." me association of the -student unions with 0©hm~*Bendlt further estranged the workers from the students* the rapport between the student organisations and the CCST and the Geaatomisf Party, arch enemies of the leader of 1? the Movement of March 22 * becomes even more strained** ' For the Communists, Cohn-Bendife was euneml publ ic m m m to un» As the strike gained in force* the GOT became more and more dalmant about Joining the students in their demoustraf ions* "It is necessary to put a half- to say mew provocation which would greatly prejudice the public against the' / workcrj? movement in its presentation of grievances* H ist was the students* reaction to the cool and sometimes hostile reception given them by the workers when the strike wan in full swing? **The sfudemts have some -reason to feel, bitterness. - 19s Are&t they th e forgotten ones* th e r efec ted ones* the condemned one-a?:” " ~ l& Devoir (Montreal) * May 18, 19C»S, p* 1. *1 g * Im . Fresge 0kmtreall* Junn 12* 1948* p* 4* iy • In.. Presse Hay 29* ltd#* p* i* 18La aotea (Quebec), May 27, 19C8, p. 1, l\ditorlal, France-Soir (Paris), "The Condemned Ones", Jean For lot* Play 4. m %% waa tlimy who set the stage for the, workers and made advaium possible* They had gone to the aid of the workers and had been reb u ffed asid had heeaifie more and more despised by the public, while the workers* wise wmm A ctu ally warm, harmful to the country* suffared xio adverse reaction* The French and Canadian press compared the- worker movement t o th a t of the stu d e n t movement* ■ to to v u tr noted th at,, a s w ith the student riots* ”ths. leftist parties ware at least as surprised as the government* and the utii.cn & were completely taken, t by events*"5® The labor unions were able to do in three weeks with one strifes whafe five years of strifeatfces, £*tit.fls etrilcesj? had not been able- • to do* l*a Frease»FWWWtr>imi*» and ■ l**llumanite "They asserted their rights to a remarkable calm* If they ^occupied* the factories it is probably to bar the route to anarchists* provocations yo Editorial * to Oevoir , "A tbundafssntal Choice iHII Hava to Rlse™rom the Elections", J* 11, to* June 4, IMS* p* 7* ^ to ^ tew ir CMgmtreslI* Tune 17* 1968* p* 4. 22 Sdiforiels La hresfe (Montreal>, "The French Anarchy .and Revolt"* dean inkling, June IS,* 1966* p* 68* ^Editorial * to ftflaan.lte Claris), '*gmliv e r <&* His lane Andrieu* Hay"IT*1.9687 p. I* the control by the unions# the. COT in particular "Spnntmt&Qua in origin# thin movement is new controlled by the which ted them into the fray with precise objectives and a discipline of. action* The difference between them and the students was one of tactics if not of objectives* France had many unions but the largest, and in this instance the most influential was the CGT. This salon and its secretary- general* Georges deguy* were the subject of editorials in la gevair and la Figaro*. Georges- Seguy had two -goals in mind throughout the strife®. The first ms to control the strike and separate It from the students* fight. He ms distrustful of the leftist group© and -especially of Cohn-B eadit who to him was as- much the. enemy a s th e government* Sis second goal was to lim it the consequences of the strike* He, the CGT* and the Communist .Party were not interested in a governmental overthrow because France was not prepared. Such an -overthrow would be harmful to the labor movement in general*. They instead wanted to- work within established institutions and laws until such a time that the left could come %o power at the b a llo t box* M alliance, with the students, and a continuation of the strike any longer than necessary -would i fight on the voters and 2d * put this goal in jeopardy* "‘ - ^Baited by the, fSFBt. / a non^Commm 1st %%i^c©-Soly (Farfs>f May $0* i f 68# p* 5* 23 Claris)* Thierry Haulhler* M&y 23# 1 96 8 * p* i* 2%ditori-al * be- Devoir (Montreal >, -'The legalistic heft and the Revolted lcft'/^3^cques Duqueetke* June lb# 196 B* p. 1* 4? pro-student extion_7* tlm students * the PSS3 / ’a leftist partyj/, and the totalleetuals, the COT tried to keep control of its troupe while negotiating with .the government which it continued to treat m a sound in ter 1 ©cuter, " Coiasnenting on the French Com&inist Party (£©?>* Pfance^Solt wrote, "tot it he well understood that the. Goscsunist Party refuses to -cut France in two* ■ The ppoof ? it does not demand pother tor itself, quite the contrary* It Will participate in the government* ' 28 , c e r ta in ly , . hat n ot in the fop positions." Their objective, said to .Figaro., "Is not to make revolution, hat to not let themselves he passed on thm left by the students, by the Maoists* by the young workers*"^* th e Gaul li s t government and the Csfssmmtet Forty were the only two forces that sought to stabilise the situation during the crisis* "The CFBT and the federation of the left /"*?GDS» *&* • another party on the leffc^7 are powerless 'batmen these two p i l l a r s of France.? the OoBsmx&ist Party, which i s waiting for its day, end the bourgeois State, around which a majority of French group In a period of c r i s i s * w" The rel ationship batmen the Seal lists and the Communists was marked by a mixture of alliance and hostility*, cooperation and competition. In the ©pinion of dean Ferret, ^Editorial* to Figaro (Faria), "From Manterre to the Ely see", Eaymond Aron, June 6, .If# 8 , p* I * 2%rance~solr (Paris), jmm 14, 1968* p. a* ^Editorial, la Figaro (Paris), "After the S tem "* Raymond Aron, June 4, 1968, p. x. 30Xbid. m writing In Fgance*»3eIt* % *« isfty $?aldeck ^ A m secret&ry** general of the French Cccmranlst farty^/ has, in just a f w days* become . 4 -very important mat*.; he holds in his hands the key to the present social m d political crisis*'*2^ Hot all editorialists shared this confidence in' the Go&s&tmlshs* «*i*se of fair play and legality. Another writer thought that Cosoiuiiist Party would choose the road to insurrection*. the constitution abolished, a. provisional government set up* elections put- off to an undetermined date* such would be the "blueprint of the model our history has already furnished onseveral occasions.** 52 toe of the objectives of the worker strike, a© the case with the students in their revolt, was a form of co^magement in the factories, or ^participation,0 which became the 'key word in 4e GaulleJs plan to win the support of the working class before the June elections* In a Comsnmisti© system* the workers own. the means of production and operate the factory* and in a capitalistic s ' system, the management owns the means of production and operates the. factory* Fartieipsfioa was to be. a €mapre«ais© of the. two,*, giving the workers a aanagerls.l, role in the factory and also a direct, percentage of any prof it realised* This was not a new idea.* nor m s it such a good one. As one critic, put it, Mlf .he wants to impose participation -on the government officials* tlm factory ^Sditoriat* France«*io-ir Otaris) t '**¥h» 8&y to the Social and Political Crisis0* Jean tarlot* Hay 25, if6©* p m 12* 3%rance~Soir iPafiel, ”m.3ault© and the C«s®mist Fatty .Before the Sam© Choice legality or Force”, Way 51* 1S&8, f* owners* and the feaetieirs,* <£etietal de Oeulle will have his worfc S3 cut out ter him*rt Those who already exercised authority wmld not be anxious to relinquish it. The workers were fairly successful. in their negotiations with the government and industry. Their demands included the usual pay increases-* a shortening; of. the work day and week* a lower retirement age with * larger pension* and better watte log conditions which were ell presented once acre* Financial go ins in particular 'Concerned the. pres# which worried about a heavy financial burden placed on -an already shaky economy from, a three weefe loss of product 1cm-. In ©any areas the workers won a 15% pay hike and the press wondered how management was going to pay for this increase and still make a profit# One solution would .fee to raise prices on the goods produced. This however would not only cause .inflation. It would drive French goods out of the International market * Protective Import duties could fee thrown up.to prefect French goods but in either event unemployment would result and the worleers. would fee. in worse shape than whan they started... 4*fhe question that, observers ask*4* said je gelell* **is m*m*% t h i s le a p ahead In salaries-, give '-full! rein to a run away inflation? dad "' • 5 4 one also 'wonders .about the fate of the Common Market* #.** 1# Soldi added, *%.# the advantages suddenly granted*** editd serious ty affect France * © t ran uig po art ion Iti the European and % CO^efeec)., M m 2?-* I fS i* p.*. t* International markets* A year from now these economic repercussions could become paint a I for France- end m ule be translated once more lute a vast protest movement on the political level*** Others wars not as pessimistic. Franee^oly felt that with more than $3 billion reserves in gold the French government could ball out- the- economy for two or three year# until -If had the chance to regulate Itself m m more* fltl# could he- done by paying for flic financial gains wan by the workers* Low interest !o®n# could be. tsada to- industry and la other ways the economy could be stroaislifted -tanking it more competitive and efficient so that prices would not 56 have, to he raised* • *%*# There will certainly he for the moment a round of price Increases* ** The solution would be a r*very rapid 57 .economic expansion* more rapid than any ,we have ever known*** There was no great difference between the interpretation of events in Canada compared to France that would indicate a national. point of view that was different from the one In Franco* The Canadian pres# e&w the Issues in much the smm light that the French &tm them* fcUe ©ftly ■-difference being, that the French were directly affected by them and the Canadians were not* Unlike the crisis of the French University* the Canadians did not fear that Sol ell uebec)# **Tim E le c to ra l C lim ate in. France*** June i¥7~T$6 i” l> * 4* 'France^Belif (Facial* June 6, 1966* p.* 5, ^E ditorial* France-Solr (Paris) * "Strikes* the Boveiaent * Hardens In the AiitomxTbttn’'Indusfcry *** Francois Gault* June 12.* ,.|96Sf j># 31 th© worls&r strike m& tha problems in the French economy atght descend on Canada* Si© I tabor 'situation in Canada was different fron whafe it wan in France, ttolike fete i&ited States and Canada, in Sur©|i© there m s a pluralism in tbs Later movement* To be successful i n their cenfrosfcatiesse with the government and private industry, the, numerous unions* had fee mafc& a corrgscn cau se, sore thing they rarely did# The result %ma a weak, bargaining position as each union would try to negotiate its ®m demands often t^u&b&ll&g with other unions for the allegiance of the workers of a certain factory.# ***#. numerous oases U&v& teen observed where a. certain union cornealled its ad h eren ts to a cc ep t an accord with fete bosses# while another invited its own to re.Ject 38 it***' Xt was only by the very abnormal conditions caused fey fell# student crisis that the CUT was able to persuade all fete workers to move together and confront fete government and industry with a united force* The. result %m& one of the most successful strikes f o r later in French history# That France was not sailing on a o m mighty troubled waters during, this moat turbulent petite, few will deny* ric^vor there were always those even-,in the darkest hours who -did not lose faith The ship solid,, the captain f ir© a t the helm, here we are one more time m i a sea of difficulties* Awakened by an energetic youth in the chains of a fossilised university ^■Editorial, te Bevoir Cf^onfeteal>* HEcform Between Conservatism and Violence"* J* M, 1»* m June IE* IVbS# p# s* t (/ LIBRARY N ,(WilliamMary & ^ College A 52 • the Country t\m pullad itself together again* There i s not a Frenchman worthy of v. the uncia who was mistaken about i t t if was the France of the barricades, the France of the Bastille, the France of the Bights of Man.# In' short, the eternal France that offered her lacerated bat’ unfailing visage to the bullets of police re p re ssio n and d esp o tic pother* The wounds w ill he numerous and time will be necessary to heal them. But the forces of democracy will prevail* Vive la Slepubliquet Vive la Francel <59> and those that did* The present French crisis*** will not he unraveled by words of appeasement, the balm of promises, and a mini-reform. Still off in the wings the international community is enchanted by the course of events* Boor France! Diverse. French personalities will speak**.* historic words about her. To no avail, alas! they will not ehaag© anything*. Franca la sick and she detests doctors* (40) ^Editorial.# in Figaro (Paris), "Special Future**# Pierre Banino©, May 21* 1968, p. I . ^Editorial# Ba Freese> if til (Montreal!* **afc the B&fora^Marehy C rossroads'1, Roger Champouif, May 25# 1968, p* 4. m m m k v m mmm mm mm a i M P i ® If events the first two weeks of 'lief If* Frart.ee were c o p trolled fey the students who rioted la the'streets and fought with the polite* end fey the workers ito m i k e d . off their jofes end occupied the factories the third week* the- events which followed m%® controlled fey -General de Gaulle as he took the si that ion in hen#'unlag it. m the tool that, forged the biggest victory for ® political party in French history* In the time span of & month* while France teetered on the hr ink of elvil war* President da Gaulle at first seemed overwhelmed, fey his. anemias only to- recover dramatical ty and substantial iy consolidate his pel it ion as the undisputed leader of franca* tlm word most often associated with Charles da Gaulle is "grandeur* ** m word rural;/ used fey himself but one which formed the feasts of everything ha did an# %tm* In his ^moira of the ^ar, ha could have been talking about himself as he m s in fact talking about France, **dll my life 1 have- made, for myself a certain 14ea shout -France. *. I- instinctively have the impression that Providence created feet for cither tremendous success or dismal failure* If n m m tln m eedioerity merhe hat deeds m 4 notions* if is because of the mistakes and absurdities of the French people and use fese&sse of the genius of the Motherland.*.* France is Herself only if 53 ©he is to the £lirank#*.* to ahem* franee *t4m net to franco without; grandeur #r*1 of the fta lt duties astd ©feliga.fe.icms that a tender has to M i people is to las#* to gtoe d irectio n and tm m ing, to the nation. expect, ally to fetees of .great m^mSmt no*rest* to the days- when the workers had Jest gene oat on strike end the etudento were s t i l t riot lag at' wilt to the street#* »any wondered wliefchet 4e Caul te wee so preoccupied wtth grandeur and aloofness. that he did not ©tote- what was going on. *H© one will, regret that a jolt -and what a jolt it was! was;, necessary to make our leaders. tome dews off their elands* Oreatoess docp not consist to conte&plattog the stars, not he lag the least hit interested in what the little people 2 a re doing down here#** ■ € o a m m to g th e grandeur da s& ulto reserv ed -for France but not fer the French people* to Monde noted, **fto gtsadeur of France to a cruel joke if it to not meant for' the S French people at###.*.** ae Qaal l.s -ms on a good w ill tr ip t& ilnwania when the trem bles first began, to erupt to Irwsmm* W'mm fete titan to returned on Hay IB until he finally west toiore national toln^toton- on. 24* ■ hi# only public eeenettt was **!». ref-orwe* «ul$ In ehtonSit;.* no**#-** flito. .ph&asa ‘'Bfearles de Oaulle, fctssro 3.res 4m Gws-vre I'tarto? Plan* 19S4) t p* x, l * }M Zteaifr (m rlaK **the B s^ tfn e n sV to <3*-IU, y IT* I960* »* 1. %ditortal to Maude M s Hshit^in-fee^# "* % e dictionary, la Robert* defines' «htenlifc as CM* masked clown# who in the streets during tim MmM, &£a$* and 4 CM, semeofie who "soil# him feed,’* Cass may assume that ila Gaulle was referring to the former teaming* m th e tltm homsvmr it created . quite a stir and could only aM to the confusion. that wan widespread la France at that time* tinder the Constitution of 0m Fiftl* fiepifelie, ie Sautle had ■0mm olio ices of action to feting the situation under control* lie could invoke article %& of the Constitution which would declare a state of na&ional emergency Mid give him absolute power * or he could dissolve the Rational Assembly and call for new elections* or- he could hold a referenda® in which im aouid outline him -program o f a c tio n %tm% the people would then vote A F rM i^ y S o lr €£$?£&>* May 3&* ifdd* p* 3* golerl COneMel* May %%*. l® m 9 p* S t. m Banette* to the speech was utmost template* tn the biggest display of 'rage and destruction until that, time* stmkmts Meat on ■ a rampage* battling with potloa* ripping up cobble stones to build their barricades, and throw at the police* and setting fire to eara* buses* and occasional police vane.* a-s eel I a# the Paris Stock Exchange* ' In perhaps the only positive comment on the address* he Figaro wrote* ^Ile-. did net want to speak tny sooner than lie did - in md&w to afeov that tea not lost fete the negative comments ware more numerous, the people tied wanted a plan- of action to deal with the situation but for da Oaulle the essential was to have, a vote of confidence to show that the people were still with him* -finally coming down from Olympia* the chief #f state last night addressed the nation which he® been plunged In anxiety for the last fifteen- days**** but made no mention of his ten year reign which had been so heavy in consequences for Prance. CanEtdi&fi papers were negative also* **Xt / the speech^/ did not make any .analysis of the respoasIMl I t las of file pre-seat situation § nor any precise condemnation of the students mnM w&rfcere*** -Students* worker#.* peasants, the opposition* everyone received # the speech by President da Gaulle vary badly*** France^Solr examine# th e reaction mere c lo s e ly 2 ~£m. Figaro (Paris) * iUntre Franco Is-~Pcmet f, C fari#)* L. 0**»lUi Way as*- 19$S-# p . 1 . O g m h m ) * Way 25* 1968, p* 1. Presse Montreal}* Fierre St. <3ermain» May 25* 19dS, p. ]L m Charles de Haul, te and that people mm fa c e to Coco# . and no longer side by eld©.# fern ha la disarmed before the French people who no longer rt£aghi«e him* . * the . chief of state has shorn that he plans to- grant (participation) even if it Is imposed mt him by a popular movement * * * Whet . he waa looking f or was not the-opening of a dialogue bet m a c t of f a i t h trots th e n e t ion*. (19) b*lto an it© - was not. m_ teind* the day after the address if headlined, r,Be Gaulle Ferities Hie Fail.ore: Powerful £moaetratieiie i t Across th e Country.*** ■ ■ f^h# same day.# in. an e d ito r ia l e n title d * **Go Away* How#fi declared* The time for promises and illusions has passed*. This time the charm has been broken* Oefinihively**-* the chief of abate has let it be known that if the referenda® vote is not favorable he will, go home to his fireside* Grants But why waif? The present government does not -represent anything anymore*. So# While th e re i s s t i l l time# • go- away# - mow general* (12) -Paring the week that followed the Tv address France lived through her darkest days* Bo Gaulle had noted and if had bees to wo avail* If there ware any change.,, the situation was eves worse.* The last flicker ©f hope had vanished with the tight of morning ever the smoking hoiks of the bsrnt-onf earn* -end the French people trembled is anticipation, of what further disasters fate had in sto re f o r them* The situation was breaking down from hour to hoar* The ■ government no longer seemed to have control of events.* T tmm on May 29 came the news that de Gaulle had left Faria* lie one at first knew- ^Editorial# yrawce^Solr Claris), ?*faee to Warn*** Jean Feriot# May 2V*- 1963* p.* H* i t ✓ htIlamanlte (Paris>, May 23# 1968, p* I* 12ib id . m where he had gone, which only heightened the feeling of anxiety askd confusion* the immediate reaction why lie had lef t Paris to return to Colombey (his home) ms- that he had at last met his match and had gone into retirement.. ***** everything points to the feet that he has gone home as a simple citizen to hi#., village m 4 t o his sorrow***15 With the. wall# o f government crumbling and Call lag around him, Prime Minister Pompitloux was the only one le ft who was visible* M0ne had the impression that there is no more government, no more state* just, one a&n who fights on with courage id in th e tem pest*” • ill® clay a f te r de G aulte l e f t f o r Colombey* r/Bumanife headlined* ”000,000 Demonstrate a Single Desire* Popular Government! Be Gaulle to Colorobey; Retirement or Maneuver?”15 grance»Soir lamented his departure* * .. the workers no longer want this regime* they no longer want 4® Gaulle*.. this w ill signifies that the referendum is Impossible*.* Chen the General turns to the Gaul lists he does not find anything except wilderness*** The time has come to accuse the French of ingratitude or to admire them for writing themselves this new page in their history* ^ ■ Should/'da Gaulle^/ just quietly go mmy or should he make a. fight to the end? Ho- one can give him the answer* Tm Gaulle is alone* i% 0 the Canadians admired this move as being very typical of the General* For fttew this was not a retreat .from, the battle; it was 3*% ditoriali he Monde (Paris) f "The Only Ending”:, Pierre yiansson-Poate, Hay 30t 1968* p. 1* 14 Am y 1/Human it-e {Paris), Hay 30, 1968, p. 1. 15 Editorial*. Franee^Soir & toetlgat movement in m figlit lie pi aimed to witt* and win it lie did. 1*riia departure from Paris of the chief of state was the / a .comp 4& fheet te of - th e mere lag* A certain mystery atilt hung o v er 17 last might concerning the general. *u d a y . ' observed £e Devoir. M Prasee discussed 'Hie love of intrigue and surprise* "Svery word, evety silence reveals In this mam- a love of mystery and secret * Be tms last eeeti as he warn taking off for Colombey* All this of course was carefully prepared*** when nothing is happening* de' Oaulls is bored*. 8e Gaulle is mot a ©an to leave te. the field of battle so easily*” De Gaulle wrote about the political use of silence and mystery in hi© book, la. fftl dm liEpee (Hie Sword*© Edge)., I*..* prestige goes hand in- hand with mystery* for one hardly reveres what one knows too well* A certain element must esclsf that others cam not grasp and th a t intrigue© them* moves. them* keeps them b r e a t h le s s ... one must close oneself in m% ivory tower, inaccessible to and ■ 19 unaware of one*© subordimetCB*tt' Oa the powar of silence he wrote* "nothing enhances authority more than ©lleacei splendor far the strong* refuge for the weak, .modesty for the proud and pride for th e Humble* prudence for the wise and purpose for the foolish* lo X^he Devoir (Montreal > * May 50* 1908,. p. 3. *®IS&itoriat * la grease {Montreal.), "When Everything Goes Badly, m dUuslle Becomes H im self Again*** Jean»8atti ICattff©a.im, June 3 , ltd # , p* X C h a r l e s m mm lie, is Fit de.,l»Spe# <$arls* 19 t% im >* p* 76 m speak is to dilute ooa*s thought**,,* to spread out wlitm action /%Q calls for concentration,« Ah interesting note on the- General *s activities during this period* only the Canadian prem knew at the time that do Gaulle went -not only to Coiowhey .'hat also to Germany* apparently to talk w ith some of his m ilitary advisors concerning the situation* **ft- seems that General do Gan I la want to see. hie- hr other-inflow* General Ala in de Bois&ieu* at He 1 house /***Gtem&ny^ m d that he met several; 21 military leader# there*** One can not he sure, still -exactly whether 4a Gaulle actually did go to Oenns&y, Hossaver th e re were f iv e hours or* May 29, that the press could not account for* hikmsitm one can not he sura whether the £cl lowing -exchange took place at Colembay between de Gaulle gut some of hi# advisors# hut it illustrates hie remarkable coolness under stressi ’iiy general* you m ast speak.* tk m is the last chance, ton do n o t have much tim e le f t * n ’ my speech is cot ready yet**4 ^But tay genamlt***** hJust bee&ttse the situation Is had doe a mot mean I have to 2to Beakc a had, speech ! n ' ~ fke Gaulle .cefcnmed to Pari# #a May JG# and that evnnii^,-he gave, life speech on nation-wide television and radio* As with the MIbtd., p. 80. Of grease first:, the public react!on was immediate and m assive. h crowd of about one mill ion people demonstrated on the €ha£Bp$~&ly«&e# in a tremendous pre*$e dtetflle rally* Instead of chanting' the slogans **de Oaultc# aftsa-ssi.iitr m n4® Gaulle# go away% the people shouted f,t€F# go t o hell**# and ♦♦back . t o Berlin w ith Golm-Beitdifc*w The fo llo w in g are excerpts from his address to the nation: Today X am dissolving 'the National Assembly / in preparation for national elections^/. x h a v e... proposed .1% referendum which, will give the people the opportunity to prescribe a profound reform-of the economy and the tiniversity*,, and will also let them say if they still have■ confidence in me or not*** We are being forced to submit to a power which would impose itself on the nation In a climate of national hopelessness**-* the force that X am referring to is that of totalitarian Cosmmisia* <25) and by uo speaking* de Gaulle launched his campaign against the french Communist .tarty* b*Kumastifc& was understandably upset* OA '♦Be Gaulle A nsars Affirming His Desire to Impose His Diet at ogrship*w* ' In an editorial entitled r*Tfc« Old Man and Hate,** yttumanlte excluded, nfo the two million workers on strike*.* he answers by ingulf# blackmail# and intimidation.. leaver hm the scorn that he feels for these Frenchmen guilty &£ not scraping and bowing before him Apnea red with m mmh bitterness The chief of state is lying when he accuses the Co@mt£ai$& Tarty of preparing subvere.im**1^ 2^France^Soir Claris)* dune 1# 1968, p.* 3* s s lb M . 62 Because o f tfei# v ir u le n t a tta c k on th e Cos&muntste * the- e ig h t year honeymoon between the iJSgst ana. trance has been ferns-kty term inated* * • ** th e Wmim press reacted favor ably to the spaaeli* 't&atarday* de Oaall* found -the voice .ana accent© of .great days gone by* hast night the people of Paris demonatrated that they hid chosen democracy with the p itif u l m&t&riai mean© at their disposal, facing the powerful machinp of G cm m ttlst subversion.. They have had enough of the so«cal led defenders of: liberty tshe have prevented them from expressing themselves- In the factories f censuring their true toshes* W > ****he ehosa to- be the chief of state -with all that implies of as -exalted language* eobor tone* and isaa-sured.gesture ** + *' Ia . Preasa m s not so unequivocal in its praise* noting that the address divided the french into two equal groups* Hia. intervention has been*-.* greeted with a. mixed reaction* tlie: man on the street reacted with skepticism, the extreme right and the moderates with reserve# the left /"student#* mions, political parties with active hostility* and the $aullists of - course with admiration*** for the most part-* a rather large .part of public -opinion does not have any conf idence in do Oaulle, As f or the enrages still occupying, the universities,, participation does not interest them at all* €2t> For m flevoir the speech broke -the deadening effect of the hopelegmh&ss fe lt by many Frenchmen. " I t appears*** evident that the Jarring- effect of de Oaul, .le:,s speech... and the enormous astewSo|M i ifuebeO , dune 1,#- 1.96S* p* I* 2?M ito r la l* IB F ig aro b*. 0*«dU* May 31* i960* p* E* 2®Sdi-toriai*. M Figaro ^i&JBE£22Sfc CMonteeal)* Pierre St.* Germain, dune 8, I960* p* 8* m demonstration ofi support tor the chief of stats**.* as -well a# the armouncement of fits upcoming el act ions have contributed to a general 30 relating of the atfsospbare and an acceleration of nagotiati^#*-*-.**1"'' 31 wAll signs show t h a t the crisis has Just reached a decisive point* ** Concerning de Oaalk, M Qcvoxr felt tfeat **f-he .speech given#**. I f -da- Gaulle lias proven • that- It# still retains, -m extraordinary vigor* One wishes to see him esnerge as the victor to t i n Issaedlate gutu«[ji,"s2 hut later when things have returned to nomat perhaps a younger ©an more In time with 'the times should take over* ^President de Gaulle*** wrote la, Solfeii*' "by his firm attitude in the crisis which 1# shying 33 Frsnee, .has. begun a modest movement back to work today*** ha Press# said* "He mmM l i a r a ou t of those who predicted his departure* and 3A his decision conformed with 'the very nature of the man and soldier***' fie the demonstration on the Ghamps^Slysees, %** this m a irrefutable proof that de Gaulle is not alone*. A& for the -Canadians* ■ th eir 33 reaction was *** gait# different#** Although th e Canadians were- happy that he ■£ Inal ly took decisive action in the crisis,, there -would have been no love lost on M s behalf if. the situation had turned o u t differently* Phis s t a t e of an %& layoff (Montreal), Hay 31, 19d»# p* 1* 51 he Devoir (Montreal>* dine 1, I f # , p* d* _ _ _ * ^te.S oleil ^Editorial, hm .ficesea. (Montreal >, MBe Gaulle tm Mot Mon#’**# ilft&ftiide' iapoiafc#* 'hby 31., 1060* p* €# Sh b £ d , affairs %-mn the of a trip the general took to Canada in duly*. t9<57* mt ttm' invitation of the. federal government in. Ottawa* Be the- hope .that -the provihcsi of Quebec and its- frenefe«speafeiag inhabit ante woul d soon realise theIr destiny as m t independent country* free, at loot of their hngl o-Saxon iso ate rs. ■ This upset and embarrassed the Canadian' government as well as the Quebecois, the majority of ■ whom did not want independence from Engl 1 sh-speaking Canada*. Relatione between the two .countries deteriorated and from that time the french Canadian, press has never been overly fond of the 'French president* Qm can therefore under stand their shock* anger* and humiliation eonceming a TV interview on dime 7 in 'which de Gaulle alluded to him f amous H¥i.ve Xe Quebec libre" speech of .Ju.ly, 24* 190? *. Asked if he considered himself, a revolutionary* he answered* . »**yesj* -if being a revolutionary consists in profoundly changing what Is* And in that sense X am not at all bothered to be a revolutionary..* since I have often been -one? setting up the Resistance, attacking the Vichy regime, giving the vote to woman mid the Africans**** starting ttm Iiteration of the French In Canada * * ♦/"“italics not'in the original. / This remark passed unnoticed in. the French press but .in ha Fresse and he Sole! I It ■was the headline story* ; **t Obtained the Segitsnlng S t o f thm litberation of the French Canadians,!*' • and "lie Sagan the MMuratioa of. the- French of Canada <*** da Gaults* : President Charles £&$&$& CHontreal>* June ©* 1968, p> l* de Gaulle m :i4 ye&tetday that*.** he gave the *¥iva la Qu&fe&e 38 speech because he is himself a *-revel titternaryf'* " 1m Soleil was beside itself with rage* • «f the general lies net turned up him nose a t a. aewr opportunity to meddle in the internal affaire of Canada* which displays so m il the cynicisiu of all his intervent ions in this regard* As for the assertion to the effect that **11a obtained the beginning of the liberation of the French in Canada,’* -here again is another illustration of the unbelievable cynicism by which he never ceases to intervene in our -dossesticjsffairs*. Since the Finny incident /"where the speech was madejf*- ail the gestures, all the declarations of da Gaulle hoW"been carefully calculated with the objective of playing on our internal divisions* If there is a population on -earth that im in need of being liberated*** it is surely that of France which. supports the yoke- of a general who is wall on his way down the road to senility* <591 tn addition to editorial comment on do Gaulle in connection with specific events, the Canadian press made an-overview of de Gaulle m d the period as a whole* and this com m it was almost totally negative, leaving no doubt concerning what ■ they,;thought, of de Gaulle, in or out of crisis* At s e ve nly~seven, after ten years of uninterrupted power* the one who has himself admitted that he has had to'harry France ./“at timcs^T*kicking and screaming*1 * gives for the first til©: signs of* fatigue, even m a r inarm* (40> Concerning the general situation, t& Devoir found, that. "*** the events that have been taking place in France these past two weeks shew that 3« be, 801 ell {Quebee}* June a, 1908* p* I* ^% e Boleil. CQucl^c), June iir p. 1* ^Editorial* l*a Presso (Montreal)* "Beyond a Collective Drama", Cyril le Felteau, May 30, If) 68, p* 4* m n o political. leader* be he called do Gaulle or anything else* teas ■ft© lesson fee give other eotsnfetifis o$ fee bow they should conduct, their affairs*^ t n the iirfeiei©*- ^Pe Gaulle Benge; c»*f:i, M Scleil. WTOfC* . It is tregic to see General do Gaulle trying to Imftg on to power* Be is thus putting into practice the authoritative pot it leal philosophy which is m much his o*s* and which is easily seen fit a comment made by himself after He had loft the .political leadership of the counter for the first time in 1046* *lf ever I- return to power* I will cover give it op** Profiting from the fact that he fees kitma&t exclusive use of the state television network . for his o n m m ? General da Gaulle mice again -addressed fete, nation fey this very pers •*Tfee unfortunate thing for Trance ia that the- personal power to ^ d c h ■she feaa had to submit for tha past ten years**, has ended up leading 43 a certain number of -opponents to taking extreme positions,** ' said he Soteilt putting isueh of the M a m for- the gravity of the situation in France on General da Gaulle*- "So if is that the one wito presented himself in 1930 as the remif ier of the nation is im the process -©£ 44 / heeding its divisor." he Gaulle’s: ten years in the Glysee created the eendiftota that led to disorders-* ^Tfeis m m m t o he***.a question of a crisis of regime*** provoked by the w r y nature of 'Gaullisat personal power and the -authoritative regime that it entails* &% Editorial, he devoir* (Montreal > * "The Social and Political Crisis in France$sT" B ^ ,wIir 1968* p* 4* 4%dif©ei,al* he foleM (Quebec)* **9e Gaulle Hang# Oft*’* vJ>mo H * 1960* p* 4*. ^Editorial, tm Sol ell (Quebec)* "Elections in Prane&*% June 1, 1968.* p.* 4* 44ifeid* Gaulle^ his ministers like valets# Ha taakes six.t&a Important decisions himself* 0od the Father &&e» not owe explanations to anyone***'' let: Seleit, was especially >*$itiv& to the role de Gsutts saw fttosaXF playing on moralisser for the' world* St m m t4 . he rather f m a y to watch do Gaulle,.. who has tsahehvsted for the devaluation of the del tor, ».♦ have, to submit himself to the effects- of Che boomerang that he h m thrown,*, by instigating the methods of personal power do Gael la is probably the most responsible for the- present disorder, perhaps fnasensclousXy hoping that after him would be chaos* (46) ”ffe is counting on the danger of anarchy and grave disorders** 47 in order that once more the people wit I rdelr to hi© as the *savior**i# *,*. for ten years*, the O m l l l s t government has continually fried to enforce its lav on practically the entire world, ■ ©oraliaing on what has been going *m in tbs United States,/ -Canada,* in short* everywhere*. * Q m t t t m has been a facade**. The fifth Republic is going to have 'to be ©ore modest in the- future.* (48) to Solcil ®m da Gaulle as a. wrecker -of. the. Kfamm Market* **Fm years. '^ I d it o r t o t* M S o to lt ■(§uetoe>***0rfiye B l a i s e to .France**, Way 21} 1968 , p. 4. •■■■'■• ^ E d ito r ia l ., to Soieil (Quebec), *Tt*» Da Gaults Regime is Marked”, May 29, 1948, p. 4* 47 "' Editorial., to.Seleft (Quebec), ’'Referendum. in France**, Way 29 , 1968,* p* 4% dlt#rial* 'to^Sololt (Quebec!.),' ^Troubles to France*1, A. Trembley, May F C T ^ W * p., 4* 68 **%£ th e 'Qonmon H a rte t i& presently feeing trampled on* he is the 4M . most responsible for it**- Pe Oaulte would have to change hi© m y i if this organisation were to prosper* feet.,'*** * *it would be easier to transform Francs than i t would be to transform the General* T h o m is little doubt that de Goutle was the person most responsible for the- troubles in France and to a- ■ lesser degree In the rest of the world* so f ar as the Canadian press was etsieemed. iha students m d workers were striking out against the poor material and psychological. conditions of‘their lives# W m h of their anger was directed against the one who had for so long neglected them* white he %ms looking after everybody else*© business and was doing nothing about their#* ■”#** the- surprising septuagenarian#** had teamed at his own expense •that the domestic affairs of a country must com# before its foreign jjj affairs,*** ' In the future he would have to take better care of the need# of his.own. people*, leaving the rest of the world to get by the best it could* The natural au&eeue of fhi# period o f . French history and the best Index Of i t s meaning f o r the majority of the French were the pari .lament ary elect Iona which were held In two rounds oa Jimo 23 m d 50* 1968*' Explaining ones «fey W wmatt had a# n m f ■political part tea* AB • ^Eeferetidum. in Franco*** |@e* eft* sgS M * ^ M ito risl, te Frees© (Montreal),, *rTh©. General lias Understood T h e m % 1968*' p* '4* GSft&v&Vda GatiH© ramstfcte* **Ife is d ifficu lt to gutter ntee-r on© 52 roof a -aotaifcry th a t counts 26$ d if f e r e n t M m Mb of cheese*:* ■' fh e mt,ly fei®© fete tiwtefc war© mtted.'ites- dtefng fete fetwss ttey ware £li$&&£eKta<$ tefr ^Kaamn- mmmy* .fcowing fete mature of .fete French as te did,, i t was mafeurat that de Haw-1 te saw in fete &mm%mimb& fete threat that wouM tetify fete people behind fete Gaullists* fftis fi&mfty easpaign was difficult to .untetetete is light of fete fact that (X)» in 1946* de Gaulle was fete first french president to allow fete Communists to participate to fete goueritaenfe* ate <21* he lite aefei-^ely' ©ought clo ser r e la tio n s w ith aosasnnisfe ea t ions such mm th e 8SSS a te te d China.* fee S o l d i d id n o t thtote that, fete *%blmcmm&l by fear** would influence fete tsefera- to vote fo r fete Gaul l i s t candidates, ^Ftepidotus si&var ceases d e p letin g fete Gaellists as fete m ly defense against a ecmasenist inspired tw o let ion, The Gaul lists ate counting •on fete th rea t o f fete disorders and fete fear o f eottMuaisw. to persuade fete vofeera to bring tteir mass ire suppo^fe to fete. |ovsfWil*tKS3 ' Paradoxically* fete Goeanmiata were a force for law and order during fete riots and sferites, **&otert Callanger* ptesidenfe of tte Cosminmist f a e tio n in, fete Safeiteal. Ammmbty, was- not far off when 54 te quipped* Haw ate order* that *m us**” ' .1 lliiLi.rpitj:i"rt'v'iSJT r-.j'-tjnrJ."'r -:r-ir— r.—f 't \^■t-;fi /tr :fT — r aipi-juic r : :- jp : h t r 52 " M ,go|e£l Sol ail (Cfuetec) , June 21* 3.568 * p, 25* ^teifeorial* fganee^Sciy < Par is}., Tf0t4m m4 fete f©f%- M m Far lot* June 7. 1968* p* 4* f t The GauITista* during the eo&ipaign-* t r ie d to hiamn the- communist# Cor all the social unrest which the iSml lists said was tanned and 9*istalne& fey -ftieew ■ l^ffyaaaa saw J® Gaulle as the chief obstacle in Peking oat the notations to f t mm*® so c ia l an# acnacsslia ysotfltipsg* problems that could be mm® easily solve# i f de -Senile resigned,, 55 France*Solr fe lt that the parties -ware conducting - their campaign# us if this were Just another of many elections* -*The speeches given so far fey the leaders of the parties are* not. expressing -the concern or the hope of a society that has been shaken to its very foundation#* The political choreographer s are petting on stage fen list figure# that have been used for decade# under different* feat s till second-hand, •Eyg costumes *** , * the politicians could profit Irma the experience ■£*of UnyjT* To date the electoral campaign has shorn that such Is. not the ease, the only thing that interests them 1© making polities*** If the electoral fight is conducted on- this level * it -will have, done nothing to resolve the great questions put forward at the Sorfeanne* W in the iacf-csriss» .and now fey the whole nation* Going into the first round, the O a u lllst# had Iff seat# in the 49*7. seat, notional Assembly, which they controlled with a one-seat ^E ditorial* ha Freese {Montreal>,. **Di££® rent aypotImsesw*. P ie rre St.* Gteiw»in*TlS y f’"3?> 1968, p* l* SS- Editorial, Pyaaee-Soir Claris)* WA felSfieat. Bet letJean F ar lot $ June 8 , 1 9 6 8 , p* Id* ay ' Editorial* grance-ftofy CParlsj* "The Buckle Xs tfei Buckled*** Jean Feriot, JmeTdTT56i7*fe* n majority in a coal ition with ike Independent Republicans fe small moderate party)* Alter the first round this, coalition gained $M new seats* th is trend eon tinned for tlie Qmtt&at* ■ a fte r th e second round, held Sn their 0® fight seats, nr ©ore titan nail of the seats- in the Assembly* ’The elections were a sensational victory for the- Gnu H ints at the expense -of the t» leftist pnrtles* the federation of the left and the Communist Party*. faction in tte press m s isosfly favorable* with the possible, exception of bailsman ite ; MThe coalition of money# hate* and fear has won out fo r th e moment* Bui th e contradictions'*** w ill so on s s On more evident and a whole lot sooner than certain people think. "* ' '‘The unprecedented ant i*-Communiat campaign* *. has made the right*. the far right* m d the fascists -very happy*** fhe civil war blackmail has feom its fruit* The truth is that every barricade, every tem t #0 car brought fens of thousands of votes to the Qahllisfs* ** be Cigars was happy with.the results, rtWhafc man* what M an could be accused of cowardice because they undertook the fight against subversion andjsabot-age in their country?"-1*0 ”Tbe Federation and the Communists have paid dearly for their .attitude during the disorder© In May* The country has said *non* to. Insurrection* If answered S8M ltorIat» %nftf»antte 00I# & te*m L. July a* «#§, p. 1* y " * total* when it m s called to protect institutional legality.*** l*t .Wbw4e. said* **Tbe elections have assured the triumph of mi authority which last month appeared to friend and foe alike* 62 and this general himself* to he hanging -on fey a thread*’* The Canadian fross wan not entfenafastis hot it wm happy th a t order would retom to Prance. '‘Frightened - no doubt fey the. weeks of student rioting sad fey the amplitude of the strikes of Hay* the. French, ham answered the slogan ‘Genii ism or €osBiraniaia***M the significance of the elections to the French people was msamatised in the front page head! me of M Sot ell after the $4 second round of the elections?: “The French Opt For Stability***'' and one of the most difficult and dramatic. periods in French h is to r y 4st®& to an end* Unreel GaMUy. 6% o Monde I Paris}*. S iriu s* duly 2* • 1968* p* 1* ^% 0 .Selefl f§nefeec>* June 25# 2§* ^ite Solelt Cgaebeel* duly t* 1568# p. i* c m & s m . m smmmt, cmmim-iam* mm w ^no^tcm The hypothesis tested £n this, study was that the reaction of the French and the Preach Canadian press to the event# of Bayonne* X would fen sim ilar fefefia&$et the societies to which they -exist». Quebec #rw lttc& am#Wrmm* sh am & mmmm language and heritage* to te st tog this hypothesis the researcher examined the editorial comment o f th e se le c te d d a ilie s w ith reg ard to th e s ix -questions presented to Chapter I* These 'vece* 111 How mm the student to France (and elsewhere to the world) viewed? iTnat « rc the causes of the revolt? to) What wee the reecfton to the worker strike that f ollowed? <3> Wm large a part did the personality of general de Gaulle pi ay to the crisis? Was it a crisis of civil to nation and giw h»at*s inability to- maintain order? C4) What mas the meaning of and reaction to- the p-arl lamentary elect-ion to June* 19HQ # «diich were ^rottght on by the crisis?. C5> How imich did the politicai philosophy of eo&fe newspaper effect- it# treatment of the nows and its editorial eM snt exclusive- ©£ any lingual or national e®side rations? id) How do the Canadians view their situation as toeing a£ fee bed toy the situation to France? These questions fait fete three. tor discussion to this ■chapter I the student, revolt an# its causes * the. worker strike, and the .fraction of President dss Gaulle to these activities and the. par I lamuatary elections which narked the end of the period under investigatton* ? 3 toe m t h m fmm concluded that to the first two areas atudsni revolt «&<$ the worher strike) the different# to the reaction of the- presses of the two com tries %mm more of emphasis thee of opinion* Concerning tln-s cnus&s of the etudent disorders* the Canadian press examined the nn4m*iytog' causes of the e m p tto ii **** the general conditions: to the French m iveraity system that created the. oxpluston utmoephere between the student© and the university officials and the government* the cmsastifcs to the French press on the causes of the student crisis tended to to# more m% th e irradiate cease of the revolt* the invasion of the Sorbonna toy the police on Hay S. toe newspapers of the two countries did not support or attach the students m,A fehelr activities- along national boundaries. Sotas tostac-nt to tooth countries was pro-student and -B'Ottm was unii -studeftt* toe- deciding factor -was- the general philo sophy of the particular newspaper*. Hat-tonal considerations did n o t see© to apply* the Canadian press observed* however * that if a stellar situation should develop to cpebae with its university students If would toe for reasons that students everywhere ate causing unrest -and not baoaas© of any quality oaf condition that is imiqtiely French and shared toy the French^€aaacii^i.@* toe crista to franc# was caused to p a rt toy a highly centralized* authoritarian * an€ ancient university which hall besom# unresponsive to- its students* Both the french and the Canadian press- hofed that the french nation has & tradition for revolution which contributed to the l e t t s.t s stoked the tiros of hostility batman students and police, There was no indication in the Canadian press that this or any other traditional factor of the French nation Clncl ndiag language) wee share# by the- French of Canada* .The author concluded that although their reaction to the student revolt was similar* ; the sim ilarity. was not a result of their eo&vaon tongue or heritage, likewise* -concerning the worker# and their strike* the editorial comment mu both countries was similar and. generally sympathetic to the 'workers and their cause* tot the Canadians did not fear that the workers in Canada would take sim ilar action * although the two speak the same language and spring from the same roots* toe Canadian press- saw the nature of unionism in Prance as oic reason why th e w orkers o f Canada- were in a b e tt e r p o s itio n than t h e i r equal s isi France* toe union movement it* Canada has bean more u n if ie d th m in- Psmc& with the result that the workers would tend to- he in a - stronger bargaining posit ion -with management* fhe Canadian labor force would not need to wait for wester conditions to ■ deteriorate to the gxfca&t that they did in Wvmmm before they would take action* Proudi. labor*# strikes have tended to’ he smsl tor and less affective than they could hove- toon toosmsa .tutor in Prance has n o t b&m a unified force vis^a^vit the govens®cs»t and industry*- tn ifdS conditions: for the worker# wets poor h m m m ttoft past demands had. not- had the impact of « isam limited Into** front* tomsads were not met by-industry and conditions did mot toprovii* toon the workars saw tow sensitive the government was to the student riots* ttoy decided it w m th e ir moment -to act* Even at this point It la s ign if iesnt. to note that, the strike came on, gradually as workers' in different part# of fcto country and in different industries lmmm4 of what -ottot# were doing* fto movement to# the strength of a unified front only after the strike to# become more general Issed .and th e COT had taken control * in Canada* on the other hand* labor has enjoyed a more favorable position in M b dealings because of its unity* the labor situation Is not so- desperate In Canada -as it wm in Branca in Kay* l9dH* the situation of the worker# has been good and their strikes have not needed to fee mo crippling to the nation in order to force .the acceptance -of ‘ th eir 'demands* The Canadian press.* therefore* did not t e a r th a t the- workers in Cmmdm would take actions similar to those of the Franck wethers lor reasons independent of lingual, or -cultural consideration-s* Enaction fey the press ifs the third area*vde. Gaulle and the election# * was ■ different in the two countries* ■ fshite -opinion in the Branch press was mired coiieerning 4e Gaulle* the Canadian press m s almost completely negative* -for the latter*, de Gsulla was the principal earnae of the disorders in France* The fact that the two eom trie# -shared: the &mm language -and heritage mad#, this reaction, even more negative -**» a# a result of to Gaulle*# 1 iteration speech in Quebec la July* 196?* in which to appealed- to the ftoawn bond# totwean the Quebec#is and the French* Although language and toriiag# had no influence in fto formation of similar points of view between the french mid Canadian press in the first two area# istetonto an# worker©)* the effect was a negative one in this third area,- causing the opinion to to significantly different* The -*■ view expressed by the two presses wcmM have toe# more sim ilar if the aoemoa bond of language m& heritage did not exist. two factors have la# t#'the rejection- -of the hypotheeisi f i r s t * in one area of 'tit# investigation the editorial coew^nt was not similar* ..tod the oomaon language .Mid heritage reinforced hit# .dissiiaiiarityi and second*. where editorial coawnt to the two .to an trie a was sim ilar,. It was the result of factors other than culture an4- latigeage* sggg&ticns fob wwmwm B tm t The author hqo. made several observat ion a concerning th e event# -- of Hay and June* I960* In France- which could to subjects for further Investigation-. In commenting on the activities of these two month#* to t example*, the Canadian press devoted proportionally more space then the French to the discussion of General to Gaulle and h i# hasscillug of the situation whereas the French pres# gave wore Space, to a discussion of the students. Heittor m&pna#to much print in $u eramtoation of yrenet* l.ator per acu comments ooneeruteg tbs m iens focused on the effect# of their act low * with little space given to #u analysis of the workers themselves m A the Causes of ■their revolt* There appeared to to three reason# for %bi0 - Ai$£mmmm of emphasi# * would try to ©mutate the Wmmsh stu d e n t ttt (21 the Canadian press hud stronger ©pinions about of His Quebec liberation -speech.; end (3) the French press did not tend to be as anti-de Gaulle as the Canadians — because lie represented tor them one of the. few forces fart aw and order at a time when these o n n litie s imra most needed* Some questions arise ronoemlng this -observation * How did ecmdit loma in- Quebec universities at the time differ from those in France? DM the events In France produce any reform in Quebec higher education? how mich of ® factor m m the proximity of the Butted states and its anti^de Gaulle sentiment in the formation of a similar sentii-aent in Quebec? why was the French Commmlst Party re3acted by the French people as a force for stability and o rd er? 4% second observation- that could be the subject of fu rth e r Investigation concerns the results- of the elections in June* The Issue of law m 4 order appeared to be a backlash from the student r io ts * n o t a re a c tio n -froas th e general ©trike which warn a c tu a lly more harmful to the. country and tied a much greater irmadlate anil long range effect os the lives of. every Firenehn&B* I t ©ttcnatd be / ramamb«rad that those on strike prevented the rest o f th e -people from working.* whetas the rioting student# affected only these 'In the immediate vicinity of the. disorders* Also* It u m the ©trike and list the riot's that forced do Oauile to cell for msm- elections* Bhy did the rioting. stu d e n ts distress th e people m>re than the .striking wei^ers? ■ Why did de Gaulle choose the French Coismsriist and n o t m & of the other leftist parti®# to be the scapegoat for the disorders &t May? Uhy was the Gaul lists* arifi-conMsisfc -campaign so successful? the author he!levee that these ohaaryatioa® and question** I f examined, would 'have import beyond the scope of this study* Such inve st igat ions would add more knot?! edge and under standing to the special relationship between France and Quebec in- the first ease* and*-.' in t$& second* offer insight into the re&eoae that, make people behave in way® that defy logical behavior* Btwummkmm r# B, fit* &s .goleil CQtx&bec)*- May 3 to July. 2*. 1M 8 *. CMlu»anlt4 (Paris), May 3 to Ju ly 2* 1968» Serwn ~8ehrel ber* Jean*Jacques*- -1# R^veil da la Franca* Paris* m n m l t 1968*. 80 v m John Bingham Hunroe Bom in Braintree, Hassaehuaettd, August 9, 1942*. Oradueted f rcftii Williamsburg High School * Willii»$b»rg,, Mass achusotia, In Jane* 1960- A * 8 * ,. Col lege of WiTliiro and. Mary in ¥ lrg ln ia , June* 19-64*. $$«a* candidate*. College of W illi m and Mac? in Virginia*. i96?~1970. Teacher of English as a. foreign language, Lycce Tarik ion Ziyad * Asrou* Morocco# 1.964^1966; teacher of French* Barnstable High School, Hyarniis> Massachusetts, 1967-I9S9. -01 How much did the 'political philosophy- of each newspaper affect its treatment of the news and Its e d ito r ia l comment 4