Echoes of '68 - but this time it is immigrants venting their fury on the streets of France
The spectre of the student riots of May 1968, which heralded the end of General de Gaulle, was haunting France last night as arson attacks spread throughout the nation. Commentators have adopted a low-key approach to the unrest which began in the more squalid suburbs of Paris, often dismissing it as a passing phase. The spectre of the student riots of May 1968, which heralded the end of General de Gaulle, was haunting France last night as arson attacks spread throughout the nation. But the notion that the nation may be about to endure political and social upheaval on a par with 1968 became less fanciful over the weekend as the arson attacks spread through the capital and around the country. Post-war France was rocked to its foundations in the May '68 riots, when protests by students at the Sorbonne were violently quelled by police. The incident developed into a major confrontation: barricades went up; street fighting broke out; the Sorbonne was occupied by students and converted into a huge commune. The unrest spread to other universities and factories; a wave of strikes rolled across France, involving 10 million workers and paralysing the nation. While there is little evidence that the current riots are co-ordinated, commentators suggest that they herald the clumsy beginnings of a political movement.
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