1960's around the world.

The 60s was the decade of great music - the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield, the Who, Procol Harum - the list could go on and on. The 60s was also a time of great social change; old conventions were challenged and old attitudes faded with the decade. Fittingly the voting age was lowered to eighteen by the end of the 60s.

The 60s was also the era of rapid technological progress which culminated in man's first steps on the moon in 1969. Many people watched the event on television; a lucky few watched in colour.

Youth fashion took on a new twist in the sixties. The mini-skirt became the most popular way to dress for young women. By the end of the decade, the trendier girls had abandoned it for long flowing hair and caftans.

60's CIGARETTE CULTURE:

Cigarette smoke was part of the background of everyday life in the sixties. Most men and women lit up and children as young as ten took up smoking for the first time. Although most people had a vague awareness of the health risk, only a minority gave up smoking.

NUCLEAR THREATS:

• The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962) - a near military confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Uninion about the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.


• On October 16, 1964 China detonated its first atomic bomb. China possessed a hydrogen bomb by 1967. President Johnson secretly considered a preemptive strike on China's nuclear facilities, but then dismissed the idea as too risky.

Automobiles:

As the 1960s began, American cars showed a rapid rejection of 1950s styling excess, and would remain relatively clean and boxy for the entire decade. The horsepower race reached its climax in the late 1960s, with muscle cars sold by most makes.

May 1968

The main year in France that I'm looking at is 1968. This is the prime year where many things happened in the country. Many saw the events as an opportunity to 'shake-up' the old society and traditional morality, focusing especially on the education system and employment . It began as a long series of student strikes that broke out a number of universities in Paris folowing confrontations with university administrators and the police. The protest reached such a point government leaders feared civil war or revolution. May 1968 was a political failure for the protesters, but it had enormous social impact. Although this change did not take place solely in this one month, the term mai 68 is used to refer to this general shift in principles especially when referring to its most idealistic aspects. The strike of students that broke out at a number of universities, it also included the largest general strike that resulted the economy coming to a virtual stand-still. The strike involved eleven million workers for two weeks and it's impact caused the collapse of Charles De Gaulle's government. Although 1968 was a failure for the political protesters it caused a giant social impact; it was when the conservative ideas moved into a more liberal movement,(sexual liberation) High school student unions spoke in support of the riots on May 6. The next day, they joined the students, teachers and increasing numbers of young workers who gathered at the Arc de Triomphe to demand that:

1. all criminal charges against arrested students be dropped


2. the police leave the university


3. the authorities reopen Nanterre Sorbonne.

Negotiations broke down, and students returned to their campuses after a false report that the government had agreed to reopen them, only to discover the police still occupying schools. The students now had a revolutionary fervor.

The governments heavy-handed reaction brought a wave of sympathy for the strikers. Many of the nation's more mainstream singers and poet joined after the heavy-handed police brutality came to light. American artists also began voicing their opinions of the strikers.

The reason I have chosen this time in French history is because it very much corresponds with what is happening in England now. With the fireman's strikes, the recession and the tuition fees going up to £9,000 I feel I could really reach out to the wider audience and they could sympathise with what is happening.