The year 1968 was a cauldron of upheaval, as mass protests erupted across the world, fuelled by a volatile mix of political discontent, cultural shifts, and economic strife. In the United States, students and civil rights activists clashed with police over the Vietnam War and systemic racism, culminating in riots outside the Democratic National Convention. In Europe, the French May saw millions of workers and students paralyze the country, challenging Charles de Gaulle’s government in a near-revolutionary crisis. Across the German Empire, and the rest of Euro-Gemein (EUG), left-wing radicals, labor unions, and disillusioned youth took to the streets, rallying against imperialism, capitalism, and authoritarianism. Even in the Eastern Bloc ⚒️, long-held frustrations against Trotskyite conservatism boiled over, and both the Soviets and the Chinese saw their first mass protests in a long time, repressed with a degree of tact in both nations. Latin America was no stranger to the unrest, as student movements in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico demanded democracy and an end to military and single-party rule. Such was the revolutionary sentiment that even Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese students raised their voices and made them heard. Even the University of Cestlep saw an uproar, though as per usual, protests typically transformed into shootouts. From Tokyo to Mexico City, and from Warsaw to Washington, 1968 was a year of fire, where the old order trembled, and the world teetered on the edge of revolution.
Many of the 1968 protests resulted in long-lasting changes across the globe. However, perhaps none were as tragic as the fate of the Mexican Student Movement of 1968.