[ "Did respected historians consider France on the brink of revolution in May-June 1968 ? "]
Yes, respected historians generally agree that France was on the brink of a severe systemic crisis that brought the government to the edge of collapse, but they are deeply divided on whether a true political revolution was actually possible.
While the general consensus is that the events of May–June 1968 paralyzed the nation and fundamentally rattled the state, the debate among historians centers on the true "revolutionary" potential of the movement.
The Argument That It Was a Near-Revolution
Many historians point to the sheer scale of the crisis to argue that the country reached the precipice of a revolution:
• Total Paralyzation: What started as a student protest escalated into the largest wildcat general strike in modern European history, with 10 to 11 million workers occupying factories and halting the national economy.
• The Void of Power: On May 29, 1968, President Charles de Gaulle secretly and abruptly fled Paris for a French military base in Baden-Baden, Germany. For several hours, the French government literally did not know where its leader was, creating a profound power vacuum where the administration appeared on the verge of collapse.
• Societal Mutation: Historians like Michelle Zancarini-Fournel have characterized the period as a profound crisis that shook the very foundations of Gaullist France.
The Counter-Argument: A "Tragicomedy" or Psychological Illusion
Other highly respected historians and contemporary intellectuals argue that a political revolution was never a realistic outcome:
• The Gaullist Survival: The late historian Tony Judt argued in his seminal work Postwar that the institutions of the Gaullist state were never seriously questioned. He maintained that the events had a "psychological impact out of all proportion to their true significance" and reflected an apolitical mood of irritation rather than a unified intent to overthrow the government.
• The Role of the French Communist Party (PCF): A revolution would have required the structural backing of the massive, organized working-class institutions. However, the PCF and the major trade unions (like the CGT) were highly conservative; they actively sought to steer workers away from insurrectionary student radicalism, choosing instead to negotiate for better wages and working conditions (leading to the Grenelle Agreements).
• The Sociological Critique: Prominent French sociologist and intellectual Raymond Aron famously dismissed the events at the time as an anarchic, archaic "tragicomedy". He argued that middle-class students were playing out historical fantasies of the French Revolution (like building street barricades) without possessing a tangible, realistic political project.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the consensus among historians is that May 1968 was a profound cultural and social revolution that dismantled traditional hierarchies in French education, families, and workplaces. However, as a political revolution aimed at replacing the capitalist state, most historians conclude it was an impossibility—proven by how swiftly the crisis evaporated after de Gaulle returned, dissolved parliament, and won a landslide victory in the June 1968 elections.
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Wikipedia
May 68 - Wikipedia
Sparked by student demonstrations against university conditions and government repression, the movement quickly escalated into a n...
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The New York Times
May 1968: A Month of Revolution Pushed France Into the Modern World - The New York Times
May 5, 2018 — President de Gaulle temporarily fleeing (May 29) before returning and calling elections. Impact: Transformed French society cultur...
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Jacobin
How Beautiful It Was - Jacobin
May 23, 2018 — Judt concludes, the Gaullist state not only survived, its “institutions were never seriously questioned.” If this was true, howeve...
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