With the growing resentment of an unpopular war, the year of 1896 was filled with protest all over the globe. There were a couple of factors that lead this to happen. There was a baby boom after World War II and more and more people were going to college where many of the protest were happening. Campuses provided both the loci for political organizing and the initial grievances that made students ripe for activism (pg. 1084). The unpopular Vietnam War was the trigger that sent people out to protest. Their sons, brothers and friends were not returning from this horrible war that a lot people didn’t understand or want. This war also triggered protest outside of the United States and included countries such as West Germany, France and China to name a few.
Not all protests were about the Vietnam War. In France they protested about student service and had to call in the French troops when it spread throughout the country. In many countries the protest turned violent. In Mexico police killed students who were protesting the violence of other protest and it cost the country the Olympic Games.
Ultimately the protests gave way to not much change and after all the violence it just kind of ended on a sad note. It would take five more years before the troops were pulled out of Vietnam.
1. Why were the protest not effective and promote change. Why did the governments choose violence to stop the protests?
2. If you had been a college student on politically active campus in 1968, would you have joined in the protests explain why?
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