May 1968 - June 1989. It's been five decades since 1968, and things are somehow worse

By Dilip -
May 1968 and June 1989 are two of the most significant months of the historical period after the second World War. In fact 1968 and 1989 in their entirety witnessed a sequence of world changing events. They were both the high watermark of the cold war and the beginning of its end, with the re-ordering of the global balance of power.

They saw unmanageable political crises unfold in the Western capitalist world as well as in the Soviet bloc and the People’s Republic of China. 1968 was the height of the Vietnam war, that most deeply affected my generation, and 1989 was when both the PRC and the USSR were shaken to their foundations. And here is a description of  America today:
It's been five decades since 1968, and things are somehow worse

These events were crowded and there is much to say. One term that I have used to describe them is ideological implosion - this is also linked to the collapse of legitimacy. In this sense the events of '68 led inexorably to those of '89. A glance at the AV's listed below will give readers an idea. The labels and links below lead to more posts

https://dilipsimeon.blogspot.com/search/label/1968 
https://dilipsimeon.blogspot.com/search/label/Vietnam  
https://dilipsimeon.blogspot.com/search?q=June+1989  
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1989
Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being is set in Czechoslovakia, 1968


Audio-visuals of some major events of 1968
Anti Vietnam-war Demonstrations (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLRL6qYSDuI
Vietnam War protest in Washington
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv7Gk-Pg7Rw
European anti-Vietnam War Protests
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1tNKe0QPeA
Anti-Vietnam War Demonstration In New York & San Francisco
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/anti-vietnam-war-demonstration-in-new-york-san-fra
Anti-Vietnam War Demonstration In Berlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q61J-VknTz0

Tet Offensive
Tet Offensive War Footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4FkCvC3Gx4
 Vietnam War - Tet Offensive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3PIcbx35mM

Prague Spring
Prague spring 1968 - Warsaw Pact tanks in Praha (French Audio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WFVhe1Eqb4
Prague Spring 1968
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FfR64aJ7fI
The Prague Spring of 1968 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8eRo6CJoFY

Polish Crisis
March 1968. The last exodus of Polish Jews
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glTvGnlM8Ng

Paris, May 1968: The Student Revolt
"All Power to the Imagination"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCtcD9CfMOI

Mexico Olympics
Olympic Flashback: Mexico City 1968 (00:00 - 01:52)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coce6lHkHAA
1968 Massacre at Tlatelolco (01:09 - 03:22)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNSI4czgzWQ

NYRW
1960's Women's Liberation Movement - A PBS Documentary Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnJ9GHZ1dl0
Why did feminists protest against the Miss America pageant in 1968?
https://www.cliohistory.org/click/politics-social/revival/?video=1525

Martin Luther King
MLK Assassination and Watts Riots - 1968
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FJh8MtI3C4
Martin Luther King - Assassination and Aftermath- CBS News Special Report April 5, 1968 
https://www.c-span.org/video/?443015-1/martin-luther-king-assassination-aftermath



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