The End of 68

As I’ve been ruminating over the end of the course, I have been drawn back to the question from the beginning of the semester of when 68 ended. That line of inquiry leads to the questions of whether 68 has ended and when it began.

At the beginning of the semester, I think the notion of 68 as an era as opposed to a year was foggy for me, as I imagine it was for some other people as well. When I registered for this course, I wasn’t expecting to read a novel from 1925 or watch a lecture on the history of slavery in Barbados.

While I certainly don’t think 68 should be contained to a single year, I think it is possible to identify a beginning, or at least a select few contenders. I would argue that the first step in this process is deciding the geographic scope you’re considering. If you were to limit yourself to 68 in America, you might come to a different conclusion than if you focused more on the European experience or if you were to emphasize the global 68.

After consideration, I would argue that the global 68 is inseparable from the American 68 because of the central geopolitical role played by the United States in the 20th century. An analysis more focused on Europe would probably require more knowledge of the history of European socialism and communism than I have. I would leave the analysis of Europe to Vinen.

I believe that Dr. Kinyon, in the course of our discussion on the beginning of 68 many weeks ago, proposed Reconstruction as a strong contender. This seems the most logical to me. While the history of transatlantic slavery certainly informed the experience of African Americans in the 20th century, I think we would be better served to narrow the scope a little more. I think the same could be said for the beginning of 68 and/or The Troubles in Ireland. While surely one cannot understand The Troubles without knowledge of British colonialism in Ireland, the Irish War of Independence seems to me to be a stronger contender there.

Personal perspective also seems to play an important role in developing individual conceptions of the beginning or end of 68. For those who experienced 68 on the New Left and were particularly concerned with American involvement in Vietnam, the end of World War II may seem more relevant than Reconstruction. The beginning of the Cold War and the rise of the United States to fill the power vacuum left by the decline of Great Britain in the mid 20th century directly connects to American intervention in Asia.

Whether or not we can put a “beginning” pin on 68’s timeline, identifying the end of 68 seems to pose a different challenge. Because we know 68 happened, it is logical to conclude that it at some point began. Pinpointing the end of 68 is a bit more of a moving target because it requires us to decide if 68 has ended. We’ve talked many times in class about the ties between 68 and 2020. I think it’s worth wondering if the connections between 68 and 2020 more strongly support the notion that history is cyclical and that we’re in the midst of another historical swell, or if 2020 is a continuation of 68. I personally tend more toward the first position, but I think interesting arguments could be made in support of the latter.

If I were to identify strong contenders for the end of 68, I think I would list the end of the Cold War (if I had to pick a year, I’d go with either 1989 or 1991), the Gulf War (which supports the selection of 1991), or September 11, 2001. The American victory in the Cold War (I recognize some might debate the notion of victory here but I do believe that the US won the Cold War), and the military triumph in Kuwait reversed the perception that the US was not the superpower Americans thought it once was. I would argue that the uncertainty and fear perpetuated by the Cold War facilitated the social upheaval on the 60s and 70s. 2001 was a paradigm-shifting year for Americans that reshaped opinions on the role the US should play in the word. Perhaps 1991 was the end of 68 and 2001, or maybe 2008 or 2016, was the beginning of 2020.

One Reply to “The End of 68”

  1. I am a strong believer that history repeats itself. And a big reason why, I think, is that there is never any societal change to prevent history from repeating itself. This is not to say that today is a continuation of the past, because although there are tremendous similarities between the years 68 and 2020, I do not think 2020 is a continuation of 68.

    However, To some extent, I see the Black Lives Matter Movement today as a continuation of the Civil Rights Movement, because there was never any societal change in 68 to prevent another movement from occurring today. Racism still exists, and thus the BLM movement is needed to continue to address the problems that were being faced in 68 and never were solved.

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