1968: The Global Revolt

Black civil rights struggles and early student movements against the Vietnam war in the 1960s give impetus to the global uprisings spreading across the planet.

European youth protest authoritative governments; young people celebrate a summer of love in the United States; a violent crack-down on protests leaves more than 500 people dead before the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Disillusion becomes widespread as the Vietnam War continues; symbols of hope Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy are assassinated; terrorist attacks by the Red Army Faction rock Germany.

Criticism of the system and new awareness lead to the formation of non-government organisations such as Greenpeace and Doctors Without Borders; the generation of 68ers influence every part of society.