[Sketch Map of the French People's Revolutionary Struggle]
- Title:
- [Sketch Map of the French People's Revolutionary Struggle]
- Alternate Title:
- [Sketch Map of the French People's Revolutionary Struggle]
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Unknown
- Date:
- 1968
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2449.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2449_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1960 - Present
- Subject:
- Communism & Cold War
Other Moral & Social
Pictorial
Politics & Government - Measurement:
- 29 x 21 with inset map 8.5 x 8.5 on sheet 39 x 27 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- In May 1968, France was convulsed by a month-long series of protests, strikes and violence that brought the country to a halt. It began with students seeking a greater role in their academic institutions and almost immediately expanded to reflect broader hostility toward capitalism, the conservative policies of President Charles de Gaulle, and the American prosecution of the Vietnam War. Forceful intervention by the police brought a dramatic escalation of violence and led to increasing support for the students from the "New Left" and the general public. As French workers identified with the anger over political and economic issues, a one-day "wildcat" strike quickly exploded into a weeks-long nationwide general strike by some ten million people. Many industries ground to a halt; freighters could not be unloaded at ports; planes and trains and the Paris Metro were stopped. See generally Rubin 2018, Keller 2018.
This Chinese broadside was published almost immediately; the verso identifies it as "First Edition, First Printing, May 1968." It shows images of students and workers, arm in arm, throughout the country. The legend at the lower left identifies the symbols for locations of "Workers and Students Strike," "Railway Disruption," "Port Suspension," and "Airlines Grounded." At the top of the map, in red, is a quotation from Chairman Mao: "The proletariat and working people of Europe, North America and Oceania are experiencing a new awakening. The U.S. Imperialists and all other such vermin, have already created their own grave-diggers; the day of their burial is not far off." (This quotation is from the "Comrade Mao Tse-tung’s Message of Greetings To the Fifth Congress of the Albanian Party of Labour" (October 25, 1966).) The text bloc to the right and below the title provides dramatic detail about the "revolutionary" struggle in France in the face of capitalist efforts at "bloody" suppression.
The verso contains a standard detailed map of France headed by another quotation from Chairman Mao: "It can be said with certainty that the complete collapse of colonialism, imperialism, and all systems of exploitation, and the complete emancipation of all the oppressed peoples and nations of the world are not far off". (This quotation is from the “Statement by Comrade Mao Tse-tung, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in Support of the Afro-American Struggle Against Violent Repression” (April 16, 1968).) (Translations courtesy Asia Bookroom.)
This broadside is very similar to one published by the Chinese highlighting the riots in many American cities following the assassination the previous month of Rev. Martin Luther King. ID #2182, "Unprecedented Wave of Afro-American Struggle Against Violence" (1968).
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.