Mai 1968 au Sénégal

Like most countries of the world, Senegal experienced a student and trade-union protest in May 1968. From a student revolt at the University of Dakar, the 18th French university, the movement, which extended to high school students and workers’ unions, profited from the support of significant sections of the population while the State could count on the loyalty of the Army, the support of the marabouts and certain rural populations. May 1968 in Senegal is primarily the result of local factors, even if the context could suggest external connections because of the worldwide youth protest, the Cold War and its ideological stakes. Between a students’ strike that degenerated, infiltrated by a leftist political opposition or externally sponsored, a revolt against capitalism and neocolonialism, the movement presented the design of a protest against the personal power of President Senghor and the most serious threat that the young republic had known till then.