May 1968 Protests in France in the Collective Memory of the European Commission Politicians

Introduction. The May 1968 protests are an important place of remembrance in the history of Europe. Methods and materials. The author uses the methods of studying collective memory to analyze the image of the May protests in the collective memory of the European Union. The article analyzes how former members of the European Commission recall the events of 1968 within the framework of The European Commission 1958–1973: History and Memories of an Institution project and how the May protests are woven into the history of European unification. The project was implemented in the early 2000s with the aim of compiling an oral history of the European Union and the European Commission in particular. Analysis. The author summarizes the image of the protests and highlights the general features of the description of the events of 1968. Based on examples of interviews with Fausta Deshormes La Valle, Odile Benoist-Lucie, Franz Froschmaier, and Raymond Barre, the article summarizes a comprehensive picture of the crisis year of 1968, which affected both the political, social, and economic spheres of life in Europe. Results. The memory of the protests, actualized through the interviews, correlates with the first reaction of European politicians in 1968. A significant difference is the selectivity of memories. Politicians in interviews do not recall the violence that the protests caused or the eclecticism of the slogans of the rebel students; the positive image of the protests dominates. The common motif present in most of the interviews is the feeling of young people’s disappointment in the ideals of a united Europe. The May protests are presented as a turning point in the history of Europe, which prompted European politicians to act and further deepen the integration.