RENEE MONTAGNE, host: When people say this is France's worst rioting in decades, they're      referring to unrest in 1968.  Those disturbances were very different.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: Rather than poor neighborhoods, the 1968 unrest started at an elite      institution.  There was an anti-government rally at France's best-known      university, Sorbonne.  The demonstration turned violent and police moved      in.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: Soon an alliance of students, labor unions and left-wing      political parties held many demonstrations.  They protested the US war in      Vietnam and the policies of President Charles de Gaulle.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: The government appeared close to falling in 1968, but President      de Gaulle appealed to the public, threatened to use military force and      survived a vote of confidence.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: That diffused the crisis.  It's unclear what steps the French      government will take to diffuse the current situation.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: You're listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News.
The current riots are the worst civil unrest France has seen since 1968. Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne report that the 1968 riots began with a series of student demonstrations in Paris.