The May 1968 protests that paralysed France

In May 1968, France was brought to a near standstill by protests that began with students objecting to reform of the university system.

A violent response by the police to the barricades erected around the Sorbonne flared into a much larger confrontation between the state on one side and students and workers on the other.

At one point nearly a million protesters marched through Paris to demand the resignation of President Charles de Gaulle.

Philippe Vermes was an art student at the Beaux-Arts university at the time.

He spoke to Witness about the posters he helped to produce that illustrated the frustration of the country's youth.

Witness: The stories of our times told by the people who were there.