The years 1968 and 1969 were racked with war, violence,
terrorism, and civil unrest around the world. Wars raged in Vietnam and
Nigeria; Soviet and Chinese troops skirmished in a continuing border dispute;
Soviet troops entered Czechoslovakia to quell a movement toward liberalization;
and El Salvador invaded Honduras. Coups d'etat toppled governments in 'Iraq,
Syria, Sierre Leone, Dahomey, the Congo, Mali, the Sudan, Libya, the
Netherlands Antilles, Peru, Panama, and Bolivia; states of emergency were
declared in Spain, Malaysia, and Chile; violent unrest occurred in West
Germany, Spain, Bombay, Pakistan, Argentina, Kenya, and the United States; and
student protests erupted in Paris, Mexico City, Czechoslovakia, Argentina, and
the United States. United States and Israeli airliners were hijacked, and two
Israeli airliners were attacked by terrorists.
Moreover, a number of leaders were assassinated, including Somalian
president Abdirascid Ali Scermarche; US civil rights leader Martin Luther King,
Jr.; US presidential candidate Robert E. Kennedy; US ambassador to Guatemala
John Gordon Mein; and Mozambique Liberation Front leader Eduardo Chivambo
Mondlane.
(Geoffry Marks)
