In 1962, the Academic Crisis occurred. The Salazar regime, fearing the growing popularity of democratic ideas among students, made several student associations and organizations illegal, including the National Secretariat of Portuguese Students. Most members of this organization were intellectual communist militants who were persecuted and forbidden to continue their university studies. With assistance from the PCP, the students responded with demonstrations that culminated on 24 March with a large student demonstration in Lisbon. The demonstration was brutally suppressed by the police, leading to hundreds of injuries among the protesters. Immediately thereafter, the students began a strike against the regime.