May 1968 events in France
The government had acted in a way that made people support the strikers. Many French singers and poets joined after the police brutality had come to light. American artists also began to support the strikers. The large union federations, the Confédération générale du travail and the Force ouvrière, called for a one-day general strike and demonstration for Monday, 13 May. More than a million people marched through Paris that day. The police stayed out of sight. Prime Minister Georges Pompidou personally announced the release of the prisoners and the reopening of the Sorbonne, but the protests did not stop.