May 1968 events in France
At 2:30 p.m. on 30 May, Pompidou persuaded de Gaulle to dissolve the National Assembly and call a new election by threatening to resign. At 4:30 pm, de Gaulle broadcast his own refusal to resign. He announced an election would be held on 23 June, ordered workers to return to work, and threatened to institute a state of emergency if they did not. The government had leaked to the media that the army was outside Paris. Immediately after the speech, about 800,000 supporters marched through the Champs-Élysées waving the national flag. The Gaullists had planned the rally for several days, and it attracted a crowd of mixed ages, occupations, and politics. The Communists agreed to the election, and the threat of revolution was over.