Why were Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh, and Mao Zedong admired by many French student activists?

French student activists in the 1960s were largely disillusioned with the French Communist Party and orthodox Marxism, which they viewed as stagnant and disconnected from their aspirations for radical change. In this climate of "Third Worldism," students looked toward Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh, and Mao Zedong as revolutionary idols.1

These figures represented a form of active, anti-imperialist struggle that resonated with a generation of youth who perceived French society as an autocratic, tradition-bound, and quasi-benign dictatorship. The influence of these leaders was further bolstered by the nightly news, which featured images of carpet bombing and napalm attacks by U.S. forces in Vietnam—a former French sphere of influence. For these students, Guevara, Ho, and Mao embodied a revolutionary spirit that stood in stark contrast to the perceived failures of the French political establishment and the conventional parliamentary opposition.1