Wikipedia:WikiProject Organized Labour/Summaries/General strike/Summary

A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region or country. It may be based on political and/or economic goals, and tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants. It is also characterized by participation of workers in a multitude of workplaces, who have no direct stake in the outcome of the strike, and tends to involve entire communities.

The general strike has waxed and waned in popularity since the mid-19th century, and has characterized many historically important strikes.

• 1820 Rising in Scotland
• Russian Revolution of 1905
• 1912 Brisbane General Strike
• Winnipeg General Strike of 1919
• French general strike of May 1968
• Venezuelan general strike of 2002-2003

The biggest general strike in recent European history – and the largest general wildcat strike ever – was May 1968 in France.