During the events of May in 1968 the statue of the Lion of Belfort in Paris was used as a meeting place for high school students, university students, and teachers. The largest of these gatherings occurred on May 10th. This date marks the beginning of a protest through the night that would become the most infamous demonstration from the events of May. This night would come to be known as the 'Night of Barricades'.

On the evening of May 10th high school students arrived at the statue at about 5:30pm. They met about an hour before the university students had planned to meet.[9] The high school students wanted to stress their solidarity with the university students and demonstrate their support in protest.[10] University students began to arrive to the square at about 6:30pm and the number of students steadily grew.[11] Among the first of the university students to arrive were the students of Arts Decoratifs and the medical school. This is significant because this is the first time during the unrest in 1968 that the 'doctors" had joined the demonstrations.[12] Furthermore, it is significant that teachers joined the students in protest; some event went as far as mounting the Lion statue in order to be heard by the mass of students.[13] Another to mount the statue was Daniel Cohn-Bendit. Cohn-Bendit was a student at Nanterre who was instrumental in the student uprising and stood out as one of the primary leaders of the movements. During the meeting he mounted the Lion with a megaphone and attempted to address the mass of students that had gathered.[14] After thousands of students had gathered, the group began marching towards the Latin Quarter of the city.[15]

This massive group of students of at least 10,000 migrated through the Latin Quarter rioting and protesting. The meeting at the statue of the Lion of Belfort demonstrates the vast groups of students that took part in and were affected by the events of May 1968. It was not only the students at prominent universities that took part in the demonstrations, but high school students, teachers, students from art institutions and medical students. This wide variety of students demonstrates the fact that this truly was a national student movement.

[1] Pierre, "The Lion of Belfort, Place Denfert – Rochereau, Paris," French Monuments, November 3, 2015, https://frenchmoments.eu/the-lion-of-belfort-place-denfert-rochereau-paris/.

[2] Ibid, "1879 – The Lion of Denfert Rochereau," Paris Unplugged, Accessed March 29, 2019, http://www.paris-unplugged.fr/1879-le-lion-de-denfert-rochereau/?fbclid=IwAR3j6orzT6TTGn169nn-4Ajiqw_EN-nhTc1prLnTtmsy_15Uog_sHsJdMdI.

[3] "Place Denfert-Rochereau square in Paris," EUtouring.com, Accessed March 29, 2019, https://www.eutouring.com/place_denfert-rochereau.html.

[4] "1879 – The Lion of Denfert Rochereau," Paris Unplugged, Accessed March 29, 2019.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Pierre, "Lion of Belfort by Auguste Bartholdi," French Monuments, November 3, 2015. https://frenchmoments.eu/lion-of-belfort-by-auguste-bartholdi/.

[7] "1879 – The Lion of Denfert Rochereau," Paris Unplugged, Accessed March 29, 2019.

[8] Pierre, "The Lion of Belfort, Place Denfert – Rochereau, Paris," French Monuments, November 3, 2015.

[9] 'The Night of the Barricades', excerpts from Le Monde, May 12-13: http://www.marxists.org/history/france/may-1968/night-barricades.htm

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Caro and Bonte, "Sous les pavés, l'embrasement: 10 mai 1968, le Quartier latin se hérisse de barricades," Franceinfo, accessed March 29, 2019 https://www.francetvinfo.fr/societe/mai-68/recit-10-mai-1968-la-nuit-des-barricades-fait-basculer-la-france-dans-la-greve-generale_2715156.html.

[14] "A testimony on the great demonstration of May, 13, 1968," Mondialisme.org, November 19, 2009, http://www.mondialisme.org/spip.php?article1402&fbclid=IwAR180NoIjkp63w5yvCnxGo04_GL_W_rfmAwugJVW3KOV6kivuToO9EXxxPU.

[15] Caro and Bonte, "Sous les pavés, l'embrasement: 10 mai 1968, le Quartier latin se hérisse de barricades," Franceinfo.

"A testimony on the great demonstration of May, 13, 1968." Mondialisme.org. November 19, 2009. http://www.mondialisme.org/spip.php?article1402&fbclid=IwAR180NoIjkp63w5yvCnxGo04_GL_W_rfmAwugJVW3KOV6kivuToO9EXxxPU.

Caro, and Bonte. "Sous les pavés, l'embrasement: 10 mai 1968, le Quartier latin se hérisse de barricades." Franceinfo. Accessed March 29, 2019. https://www.francetvinfo.fr/societe/mai-68/recit-10-mai-1968-la-nuit-des-barricades-fait-basculer-la-france-dans-la-greve-generale_2715156.html.

Pierre. "Lion of Belfort by Auguste Bartholdi." French Monuments. November 3, 2015. https://frenchmoments.eu/lion-of-belfort-by-auguste-bartholdi/.

Pierre. "The Lion of Belfort, Place Denfert – Rochereau, Paris." French Monuments. November 3, 2015. https://frenchmoments.eu/the-lion-of-belfort-place-denfert-rochereau-paris/.

"Place Denfert-Rochereau square in Paris." EUtouring.com. Accessed March 29, 2019. https://www.eutouring.com/place_denfert-rochereau.html

'The Night of the Barricades', excerpts from Le Monde, May 12-13: http://www.marxists.org/history/france/may-1968/night-barricades.htm

"1879 – The Lion of Denfert Rochereau". Paris Unplugged. Accessed March 29, 2019. http://www.paris-unplugged.fr/1879-le-lion-de-denfert-rochereau/?fbclid=IwAR3j6orzT6TTGn169nn-4Ajiqw_EN-nhTc1prLnTtmsy_15Uog_sHsJdMdI.