The next point of interest will be Au Petit Suiss café that was built in 1792, which is proudly depicted within their welcome sign, which was a very popular café for student revolutionaries of the Left to gather and plan for the Student Protest at Sorbonne.^[1] Not only does this café represent an important structure of the "Uprising" or "Revolution" but also capitulates the importance of French Cafes in Paris for the planning and executing of political involvement of students.

[1] Jacques d'Arribehaude. Un Français libre: journal 1960-1968. L'age D'homme, 2000.

While cafes in Paris are synonymous with the famous protest of May 1968 they can historically be accounted for as the social institutions that allowed the French to argue politics while coping with the urban and traditional changes that came with industrialization of the 19^th century.^[2] Cafe institutions also served alcohol which fueled the debates among the politically inclined and orchestrated a new type of entertainment.

Alcohol and the Café in Paris became connected with revolutionary planning and debates starting with the brief radicalism found in the Paris Commune of 1871. It arguably altered the premonition and characteristics of Café life.^[3] Au Petit Suiss is one of many Cafes that was experiencing this shift of identity after the events of 1871.

While the historical records regarding Au Petit Suiss as a café are scarce, the fact that it was one of the hubs for the students of la Sorbonne during May 1968 is important. Au Petit Suiss can be attributed with the characteristics and importance regarding most Cafes in and around the Latin Quarter and la Sorbonne during May 1968.

From perspectives of individuals who were there during the chaos that was May 1968 in Paris, one anonymous participant reminiscences how the police threw gas into two Cafes and singled out small groups of students creating more resources for the protests in May in these Cafes.^[4] Cafes held substantial power to the protests of May 1968 as can be seen with the supposed attacks from police. Cafes like that of the Au Petit Suiss held immense threat to the government as being catalysts for the students to launch their political agendas.

It is even stated that discussions of the student-worker dilemma that started with the closing of the gates by trade unions to the students at the Renault factory at Boulogne-Billancourt on May 18^th, 1968 was discussed and planned for at nearby Cafes.^[5] Cafes within Paris are synonymous with intellectual thought and debate, especially among students, which have, today, been reminisced with the influx of tourists and the eventual perpetuation of distant memories of radical memories of 1960s.^[6]

In terms of importance to the debate between the distinction of an "Uprising" or a "revolution" the Cafés of Paris, including Au Petit Suiss, had is that they were hubs of power for the students and teachers of the protests in May.But ultimately because the Cafes were attacked and dismantled by the French police force it leads to the conclusion that it enforces the "Uprising" argument regarding the events of May 1968 in Paris. The Cafes did show that the students had resources and power to their cause, but it does not seem to have threatened an overthrow of the French government when specifically looking at Cafes.

[2] W. Scott Haine, The World of the Paris Café: Sociability Among the French Working Class, 1789-1914, JHU Press, 1998, 242.

[3] Mack Holt, Alcohol: A Social and Cultural History, Berg, 2006, 131.

[4] Bill Brown, Not Bored! Anthology 1983-2010, 2016.

[5] Ingo Cornills, Memories of 1968: International Perspectives, Peter Lang, 2010, 52.

[6] Leona Rittner, W. Scott Haine, The Thinking Space: The Café as a Cultural Institution in Paris, Italy and Vienna, 19.

Bibliography

Brown, Bill. Not Bored! Anthology 1983-2010, 2016.

Cornills, Ingo. Memories of 1968: International Perspectives. Peter Lang, 2010.

d'Arribehaude, Jaques. Un Français libre: journal 1960-1968. L'age D'homme, 2000. [Translated]

Haine, W. Scott. The World of the Paris Café: Sociability Among the French Working Class, 1789-1914. JHU Press, 1998.

Holt, Mack. Alcohol: A Social and Cultural History. Berg, 2006.

Rittner, Leona & Scott Haine, W. The Thinking Space: The Café as a Cultural Institution in Paris, Italy and Vienna.