Unit 13:   Paris of the Fin de Siècle/Belle Époque (1870–1914)

Paris underwent political upheaval in the early 1870s. Napoleon III was captured by the Prussians in September, the Third Republic was established under pressure from republican forces (some of whom had been rendered homeless by Haussmann's constructions), and the Prussian army laid siege to the city over the winter of 1870–71. In February, a group of radicals, the Communards, took over the city and established the Paris Commune, which was overturned four months later by the Third Republic's armed forces. On their way out of power, the Communards damaged or destroyed a number of Paris 's important monuments.

The next several decades brought a flowering of art and invention as Paris reestablished its preeminence as “the world's center of culture and pleasure.” This “Belle Epoque” (Beautiful Age) at the “Fin de Siècle” (End of the Century) oversaw several new world's fairs, a new city-wide system of transportation, a groundbreaking aesthetic movement (Art Nouveau), and the establishment of a new way of purchasing goods, the grands magasins or department stores. This is when Paris becomes what we recognize as a modern metropolis.