Following the embarrassment of the Franco-Prussian War and the horrors of the Paris Commune, the Third Republic hoped to regain its strength and portray itself as superior to the Second Republic with the 1878 Exposition Universelle. Due to the…
At the height of his reign, Napoleon III declared that the second major Exposition Universelle would take place in 1867 on the Champ de Mars. Napoleon III hoped that by walking around the Champ de Mars, visitors would feel as though they were…
In 1931, the Palais de la porte Doree was constructed for the International Colonial Exhibition that was held in the same year. The Palais was meant to house the Museum of the Colonies, which recounted the imperialistic aims of the westernized world.…
Thomas Edison's footage of the moving sidewalk from the 1900 Exposition Universelle shows the view from different parts of the mile-long contraption that took visitors around the exhibit areas. To recreate the experience of visitors like Edison, we…
Les Invalides, or the Hôtel National des Invalides, stood on the edge of the Seine long before it was used for the Exposition Universelles of Paris (Lewis). Les Invalides was originally built for the housing and care for disabled veterans (Lewis).…
Pont Alexandre III connects the Champs-Élysées, which is home to the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, to the Place des Invalides, another part of the 1900 Exposition Universelle. When it was constructed for the Exposition, the Republic government…
The Petit Palais was built as the smaller companion to the Grand Palais, but it received much more favorable reviews than its big brother (Jullian 43). When the two buildings debuted at the 1900 Exposition, many strongly preferred the Petit Palais…
The Universelle Exposition of 1900 was the largest and the last of five Expositions held in Paris in the 19th century. This exhibition significantly marked the turn of the century, showcasing the world’s, and especially France’s, greatest…
Following Napoleon's embarrassing defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the revolt of the Commune, and the resulting turmoil from these events, France desperately needed to display its renewed greatness on an international scale. The political…
Centuries after its initial construction as an industrial attraction for the 1889 World’s Fair (also known as the Exposition Universelles), the Eiffel tower has now become the premier symbol of Paris. In its early years, however, the massive and…
