Read complete books and articles on: Paris History

Paris - pârˈĭs, Fr. pärēˈ, city (1999 pop. 2,115,757; metropolitan area est. pop. 11,000,000), N central France, capital of the country, on the Seine River. It is the commercial and industrial focus of France and a cultural and intellectual center of international renown. The city possesses an indefinable unity of atmosphere that has fascinated writers, poets, and painters for centuries. Paris is sometimes called the City of Light in tribute to its intellectual preeminence as well as to its beautiful appearance.

Paris is the center of many major newspapers and periodicals, as well as all the major French radio and television stations. Elegant stores and hotels, lavish nightclubs, theaters, and gourmet restaurants help make tourism the biggest industry in Paris. Other leading industries manufacture luxury articles, high-fashion clothing, perfume, and jewelry. Heavy industry, notably automobile manufacture, is located in the suburbs. About one quarter of the French labor force is concentrated in the Paris area.

Transportation Facilities

Situated in the center of the Paris basin (see Île-de-France), and only 90 mi (145 km) from the English Channel, the city handles a great volume of shipping. Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports (the latter opened in 1974) and many major railroad stations make Paris one of the great transportation centers of western Europe. The Paris metro (subway), built in 1900, was modernized and extended during the 1970s. There are now 16 principal metro lines and a high-speed express subway system servicing the suburbs. The system's hub, Chatelet Les-Halles, is perhaps the largest, busiest underground station in the world. Paris is also the hub of the national rail system, with high-speed trains connecting it to most major European cities.

Points of Interest

Paris is divided into roughly equal sections by the Seine. On the right (northern) bank are the Bois de Boulogne, Arc de Triomphe, Bibliothèque nationale, Élysée Palace, Georges Pompidou National Center for Art and Culture (see Beaubourg), Place de la Concorde, Opéra, Comédie Française, Louvre, Palais de Chaillot, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Grande Arche de la Défense, Champs Élysées, and other great streets, sites, and boulevards. In the eastern part of the right bank is the Museum of the Art and History of Judaism, the Place de la Bastille and the Bastille Opera; to the north is Montmartre, the highest area in Paris, topped by the Church of Sacré-Cœur. Much of the right bank, which has many of the most fashionable streets and shops, has a stately air. At night many monuments and boulevards are floodlit. In the city's northeastern outskirts is the Parc de la Villette, home of the large Cité de la Musique, opened in the early 1990s, and the planned site of a number of performance and exhibition spaces.

The left bank, with the Sorbonne, the French Academy, the Panthéon (see under pantheon), the Luxembourg Palace and Gardens, the Jardin des Plantes (site of the National Natural History Museum), the Chamber of Deputies, the Quai d'Orsay, and the Hotel des Invalides, is the governmental and to a large extent the intellectual section. The Latin Quarter, for nearly a thousand years the preserve of university students and faculty; the Faubourg Saint-Germain section, at once aristocratic and a haven for students and artists (the celebrated Café des Deux Magots and Café de Flore are there); and Montparnasse are the most celebrated left-bank districts. The Eiffel Tower stands by the Seine on the Champ-de-Mars.

The historical nucleus of Paris is the Île de la Cité, a small boat-shaped island largely occupied by the huge Palais de Justice and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. It is connected with the smaller Île Saint-Louis, occupied by elegant houses of the 17th and 18th cent. Characteristic of Paris are the tree-lined quays along the Seine (famed, on the left bank, for their open-air bookstalls), the historic bridges that span the Seine, and the vast tree-lined boulevards that replaced the city walls. Skyscrapers, apartment complexes, and highways have been added to the Paris scene in recent years.

Government and People

Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements (districts or boroughs), each of which has a local council and a mayor, but most of the power is held by the mayor of the City of Paris who is chosen by the city's council. Paris and its suburbs together make up the eight departments of the Île-de-France administrative region, which is governed by an elected assembly, chairman, and supervisor and overseen by a prefect appointed by the state.

Immigrants to France now constitute nearly 20% of Paris's population. The majority of these are Algerian, Moroccan, and Tunisian. Large groups of Indochinese have also immigrated to Paris. About 75% of all Parisians live in the suburbs due to high costs and a high population density in the city. New towns have been built, consolidating suburban areas, and a great deal of manufacturing and other industry takes place in the suburbs.

History

Early History

Julius Caesar conquered Paris in 52 b.c. It was then a fishing village, called Lutetia Parisiorum (the Parisii were a Gallic tribe), on the Île de la Cité. Under the Romans the town spread to the left bank and acquired considerable importance under the later emperors. The vast catacombs under Montparnasse and the baths (now in the Cluny Mus.) remain from the Roman period. Legend says that St. Denis, first bishop of Paris, was martyred on Montmartre (hence the name) and that in the 5th cent. St. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris, preserved the city from destruction by the Huns. On several occasions in its early history Paris was threatened by barbarian and Norman invasions, which at times drove the inhabitants back to the Île de la Cité.

Clovis I and several other Merovingian kings made Paris their capital; under Charlemagne it became a center of learning. In 987, Hugh Capet, count of Paris, became king of France. The Capetians firmly established Paris as the French capital. The city grew as the power of the French kings increased. In the 11th cent. the city spread to the right bank. During the next two centuries—the reign of Philip Augustus (1180–1223) is especially notable for the growth of Paris—streets were paved and the city walls enlarged; the first Louvre (a fortress) and several churches, including Notre-Dame, were constructed or begun; and the schools on the left bank were organized into the Univ. of Paris. One of them, the Sorbonne, became a fountainhead of theological learning with Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas Aquinas among its scholars. The university community constituted an autonomous borough; another was formed on the right bank by merchants ruled by their own provost. In 1358, under the leadership of the merchant provost Étienne Marcel, Paris first assumed the role of an independent commune and rebelled against the dauphin (later Charles V). During the period of the Hundred Years War the city suffered civil strife (see Armagnacs and Burgundians), occupation by the English (1419–36), famine, and the Black Death.

During the Renaissance

The Renaissance reached Paris in the 16th cent. during the reign of Francis I (1515–47). At this time the Louvre was transformed from a fortress to a Renaissance palace. In the Wars of Religion (1562–98), Parisian Catholics, who were in the great majority, took part in the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day (1572), forced Henry III to leave the city on the Day of Barricades (1588), and accepted Henry IV only after his conversion (1593) to Catholicism. Cardinal Richelieu, Louis XIII's minister, established the French Academy and built the Palais Royal and the Luxembourg Palace. During the Fronde, Paris once again defied the royal authority. Louis XIV, distrustful of the Parisians, transferred (1682) his court to Versailles. Parisian industries profited from the lavishness of Versailles; the specialization in luxury goods dates from that time. J. H. Mansart under Louis XIV and François Mansart, J. G. Soufflot, and J. A. Gabriel under Louis XV created some of the most majestic prospects of modern Paris.

The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

During the late 17th and the 18th cent. Paris acquired further glory as the scene of many of France's greatest cultural achievements: the plays of Molière, Racine, and Corneille; the music of Lully, Rameau, and Gluck; the paintings of Watteau, Fragonard, and Boucher; and the salons where many of the philosophes of the Enlightenment gathered. At the same time, growing industries had resulted in the creation of new classes—the bourgeoisie and proletariat—concentrated in such suburbs (faubourgs) as Saint-Antoine and Saint-Denis; in the opening events of the French Revolution, city mobs stormed the Bastille (July, 1789) and hauled the royal family from Versailles to Paris (Oct., 1789). Throughout the turbulent period of the Revolution the city played a central role.

Napoleon to the Commune

Napoleon (emperor, 1804–15) began a large construction program (including the building of the Arc de Triomphe, the Vendôme Column, and the arcaded Rue de Rivoli) and enriched the city's museums with artworks removed from conquered cities. In the course of his downfall Paris was occupied twice by enemy armies (1814, 1815). In the first half of the 19th cent. Paris grew rapidly. In 1801 it had 547,000 people; in 1817, 714,000; in 1841, 935,000; and in 1861, 1,696,000. The revolutions of July, 1830, and Feb., 1848, both essentially Parisian events, had repercussions throughout Europe. Culturally, the city was at various times the home or host of most of the

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12 of the Best Books and Articles on: Paris History

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Paris: Capital of Europe from the Revolution to the Belle Epoque » Read Now
by Eveline L. Kanes, Johannes Willms. 436 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This account of Paris when it was considered the capital of Europe provides an unusually full treatment of all aspects of the city's history from the eve of the French Revolution to the days preceding World War 1.
2.

Paris, Capital of Modernity » Read Now
by David Harvey. 372 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Collecting David Harvey's finest work on Paris during the second empire, Paris, Capital of Modernity offers brilliant insights ranging from the birth of consumerist spectacle on the Parisian boulevards, the creative visions of Balzac, Baudelaire and Zola, and the reactionary cultural politics of the...
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Collecting David Harvey's finest work on Paris during the second empire, Paris, Capital of Modernity offers brilliant insights ranging from the birth of consumerist spectacle on the Parisian boulevards, the creative visions of Balzac, Baudelaire and Zola, and the reactionary cultural politics of the bombastic Sacre Couer. The book is heavily illustrated and includes a number drawings, portraits and cartoons by Daumier, one of the greatest political caricaturists of the nineteenth century.
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3.

Blood in the City: Violence and Revelation in Paris, 1789-1945 » Read Now
by Richard D. E. Burton. 395 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Drawing on historical, literary, visual, anthropological, and psychological sources, Burton develops a wide-ranging account of violence in modern French politics. He provides an insight into the widespread French obsession with conspiracy.
4.

The Making of Revolutionary Paris (1960) » Read Now
by David Garrioch. 382 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

"An unusually compelling work of scholarly synthesis: a history of a city of revolution in a revolutionary century. Garrioch claims that until 1750 Paris remained a city characterized by a powerful sense of hierarchy. From the mid-century on, however, and with gathering speed, economic, demographic...
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"An unusually compelling work of scholarly synthesis: a history of a city of revolution in a revolutionary century. Garrioch claims that until 1750 Paris remained a city characterized by a powerful sense of hierarchy. From the mid-century on, however, and with gathering speed, economic, demographic, political, and social change swept the city. Having produced an extremely engaging account of the old corporate society, Garrioch turns to the forces that relentlessly undermined it."--John E. Talbott, author of "The Pen and Ink Sailor: Charles Middleton and the King's Navy, 1778-1813
"A truly wonderful synthesis of the many historical strands that compose the history of eighteenth-century Paris. In rewriting the history of the French Revolution as a more than century-long urban metamorphosis, Garrioch makes a brilliant case for the centrality of Paris in the history of France."--Bonnie Smith, author of "The Gender of History: Men, Women, and Historical Practice
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5.

The Students of Paris and the Revolution of 1848 » Read Now
by John G. Gallaher. 128 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
6.

Protest in Paris: Anatomy of a Revolt » Read Now
by Bernard E. Brown. 240 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
7.

Paris under the Occupation » Read Now
by Gerard Walter, Tony White. 209 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...conditions of life in occupied Paris. This "occupied" press I...I have never believed that history should be written with kid...not writing it at all. The Paris press being...
8.

The Civil War in France: The Paris Commune » Read Now
by Karl Marx, V. I. Lenin. 182 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, History, Entire Library

On the working-class response to the Franco-Prussian War, 1870-71, and the lessons of the Commune. A new edition with supplementary material by N. Fedorovsky providing background on the European scene before and after Marx wrote this essay.
9.

The History of France (Includes discussion of Paris history in multiple chapters) » Read Now
by John E. Findling, W. Scott Haine, Frank W. Thackeray. 264 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This is the most up-to-date, concise, yet comprehensive narrative history of France, current through the end of 1999. Engagingly written for students and general public, it brings to life the compelling history of this fractious and fascinating country, which has given to the world cultural glory...
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This is the most up-to-date, concise, yet comprehensive narrative history of France, current through the end of 1999. Engagingly written for students and general public, it brings to life the compelling history of this fractious and fascinating country, which has given to the world cultural glory and a model of democratic revolution. No longer a nation of peasants or small shopkeepers, France has weathered the storms of the first half of the 20th century to emerge as the fourth largest economic power in the industrial world. At the turn of the 21st century French society is in dynamic flux, shaped by integration, feminism, youth culture, and economic and social change. Each chapter of this work covers a distinct period of French history, from prehistory to France at the end of the 20th century, examining the problems and issues of that era and how they impacted later events.
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10.

France and the Second World War: Occupation, Collaboration, and Resistance (Includes discussion of Paris history in multiple chapters) » Read Now
by Peter Davies. 148 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

France and the Second World War is a concise introduction to a crucial and controversial period of French history - world war and occupation. During World War Two, France had the dramatic experience of occupation by the Germans and the legacy of this traumatic time has lived on until today, to the...
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France and the Second World War is a concise introduction to a crucial and controversial period of French history - world war and occupation. During World War Two, France had the dramatic experience of occupation by the Germans and the legacy of this traumatic time has lived on until today, to the enduring fascination of historians and students. France and the Second World War provides a fresh and balanced insight into the events of this era of conflict, exploring the key themes of:* Occupation as a social, economic and political phenomenon* the Vichy regime and the politics of collaboration* the 'resistance', resistors and its ideology* the liberation* the legacy of the wartime period.
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11.

The Time of Theory: A History of Tel Quel (1960-1983) » Read Now
by Patrick Ffrench. 310 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This is the first full-length study in any language of one of the most important elements in post-war French intellectual and cultural life. The journal Tel Quel was the focus of much of the intense theoretical activity of Paris in the 1960s and 1970s and played a vital role in the development of...
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This is the first full-length study in any language of one of the most important elements in post-war French intellectual and cultural life. The journal Tel Quel was the focus of much of the intense theoretical activity of Paris in the 1960s and 1970s and played a vital role in the development of the key thinkers of the time, including Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Louis Althusser, Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva, and Philippe Sollers. Patrick ffrench traces its history, across the "time of theory" and the catastrophe of May 1968, to the review's controversial affirmation of literature as akin to theology in the late 1970s.
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12.

Beneath the Cross: Catholics and Huguenots in Sixteenth-Century Paris » Read Now
by Barbara B. Diefendorf. 272 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, History, Entire Library

The religious conflicts of sixteenth-century France, particularly the St. Bartholomew's Day massacres of 1572, continue to draw a good deal of attention from historians. What started as a limited coup against the Huguenot leadership became instead a conflagration that left two thousand or more...
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The religious conflicts of sixteenth-century France, particularly the St. Bartholomew's Day massacres of 1572, continue to draw a good deal of attention from historians. What started as a limited coup against the Huguenot leadership became instead a conflagration that left two thousand or more Protestants dead in the streets and ushered in a series of bloody religious battles. Until now, however, historians have been preoccupied with the political aspects of the conflicts, and histories have focused on the roles of the king and high noblemen in the assassinations that sparked the massacres, rather than the mass violence. In this compelling and unique study, Diefendorf closely examines popular religious fanaticism and religious hatred. She focuses on the roots and escalation of the conflicts, the propaganda of Catholic and Protestant preachers, popular religious beliefs and rituals, the role of the militia, and the underground activities of the Protestant community after the massacres. Drawing on a wide array of published and unpublished sources, Beneath the Cross is the most comprehensive social history to date of these religious conflicts.
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