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As Maurice Agulhon says in his essay Paris: A Traversal from East
to West, "The political diversity of Paris has not been without
influence on French memory" (524). This political diversity of which
he speaks is directly reflected on the changing maps of Paris. As
France moved through the different political
stages of its revolution, the city of Paris was made to accommodate
the different ideals of each government. These ideals were radically
different from each other in the beginning of this period but by
the time of Victor Hugo, they had found a way to peaceably (most
of the time) coexist. It was in this politically divided Paris where
neither extreme ruled that the bourgeoisie were able to rise and
claim Paris as their own.
Modified Map of Paris
in 1794. The Blue shows the locations of the first
squares in Paris, from left to
right: the Place Louis XV (Place de Concord), the Place
des Conquetes (Place Vendome), the Place
Des Victoire, and the Place Royal (Place Des Vosges).
The Green spot shows the location of the Place de la
Bastille. Also on the map are red name changes -- not
visible except in a close up. Unmodified Map Courtesy
of Yale University Map Collection and Frederick W. Musto,
Curator
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The clash of political ideals was first seen in the French
Revolution of 1789. The Paris of Louis XIV was a city
seeped in the monarchical tradition. There was little to no
city planning of streets or houses,
the city was greatly behind meeting the sanitation
needs of the people, and everywhere one went they were constantly
reminded of the monarchy. The quarters that housed the palaces
and mansions of the nobility stood out like diamonds among
pebbles. It was in this tradition that King Louis XIV planned
the first four squares of Paris and (see map to left) dedicated
them all to royalty: the Place Royal (now the Place
Des Vosges) contained a statue of Louis XIII; the Place
Des Victoire contained a statue of Louis XIV; the Place
Des Conquetes (now the Place Vendome) also had
a statue of Louis XIV; and, well, the Place Louis XV
(now the Place de la Concorde) is pretty self explanatory
(Agulhon, 529). However, were one to look for any of these
squares on a map today they would never be found. This is
because they no longer exist under the same name. After the
Revolution of 1789 and the destruction of the
Bastille, each of these squares were renamed, all royal
statues were removed and new ones were put in their place.
The map to the left is an example of this. Made in 1794, all
the names written in red on it are new -- for example the
Place Louis XV became the Place de la Revolution and was decorated
with a statue of the personified Liberty (Agulhon, 536).
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The Place de la Bastille, first under Napoleon I
in Alvoine's drawing Elephant caparaconne d'or, and
then under Louis-Phillippe in Testard's La Colonne de
Julliet. Both illustrations were done in the 19th century.
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Napoleon's assuming power in France after his coup
de 'tat in 1799 was the first backward step for the revolution.
He did not want revolt any more than Louis XIV had, and this
is reflected in the changes he made in the city. First of
all, he replaced the statues of Liberty with ones celebrating
his army, as well as a column dedicated to himself in the
Place Vendome. However one of the strangest things he did
was to place a statue of a giant elephant in the Place de
la Bastille (the sight of the ruined fortress). This dilapidated
elephant plays a small part in Hugo's Les Miserables
as the home of the gamin Gavroche, who lived in its hollow
underbelly. Even to Hugo this elephant was a mystery. As he
himself says:
One knew not what it meant. It was a sort of symbol of
sorts of the force of the people. It was gloomy enigmatic
and immense. It was a mysterious and mighty phantom , visibly
standing by the side of the invisible spectre of the Bastille.
(Hugo, 826)
Both of the Vendome column and the giant elephant fit with
Napoleon Bonaparte's design to 1) glorify the accomplishments
of France under his own rule, and 2) de-emphasize the revolution
of 1789.
The restoration, under King Louis XVIII and
Charles X, had a very similar theme to that of Napoleon
in down playing the acts of the regime before it. In keeping
with the goals of the restoration, the statue of napoleon
was taken down from the Vendome column, the royal statues
from the time of Louis XIV were returned to their original
places, and there was even plans for a statue of "Louis XIV,
martyr" to be put up in the Place de la Concorde, the central
square of the city -- and the one where he had been guillotined
in 1789 (Agulhon, 533). Luckily, Louis-Phillippe shut down
this plan when he came in to power in 1830.
It was under Louis-Phillippe bourgeoisie centered
rule that the monuments of Paris began to be neutralized.
Yes, the statue of Napoleon was returned to its place atop
the Vendome column, but certainly contradictory to this was
the placement of a column topped by the Genius of Liberty
at the Place de la Bastille (Napoleon's elephant had been
allowed to crumble into disrepair). Also between these two
monuments, at the Place de la Concorde, was placed the Obelisk
of Luxor: a monument with almost no local political significance
whatsoever set in the central square of Paris. Like Napoleon
Bonaparte's elephant, this had the effect of neutralizing
the square in that no one political party could claim the
center of Paris as its own. At the same time, this placement
separated the two halves of Paris
between their respective political orientations. Like the
bourgeoisie, politics would stick to the middle ground.
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The Evolution of the Place
de la Concorde: from left to right:
1) Place Louis XV, an anonymous engraving entitled "Vou
de le'ordre et de le marche Des ceremonies qui doivent
etre observees le jour de la publication de la paix a la place
Louis XV", eighteenth century, 2) La Statue
de la Liberte, Place de la Revolution, anonymous, eighteenth
century, 3) La Ceremoniepour les Journees de juin
1848, Place de la Concorde ornee de l'obleisque; painting
by J.-J. Champin, 1848
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