Striding into modernity, Paris at the end of the nineteenth century was a place of radical development. Transformed by architect Haussmann’s spectacular renovation (known as ‘Haussmannisation’), streets were enlarged to become sprawling boulevards, and cafés, parks and exhibition spaces sprang up all over the city. A new artistic capital of the Western world had emerged. This followed a time of extensive social change, brought about by the 1848 French Revolution, the Franco-Prussian War and the emergence of the Third Republic in 1870.
