Olympia, Madame X, and Mme Matisse

20 Pages 4959 Words

s, especially Americans, were drawn to Paris by the changes that had occurred over the past twenty years. Between 1840 and 1870 the population of Paris doubled due to the amount of both foreigners and Frenchmen from the countryside moving into the city.
During the 1870’s and 1880’s Paris was almost completely renovated and was transformed from a medieval city into one current with the time. Streets were widened to allow for more traffic, more bridges were built to unite the two banks of Paris, and huge numbers of buildings were demolished to make room for improvements. As a result tens of thousands of people were evicted from their homes, and many historical landmarks of Paris were destroyed. However, this great revamping of Paris seemed to only attract more foreigners.
Between 1871 and 1873 Paris was in political turmoil. Louis Napoleon III was dismissed from rulership of France in 1871. Then in 1872 the Franco-Prussian war ended, leaving France with a disastrous defeat. After the dismissal of Napoleon III the Commune took over the French government. Immediately civil war began in Paris, which lasted for almost three years, until in 1873 peace was accomplished, and Parisian life returned to its normal fashionable state.
Between 1871 and 1875 the men’s suffrage movement was at its peak. Throughout Europe it was thought that giving a vote to illiterate citizens was extremely dangerous, because they would be unable to make a choice based on fact. As a result primary school was made available and compulsory for all children in France. By 1875, ten million Frenchmen could vote. However, the women’s suffrage movement did not begin until 1945 in France.
Prior to the late 19th century religion in most of Europe and France was something that was not questioned, it was simply a part of every “good” person’s life. However, beginning in the late 1870’s, the authority of Christianity was challenged by t...