AS SAID, THE ARTERIES' IMMEDIATE PURPOSE WAS TO LET THE ARMY MOVE RAPIDLY TOWARD AREAS WHERE REVOLTS MIGHT TAKE PLACE
That could be as far away as the 13th district, then a working-class area on the southeast edge of town.
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Adapted from a Google map |
Rue Jeanne d'Arc
Notre-Dame-de-la-Gare
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As well, the arteries' width made building barricades more difficult, and being long and straight allowed bombarding those barriers should they spring up just the same.
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Internet, source unknown |
As when La Commune broke out (in 1871) they did.
"Building a Barricade on March 19, 1871" (the day after La Commune began) by Arnaud Durbec / zoom.
-- musée Carnavalet, not exhibited
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The design also appears in the space around the church, so big that a market occupies it two days a week:
Notre-Dame de la Gare, one of the churches built to encourage obedience.
There is room for stands, trucks, parked cars and traffic.
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In the south, tearing down a slum sufficed to build an artery. In the north, a steep hill made such construction impossible, with dramatic consequences. In the east, a canal brought a problem, which we will come to.
In the wealthy, conservative west, such change was unnecessary.
That the design should strike
an area as remote
reveals the fear that insurrection inspired.
