Standing Up in the Face of State Power, May 1968, Paris --- Daily LIFT #154

Standing Up in the Face of State Power, May 1968, Paris --- Daily LIFT #154

A young man confronts a phalanx of cops at the very beginning of the May 1968 uprising in France that nearly overthrew the government of de Gaulle.

Banner of the 67th Battalion of the National Guard, Paris Commune, 1871 -- Daily LIFT #152

Banner of the 67th Battalion of the National Guard, Paris Commune, 1871 -- Daily LIFT #152

The Paris Commune was proclaimed March 18, 1871.

Paris Commune Proclaimed March 18, 1871

Working men’s Paris, with its Commune, will be forever celebrated as the glorious harbinger of a new society. Its martyrs are enshrined in the great heart of the working class. Its exterminators history has already nailed to that eternal pillory from which all the prayers of their priest will not avail to redeem them. - Karl Marx, The Civil War in France

The Paris Commune, the first attempt by the modern working class to seize power in history, was proclaimed March 18, 1871.

Image: Stamp issued to honour the centennial of the Commune, 1971, USSR

Long Live the Paris Commune!, PRC Poster, 1971 -- Daily LIFT #24

Long Live the Paris Commune! - Poster, People's Republic of China, 1971

A poster in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Commune featuring Karl Marx.

 Artist unknown.

(The Daily LIFT - Leftist Image for Today - is a new The Left Chapter feature posting a daily photo, cartoon, artwork or other image related to leftist history or contemporary realty.)

30 Photographs and Streetscapes of Paris, 1973

On The Left Chapter we have looked at vintage photography of some of the world's most famous cities before in posts like Warsaw 1972 - Vintage Streetscapes and Other Photos and 26 Incredibly Evocative Photos of 1956 Soviet Moscow.


Today we are journeying to the truly photogenic and romantic French capital Paris with some streetscapes and city scenes from 1973. Many of the locales featured need no introduction, from the Eiffel Tower to Sacre-Coeur to Notre Dame. Taken from a tourist guide to the city, the combination of day, twilight and night shots here help to bring it to life again in the memory of those who have been there or to reflect what it is like for those who have not.


We cannot actually travel to the Paris of the 1970s. Except, of course, through photos like these.

(Click on images to enlarge)

The Barges at the Pont Marie

Ile de la Cite and Ile Saint-Louis

Le Pont Neuf

The Booksellers of the Quai de la Tournelle

The Spire of Notre-Dame

L'Arc-de-Triomphe

The Left Bank and Notre-Dame

The Madeleine and the Rue Royale

The Basin of the Tuileries and the perspective towards

the Obelisk and the Arch of Triumph

Sacre-Coeur

The "Lapin-Agile" Cabaret at Montmartre

Both Above: The Place du Tertre

The Eiffel Tower seen from the Trocadero Gardens

La Mason de la Radio and the Pont de Grenelle

The Palais de Chaillot

The Towers of the Font de Seine

The Institute seen from the Foot-bridge of the Arts

Place de Furstenberg

Saint-Germain-des-Pres

The Cafes of Montparnasse

The 14th of July at Place du Petit-Pont

The Pantheon seen from the Place Edmond-Rostand

The Medici Fountain in the Luxembourg Garden

The Saint-Severin Church

Boulevard Saint-Michel

The Palais du Luxembourg

Place Vendome and the Rue de la Paix

Ile Saint-Louis

Notre-Dame