The loml history of Paris during the Revolution is the history of the Revolution itself. In 1789 (July 14) the Bastille (which had been greatly enlarged, fortified, and used as a state prison) was taken and demolished by the Parisians. lo October of the same year the king was brought from Versailles to Paris by the Parisian mob. On the attempt of the king to quit France (21st June, 1791) some rioting took place, and in the early part of 1792 fresh commotions occurred. On the 20th Jone the Tuileries was attacked by the populace, and the lives of the royal family endangered ; on the 10th August that palace was again attacked, and the king's Swiss guards who defended it were slaughtered ; and on the 2nd of September the mob broke into the various prisons and massacred those confined in them. The king was deposed, and the Legislative Assembly gave place to the Convention, in which the more violent of the revolutionists gradually obtained the ascendancy.
The guillotine was erected in the Place Louis XV. (now Place-de la-Concorde), between the gardens of the Tuileries and the Champs Elyedes, and the king himself was one of the earliest victims (21st January, 1793). In June the Girondist party in the Convention was overthrown ; the faction of the Mountain became supreme, the reign of terror commenced, and blood flowed in torrents. Executions took place daily in the Place Louis XV.: Charlotte Corday, the assassin of Idarnt, queen Marie Antoinette, Brissot, Vergniaud, and others, the most illustrious members of the Girondist party in the Convention, Egalite, duke of °rhino% Denton and Camille Desmoulina, Moun taineers themselves, Madame Elizabeth, sister of Louis XVI., and numerous others perished. The victims at one time anmaoted to fifty or sixty a-day, and occasionally exceeded that number. The guillotine was shifted from the Place Louis XV. to the Place-de-la-Bastille, and from thence to the Place-du-Treone, at the eastern extremity of the city, in the Faubourg SL-Antoine, whence it was brought back to the Place Louis XV. for the execution of Robespierre and his associates (28th July, 1794), which put an end to 'the reign of terror.' The Convention, freed from the tyranny which Robespierre had established, restricted the power of the terrible committees, abolished the commune of Paris, and reduced the clubs to subordination. The Polytechnic school, the Institute, and the Bureau-des-Longitudes owe their estab lishment to the Convention. In 1795 the Parisian rabble rose repeatedly against the government, but were put down by the armed force of the forty-eight 'sections,' into which Paris had been divided. In October, 1795, this armed force itself rose against the Convention, but was completely defeated by the troops of the line at Paris, com manded nominally by Barra!, but really by Bonaparte. The govern ment of France now passed into the hands of the two legislative councils and the executive directory. Under Bonaparte, successively first consul and emperor (December 2,1804), Paris enjoyed an increasing prosperity and almost uninterrupted quiet till the year 1814.
Notwithstanding the extreme warlike activity of his reign, which hung the churches of Paris with the flags of all the cootinental powers of Europe, Napoleon L did not neglect the decoration of his capital. All the houses which as yet stood on the edge of the quays were swept away, and the prospect of the river opened entirely to view ; the quays were extended ; the bridge of Austerlitz spanned thil Seine opposite the JArdin-des-Plantsts; the Pont-de-la-Cite joined the Ile-St. Louis to the Ile-de-la-Cite; the Pont-des-Arts connected the Louvre with the Institute; and the Pont-de-Jens, the most western bridge of Paris, which crosses the river opposite the Ecole-Militaire and Champ-de-3Iers, was erected. The Ourcq Canal was commenced to bring the water of that river to the plateau of la-Villete on the north side of the city, nearly 100 feet above the level of the Seine.
Numerous elegant fountains sprung up ; belles and markets were established ; and five large abattoirs were built at the extremities of the town. The Louvre was filled with masterpieces of painting and sculpture, collected by no very scrupulous menus from the galleries of conquered countries. The great column of the grand army was erected in the Place-Vendome. The Luxembourg palace was restored, and Its gardens embellished and united to the Observatory by a magnificent avenue. The Chamber of the Legislative Body was built between the Palais-Bourbon and the Pont Louis XVI. The Bourse, the Tribunal of Commerce, and the Madeleine were commenced ; churches were repaired, and the Pantheon, again become the church of Sainte-Gene vieve, was restored to religious mos.
Paris after a gallant defence capitulated on the 30th of March, 1814, to tho shied forces under the command of Prince Schwarzenberg. On the 31st the allied sovereigns who accompanied the prince and their troops entered ; Napoleon was dethroned and the Bourbons restored. Next year Napoleon returned (March 20th), to Paris from Elba, but the defeat of Waterloo brought the allied English and Prussian armies, under Wellington and Blucher, before the city. On the 8th of July, Louis XVI1I. re-entered Paris, and the Bourbons were again restored. A long interval of tranquillity followed, during which the Ourcq, St.-Denis, and St-Martin canals were finished for the supply of the north aide of the city; and the colleges of Henri IV. and St.-Louis were enlarged; and the lighting, cleaosing, and paving of the town improved. Then followed the reign of Charles X. (1824-30), during which the church of St.-Vincent-de-Paul was commenced, some other churches were repaired or rebuilt, a statue of Louis XIII. was erected on the Place-Royale, that of Louis XIV. on the Place-des-Victoiree, the Pont-de-la-Concorde adorned with statues of the illustrious warriors and statesmen of France, and the bridges of Arcola, de-l'Archeveche, and d'Antin were built. In 1830 came the Revolution of the three days (27th, 28th, and 29th) of July, which overthrew the Bourbon dynasty, and established that of Orleans. In this memorable struggle above four thousand barricades were formed. Of the Parisians, 788 were killed and about 4500 wounded. The revolution of 1830 placed the crown of France on the head of Louis Philippe, duke of Orleans, whose father was guillotined during the reign of terror in 1793. During this reign, which lasted till 1648, several important works were completed. Among the most important of these are the church of La-Madeleine, the Palais-des-Beaux-Arts, the church of St.-Viucent-de-Paul, the Hotel-de-Ville, and the triumphal arch de-l'Etoile, at the head of the long avenue of the Champa-Elysees outside the barrier of Neuilly. Several new bridges and quays were constructed ; the asylum for deaf mutes was rebuilt, and the approaches opened to the church of Sainte-Genevieve, which was converted to a temple in honour of the great men of France; the monument of July was finished, and the statue of Napoleon I. replaced upon the column of the Grand Army in the Place-Vendome. The remains of the emperor Napoleon I. were brought from St. Helena to Paris by the Duke de Joinville, and deposited io the Invalides. The Place-de-la-Concorde (Louis Quinze) was decorated with fountains and an obelisk, brought from Luxor in Egypt. The Places Louvois and St-Sulpice were embellished with beautiful fountains. The Barriere-du-TrOne was completed and adorned with colossal statues of St. Louis and Philippe Auguste. Several railway termini were erected; the artesian well of Grenelle was bored; the normal school built; and last not least, the city of Paris and its suburbs were eurrouuded by vast fortifications, protected by fourteen detached forts, at a cost of not less than twenty millions sterling.