The first photo of an insurrectionary barricade

It was taken in the Sunday morning of June 25, 1848.

This photo, which is said to be the first photographic illustration of a newspaper report, was taken by Charles-François Thibault, at rue Saint-Maur, in Paris. It shows the bloody insurrection that came to be known as the “June Days uprising” (French: les journées de Juin) coming to an end. In the background, the last defenses of the working-class districts of eastern Paris still resist.

The same place today:

June Days (June 22-26, 1848)

The euphoria that set in after the revolution in February was short-lived among the workers in Paris. Promised a right to work, they found almost no employment in the private sector since the depression had severely hurt or bankrupted businesses. The National Workshops were established under Emile Thomas to provide jobs, but only menial tasks were available and those were insufficient to keep all the unemployed and hungry applicants busy. No suitable work was available for artisans and craftsmen. The pay (two francs for workers; one and a half for those whom no work could be found; and 12 sous for women) was hardly enough to keep food on the table.

The populace became restless. Nearly 200 new clubs were formed. Newspapers were born and died daily. The Provisional Government that had held out so much promise became progressively unpopular and ineffective. Street disturbances erupted in March and April. Universal manhood suffrage, decreed in February, brought out for the April 23 election 84% of eligible voters who supported, in general, conservative candidates. The five-man Executive Committee which replaced the Provisional Government included only one radical, Alexandre-Auguste Ledru-Rollin, who was included only because Lamartine insisted on it.

On May 15 unhappy workers and club members staged another demonstration, marching to the Assembly where they demanded a new Provisional Government that would include socialists. The government sent them packing, arresting several leaders and curbing the activities of many clubs. Read More

A second photograph, taken on 26 June 1848 by Thibault, also exists. This one shows barricades at rue Saint-Maur-Popincourt after the attack by General Lamoricière's troops.

Paris had experienced six such uprisings between 1830 and 1848, all in the narrow, crowded streets in the center and east of Paris and on the left bank around the Pantheon - a question that was solved during the period of 1853 - 1870 when a vast public works programme commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III and directed by his prefect of Seine, Georges-Eugène Haussmann was put into action.

Some people say that the real purpose behind the massive plan was to make it easier for the army to maneuver and suppress armed uprisings.

Barricades rue Saint-Maur. Avant l'attaque, 25 juin 1848.