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Copyright: Ducuing. Bd. I, S. 1

In January of 1863, when France received the prizes awarded during the London World Exposition of the previous year, the wish was expressed in parliament of staging the next world exposition in Paris. And in an imperial decree dated 12th of June of that year, the project was guaranteed the very highest degree of support. In the spring of 1865, after an imperial commission was assigned to the management and monitoring of the universal exhibition planned for 1867, the foreign ministry invited governments abroad to take part. On the 30th of March, Great Britain was the first country to announce its participation. Each of the participating nations accredited a commissioner as permanent representative. The sixty members of the imperial commission – consisting primarily of industrialists and economic experts – were appointed by the government. As a private organisation, the commission managed the exhibition without any form of governmental control, and were able to act completely autonomously in both financial and administrative matters. An agreement on the financing of the exhibition was also reached in March of that year. The committee received a subsidy of twelve million francs from the city and the state. A public subscription was offered in April in order to offer industry and wealthy citizens the opportunity of participating in the financing and in possible profits. This issue raised ten million francs. The huge scope of the projected exhibition, which was intended to exceed all world expositions staged up until that time, required a larger area than that of the Champs Elysées, which had been used as the venue for the 1855 World Exposition. At the end of June 1865, when the site of the future exposition was being discussed in parliament, agreement was finally reached on the Champ de Mars, a site which had already proved itself in 1798 as the site for the first National Exhibition and on which all future Paris world expositions up until 1937 were to be held. An imperial decree dated 12th of July approved the exhibition´s regulations. In January of the following year, the imperial commission decided on staging an exposition on the history of labour. On the 26th of February 1866, the young crown prince took over the honorary chairmanship of the commission, after the emperor´s brother-in-law, Prince Napoleon, resigned following disputes on areas of competence. On the 3rd of April, building of the Exposition Palace began on the Champ de Mars. The aim was to make space available to the exhibitors for their exhibits by the end of the year. In spite of this, work was still not fully completed on the day of the opening, the 1st of April 1867.

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The Paris World Exposition 1867
Napoleon III´s Answer to the London World Exposition of 1862
Year: 1867City: ParisCountry: France
Duration: 1st April - 3rd November 1867

 

 

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