THE VANDERBILT HISTORICAL REVIEW

Abstract: While traditional accounts of the Haussmann reconstruction of Paris allege that the reconstruction was completed for military reasons, namely to ensure government control of the city, this paper proposes a second cause: sanitation. By examining the prints of photographer Felix Nadar, it becomes obvious that sanitation played a key role in the Haussman reconstruction. This paper begins by addressing classic arguments for the reconstruction and proceeds to analyze sev