Very unique image showing the use of barricades by the popular movements during the 1848 Revolution, in this case, in the city of Paris.

This image corresponds to the “June Days Uprising”, which was a big urban revolt staged from June 22nd to June 26th triggered by the plans to abolish the Ateliers Nationaux (National Workshops). The Workshops was a government program in which work was provided to the unemployed by the French Second Republic after the 1848 Revolution, which happened in February. During the February Revolution, workers made clear demands to the Provisional Government: Right to Work and Organization of Labor, said demands were heard and passed by one of the members of the Provisional Government, Louis Blanc, a Socialist. Unfortunately, the National Workshops were finally abolished and in response the workers revolted.

The Garde Nationale (National Guard) was called in and the revolt was suppressed, leaving about 3,000 dead insurgents and about 3,000/4,000 were deported to Algeria. The defeat of this workers-led insurrection marked the end of a long series of events protagonized by Socialism in it’s infancy, it also marked the final victory of Liberals over the “République démocratique et sociale” (Democratic and Social Republic) and soon it would form an alliance with the aristocracies around Europe.