-
and that the troops could use to move quickly across the cities,
-
and cannonballs could fire down the boulevards to demolish barricades.
-
In other words, Paris was to be made revolution-proof,
-
or at least that was the goal.
-
It was also a project of public works;
-
that is, it was a means of enormous patronage.
-
It would provide employment and would defuse social tensions as well.
-
So, Paris, under Napoleon III,
-
became a vast public works project,
-
enormous shovel-ready projects.
-
The workers of Paris then would be employed
-
and therefore largely pacified.