Abstract EN:

The 1867 world fair of Paris permitted to study a certain French craze towards industrial exhibitions. The following groups contributed to the event: industrials - for commercial and strategic reasons, the Government - promoting its economic policy subsequently to the free trade agreement of 1860 between Great Britain and France, the elite -intending to improve product designs and reinforce professional training. The organisation benefited from the experience of Frederic Le Play, head of the Imperial Commission, who contributed to major evolutions. These included pavilions, greater autonomy for exhibitors, working class concerns and the advent of large scale entertainment. The exhibition was an organisational success with mixed results. The French industry had been modernised and France was always the leading nation in arts and crafts. Nevertheless the USA and German states had shown to make rapid progress; Socil concerns of the paternalists had sadely little impact on workers.