Easter Rising 1916 in French photograpic newspaper 'Excelsior'

The Easter Rising began in Dublin, Ireland on this day 24 April in 1916. At the time, France was engaged with her ally, Great Britain, in the First World War against the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria). Seen from France, the events in Dublin were initially perceived as an attack on France's ally, Great Britain - a stab in the back.

When the Rising commenced, the French press did not have any journalists on the ground in Ireland and therefore they were not sure how widespread it was. This lack of real information is reflected in how they described the Rising. It was variously labelled a riot, skirmish, clash, revolt, and finally rebellion. When they had time to reflect on what had happened in Dublin, they had a more informed reading of the situation and it was no longer seen as just an attack on Great Britain, but a break for Irish independence.

The French daily newspaper Excelsior started to cover events in Dublin from as early as 30 April 1916. According to Clyde Thogmartin's The National Daily Press of France, Excelsior was France's "first photographically illustrated paper". It was started by Pierre Laffitte in 1910 with financial assistance from the controversial industrialist Basil Zaharoff. Excelsior was an innovative publication that used good quality photographs to report on the major news stories of the day. It reached its zenith in the 1930s and ran until 1940. Below, you can see some of the images that they published following the outbreak of the Rising, from the arrival of troops on the streets of Dublin, to the destruction of O'Connell Street (Sackville Street) and the execution of some of the leaders of the Rising.

Excelsior, 30 April 1916. 'Les Irlandais du front répondent aux "égarés" de Dublin' [The Irishmen from the front respond to the "strays" of Dublin]. Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067275/f6.item

Excelsior, 5 May 1916. 'La Révolte de Dublin est réprimée' [The Dublin revolt is suppressed]. Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4606732g/f1.item

Excelsior, 7 May 1916. 'Après la révolte de Dublin' [After the Dublin revolt]. Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067349/f1.item

Excelsior, 7 May 1916. 'A Dublin - quelques aspects de la ville au lendemain des événements révolutionaires' [Dublin - some impressions of the city in the aftermath of the revolutionary events].
Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067349/f8.item

Excelsior, 9 May 1916. 'Au moment où s'achevait la révolte irlandaise...' [The moment when the Irish revolt came to an end].
Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067364/f8.item

Excelsior, 13 May 1916. 'Maintenant que l'ordre est rétabli en Irlande' [Now that order has been restored in Ireland].
Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067401.item

Excelsior, 17 May 1916. 'Plusieurs têtes de la révolte de Dublin' [Some of the leaders of the Dublin revolt].
Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4606744p/f7.item