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For the Universal Exhibition of 1900, Élisée Reclus proposed a singular monument: an enormous Globe of the Earth, a perfect replica of the real Earth. The monument was intended as a showpiece that would popularise geography and change people's perceptions of the Earth. Because the globe is the only representation that offers complete truth, the geographer thought it would replace geographical maps. Financial and ideological obstacles prevented the monument from being built. Reclus's idealism and scientific views were too far removed from the aims of a universal exhibition. The exhibit that he had wanted to be permanent was left out of the ephemeral ostentation of 1900.